Nearly 4.1 million copies were sold daily during 2006, and the  number of readers rose by 0.6% (to an estimated 20.72 million readers).

Consequently, paid-for dailies’ net profits amounted to €270 million in 2006.

Unlike its European neighbors, the Spanish press is growing healthier despite online growth and the arrival of free papers. When they were faced with a decreasing circulation (-5.1% in 2006 compared to 2005), Spanish publishers adopted a new and effective marketing strategy.

How did they do it?

According to the Spanish Association of Newspaper Editors, dailies launched about 1600 derived products just last year. These products amounted to 12.3% of their profit.

Nowadays, all dailies include a coupon-booklet. Buyers can get a free CD or porcelain item with their daily for just one additional euro. And papers made great use of the Spaniards’ taste for online commerce: some dailies, in exchange for a series of collected coupons and a complementary payment, sold online plasma TVs and high-tech items at enticing prices.

The most innovative strategies came with El Païs, which offered a two-month daily lottery. Using a lottery ticket included within the newspaper, readers then text-messaged their lottery number, in order to win a daily car, or, during week-ends, a loft!
 
To attract younger readers, El Païs also organizes a nation-wide contest in high schools, for students to create their own “Mini El Païs” – thus becoming regular readers.

Spain stands as an excellent example of newspapers’ adaptation to market shifts, and the strategies chosen by publishers were brilliant: play into your reader’s known tastes and habits, entice your reader with supplements, and eventually he or she will become a regular buyer.

Source: Le Figaro (link in French)