Newspaper design: Omaha World-Herald

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Omaha World-Herald

Omaha, NE
210,000 daily circ.

Peggy Blevins, Classified advertising manager

GOALS

1. Rebrand classified to include other newspapers owned by the Omaha World-Herald in western Iowa and throughout Nebraska. This will allow for intergration of online classified listings for all the World-Herald's newspapers under a single brand.

2. Develop a visual style for the classified banner to increase the number of people who look at the section every day.

3. Improve legibility, navigation and user-friendliness.

4. Increase the visual appeal of the automotive, recruitment and real estate sections to match the visual sophistication of the news sections.

STRATEGIES

1. Drop the word “Omaha” from classified and rebrand them as “Midlands Classified.” This will pave the way for inclusion of classified databases from all papers owned by the World-Herald throughout Iowa and Nebraska under the common url of www.midlandsclassified.com.

2. Take advantage of the region's strong sense of place by emphasizing the Midlands with a different, 10-column color photo every day. The attractiveness of this photo should draw all readers to the section, even if they aren't planning to read the classifieds. Increase reader participation by inviting them to submit their own photos that capture the spirit of the Midlands.

3. Reorganize all categories, placing greater emphasis on private-party ads.

4. Regroup and highlight the Under-$50 category to promote readership of the section.

5. Alpha-sort the recruitment category.

6. Refer from the main banner to other classifications, such as real estate, employment and automotive, when these classifications appear in other sections on Saturday and Sunday.

7. Eliminate all information in the main banner except for the classified telephone numbers and web address. Research shows that customers prefer to get other information from sales representatives via the telephone.

Before & after

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