12 Daily Focus
www.tolerans.com | NEWSBOUND | no 1 2010
South Korea:
The rising trend of the stitched free daily A
ccording to the Korea Times, Seoul is home to the world’s third largest subway system in terms of “ridership” with 5.6 million people travelling on underground trains every day. But now, news-hungry passengers are able to keep it together amid the frantic rush hour. Seoul city commuters as well as others up and down the country have seven free dailies to choose from, five morning and two evening papers. And they are toasting a new look and feel to the growing number of papers that are adopting stitching as standard. Free dailies AM7 and Daily Focus chose to follow the stitching lead that Metro took in 2005.
The Daily Focus was first issued in June 2003 and is the largest free daily newspaper in the country, issuing 600,000 everyday within Seoul and the greater capital area. The publication is also distributed to other major cities including Busan, Daegu and Daejeon via public transport systems as well as in public offices, schools, hospitals and commercial facilities. The paper has been stitched since April 2010 - a calculated move to give readers exactly what they were asking for. “Before we took the decision to stitch, we conducted a reader survey,” says Mr Yu, Chief Financial Officer. “As a result of our research, we found that most readers wanted a
”Stitching has given our readers the convenience they have long wanted.” Mr Yu, Chief Financial Officer, Daily Focus
stitched newspaper. Our decision was based on the fact our readers wanted more convenience.” In a relatively short space of time, Daily Focus was reaping the profitable benefits of a stitched paper. “Because it stays in shape more easily, it is being read and reread more times,” Mr Yu adds. “This is important when it comes to advertisers – obtaining a high advertis-
ing impact makes the paper more attractive. They are also enjoying the double spread ad opportunities or other innovative designs that stretch across the spread.” Moreover, reader satisfaction has come guaranteed.” We have revisited our readers in surveys and we know they are very happy with the end result,” says Mr Yu. “Stitching has given them the convenience they have long wanted.” n