FREE FEATURES SERVICE COULD BE JUST THE RIGHT ARTICLE FOR SPONSORS

More people are reading local papers than ever before, while the readership of national titles is falling. This makes the UK's regional press one of the most powerful media available to any brand. But reaching the regions has been a complex and clumsy task, regardless of the method of approach. Until now there has been no single way of reaching the massive market of the local newspaper reader in one hit - or with any certainty of success. Free Features' boast is that it offers a total solution to this previously untapped market. Its web-based facility provides brand owners with a generic marketplace - potentially bigger than any one other printed medium. It's an innovative service which offers the UK's press quality editorial features on a range of subjects in a ready to use format - totally without charge. The publications, in turn, agree to provide space within relevant feature pages for use by Free Features and their sponsors. Brand sponsors benefit in a number of ways:    •    By direct use of the sponsorship space - for branding, campaign messages or call to action.    •    Through the provision of their material for the development of editorial features, enhancing existing PR activity.    •    Through the provision of a dedicated Press Liaison Team who work proactively with the sponsor to drive feature ideas within the regional press    •    Exclusive sponsorship - only one brand per feature section.    •    Access to an otherwise unobtainable demographic - many readers don't read anything other than their local paper. Newspapers and other English speaking publications within the UK and beyond need to find good, editorially sound, material to interest their readers and attract advertisers. In the majority of cases this means paying staff, or an agency for features. While this might be an option it isn't always viable. Free Features seems an appealing proposition because it allows:    •    Access to well written and editorially-sound features in a relevant format for immediate use    •    Opportunities to produce supplements in response to major events or opportunities - without associated editorial costs    •    The ability to plan features according to available material and forthcoming marketing plans of major brand owners. Nicola Snell, Homes and Interiors Branding Specialist, is an advocate of this innovative service. "The regional press is such a difficult target to crack en masse", she said, "but the facilities of Free Features mean sponsors can present their brand within editorial material - both of which can be used time and time again by hundreds, possibly thousands, of different titles." Caroline Edmunds, who heads up Pennington PR in Tunbridge Wells, sees other benefits: "This service is a natural opportunity for major brands - and also for niche sector organisations who want penetration among a mass market. Free Features accesses an otherwise difficult and complex media which, as a whole, has huge power." As a former Deputy Regional Director of major newspaper publisher, Archant Newspapers, and now an independent magazine publisher, Peter Coyle sees many advantages of the Free Features service. He said: "Free Features can only be welcomed by publishers who struggle to find good, editorially-sound, material they can use so easily - and so cost-effectively. The sponsors are appropriate for the feature sections and don't clash with local revenue generation so this has to be a win-win opportunity."   Contact: Janet Kelly, Managing Editor. Tel.: 01883 624777. Other contact details in our Media: New Media section.   E&OE