The Newspapers that Came in From the Cold
Peter Clark
Free newspapers did not just flout the rules marketing: the early ones were totally ignorant of the concept of marketing, one definition of which is the right product, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time. Effectively, they began in the mid sixties, nearly went under in the mid seventies and are now the fastest growing advertising medium in the eighties.
It is an unusual success story: a tale of small business that became big business.
But as a product, the early free newspapers left a...