Required Reading: How to hurt your brand, in one easy step
28 May 2003

I'm not familiar with bullfighting. Isn't "toro" what the matador shouts as he runs his sword through the bull? Judging by the letter Globe and Mail readers received with their Tuesday morning (May 27) paper, there were lots of readers wanting to run swords through the Globe for distributing the men's magazine Toro in mid-April.

Although the Globe is a newspaper, its management seems intent on using the paper as a vehicle for delivering other items. Whether it is the Globe, or the National Post, or the Toronto Star, it seems like every day something new falls out of the newspaper. It goes well beyond advertising flyers; breakfast cereals are popular, and increasingly, so are magazines.

No doubt they make good money distributing these products. Generally I don't object to the practice. But they're mistaken if they think the Globe's core editorial product remains distinct and protected if the packaged item is of low quality.

The May 27 letter, giving Globe subscribers a chance to opt-out of the delivery of one of those products - Toro in this case - was an extraordinary and a clear sign that the Globe's distribution practice had backfired.

I remember getting Toro. I remember looking through it. I remember thinking it was boring; inoffensive but a waste of ink. And I remember putting it in the recycle box. Then I forgot about it.

Then the letter arrived. There may be, as Toro editor Derek Finkle claims, one Globe subscriber willing to say "There is a need for this magazine in Canada," but apparently enough people objected that the Globe felt pressured to giving subscribers an out. Given the chance to opt-out, I did.

Did the Globe consider how bundling Toro with their own product would reflect upon them? The Globe has long coveted the perception that it is Canada's best of class newspaper. They should have known that distributing a magazine whose message and editorial product wasn't in-line with their own brand would detract from how the public perceives the paper.

Toro isn't the first time the Globe has wasted precious moments of readers' time and, unfortunately, it won't be last. Any organization that wants to develop a strong brand must be careful about how it uses their customers' time. They have to make reading - in this case - a quality experience.

Getting the brand this newspaper wants requires strategic choices. Given the choice it made, perhaps the Globe isn't clear about what it stands for. Hopefully their adventure with Toro will be a lesson in the consequences of choosing short-term money-making opportunities that undermine the brand over the long-term implications of publishing and distributing quality products that solidify and extend the reputation of a strong brand.

Please send me your comments. RobFerguson@KnowledgeMarketingGroup.com

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