Bangkok Post Public Company Limited

Post Plc to launch free newspaper

Friday September 30, 2011

Post Publishing executives announce the launch of the new daily free newspaper M2F at Centara Grand yesterday. The tabloid-sized paper M2F, which represents "Monday to Friday" and will be launched on Oct 11, is aimed at Bangkok urban professionals and commuting office workers.

Supakorn Vejjajiva, the POST president and chief operating officer, said the Thai-language M2F, representing "Monday to Friday" and to be launched on Oct 11, would be aimed at Bangkok urban professionals and commuting office workers.

"While the Bangkok Post has a reader demographic with an average household income of 100,000 baht or more, and Post Today targets business workers, the largest group that our company has yet to focus on is the Bangkok mass market," he said.

"These readers usually don't buy newspapers, but prefer to read news online or watch television."

The tabloid-sized paper will be distributed weekdays by hand at more than 200 distribution points in Bangkok, including large office buildings, BTS and MRT stations, commuter van stops, department stores and coffee shops.

Mr Supakorn said the company expected to reach a market of 2 million professionals who commute into the city each day. With a daily circulation of 400,000, M2F will boast the largest print run among mass-market papers in Bangkok.

Pichai Chuensuksawadi, the POST editor-in-chief, said M2F is aimed at a market currently not served by either the Bangkok Post or Post Today. He estimated that 44 million free newspapers are in circulation worldwide each day, with 8.6 million available in the Asia Pacific region and Africa.

Pauline Yu, executive director of the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations (HKABC), said the growth trend for free newspapers was increasing. Hong Kong, one of the fastest growing print media markets in recent years, has six free papers. Ad spending allocated to free papers now accounts for 31% of total spending, up from 10% in 2007.

"It's becoming the talk of the town now and we see a strong wave coming as [free newspapers] are printing more copies. I think ads now look more towards reaching the mass market with consumer products, and [advertisers] see the effect of this business model," Mrs Yu said.

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