Could there be life left in print classifieds? SCMP invests in its Classified Post.

Indeed, in an effort to revive the once money-making venture, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) recently appointed Publicis to launch a branding brief for its Classified Post.

While the Asian media industry is generally viewed as less volatile than in the West, if its destined to follow the same path that US papers have travelled, Asian publications should brace themselves. According to the Newspaper Association of America, national newspapers earned US$19.6 billion from their classified businesses in 2000. That figure dropped to $10 billion by 2008, and is expected to fall to $6 billion for 2009. Specifically, recruitment earned the largest chunk of cash in 2000 - $8.7 billion - and that dropped to $2.2 billion in 2008 and under one billion in 2009.

The reason? Websites such as Monster.com and Craigslist.com, where recruiters don’t have to pay for their posts and are able to cast a wider net for appropriate candidates as their openings are more easily crawled by search engines.

In markets such as Hong Kong, sites such as JobsDB.com, Recruit.net and AsiaXPat.com have dampened the rush to pay for slots in newspapers. “Frankly, I do not prefer print classified ads,” says Wilson Chan, managing partner at headhunting firm HongKongRecruitment.com. “Response is slow; there is a long lead time; there are too many restrictions from different media; they’re not cost effective from a CPM perspective; there’s a competitive environment; and it takes a willingness from candidates to apply.”

The print sector is already feeling the heat. “I do believe 2009 was the first year that display advertising revenue was overall higher than classifieds,” says one former SCMP employee. “It used to be that display revenue paid for the reporters and the office space, and classifieds were the real profit.”

Another source working in the marketing team at a Hong Kong newspaper said that publications sometimes feel forced to invest in their classifieds because it is the only means of monetisation they know.

“It is a dying industry so these papers have to change and find ways to make classifieds relevant. They hope that, globally, consumers are only looking at different websites for the sake of diversifying, and that they will return to their trusted newspaper source as well.”

Meanwhile, the SCMP is looking to promote its enhanced Classified Post for both online and print through a campaign that is slated to launch later this month.

“As the recruitment industry evolves, so too will the Classified Post,” Elsie Chung, director of advertising and marketing services at SCMP Group, said last month.

Sources estimate that the plan has legs. The SCMP is estimated to pay between HK$3 to $10 million for the campaign, which could be a worthwhile investment if it stimulates even a five-to-10 per cent revenue spike from its classifieds.

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This article was originally published in the 25 February 2010 issue of Media.