free-media.ca

Our BackstoryRun by former University of Alberta Gateway business sta! Ashleigh Brown and Vikram Seth, FREE Media is a division of the independent national advertising agency FREE. As the exclusive media partner of the Canadian University Press (CUP) for print and online advertising, FREE Media’s wealth of professional resources and years of experience working in the campus newspaper industry provide both papers and clients with the benefit of our first-hand understanding of campus media.

Our goal is to bridge the gap between advertising agencies and the unique campus press community, where we believe the only rule is that rules are meant to be broken.

We are formally endorsed by CUPOwned and operated by more than 80 student newspapers in Canada, Canadian University Press is a non-profit co-operative that enables student newspapers to exchange stories and ideas coast to coast. It also just hap- pens to be the oldest student news service in the world, and an invaluable resource to FREE Media.

Partnered with CUP, we are the only formally endorsed vendor for national print and online advertising in campus newspapers, and a proud supporter of our nation’s future forecasters, storytellers, and all-around noisemakers.

Serving campuses and clients from coast to coastWe have exclusive relationships with campus papers across Canada. From The Martlet in Victoria, BC to The Muse in St. John's, Newfoundland, our services have a truly national scope. Just name a major region or metropolitan market in Canada, and we can place your client’s ad in front of students in that area.

FREE MEDIA IS COMMITTED TO CAMPUS PRESS But what does “free” mean to students

* Free to partake, admire, critique and imagine.

* After years of experience in a campus newspaper environment, our team understands and believes in the importance of campus media.

* As such, FREE Media is dedicated to conducting business in a manner that supports a campus press of the students, by the students, and for the students.

MEDIA KIT

11354_FM Media Kit_final-working.indd 2 13-06-18 3:33 PM

free-media.ca

Reader drivenWhether it’s photo and literary contests or pro- filing “streeters” – where random students are asked questions on everything from their favorite ice cream flavor to upcoming student elections – campus media is one of the only mediums where students and their friends can be featured in any issue at any time.

Covering campus lifeAnything that impacts campus life is covered, from student groups to university administration.

WHY CAMPUS PAPERS? Campus media is an ideal platform to creatively engage with the student demographic and get noticed. Overall, campus media content is:

QUALITY PLATFORM FOR ADVERTISERS

From student’s perspectiveWith the opinion and humour sections always being the most popular, these publications re-flect student voices on everything from politics to trends.

IrreverentWhere else will you find articles on “procras- turbation” other than in a campus newspaper? The challenge is to push the envelope further and to reflect the ever-evolving voice of students.

Aside from the quality of campus newspapers themselves, there are more tangible rea-sons why campus publications are great platforms for advertisers, including:

Ad content ratioWith an ad ratio of only 15-25% in student pap- ers compared to 50% in major newspapers, your advertising gets noticed.

Focused & cost e!ectiveCampus papers are almost solely being seen by your target, making your dollars spent per impression a lot lower than that of other adv- ertising mediums.

Total campus newspaper circulation in Canada is over 550,000 COPIES WEEKLY, reaching a total campus population of more than 1.5 MILLION STUDENTS

THE AVERAGE CAMPUS PAPER:* Circulation: 4,965

* Campus population: 18,339

* Distribution points on campus: 36

* Distribution points o! campus: 22

* Saturation of 31%

* Publishes 1 x per week

11354_FM Media Kit_final-working.indd 3 13-06-18 3:33 PM

free-media.ca

FREE Media understands that online ca- mpus media is run by qualified keeners doing what they do best: driving student activity online in e!ective, entertaining, and continually evolving ways.

Campus publications spread online con-tent almost solely for the entertainment of their audience. Because campus pub- lications are run by internet savvy 18-24 year olds, there is a growing trend toward using new platforms such as multimedia and social media to engage peers online.

Growth RateOnline tra"c for student publications has been growing each year along with the increased move toward going “digi-tal first” in publishing. For example, The Gateway newspaper in Edmon- ton has an online readership that has doubled each year for the past three years, demonstrating the power of dig- ital campus media.

As younger generations embrace new forms of social media, so too do campus publications continue to come out with creative ideas to reach a wider audience.

WHY ONLINE?

ONLINE PRICING

PRICING MODELWe weigh a variety of factors so that you can be confident where your dollars are going.

Factors include:* Location - metropolitan, college town, or rural

* Circulation - number of papers distributed

* Saturation - circulation divided by campus population: what percentage of campus is reading the publication?

* Distribution points on & o! campus - the more locations to distribute, the greater the visibility

* Frequency - how often is the paper published?

How are these factors weighted?Because advertisers are most concerned about the location of papers and how many are circ- ulated, these two factors are valued the highest.

Saturation indicates what proportion of the campus reads the newspaper. It goes with-out saying that the more readers a newspaper has, the greater its value to advertisers.

Other factors listed, such as distribution points on and off campus are weighted less heavily, though higher visibility and increased aware ness based on distribution points are still impor- tant factors.

How does the size of an ad a!ect pricing?We have a formula and sizing structure that makes sure your advertising is compatible with all campus publications. Much like purchasing in bulk, the larger the ad size purchased, the higher the discounted rate.

Below is a graph that better displays the re-lationship between the size of the ad and the discount o!ered:

Our prices for online advertising are estimated based on months of high and low readership, which is generally static across the board for all schools.

High -$29 per CPM September – November, February – April

Low - $22 per CPM December - January, May - August

0% page

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

page page page page 1 page

Ad Size vs. Discount Rate

Ad Size

10.16%

12.14%

14.51%

17.33%

20.71%

24.75%The high season is represented by im-portant campus time periods such as the beginning of school, the release of ever-popular sex issues in February, as well as coverage of student elections and student job searches in spring.

The low season offers a 25% dicount on advertising based on low student readership as Christmas and summer break commence.

11354_FM Media Kit_final-working.indd 4 13-06-18 3:33 PM

free-media.ca

WHO WE ARE

SERVICESFREE Media has an assortment of media planning solutions, and we try to accommodate you in any way we can. Some of our services are as follows:

Vikram Seth, Media DirectorVik was the University student your mom wished you’d be. On top of being involved in a number of campus groups, he helped build a school in rural Kenya, was a student councilor and vice-president of his fraternity. While work- ing in advertising sales for The Gateway, he doubled their revenue in just 3 years, and his insight into campus life still allows him to effectively target student advertising. He also started an environmental advocacy group. Is there anything Vik can’t do?

Ashleigh Brown, Operations ManagerIn her 5 years as Business Manager of The Gateway, Ashleigh pushed campus press into the local community, taking an already estab- lished paper and making it into a marketing powerhouse. In all her work, Ashleigh takes pride in bridging the gap between creativity and strategic implementation, especially when it in- volves the nonprofit arts community. When she isn’t thinking about campus press, she spends her time on mud pies and monkey bars with her two young boys.

Justin Kuchmak, Account ExecutiveWith a degree in strategic management and organization (and a minor in accounting), Justin’s business savvy is integral to FREE Media. Involving himself in as many branches of student business as he could, Justin became a seminar manager for business classes, and spent time learning more about the biz in Hong Kong. He also once got in a “tussle” over the market value of an orange in China. The FREE Media guys like to live dangerously.

Creative If you need a campaign, we have the ability to create and design one for you.

Media Planning We can advise you which form of campus media advertising will best get your message to the target in any publication across the country.

Consulting We can consult you on how best to market your brand to 18-24 year olds due to our thorough understanding of the market.

11629 105 Avenue Edmonton, AB, T5H 0L9 | (780) 421 1000 | advertising@free-media.ca | www.free-media.ca

11354_FM Media Kit_final-working.indd 1 13-06-18 3:33 PM

5Manitoba 11Atlantic Canada

6Montreal6Calgary

17Toronto

3Victoria

3Ottawa

7Vancouver

3Saskatchewan4Edmonton

18SouthwestOntario

Victoria

ADVERTISING OPTIONSKeeping it simple

PRINT ADVERTISING OPTIONS

ONLINE ADVERTISING OPTIONS

full page

banner (728 x 90 pixels)

box (300 x 250 pixels)

skyscraper (160 x 600 pixels)

page, horizontal

page, vertical

page, vertical

page, horizontal

page, traditional

page, horizontal

page, traditional

page, horizontal

page, traditional

page, horizontal

PER REGION

CAMPUSNEWSPAPERS

11354_FM Media Kit-Insert-final-working.indd 2 13-06-18 2:59 PM