Chapter 58 Novel Serial
The current price of each copy of The Independent is 65p (£0.65), which is actually acceptable for low-income people.
The price of "The Independent" is currently the highest among the British national newspapers.
By comparison, The Times costs just 30p - they dropped the price from 45p in 1993 to 30p now.
At that time, their price reduction move was called the most successful in the modern British newspaper industry, doubling its circulation.
It seems that the price reduction of newspapers is indeed effective.
But these measures proposed by Barron this time are not empty words without basis. In addition to referring to the experience of the development of the newspaper industry in previous generations, he also hired professional data surveys before. The agency obtained data on various measures from many newspapers in the UK.
In 2001, last year, the competition between the "Daily Express", "Daily Mirror" and "The Sun" triggered the biggest price-cutting war in the British newspaper industry in recent years.
At that time, the effect of their price reduction was immediate, but the duration was very short.
After the initial price reduction, each newspaper gained a large number of new readers, but only now, less than a year later, the circulation of "Daily Mirror" is higher than before the price reduction. It dropped by 3.4%, and its other two competitors were not spared, with sales falling sharply again.
Therefore, Barron believes that by now, the newspaper industry's price war is no longer effective.
“Consumers will definitely be willing to pay for a good product. The best strategy is to lower the price of our newspapers, improve the quality of the newspapers, and make The Independent more high-quality and stylish. If people are willing to pay £2.50 for a cup of coffee, they won't mind paying less than a third of the price to read an excellent newspaper," Barron concluded.
In the end, he convinced the newspaper manager Bob and the editor-in-chief Whitney - or in other words, they chose to temporarily try the new boss's "inspiration" measures.
Of course, the initial implementation was a "novel column" that did not require much investment or change. To achieve this, it only needed to leave a place in the layout of the newspaper.
What's more, Whitney himself has read the first novel of "Downton Abbey" and is fascinated by it. Naturally, he supports this matter with both hands and feet, if his slightly bloated figure can do this.
"When will we start publishing "Downton Abbey"? Your Highness the Duke."
Looking at Whitney's impatient expression, Barron said with a smile:
"Your Excellency, Editor-in-Chief, I think you can do it at any time, but beforehand, it is a better strategy to carry out certain publicity. I don't mind if you use any way to make this novel famous, including my name."
"If this is the case, Your Highness the Duke, I think I may have some ideas."
...
Just as Barron announced in the conference room of the Independent newspaper at the beginning, Amber Sheehan, who originally worked at PwC, helped Barron this time. After some consideration, the senior manager who completed the acquisition of "The Independent" accepted Barron's recruitment and became the manager of the industrial investment department of DS Capital.
His decision, in addition to Barron increasing his annual salary from 150,000 pounds to 250,000 pounds, is also because Barron gave him a sole leadership position that is difficult to obtain in the short term at PwC. Department opportunities.
After Amber Sheehan joins, DS Capital will make fuller use of their office area and divide it into the securities investment department with Daisy as the manager, and the securities investment department with Amber Sheehan as the manager. industrial investment department.
The independent newspaper company that was just acquired by Barron's is managed by the industrial investment department of DS Capital. Of course, professional matters are left to professionals. Currently, the day-to-day operations of the independent newspaper company are still in charge of its manager Bob and editor-in-chief Whitney. Amber Sheehan mainly only performs some financial control.
In addition, Amber's other recent job is to register a subsidiary called DS Asset Management Company under the industrial investment department. After that, the land parcels in the King's Cross area will be As well as the Chelsea mansion, these real estate properties will be managed by DS Asset Management Company.
......
The youngest Duke in England at this time, the Duke of Devonshire, who had once been rumored to be in financial crisis in his family, Barron Cavendish, used a symbolic token of 1 pound. After the news of the price and acquisition of The Independent was disclosed, related reports also flooded in.
“The new owner of The Independent, Duke Devonshire, said in an interview not long ago that after the acquisition, the Independent will continue to maintain its neutral stance and pursue the truth. The concept will not deviate from the original intention of the newspaper..."
"After acquiring the "Independent", which suffered serious losses, the 22-year-old Duke of Devonshire became the youngest newspaper owner in England. Where will he take this once-splendid but now mired newspaper? What?”
It can be said that there are reports with various views, but most of the reports are for After Barron took charge of the "Independent", the future of this newspaper was not promising. It is no wonder that on the one hand, Barron is too young and has no previous experience in newspaper business; and Devon Hill The heir to the Duke's family, the previous reputation - if being romantic can be considered a reputation - doesn't seem to be too reliable.
These reports also make readers of The Independent a little uncertain about whether this newspaper that they often read will continue to exist in the future.
However, they discovered that in the latest issue of "The Independent", there was an extra novel column, and in the column, a novel called "Downton Abbey" began to be serialized.
The content of the novel is still at the beginning and the plot has not yet unfolded, so it is not yet clear what it is. However, some good people have discovered the author of this novel, and there are two names listed side by side: Barron ·Cavendish, and Bonnie Stewart...
These two names seem familiar, right?
So someone soon pointed out that the signed author of this novel called "Downton Abbey", which was serialized in "The Independent", was a newspaper owner and also a British writer at this time. The youngest Duke - Barron Cavendish.
The other one is Bonnie Stuart, a well-known beauty host on Sky TV at this time.
And the key is, the two have been photographed together in private many times, behaving intimately and appearing to be lovers.
This is very interesting. The gossip of celebrities, especially nobles and public figures like Barron and Bonnie, always attracts public attention.
And "Downton Abbey" is precisely a novel that describes the life of aristocrats in the old era nearly a hundred years ago. The author is first of all a real aristocrat, and he is also the highest-ranking duke among non-royal aristocrats. This makes many people think about the novel. This novel generated immense curiosity.
After reading this way, the extremely high quality of "Downton Abbey" immediately attracted countless fans and highly praised it.
There are even reports that even Her Majesty the Queen likes this novel very much. She will set aside time every morning to ask her maid to read the newspaper for her. Every time, she deliberately leaves the last one to read, which is the serial in Downton Abbey on The Independent.
While listening to this serialized novel, the Queen always asks someone to make a cup of black tea and enjoys this leisurely time.
The data during the new book period is related to subsequent recommendations, so follow-up reading is very important. I beg you not to keep it all the time. If you feel it is okay, read it every day to help increase follow-up reading. Thank you very much.
(End of this chapter)