There's much activity at The Globe and Mail as we continue to invest in new editorial products and enhanced content. We and our shareholders are committed to leadership as a multiplatform media company and our investments are paying off with strong readership performance.

In this issue of Dispatch, we introduce Globe Drive -- our revamped and expanded automotive content -- debuting online on Monday, Nov. 2 and in-paper on Thursday, Nov. 5. See details below.

Also launching in November is our new small business package Your Business. The refreshed web site and weekly dedicated half-page in the newspaper's Report on Business will provide rich information for the entrepreneur and business owner. More on Your Business is outlined below.

We continue to expand the opportunities for advertisers including pre-roll around video content, mobile content, and new ad positions available in print.

And if you needed any more proof of the merit of these investments, look to the just-released comScore data for September, 2009. With 2.8 million unique visitors (UVs) and 74 million page views for the month, The Globe has the largest online traffic of any single newspaper in Canada. Specialty areas within our web offerings are delivering excellent performance including our business content with 930,000 UVs and Globe Life with 418,000 UVs. See more details in the story below.

We're investing in our products and we're investing in our people. Earlier this month, we wrapped up two days of
learning, sharing and stretching our collective imagination at The Globe and Mail's annual sales conference. You can see details on what we learned below.

We were extremely pleased with the insights provided by our experts. The bi-product is a renewed understanding of what The Globe and Mail stand for and how we can best serve our client base. I hope you feel the momentum we've initiated!



Andrew Saunders
Vice-President, Advertising Sales
The Globe and Mail / Report on Business magazine / globeandmail.com

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The new GlobeDrive.com reflects The Globe and Mail's commitment to both the automotive consumer and our advertising clients.

As car sites and automotive newspaper sections have traditionally focused on the models, stats and features of the latest vehicles, the new GlobeDrive.com will do that too, but we're extending our content with additional lifestyle appeal. The new GlobeDrive.com will be just as appealing to women and younger drivers as Globe Auto has been to our core audience of affluent and mature car enthusiasts.

GlobeDrive.com will explore topics like our relationships with our cars, family driving, car audio and electronics, green options, road trips and a look at what he drives and she drives, to name just a few.

Key dates:

• In-paper: Globe Auto becomes Globe Drive on Thursday, Nov. 5
• Online: GlobeDrive.com launches on Monday, Nov. 2

For more information on Globe Drive click here.


Recognizing the growth of small to mid-sized business in Canada, and the business purchasing influence wielded by Canada's largest business sector, The Globe and Mail is refreshing the Small Businesss section of ReportonBusiness.com, to be renamed Your Business, in early January 2010.

The new site will include:

• Daily updated content providing businesses with informative, insightful and inspirational stories for every stage of business development;
• A comprehensive editorial schedule with many new stories, videos, blogs, podcasts and more being published each week;
• The site will organize content into three main verticals -- "Start-up," "Grow" and "Sell" -- to reflect the life stages of business development, and optimize user functionality within the site.

Cross-platform support for Your Business will be provided through a weekly half-page in The Globe's Report on Business section and the quarterly glossy magazine Report on [Small] Business.

The launch of Your Business will be supported by a consumer marketing campaign within the Globe's family of products, in print and online, as well as search engine marketing and other external campaigns.

To obtain a sneak preview of the site, and explore advertising opportunities, contact your Globe and Mail sales account manager today.


The newly-released September comScore data underscores The Globe's excellent online reach.

With 2.8 million unique visitors (UVs) and 74 million page views for the month, The Globe has the largest online traffic of any single newspaper in Canada. Specialty areas within our web offering are delivering excellence performance including our business content with 930,000 UVs and Globe Life with 418,000 UVs.

This latest comScore report is the first with Media Metrix 360, a new Internet audience measurement methodology. Media Metrix 360 uses beacons to measure levels of usage, while using a panel to measure demographic composition, site engagement (including duration), and other factors. It's part of the continuing advancement in online measurement that is giving us all a better and closer understanding of the audience.


Our annual sales conference in September was an opportunity to reflect on the past year and to celebrate the often ground-breaking ways in which we have partnered with our advertisers. In addition, we heard from publisher Phillip Crawley, editor-in-chief John Stackhouse, The Globe's digital media head Angus Frame, as well as CTV advertising and marketing execs Rita Fabian and Mary Kreuk. Their insights served to crystallize our synergistic opportunities, and to highlight our multi-platform advantages in serving the advertising industry.

We also heard from some of our key advertisers. Howard Thomas from Samsung and Pamela Davidson from DeBoer's Furniture provided a-day-in-the-life perspective from the client-side. Mary Maddever, editor of Strategy Magazine shared a perspective from her lofty vantage point on the advertising industry. Nancy Evans, Senior VP at Environics Communications, talked about Canada's changing demographics and how The Globe is well positioned to serve advertisers well into the coming decades. And, we received valuable perspective from Judy Goddard of Denneboom Media and Chris Williams from Media Contacts on what challenges they face and how their media partners can best step up to meet their needs. Videos of selected presentations have been uploaded to Globelink and we'll be featuring a different presenter each week, starting with Nancy Evans.

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Adhocracy:
The Globe's marketing and advertising reporter Simon Houpt writes about popular bloggers who receive advertising/brand support and the odd freebie, while trying to preserve their integrity to their loyal readership.
Read more >>

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The Sandbox:
From the recent MIXX Conference, presented by the IAB, the Sandbox interviews some of the top names in the biz.

• Steve Rubel on the future of media.
• Lars Bastholm on digital and the big idea.
• Didier Mormesse on the multi-platform advertising and biometric research.

Beyond the Numbers:
Strong creative is the secret to strong online display results. That's the advice of Dynamic Logic, a Millward Brown
online-ad-research arm that's just conducted a comprehensive study of what works and what doesn't on the web.
Read More >>

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Below is a compendium of events scheduled through next month. Check out our Fast Tracks section for complete listing and details.

Pay What You Can on CMA Award Book Space
Auction closes October 30th at 4 p.m.

2nd Annual Marketing Week
November 11-12, Royal York Hotel, Toronto

2009 Digital Marketing Awards Gala
November 11, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

2009 Media Innovation Awards
November 12, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

How to Market Your Small or Mid-Sized Business (So It Doesn't Look Like One!)
December 8, Toronto Board of Trade

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1. Google has announced an innovative modeling tool that enlists the help of the citizens of the world in creating a detailed Google Earth view, in 3-D, of several dozen cities worldwide. Google Building Maker is a browser plug-in that facilitates photo uploading of your favorite urban buildings. The Fast Company TechWatch blog provides a nice overview.



2. Here's a good-to-know item in a MarketingProfs.com blog about the not-so-subtle differences between connecting with people on more formal social networks such LinkedIn compared with Facebook and Twitter.

3. If you've ever wondered how Web 2.0 can be best described, this video captures it all. It was created by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University and released on YouTube on Jan. 31, 2007. Since that time, the video has received more than 10 million views.

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To share your comments, feedback and ideas, drop the editors a line at mediacentral@globelink.ca.