Trinity Mirror invests in marketing support for its ‘start-up’ businesses

Trinity Mirror is preparing to invest in marketing support for its “start-up” businesses as brands such as the recently revamped Mirror Football app and WhoCanFixMyCar.com move from early development stage into significant revenue generators.

WhoCanFixMyCar
Trinity Mirror is searching for a marketing director to look after its early stage businesses, such as WhoCanFixMyCar.com.

The publisher’s “new business division”, a newly established arm of the portfolio, is currently on the hunt for a marketing director. Previously, marketing support was provided by a more junior member of the team.

The division plans to deliver nine new projects over the next year, under the stewardship of an “entrepreneurial, innovative and creative” marketing director with a background in digital marketing, according to a job ad for the role.

The candidate will also work on marketing behind already existing brands such as garage compare site WhoCanFixMyCar.com, barcode app PaperPay, mobile advertising service Pinpoint, the Mirror Football app (which now integrates sport betting) and the GoalTime app, another property of Mirror Football.

It is not thought the new recruit will work on more editorially-led Trinity Mirror start-ups, such as social content site UsVsTh3m, which has grown with no marketing investment in May last year to reach more than 9 million unique monthly visitors in April 2014.

Matt Coleborne, Trinity Mirror director of new businesses, says: “[The new businesses team] has been running for about 18 months. Last year the focus was on building products and projects. But this year it’s more about turning them into businesses.

“In each of those projects, around half of the budget will be for the build, acquisition and the investment and the other half will be marketing.”

Trinity Mirror CEO Simon Fox announced a two-tier strategy in 2013 to invest in digital innovation and to make deep cost savings throughout the other areas of the business, such as in print and its regional divisions.

In the 17 weeks to 27 April digital revenues grew by 49 per cent, but overall total revenues were down 3 per cent in the period.

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Tom Fishburne

Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here.