© THE SEATTLE TIMES COMPANY

DEDICATED TO REACHING OUR READERS

New media. | A key element of our vision is to stay ahead of the curve with emerging mechanisms for delivering information.

When we were setting our course back in 1985, we realized that our two major assets were people and our electronic data bases. In 1986, The Seattle Times took a leadership position in the industry by creating Info Line, one of the most successful telephone information access services in the country.

When bulletin board services appeared in 1989, we were on the scene. This information delivery method was quickly overshadowed by the power of the Internet, but our "early adopter" stance helped us anticipate the potential.

In 1994, The Seattle Times was the first newspaper in the U.S. to extend an interactive link to email and related Web sites. Soon afterward, we unveiled our popular, well-regarded online news service at seattletimes.com, another demonstration of our commitment to be the region's leading information provider now and in the future.

By 1999, we were aggressively pursuing ways to use our online information delivery infrastructure to provide a broader set of services. We began developing a local-regional "portal" or "hub" - an online destination that will serve as a "go to" site for people who live in, visit or are interested in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Our portal will pull together dozens of relevant sites under one umbrella, providing new ways to deliver content and connect our community.

Our involvement in new media is intended to support and reinforce our core values, especially community service through quality journalism. We're naturally concerned about protecting and enhancing our news and information franchise. That is our primary aim in investing in electronic delivery.

Marketing advances. | We worked hard through the 1990s to create as sophisticated a marketing department as could be found in any newspaper company. This is a key component of our strategy to maintain close contact with our community.

Through intensive "reader research," we make serious efforts to understand our community, segment by segment. This is an ongoing process. The information we uncover helps our news, circulation and other departments make intelligent decisions and deliver a product that appeals to our readers' interests.

Today, our advertising department delivers a superior level of professional service to a long list of appreciative clients. Partnering with The Seattle Times to communicate messages has never been easier or more rewarding.

Our branding initiative. | In the second half of the decade, we made a concerted effort to find a clear expression of our corporate identity through a comprehensive branding process.

With a talented interdepartmental team devoted to this initiative, we set out to know our readers, to find out what they thought of us and to understand what that meant for The Seattle Times.

"We used the 1996 centennial celebration as the starting point for our branding study," said Bob Blethen, Vice President of Marketing. "In order to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the company, we had to decide how we wanted to talk about ourselves."

As a trustworthy source of quality news and information for over a century, The Seattle Times enjoyed a strong brand recognition. We spent a great deal of time and resources to determine how to express that identity to our readers.

We completed a definitive brand strategy document in 1999. In it, we created a set of "brand values," which represent what we stand for in the marketplace. Our brand values are:

Proven, reliable source of information
Contemporary and convenient
Relevant
Flexible & accessible partner
Committed to serving the community through quality journalism

This is what we stand for in our marketplace. As we deliver on these values in everything we do, we will support our core values and reinforce the integrity of The Seattle Times brand.

"...treat employees well so they will put out a better newspaper so more readers will buy the paper which will give us more money so we can serve the community better and treat employees well so they will put out a better newspaper..."