Readers of the Toronto Star across the Greater Toronto Area got a look at a new kind of deal between newsrooms and advertisers this month, as the paper tested a sponsorship model that has a brand underwrite free access to its journalism.
The Star is piloting an advertising arrangement that allows a single sponsor to pay for readers to bypass the paywall, according to News Media Canada. Sony Pictures is the first brand to take part, covering a full day of unlimited access to thestar.com as part of a campaign supporting The Social Reckoning.
The partnership goes beyond the free-access day. Sony also received full share of voice across display and pre-roll advertising on the site, sponsorship of two Star newsletters, and advertising space in the October 3 print edition of the Saturday Star.
The arrangement bundles print, digital, newsletters and access to the journalism itself into one package, giving the advertiser a much broader presence than a conventional ad placement would.
For the Star's parent company, the deal is a test of a wider strategy. Torstar says the partnership points to the potential for more what it calls full-ecosystem advertising opportunities, and forms part of its broader effort to build new revenue models that go beyond selling traditional ad inventory.
The push comes as newspapers across Canada look for ways to replace declining print advertising revenue, and as publishers experiment with bundling their products — websites, email newsletters and print editions — into single sponsorship deals for brands.
Media in Canada, which first reported the partnership, noted the story is available in full on its website with a subscription.
For GTA readers, the model raises the prospect of more days when the Star's paywall is lifted, paid for by a sponsor — though whether the format becomes a regular feature will depend on how the test performs for the companies involved.
