MOVE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

It seems that Metro International is rolling out special summer editions of its dailies in coastal areas of France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The free papers are designed to attract advertisers by offering an opportunity to target 18 to 45-year-old consumers during the summer months.

According to Metro's head of global sales, Alistair Ballantyne, the move reflects the changing media consumption habits of readers in these markets over the summer.

The company stops publication of its daily editions in some urban centres during the vacation season.

Summer holidays are lethal for many European newspapers, but the British and German ones have discovered a few years ago that there was a big audience for their newspapers in many Mediterranean beach resorts.

So, they are printed there by local newspapers that make good money with these summer editions.

The same happens right now, all the year around, with many communities of retired people that have moved to south Europe.

Distribution flexibility is the name of the game.