Caxton has launched the Eyethu Zululand newspaper as a replacement for the discontinued Eshowe Watch. This forms part of a strategic realignment of the Caxton group’s newspapers in the region, underpinned by solid research and bolstered by the phenomenal growth in commercial activity in the area, with four shopping centres and two bus ranks being opened during the last two years.
As a result of its revitalised presence in the KwaZulu-Natal community market, the new Eyethu Zululand publication will feature an expanded footprint, extending from the Eshowe and Hlabisa areas to the all important retail centres of Melmouth, Ulundi and Nongoma.
As a free English/Zulu newspaper, it will be distributed every Thursday with a print order of 24 400. This brings the total Eyethu package of nine newspapers combined to 269 400 free, unduplicated copies per week.
NAB (the Newspaper Advertising Bureau) will be responsible for the national advertising sales of the paper. “We’re excited and proud to be representing Eyethu Zululand – a truly local newspaper catering for the burgeoning middle class in the area and an addition to the powerful Eyethu brand,” says joint MD of NAB, John Bowles.
In terms of the formation of the broader Eyethu brand, Bowles says this comes on the back of vernacular community newspapers coming into their own during the last year. This is in sharp contrast to the declining trend revealed when analysing the circulation performance of daily and weekend newspapers over the past 10 years.
“One of the only places that have bucked this trend is KwaZulu Natal and in light of this, we decided to align our strategy with the trends that we were seeing. Eyethu was therefore an opportunity to market one brand to one province but with unique editions for unique communities,” he explains.
