By Gilbert Hoffman
Northeast News
Your Brand is your Identity said Jack Sweeney, publisher of the Houston Chronicle, to a group of business persons at the luncheon of the North Houston Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce. It is your companys identity, and its most valuable asset.
The event was held in the dining room of the Sam Houston Race Park, last Thursday June 14. Sweeney was the featured speaker, on the subject of Branding your Business. He asked, Is your company ready to grow? and then made a full force presentation on how media has changed, and newspapers are now the new marketing medium, with multiple products that can help your company in numerous and varied media. To underscore this, the Chronicle is pushing a new slogan, Are you Ready for Today? he said.
Sweeney has been with the Chronicle 27 years, and call the paper your marketing partner.
In spite of many new technologies for getting your news, Sweeney emphasized that newspapers are the only organizations with hundreds of staff covering the local news, day in and day out. No one else, he said, covers all the local events, meetings, school events, sports, clubs, churches, and more. Sweeney pointed out that the Chronicle publishes 17 neighborhood editions, as well as the daily city paper.
He said it is important for good citizens to be readers, and to be informed on issues and to participate in their governments.
However, one of the biggest reasons people read newspapers is for their advertising information.
About 100 persons attended the luncheon, and Sweeney answered questions after his talk. He mentioned that the letters and op-ed sections give both sides to opinions and news stories. He spoke about the Chronicles participation in schools, providing up to 40,000 papers to classrooms every day, and a curriculum guide to help students understand the news.
The luncheon was hosted by the Sam Houston Race Park, with NHG Chamber president Reggie Gray and Chairman Bill Ginder acting as emcees.
Also included in the events was a mini-Expo, with local businesses having information booths.