When advertisers consider the media mix, they consider all the options and the pros and cons of each. At first glance you might think that a change in postal rates would benefit newspapers, but it’s not that clear. “It’s a mixed bag for newspapers generally,” says the Newspaper Association of America’s senior vice president of public policy, Paul Boyle. “Periodicals really get slammed with an 8% increase, so any newspaper that’s mailing its product is not going to be pleased.” On the other hand, the Postal Service is increasing the rate for most newspaper TMC (total market coverage) products weighting four ounces or more. It will go up by 4%, lower than the increase for standard mail, he notes. And because of complaints from the newspaper industry, the rates for the high-density mail rate that newspapers generally use for their TMCs were revised downward last July. Those products will now also become eligible for the USPS’s volume incentive program, which rebates money if a certain volume of mailing is exceeded. Therefore, the postal rate hike may be “a wash” for newspapers who are still struggling. The lack of targeted ads and declining readership is likely the motivating factor of newspapers offering services. Following in the footsteps of newspaper publishers Gannett and Hearst, Tribune Co. is launching its own marketing services operation. The unit will be geared toward small and medium sized businesses, offering social media strategy, search engine optimization, and digital marketing consulting. Bill Adee, the Chicago Tribune's VP for digital will head up the unit, named 435 Digital Services after Tribune's Chicago street address. The operation will launch with around 10 staffers, who will be moved from the newspapers existing teams. In an interview with ClickZ, Adee said the operation will build upon Tribune's online experiences such as its blog site ChicagoNow. "We learned talking to some of our advertisers that they wanted to know more about social media, and it dawned on us that an opportunity existed," he said. "We already have relationships with a range of smaller and local advertisers through our print properties. Some aren't as well versed in digital as others, and we hope to help them move to digital," he added. This is an interesting new development. As if there was not enough of a controversy with printers offering marketing services now newspapers will be offering marketing services too. I am wondering how marketing companies who often influence print media buying decisions will react to this new competition? And more importantly will offering marketing services help newspapers survive? Or is it too little too late? Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research.