Newspaper & Mailroom

Herald-Tribune Licenses Creative Loafing Sarasota Brand

Wednesday 15. December 2010 - In an innovative deal that recognizes the importance of the brand, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a New York Times Company Regional Media Group publication, has licensed Creative Loafing (CL) Sarasota for use on products for its Sarasota newspaper audience.

“Creative Loafing’s strength has always been its coverage of the arts, culture, entertainment and politics in Sarasota,” said Marty Petty, CEO of Creative Loafing Inc. “We are excited that the Herald-Tribune understands the appeal of Creative Loafing to its Sarasota audience and has decided to license the brand name for its own products. In a market the size of Sarasota’s, this is a creative way to speak directly to Creative Loafing’s audience with a complementary product.”
Effective December 17, 2010, Creative Loafing Sarasota no longer will be published by Creative Loafing Inc., the Tampa-based company that continues to publish prominent city weeklies and their associated Web sites in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago (Chicago Reader), Tampa and Washington, D.C. (Washington City Paper). Creative Loafing Sarasota was founded in 1998 as the Weekly Planet and became Creative Loafing Sarasota in 2006.
“Creative Loafing is a perfect complement to our suite of TICKET entertainment products, which will include a new online portal and mobile features that we are rolling out in early 2011,” Herald-Tribune publisher Diane McFarlin said. “We will combine the best of Creative Loafing with the best of TICKET to create the most comprehensive source of entertainment news and information in this market.”
The TICKET/CL entertainment guide will be distributed at retail and entertainment venues. Locations will include those where Creative Loafing has traditionally been available, plus new locations.
The Herald-Tribune Media Group, now in its 85th year, includes:
A daily newspaper with four local daily editions that also distribute signature products such as TICKET, Food & Wine, Health + Fitness and Business Weekly;
HeraldTribune.com, the market’s largest local media Internet site; YourSarasota.com, an activities site for tourists and locals alike; and IbisEye.com, an award-winning hurricane tracking site;
Herald-Tribune Direct, a direct marketing service built on the most extensive local database ever compiled, delivering the most reliable targeted mail campaigns in the market;
Five special magazines that reflect the Sarasota way of life.