''Headline Daily'' () was launched on 12 July 2005, by Sing Tao Newspaper Group Limited and became the second free Chinese-language newspaper published officially in Hong Kong ('' Metro Daily'' being the first). The paper is only distributed on weekdays and is aimed at the working class. The estimated average daily circulation of the paper is around 900,000-1,000,000. The paper provides local and international news as well as articles on business

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

Reasons for the launch of the newspaper

The newspaper was launched as the Chairman of

Sing Tao News Corporation Sing Tao News Corporation Limited (Sing Tao) is a Hong Kong media company, incorporated in Bermuda. It was formerly called Global China Group Holdings Limited. History The Group, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was founded ...

, Charles Ho Tsu Kwok (), felt there was room for the further development of free newspapers in Hong Kong in terms of content, distribution network and advertising formats. The pace of life in Hong Kong is so fast and people are so busy that ''Headline Daily'' was established to meet the people's needs by providing them with first-hand information on the hottest daily topics in a manner as concise and lively as possible, while attempting to portray a "positive" and "lively" image to readers. In terms of market competition, the ''Headline Daily'' was also launched in a bid to gain a greater market share of the territory's

advertising market A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined ...

for

and to explore a new source of income for the corporation.

Distribution

Daily issues are distributed during morning

peak hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour ( Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: ...

s from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays. It is distributed in more than 600 different places, among which there are now three fixed distribution media: McDonald's restaurants, KCR stations (except Tsim Sha Tsui East, Tai Wai, Racecourse and Sheung Shui Stations), and nearly 500 residential estates. Moreover, the papers are distributed at more than 100 fixed or non-fixed spots, including commercial buildings, bus/mini-bus stops and shopping malls all around Hong Kong. Readers may simply get a free issue from the eye-catching red shelves at most locations or from the staff at certain locations.

Readership

The newspaper targets the working population, who are usually too busy to read a large number of pages nor to read every piece of news in detail. However, these people are likely to grasp every chance to read newspapers for a short period when travelling or having breakfast. In August 2005, a market research survey was conducted by

Synovate Synovate was a market research company with more than 100 offices in 62 countries. It was acquired by Ipsos in 2011 which combined to be the third largest in the world. Company history Synovate was one of the largest firms specializing in custo ...

, comparing the readership of 3 free newspapers in Hong Kong. The result shows that in the first three weeks of August, ''Metropolis Daily'', ''Headline Daily'' and ''am730'' respectively achieved 16%, 18% and 8% of the market shares. ''Headline Daily'' gains the leading readership of 893,000, compared with ''Metropolis Daily's'' 820,000 and ''am730's'' 401,000.Circulation survey
, UCLA

"Headline Daily" shares news sources with the '' Sing Tao Daily''. The paper aims to present the most important news of the day in a concise way so as to provide readers with up-to-date, yet comprehensive, news and information on different areas in a short read. It usually has around 24 to 30 pages and has a layout similar to the following formats: *Headlines (i.e. coverpage; with daily information such as Marksix Result, Activities of the Day,

Lunar Calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...

and Weather Forecast) *Local News (with

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

) *China News *International news *Financial news (i.e. news on Real Estate, Business and stock market) *Sports news *Lifestyle (different topics for each day: Technology(Monday), Fashion(Tuesday), Shopping(Wednesday), Amusement(Thursday) and Food(Friday)) *Entertainment (local and international entertainment news, along with

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

Programme Schedule) *The remaining pages are used for advertisements. In a comment by Sing Tao chief executive Lo Wing-hung, he claimed that the average number of pages could be increased to 40 pages if its readership increases significantly over time. However, so far, more than three months after the first publication, the newspaper only consists of around 24 pages on the average.

Marketing strategies

''Headline Daily'' implements

marketing strategies Marketing strategy allows organizations to focus limited resources on best opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Strategic marketing emerged in the 1970s/80s as a distinct field of study, further buil ...

including: * ''"lucky draws"'' & ''" voting games"'' * ''"apple-shaped pellet"'': a massage device, which working class readers can use to relax themselves and relieve their stress, was once offered to readers along with their newspaper * ''"happy lucky reader"'': one reader is randomly chosen in public areas (e.g. in a MTR train) and awarded HK$500 on a daily basis Moreover, to extend the market to overseas, a softcopy version ''Headline Daily'' is made accessible on line.

Public relations

A 2021 Reuters Institute poll found that ''Headline Daily'' had a 53% trust rating from Hong Kong respondents, which was the fifth highest percentage out of 15 local media outlets surveyed. ''Headline Daily'' invites readers to submit news articles for publication in return for rewards as a sign of its co-operation with the public. According to th
official website
readers can become reporters for ''Headline Daily'' by handing in any information. While this information should be deemed to be news-worthy, other guidelines are provided on what type of news should be submitted. Particularly, the paper states that it has no interest in collecting any commentaries from the public. Meanwhile, the usage of any material submitted is solely dependent on the newspaper's discretion. The paper rewards any readers whose materials are published or utilised with a one-time sum of $100, regardless of how many times the paper uses these pieces of news.

References

Articles

*
Distribution the key for latest free daily paper
' – '' The Standard'', Mark Lee. *
Newspaper war won't affect us, says HKET
'- '' The Standard'', Wong Ka-chun. *
Hong Kong: Ming Pao shrugs off impact of free dailies
' –
AsiaMedia
', Frederick Yeung. *

' – ''Asia Review'', James Borton. *

' – ''JINN'', Coral Hui.

External links

* {{Newspapers in Hong Kong Chinese-language newspapers published in Hong Kong Free daily newspapers Publications established in 2005 Sing Tao News Corporation