The New York Times, Manila

The New York Times made the front page of Manila Bulletin this weekend…literally. They generated the news that was on the cover. They emphasized it too. The paper was glossy and immaculately white. The rest of the newspaper was made of the dishwater white, finger-smudging surface that is typical of Philippine dailies. One couldn’t help but think: "Wow…New York Times pretty." Even if you didn’t read anything, you’d still come out with a good impression of the Times.

So now we are seeing the newspaper brand that has such a
popular online presence starting to stretch its physical form into emerging economies, using its content as its own equity building advertising tool. Manila is the perfect target. Here, all the major publications are still in denial about the need to build a real online presence. News sites here are embarrassingly backwards by choice. Content on the web can be purposely delayed for days and archiving is rare (n.b. broken link hell).