Media man's eye on Swansea

The Swansea media market has been strengthened by a new addition.

Eye on Gorseinon is a free magazine targeting one of the city's great working class satellite towns.

It's just out and is a mix of traditional advertising and paid-for promotional editorial.

Succeeded

The man behind it is Nigel Dudley who, for the past few years, has succeeded with similar formats in the Swansea Valley (with Valley View) and a little further east with Neath Gnolledge.

Those living in Gorseinon should soon see a copy flutter through their letter boxes.

Others will be able to pick up a copy on advertisers' premises and at other high-footfall places.

Reinvention

Nigel has an interesting concept and fits nicely into the grassroots scene for local media reinvention.

Others - such as the Pontardawe-based Community Magazines, the Mumbles and West Swansea Community Times titles, and Lesley Williams' The Bay magazine, perform a similar function in a variety of ways. A surprisingly wide variety considering their reasonably narrow briefs.

Eye on Gorseinon debut advertisers, incidentally, include Swansea solicitor Peter Lynn and Partners, charity The Pettifor Trust, Bartlett Joinery and Carpentry and Grovesend-based Jenkins Photography.

Nigel's Gnolledge worth harnessing

Nigel Dudley is out and about with photographer Andrew Jenkins today as the new editions of Neath Gnolledge and Valley View are put together.
However, that didn't stop Nigel giving Media Master a progress report this morning.
His message was simple: Media advertising can work wonders.
He's very excited about the call-tracker facility he offers advertisers - it allows them to gauge the response rate to ads in the two Neath Port Talbot glossies.
Nigel told me: "The two titles have created 318 phone inquiries in the past three weeks - more than six hours of inbound calls.
"More than 100 phone leads are being generated every week for local businesses."
Of course, inquiries are also generated through websites and walk-ins.
Hypnotherapist Sue Preston said: "I've already had two bookings as a direct result of the feature/advert in the latest Neath Gnolledge.
"Most clients book an average of six sessions with me, as well as recommendations to friends and family, so my feature/advert paid for itself in the first week."
Next issues due out: 3 May. The May/June Neath Gnolledge will feature Peter Morgan Estate Agents on the cover and inside. They are about to celebrate their 30th anniversary of business in Neath.

Nigel and Andrew head off on photo odyssey

A busy day approaches for photographer Andrew Jenkins and the man behind glossy independent publications Neath Gnolledge and Valley View.
The snapper - a former military man, don't you know - is to accompany Nigel Dudley as material is gathered for the publications' forthcoming editions.
Nigel tells me: "Tuesday 30 March sees me and Andrew spend the day taking professional photographs of businesses in our next issues.
"They're due out for 3 May ... and I'm also planning a new Port Talbot issue.
"I have a number of appointments set up with new and existing customers. I've invited those who need new photos of the people and teams in their business to contact me.
"My belief is that people buy from people more than from anything else. The Neath Gnolledge and Valley View are set up to give background information about the people within the local businesses we promote.
"We illustrate how they are different, what they can add and why to choose them with real stories and testimonials.
"It all goes to build up a picture of the business, the people involved and who they are."
Another key feature of Nigel's commercial offering is that he puts a call tracking feature on the businesses that request it.
With call tracking, dialled numbers can be used in either customer after-sales or marketing campaigns.
Nigel's a decent guy so if you'd like to do business with the Neath Port Talbot area, give him a shout - 01639 607 152, nigel@neathgnolledge.com.