Phantom Weekly?

Posted by Andrew Bentham at Fri, 12/02/2010 - 11:30am in Corporate commentary

As the London Lite and The London Paper disappeared the way of John Terry's captaincy, many wondered what would fill the gap left in commuters' lives. Would we have to talk to each other? Could we manage without titbits on WAGs' shopping habits? Is that a Metro on the floor over there?

The launch of The London Weekly has been met with derision, scorn and a comparison to a poor student paper, spelling mistakes and typos galore. As the scorn developed and the ABCs of 250k were released, many began to wonder, who has actually seen this publication? What is it? Well, as The Guardian reported, not too many people really know.

It's a bit of Reality TV Syndrome; we're fascinated by car crash media and more than a little intrigued by flicking through a misspelled paper with a sardonic smile - and it's better than checking your horoscope in the London Lite.

So, is it a PR disaster? Well, no; more a spelling mistake gone public. But had they launched the paper and purposefully held off from distribution, then it could well have led to a word of mouth buzz that would have built up excitement and drama surrounding the release. It could have been quite a fun twist on traditional launches. However, to create such a buzz, the content has to stand up to scrutiny and, alas, it seems The London Weekly has not.

But, it is filling column inches with discussions on whether it even exists, and, while the average commuter is simply looking to fill a 20 minute commute and avoid eye contact, it could still be a success. With a strong PR campaign backing the launch (and sub editing) it could have got off to a strong start. Now let's see if it can fight the fires its own editorial staff has started.

Have a look at PR Week, where my colleague, Gary Cleland gives his thoughts on the publication. And make up your own mind by checking it out at their website.

Tagged with: The London Weekly