APN, the company that owns Hawke's Bay Today, has a new name, NZME..
From today the businesses formerly known as APN NZ, TRN and GrabOne are unifying their print, radio, digital and e-commerce brands under one new, overarching brand.
The relaunch is the next major step in NZME. fully realising the power of its content, audience and eCommerce capabilities and is designed to maximise the New Zealand group's combined asset potential.
NZME., or "N-Zed me", stands for New Zealand Media and Entertainment.
"Our combined assets have exceptional reach in the New Zealand market with 2.9million people connecting with our brands every week," said chief executive officer Jane Hastings.
"As NZME. we will be able to leverage that advantage to more effectively connect advertisers with audiences across the country."
Ninety one per cent of large business owners and 87 per cent of other business owners engage with NZME.'s platforms and nine in 10 people in Hawke's Bay engage with NZME.'s media products. Each month NZME.'s news brands reach 2.2 million Kiwis while their sport and entertainment brands reach 1.1 million and 2.7 million Kiwis respectively.
"While APN NZ and The Radio Network will become NZME., our much-loved brands don't change," Hastings said.
"For example GrabOne is still GrabOne, NewstalkZB is still NewstalkZB and the New Zealand Herald is still the New Zealand Herald. Only where you had previously seen APN NZ or TRN will you now see NZME. This will bring all of our platforms together to clearly establish us as the preferred news, sport and entertainment destination for New Zealanders."
Hastings said the "me" in NZME. perfectly reflected that NZME.'s brands and people were always at the centre of what was going on. "NZME. also recognises that New Zealanders want a New Zealand perspective. They want to be connected to the content they want, the way they want it and when they want it. That's what we give them," Hastings said.
She pointed to the integration of the New Zealand businesses being an important part of a new business strategy that focused on fully realising the power of NZME.'s combined content, audience and eCommerce capabilities.
"We are committed to being multiplatform, to being the biggest creators of locally produced news, sport and entertainment in the country whilst connecting with the best international content.
"NZME. is uniquely positioned to deliver relevant and vertically integrated content. We can provide the innovation and solutions our advertisers need to connect with our audiences so they can better market their brands, products and services," Hastings said.
"Subscribers to the Herald and our regional newspapers will continue to have their newspapers delivered each day and there will be no change to their billing at this time."
The company's new corporate website can be accessed from today at nzme.co.nz.