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WEHCO Media, Inc. Signs Partnership with Hearst’s LocalEdge™ to Offer Internet Marketing Services asLocal Digital Agency within Company’s Daily Newspaper Markets
Little Rock, AR and Buffalo, NY (February 1, 2013) –WEHCO Media Inc., has reached an agreement with LocalEdge™, a Hearst Media Services Company, to offer LocalEdge’s comprehensive suite of digital marketing solutions to local businesses in WEHCO’sdaily newspaper markets. Consultants will assist businesses under WEHCO’s new division branded,121 Digital Marketing™in Arkansas.
WEHCO has created 121 Digital Marketingto serve as its sales force for digital marketing. The digital products and services include: website and mobile website design and hosting, video production and integration, search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), mobile advertising including SMS (text) marketing, email marketing and social media development, display ad retargeting, press release syndication, reputation management and online development, as well as easy to understand reporting that demonstrates return on investment.
“There is a great demand for these services, but businesses want to work with someone they know and trust. By providingthese digital products andthe expertise we acquire through a LocalEdge partnership, westrengthenthe value of service and return our advertisers will experience,” said Conan Gallaty, executive vice president for digital at WEHCO Media, Inc. “The power of the platform this brings, in combination with our daily newspaper’s high-traffic websites,provides an unmatched ability for promoting local businesses and brands.”
WEHCO Media has 14 daily newspapers that will assist local businesses in their communities, including papers in Arkansas like The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette of Little Rock, The Banner-News of Magnolia, The Benton County Daily Record of Bentonville, The Camden Newsin Camden, The Eldorado News-Timesin Eldorado, The Northwest Arkansas Democrat GazetteThe Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville, The Rogers Morning News in Rogers, The Sentinel Record of Hot Springs, and The Springdale Morning News in Springdale. Outside of Arkansas, The News Tribuneof Jefferson City, Missouri,The Fulton Sun of Fulton, Missouri, The Times Free Press of Chattanooga, Tennessee and The Texarkana Gazette within Texas will also provide expertise with widely accepted internet marketing services.
The daily newspapers will also provide their online readership and local businesses within eachmarket the benefit of an integrated local search directory on the individual news’ sites.
Walter Hussman, Jr., President of WEHCO Media,said, “This allows us to provide web-based marketing solutions and more targeted one to one advertising for our customers. By partnering with LocalEdge, we can offer the latest and best technology.”
WEHCO Media joins a growing network of newspapers and advertising agencies that are LocalEdge partners within the LocalEdge Advantage Program including among others; the Albany Times Union, Connecticut Post, The Dallas Morning News -508 Digital, Houston Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Radius Group, Morris Communication’s - Main Street Digital, San Antonio Express-News, San Francisco Chronicle, seattlepi.com, and The New York Daily News.
“Online, mobile and social are becoming the first layer of essential characteristics for today’s local business owner to market themselves in acquiring new customers and maintaining a loyal base”, says Jeff Folckemer, President & CEO of LocalEdge™ and a SVP of Hearst Newspapers. “The LocalEdge Advantage Program supports great media companies like WEHCO Media with the technology, training and services necessary to help today’s business’s develop and mesh fundamental online strategies for achieving their goals”.
About LocalEdge
LocalEdge ( a Hearst Media Services Company, is a premier multi-media company leading the transition to web-based advertising for any size business. The organization has been in business for over 40 years and services customers nationwide.
Through the development of proprietary technology and partnerships with major search engines, social network sites and other leading tech-focused companies, LocalEdge offers a full line of digital marketing products that help its customers and business partners reach and interact with today's consumer.
Through a single-sign-on customer dashboard, LocalEdge enables customers to access digital products and proof-of-performance reporting within Internet marketing campaigns. Management tools allow the customer to preview, update and customize content as well as review and monitor analytics.
About WEHCO Media, Inc. WEHCO Media (Wehco.com) is a privately owned, diversified communications company with holdings in newspaper and magazine publishing, cable television and internet services. WEHCO Media operates 14 daily newspapers, 11 weekly newspapers, and 13 cable companies in six states. Ad Age named WEHCO Media among the 100 Leading Media Companies in 2012.
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For Inquiries to LocalEdge, A Hearst Media Services Company:
Chris Post
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
(716) 875-9100 ext. 80706
For Inquiries to WEHCO Media, Inc.:
Conan Gallaty
Executive Vice President for Digital
Office: (501) 378-3441
Cell: (501) 551-6557