Toronto paper tells its story with video

Everybody in the free daily newspaper industry should watch the five-minute promotional video the new Toronto evening paper "t.o.night" has created. Not only is the video an effective sales tool for t.o.night, it also makes case for why free dailies are popular with readers.

Toronto t.o.night started last September with newsboys and girls dressed in poorboy caps and white oxford shirts yelling "Extra! Extra!" as they handed out copies to people on the streets. As the video notes, the paper is owned by three local residents and therefore has a more independent view than chain papers. The video also shows how t.o.night fills a need in Toronto -- the city has six morning papers, but t.o.night is alone during the evening commute, serving up stories that happened earlier in the day.

"Evening free dailies have proven successful globally, especially in similar Commonwealth countries (ex: Australia, United Kingdom) countering the argument that commuters catch up on all their news on the Internet at work," t.o.night says on its website. "An evening newspaper catches the consumer right before they make their plans and purchases for the evening -- not 8-10 hrs. before. T.o.night is the last opportunity advertisers have to reach consumers directly before they make their final decisions."