Have you ever wondered how press monitoring works at Auxipress? Dive into the story of Auxipress and discover how we have developed our media intelligence expertise over the years!
Once upon a time, at Auxipress
It all began in 1919, the year Auxipress was founded. At that time, the press was not digitized, so all newspapers and magazines had to be ordered to not miss any information. In addition, several newspapers were ordered in multiple copies depending on the number of clients. It often happened that we received between 2 and 12 copies of the same newspaper.
As soon as all these newspapers were received, it was time to read. In the past, Auxipress had a dozen readers who memorized the requests and orders of each customer and used handwritten reading cards. All the articles from all the newspapers had to be read, from the first page to the last, and customers’ keywords and mentions were manually identified.
The clash of the titans
Before the digital era, the printed press was much more prominent. There were many more titles than there are now, and many more articles: over 50% more content than today! In addition, Auxipress’ customer base was much larger. Currently, we have more than 800 renowned clients, including Deloitte, Ikea, L’Oréal, Infrabel, Engie, Disneyland Paris, pharma.be, and many others. However, in our early days, we mainly helped small local businesses, totalling over 2,000 clients. It was a titanic task for our team!
Auxipress Scissorhands
When the reading work was done, all annotated newspapers were taken to our cutters. Each relevant article was then cut by hand and glued onto a white A4 sheet. This method was called “clipping“. Fun fact: this term is still used by our readers, despite the digitization! All information on the source, journalist, date, etc. was listed on a banner at the top of the page.
Back to the future !
Auxipress’ digitization began in 1993 with the implementation of the electronic service. Transitioning to this technical innovation went smoothly, but the main challenge was changing the team’s habits. They had been doing things the same way for nearly 75 years. Moreover, new obstacles emerged, particularly with copyright issues related to the digital reproduction of articles. Despite these challenges, Auxipress managed to innovate and maintain a high-quality monitoring service thanks to our experts.
The jungle of papers
Today, press reviews are done very differently. To navigate the journalistic jungle more efficiently, choices had to be made: we chose to prioritize reliable sources over popular ones.
Our readers constantly check our customers’ instructions before starting the day:
- First, the general instructions for all readers, to ensure that each reader follows the same guidelines.
- Then, the different instructions of different customers on the keywords to be monitored, which can change from one day to the next.
Fifteen years ago, 90% of the orders were standardized. Now each order is almost entirely customizable. It is also possible to only follow a specific selection of sources if the customer requests it, whether for print or web sources. For example, it is possible to only request articles from the 20 most relevant sources in Belgium. It all depends on the client’s needs, and Auxipress adapts!
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, fishing for information
For print media, the main publishers provide us with all the content from their reading portfolio. We also subscribe to most of the print media. This way, we guarantee that our readers have uninterrupted access to all sources, ensuring that no information slips through the cracks, all while avoiding being drowned in the sheer volume of information!
Auxipress, your personalized Mr. Postman
As soon as all articles are read, our customers receive a press review, including all the essential information for each article: source, date, journalist, photo(s), … Most customers receive this review by e-mail in the morning.
Early deliveries are possible if needed. We also offer multimedia press reviews, combining print, web, and RTV (radio and TV). They can be classified by articles or alerts as well. The articles are additionally accessible on our Universal Insights platform, which offers social media monitoring as well. The format is really tailored to the customer’s preference. Here is an example of an article from one of our press reviews:
May the AI be with you!
Auxipress is constantly looking out for innovation. That is why we believe that the best way to leverage the mountain of information we collect is by using hybrid intelligence, that is, combining technology and human expertise. Artificial intelligence is being implemented at Auxipress. In fact, for the monitoring, we use AI to assist in selection during reading. The only possible scenario is that artificial intelligence will increasingly integrate into our expertise, improving our services continuously. Since day one, the story of Auxipress reflects our sincere commitment to providing quality press reviews, a mission that will guide our leadership in media intelligence in the future.
