In 1980, CEO Allen Neuharth, met with task force members to discuss his vision for marketing an innovation and unique newspaper. Neuharth’s vision of USA Today was to create a newspaper that would be an informational source to provide more news about several subjects in less time. Researchers suggested that USA Today should target achievement-oriented men in professional and management positions who were frequent newspaper readers and traveled regularly. USA Today’s competition, the New York Times, targeted business intellectuals and policy makers. The Wall Street Journal targeted business leaders (Anderson, 2003).

USA Today debuted in 1982, and achieved accelerated success due to its creative format. USA Today was the first national newspaper written in shorter pieces, color photos, and graphs. USA Today was not the traditional newspaper. Circulation of USA Today grew very rapidly from roughly 350,000 in 1982 to approximately 2.3 million today. Designed for the TV Generation, USA Today created for easy access and quick comprehension.
USA Today was not traditional and critics provided their feedback. The critics did not like the paper’s short news stories, colorful graphics and casual writing style. The paper was not considered serious, but readers loved it. Despite the criticism, USA Today’s circulation passed 1.4 million by 1985. The cover price increased to 50 cents. USA Today had become the second largest paper in the country. USA Today was not profitable in the first five years. By 1993, the company was profitable and a year later, the profits doubled to about $10 million (Anderson, 2003).
USA Today was always thinking of strategic marketing strategies to remain competitive. For example, the paper introduced the business traveler. Business travelers had access to the paper while traveling frequently on business trips. USA Today’s competition, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal began mimicking USA Today’s creative paper design. To stay ahead of the competition, USA Today decided to become more serious in their writing. The paper started to write about serious world issues. Gannet incorporate new products such as expert information phone numbers, opinion polls, and a high school Academic program. Due to the internet becoming more present in the late 1990s, the Money section focused on technology issues. Gannet also decided to redesign the paper to make it easier to read and slimmer for tight spaces. USA today also changed their advertisement strategy by providing different advertisement options to businesses and selling bulk papers at discounted prices to hotels, airlines and customers. USA Today was launched online and provided to customers for a small fee. Gannet realized technology was rapidly changing and it was important to launch the paper online to remain competitive. Gannet decided to launch another revenue generator – pay per view archived services. USA Today extended its advertising by travelling to different states promoting the paper. USA Today decided to send copies of the paper overseas to the troops. USA Today International is available in more than ninety companies. Previously, USA Today was only available in the United States.
USA Today was launched online and provided to customers for a small fee. Gannet realized technology was rapidly changing and it was important to launch the paper online to remain competitive. Gannet decided to launch another revenue generator – pay per view archived services ((Anderson, 2003).
Although most newspapers are available online and