Get to Know Metro: David Williams
Many of the region’s most talented publishers, marketing directors, writers and editors work for Metro. Here is just one of the many members of the Metro family: David Williams, Account Executive, Arts & Entertainment.
David Williams has been with Metro US for five years. He has previously worked at alternative newsweeklies and has been selling advertising for 17 years.
You have been a keen observer of the arts and entertainment scene in Philadelphia. What’s changed since you’ve been with Metro and where do you see the industry going?
These days, there are so many more opportunities for the arts and entertainment consumer! Some of it has to do with the city’s changing demographic landscape and some of it may just be a willingness of artists and promoters to strike out on their own.
The DIY spirit is alive and well from classical music performance groups to visual art galleries to puppet theatre. Of course, with all of these options for patrons, the promoters themselves need to work harder to stand out.
Philadelphia is one of the more competitive media markets around with a number of newspapers, magazines and websites all competing for readers and advertisers. How is Metro different from the others?
Among the print venues in town, Metro is the only one with a readership that’s growing, and a median age that’s becoming younger! It’s unheard of, really, but Nielsen Scarborough backs it up.
Arts groups have plenty of ways to “preach to the converted”—through their mailing lists, social media, etc.—but Metro provides the only means in town to tap such a large potential new audience among young professionals. Our distribution plan gets the papers into these hands, and our editorial strength keeps them coming back the next day and the next.
How do print and online advertising differ? And why should anyone consider doing both?
Print is about covering an audience that is defined by our circulation boundaries, demographics and interest levels. Although Metro print is fortunately unmatched in my category, digital goes even further, with the ability to reach any audience, anywhere at any time. For example, we can help a client who wants to reach 25-34 year-old females with an interest in theatre and we can further narrow the list by zip code.
Where do you see Metro going in the next five years?
This model is so strong that I could easily see us expanding into other metropolitan areas. Our digital and print sides will become so integrated that the reader won’t know where one ends and the other begins. People are already leading “metro lives;” in five years they’ll take it more for granted.
Contact David Williams
215.717.2611
