There’s a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the owner of a castle explains to his disinterested son how he went against general consensus by building a castle on a swamp.

“When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. And that one sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Son, the strongest castle in all of England.”

Here’s the scene in full:

This scene sprung to mind when the news broke this week that the recently-launched Trinity Mirror newspaper, the New Day, was to close after just several weeks in operation.

It was a well-intentioned idea, targeting the millions of people who have apparently stopped buying newspapers in the past few years. However, it’s safe to say it prompted more than a few raised eyebrows. Printed news feels like a medium on the wane: sales are in decline, and the Independent had very recently announced that it was going digital only.

Everyone, from seasoned industry commentators to your average person on the street, felt like it was a very brave move, to put it mildly. It’s difficult to turn a profit from printed news – advertising revenue is down, it’s too slow off the mark for today’s audiences, and simply isn’t delivered in the medium audiences prefer, which is via their PC, laptop, phone or tablet.

Plus, at Podium we have found that even a simple social media campaign can have a more effective reach, and deliver better results, than an expensive run of print advertising.

Sometimes it’s good to go against the grain: you might surprise people and achieve unexpected success. Or, if you stick with it, you might end up with a solidly-built castle. Sometimes, though, popular opinion is popular for a reason. Sadly, New Day was a relic from day one, and was doomed to fail from the start.

 

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