Advertisers will have better creative options as of 2010, thanks to a deal announced yesterday by the Globe and Mail, publisher/CEO Phillip Crawley tells MiC.

The 18-year deal with Transcontinental, which will take effect after the expiration of the current printing contracts, will enable the newspaper to print in full colour on all pages.

‘[Advertisers] will see that the Globe has gained a competitive advantage over what other people can offer in terms of advertising options,’ Crawley explains. ‘And we’ll be making maximum use of the colour opportunity.’

In embracing new technologies, the deal can also be seen as a vote of confidence by the Globe in the future of print, Crawley adds. ‘Rupert Murdoch has just spent £650 million on three new plants to print his four national newspapers, so he’s betting on a long future for his newspapers in the UK,’ he says. ‘And access to colour on every page is becoming the norm. We wanted to be at the cutting edge of whatever was happening with the new print technology.’

Crawley adds that the Globe‘s editorial and advertising teams are already beginning to look into different ways of taking advantage of the new capabilities offered by Transcon’s next-generation presses – and that the result will likely include a format development for the paper in 2010 or the following year. ‘We wanted to discuss different kinds of formats, better deadlines, all of those things that matter to both readers and advertisers.’