ST. LOUIS – Richmond.com launched a new version of its Web site in April 2009. Associated Geos recently talked with GM Michael Fibison of Central Virginia Media General on its acquisition of the Web site brand and how they will change the approach to the GeoDomain.

Associated Geos: You just launched the new Richmond.com. How did Central Virginia Media General get involved with it? What new features do you want to highlight?
Michael Fibison: We acquired Richmond.com from a local private investment firm in Oct. 2008. We launched a new version of the site in April 2009. In addition to fairly dramatic cosmetic changes informed by community research and a Northern Virginia design firm, we introduced a complete strategic shift in the focus for the Web site.

Aggregation is the common denominator among those changes. Three key areas now are powered via aggregation or scraping from community sites. Those include our entertainment calendar, local news and community information and our classified products.

By leveraging data already available online in those key areas in the community, Richmond.com becomes something larger and more relevant for the community.

Additionally, we’ve converted a business directory into an upgraded version that allows us to highlight key community partnerships including the Retail Merchants Association and the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce with a business directory.

AG: When were you or the company first introduced to the GeoDomain business? What interested you about it?
MF: In Richmond, Richmond.com had been a fairly strong brand and adversary to our core business, which is a newspaper Web site. We had launched a brand to compete against Richmond.com about two years ago called inRich.com.

We were aggressively looking to break that brand out from the newspaper when the acquisition opportunity came along. Timing is everything. The acquisition opportunity came at the perfect time as we were resurfacing our core newspaper Web site TimesDispatch.com and looking to differentiate inRich.com.

Because of the strong brand that had been built with Richmond.com, we were very excited to be able to take the brand even further. Our vision for the site is to become the dominant place for Richmonders and visitors to find out what’s going on in the community and how to live well in Richmond.

AG: What kind of user experiences do you think are unique to Richmond.com?
MF: One thing that is unique to Richmond.com in comparison to other local media is that we added a social media aspect that is in a beta format.

Our social area is meant to connect the site to the social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace. We are learning from how our users are interacting with the site. In this area, users can create profiles, submit photos and comment on stories.

For us, it’s a way to integrate many of the Web 2.0 functions we see on some of the leading media Web sites on a local basis. Our strategy is to be complementary to the social media sites and to provide ownership of our site. We have more than 2,300 profiles now with 40 groups that have been created on the site.

AG: Aside from having the designation Richmond.com, what ways are you getting your brand out there in competition with other Richmond media?
MF: We did a comprehensive marketing launch plan using local ad agency Madison+Main. It focused on traditional print media (leveraging our relationship with the larger corporation), radio and social media including advertising on Facebook and Google.

Our print campaign featured a “shock and awe” strategy that challenged newspaper readers with full-page, full-color ads promoting Richmond.com’s new look. It used nude models. That got the buzz going in the fairly conservative Richmond market. We then followed that with features and benefits positioning the site as the place to go to find out what’s going on in the Richmond market.

We also did a ton of guerilla marketing including hanging our brand on overpasses and baseball diamond fences around the community. That really got noticed. We continue to leverage a ton of events and festivals and are doing a lot to simply be at as many events as possible. We are leveraging our business relationships to speak about the new site at various events.

AG: What are the advantages of being part of a network like Associated Geos?
MF: For us, one of the key benefits was the ability to leverage the relationship with Apartments.com in our rental area. This is a key area of usage for our younger audience. We feel it’s a core offering that we wouldn’t be able to replace. Having worked with Apartments.com in other markets, I know we wouldn’t be able to leverage a relationship with them individually.

AG: What type of balance for Richmond.com do you try to work out between handling sales and marketing versus content and production?
MF: In my role, I’ve got the advantage of having fantastic directors handling sales and marketing and content and production. It’s fairly easy to navigate between the two for me. However, in today’s environment, the sales and marketing of the site tend to be the primary area of focus for someone in my position.

AG: What type of interface do you have with other local media Web sites (newspapers, broadcast, etc.)? How do these relationships help you to compete with similar Web sites in the marketplace?
MF: We are fairly unique in that our parent corporation also owns the dominant daily newspaper in this market. That has been a tremendous benefit for the marketing of the site. However, it also was a challenge for transitioning the product.

For example, the site had a fairly loyal crowd who went there for an alternative view to the mainstream media. We worked hard to make certain that the community understood that we didn’t want to silence that voice. Instead, we wanted to amplify that voice and provide a bigger stage for those viewpoints.

AG: What type of services do you think a GeoDomain can offer to increase ad revenue and traffic that were once the exclusive territory of traditional media?
MF: I believe the business listings and directory provide a tremendous avenue to go after traditional yellow-book revenue. We’ve made some key community partnerships to enhance the use of that area. Additionally, we still do a modest amount of Web site development work for various community groups.

That relationship has allowed us to take media dollars out of the traditional players. For example, in working with a local bank, we are able to upgrade their Web site and also offer them a media campaign at a reduced price. Because of that relationship with them, they are more likely to spend on media with us.

AG: How does having regular neighborhood news (“hyperlocal”) help your traffic on Richmond.com?
MF: While neighborhood news is a smaller part of our overall audience profile, I believe it’s critical and growing. We work with a vendor named Outside.In to aggregate local blogs, news from traditional media and community groups.

This news and information is then plotted to a map with pinpoints. This creates an interesting way to digest news and information from your local area. We see this as an evolving area of extreme importance for our relevance to the community.

AG: What is your biggest initiative for 2009?
MF: Our relaunch of the site onto a new platform, introduction of a coherent classified advertising strategy, introduction of a tremendous new community calendar and an unconventional branding campaign are things we’ve already accomplished in 2009.

Preserving the core audience, which I believe we have done, and expanding our audience base while increasing our revenue share in the market are the umbrella initiatives we are operating under. We will continue to execute on a channel-based strategy to expand the site overall.

Up next we have travel and a visitor’s guide.

AG: What activities or hobbies spark your interest outside of work?
MF: Outside of work, I like to read about innovation and keep up with communication studies. I recently completed my doctorate in communications from the University of Minnesota. I like to keep in touch with the literature that I think helps inform my day-to-day responsibilities. That and a long walk with my wife and a good bottle of wine keep me primed.