All about our recent 'soft launch' of a revamped Sunday printed Democrat and Chronicle

Dear D&C Subscribers --

In the retail world, they have a term called a "soft launch."

What that generally means is that a store might open, or might reopen after a remodel, without much in the way of fanfare. These stores let customers find out for themselves what's new, often hoping that good word of mouth helps bring yet more customers inside.

And then, only then, do these stores put their marketing into hyperdrive, sometimes including testimonials from those customers who "discovered" the new offerings initially.

We've kind of, sort of done that with the Sunday printed edition of the Democrat and Chronicle. Way back on Aug. 4, we began giving readers of that edition a new look with new content features.

Among them:

• A front page dedicated to just one special, in-depth story, whether it be an investigation or explanatory journalism or a compelling read that speaks to what we call "sense of place" (in other words, stories that just scream "Rochester").
• An About the D&C Team page on Page 2A that features columns and photos by and about our journalists. The aim here is to offer a peek behind the curtain into what we do and how and why.
• An Inspiration page highlighting the good local residents do to help others and for the betterment of our communities. My favorite feature on this page is "Acts of Kindness" shared by you, our readers, about something that inspired you (on that note, please email me at mkilian@gannett.com if you'd like to suggest such an act of kindness for the D&C to feature).
• A Memories page featuring important elements of Greater Rochester's past, including ever-popular "Whatever Happened To..." feature stories.
• And a Sports Huddle sports cover story about either the Buffalo Bills or high school sports.

We've published quite a few of these new Sunday editions by now. I think this emailed reaction by one reader Each says it best about our commitment to serving Sunday readers in an era when printed newspapers are no longer a deadline medium: I applaud your refresh of the paper this morning!  I got my wife to start reading the D&C instead of the NY Times for the first time in years!

We welcome your feedback as well. And if you haven't read the Sunday newspaper in a long time, we recommend you go to a supermarket or pharmacy or convenience story and check it out! It's all part of our efforts to serve local audiences in an ever-changing news and information environment.

Each week, usually on Sunday evenings, we'll email you highlights of our reporting and videography created exclusively for our subscribers. And we'll share with you some "behind-the-scenes" tidbits on how such journalism comes to be.

Below are some other stories written only for our subscribers you may have missed this month.Thank you for your continuing support of local news in Rochester. We’re greatly appreciative.

Sincerely,

Michael KilianExecutive Editor

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: All about our recent 'soft launch' of a revamped Sunday printed Democrat and Chronicle