Manila Standard Today to relaunch as The New Standard in 2015

Local broadsheet Manila Standard Today (MST) will be changing its name to The New Standard following a brand relaunch scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.The initiative will kick off on the 28th founding anniversary of MST on 14 March. In addition to the new name, the refresh will also change the size and layout of the newspaper to a more compact tallboy format of 11 inches by 17 inches.The New Standard will be larger than a tabloid but smaller than a traditional broadsheet and will have a photo dominate the frontpage to draw the reader’s attention. The new size will be implemented starting February, according to a report from MST Columnist Jenny Ortuoste.With minimal details, Ortuoste also shared that MST will also be entering the digital arena with an online platform called The Social Standard, which is expected to become a news aggregator and portal that will facilitate comments and communities inspired by MST content.This marks as the second brand refresh of MST since it began in February 1987, founded by Manuel Elizalde. First known as The Manila Standard, it merged with another newspaper, Today, in March 2005, deemed to be the first newspaper merger in the Philippines.MST is currently owned by Leyte Congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, following the sale of the majority stake previously owned by businessman Enrique Razon back in 2010. Razon bought MST in 1997 from the Yuchengco group.