News Media Outlook€¦ · Dominant in digital ad sales Latest “boogeymen” for media Far more...

News Media OutlookThe Indispensability of News Brands

Earl J. WilkinsonExecutive Director and CEO

International News Media Association (INMA)@earljwilkinson

Journalism savior?

Trump and truthU.S. presidential election exclamation point (!) on 30 years of rising distrust in media (Trump more popular than media)

Total rejection of newspaper endorsements of Hillary Clinton

News brands disconnected from working class (polls can’t “find” them)

There is no “mainstream,” only bubbles/echo chambers

Not “left vs. right,” but “establishment vs. non-establishment” (income, education, relation with institutions)

Perfect storm changing news ecosystemFacebook: platform that wants to be agnostic, serving up algorithm-driven info

Opinion Web sites: fast-emerging opinion-driven Web sites masquerading as news sites (Breitbart, Occupy Democrats)

Print traditions in digital: “he said, she said” journalism, passivity

Fake news: malicious propaganda machine turning “fake news” into weapons aimed at agnostic algorithm-driven platform

Assault on journalism by populists: Venezuela, Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, United States … anyone next?

Opportunity in chaosA wonderful excuse to talk about what you stand for (values-driven media)

A potential staff motivator, galvanizer

A wonderful excuse to push changes in journalism ecosystem

Opportunity for news brands to talk collectively

Opportunity to make Facebook a partner

May be a subscription opportunity, definitely opportunity to segment out influencers in audience base

What does your news brand stand for?

(Other than “quality” and “journalism”)

Vanity Fair: After Trump blast, 13,000 subscribers and 10,000 new Twitter followers in one day (subscriptions up 77,000)

The New York Times:Added 276,000 digital subscriptions post-Trump (more in 3 months than all of 2015 combined!)

The Wall Street Journal:Subscriber volume +300% on day after Trump election

Common messaging

Emerging brand values

Cox Media Group:Defending against “fake news” plays into political polarisation. Demonstrate value vs. “proclaim.”

Today’s presentationThe brand opportunity in chaos

Transformation: talk vs. reality

The changing ecosystem: platform, legacy, digital media

Big Data, AI, and beyond

Christmas Tree: distributed content, paywalls, WhatsApp, IR

Conclusion

TRANSFORMATION:TALK VS. REALITY

Establishing platform-agnostic brands and personalities

Harnessing data: decisions, personalisation, knowledge

Smarter audience and product segmentation

Content buckets and platform specialists

Hiring and training: Multi-media skill sets

Talent-friendly workforce: flat walls, ideation

Commitment to constant experimentation

Brands, data, audiences, culture

TRANSFORMATION: TALK VS. REALITY

Readership relationship becoming click-transactional

Too many companies failing to on-ramp to data highway

Print cultures and print workforces like an anchor to change

CEOs frozen to make digital switch: money/time vs. short-term financial needs

Not positioning H.R. as proactive arm of company

The great stall


Chasing “bright shiny objects” without firm foundations

Programmatic and paywalls without data

Digital transformation without the right talent

Going further out on complexity limb without management

Not enough eyeballs on business opportunities, segmentations

Christmas Tree without a stand


THE CHANGING ECOSYSTEM:

PLATFORM, LEGACY, DIGITAL MEDIA

Platform Legacy Digital

Platform vs. legacyvs. digital

THE CHANGING ECOSYSTEM: PLATFORM, LEGACY, DIGITAL MEDIA

What is changing about platformsOverview

Invaluable traffic providers

Dominant in digital ad sales

Latest “boogeymen” for media

Far more friend than foe

Cooperation vs. leverage

Facebook

Seismic shift in viewing its role

Fake news and brand integrity

New outreach to publishers

Google

Deep into 3rd year of outreach

Digital News Initiative (Europe)

Success: mitigating anger


We live in an age of platforms: Facebook, Google, Amazon, Uber

Scale game: more users, better data, more relationships, better quality

Platform relevance = most signals back

Market position = new services with more relevance

Who will run basic banking by 2020: local bank or Facebook?

The race to be No. 3:Age of platforms


National news industries must unite to organise platforms

Platforms that take away friction in consuming content across brands

Platforms that make it easier to buy

Harvest and utilise data that can be used for personalisation(content + advertising)

Take on Facebook and Google on programmatic

Crucial: Advertisers love FB + Google, but don’t want a duopoly

The race to be No. 3:What we can do


BIG DATA, AI,AND BEYOND

3 ”lanes” of Big Data: From tasks to ubiquitySlow lane:tasksA/B testing of marketing messages

How to improve subscription retention

Serving up digital advertising

Dashboard communication tools

Best practice: Newsday, NRC Media, Agora

Middle lane:role expansionMoving beyond tasks to ubiquity

Data becoming central to decision-making

Experimenting with low-end AI

Best practices in creative use of data

Best practice: NYT, News Corp, Economist

Fast lane:ubiquityData is ubiquitous throughout company

How AI can replace human-centered data

Best practice: ESPN, HuffPost, Schibsted

BIG DATA, AI, AND BEYOND

Why data is necessary nowEvergreen

Ability to translate data to improved business outcomes

“Big Data” = fire hose of information, growing (danger of drowning)

Urgency today

Use today’s capital base to create data foundation for future

Lower cost of operations in long-term: companies will be smaller in future

Personalisation and relevance trends becoming the new normal for consumers

Shift from “blind” marketing to metrics marketing


How media use dataNewsday: Driving subscriber retention

Aftenposten: Subscription purchase prediction

Fairfax New Zealand: Driving audience growth and consumption

News Corp Australia: Shift how media buyers thinking of newspaper advertising

ESI Media, U.K.: Transforming digital sales strategy


Newsday subscriber focusEngagement habits for each subscriber and interactions with brand

Probability of canceling for each subscriber

Steps + stages of why and when subscribers cancel

Content types + consumption patterns predict retention, price elasticity

Audience revenue attributable to each content segment

Which subscribers will be influenced by retention treatments

Optimal personalised retention treatment for each subscriber


THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”

videoapps

native

paywalls

Distributed content

Rise of mobile messaging: WhatsApp

Paid content and paywalls

Immersive Reality: VR, AR,360-video

The “Christmas tree” IR

content

videoapps

paywalls

IR

content

native

Distributed content




The “Christmas tree”

The major players

Distribute or not distribute?

How to prioritise partnerships?

THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”: DISTRIBUTED CONTENT

Distribute or not distribute?

Want to connect to new audiences?

Want to monetise those audiences off-platform?

Want to lure audiences to your brand?

Want to dramatically improve mobile load times?

How to prioritise partnerships?

Google AMP: no-brainer, do it

Facebook Instant Articles: yes, but be clear on objectives

Apple News: questionable experience, metrics

Snapchat Discover: too early for most publishers

The great pullback

THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”: DISTRIBUTED CONTENT

videoapps

paywalls

IR

content

native

Distributed content





Rise of mobile messaging: WhatsAppIn 2016, WhatsApp surpassed SMS globally

Users shifting from general social platforms to micro-group social platforms with more intimate conversations with friends

User desire for more privacy controls

Surge in use of chat messaging on mobile – notably WhatsApp

Best practice: HNA, Metro Belgium, Clarín, BBC

THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”: WHATSAPP

videoapps

paywalls

IR

content

native

Distributed content





What we know now about paywallsRising consensus that media can’t give away content for free

Metered paywall

Freemium

Freemium hybrid: editor-select freemium

Shift among non-global brands away from metered paywall to freemium

Ongoing challenge implementing paid model in competitive environments

THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”: PAID CONTENT AND PAYWALLS

2 trains of thought: subscription vs. membershipFocus on narrow value of subscription offer

Focus on broader opportunities beyond content subscription:

Membership concept

Low-cost initial subscription

Upsell to exclusive events, activities

Focus on total annual revenue per person


Metered model strong for brands where journalism is overwhelming percentage of value proposition:

New York Times: 1.6 million Financial Times: 632,000

Wall Street Journal: 1 million The Economist: 345,000

Metered model requires scale that local brands can’t deliver

Metered model mostly under-performing for non-global, non-national brands


Why the shift from metered to freemium

Subscription triggersEmerging debate: What triggers a digital subscription?

Metered flaws:

• Why give away so many subscription-generating articles?

• Why lock thousands of articles if you know they won’t trigger subscriptions?

Translation: You have hit a paywall on an article that data says you will never pay for anyway, now pay us an annual subscription for more of these articles

Smaller publications: Higher percentage of non-differentiating content that does not drive an ongoing paid relationship


The emerging model

Consume as much as you want of the stuff that you can get elsewhere — articles that don’t trigger subscriptions

Make money from commodity readers on advertising

While you are here, maybe convert to paid subscription by exposing you to quality and exclusive content


Codifying what makes a subscription-generating article

How to align human capital to write more subscription-generating articles?

How to invest less human capital on stories that don’t generate subscriptions or traffic?

Dream paywall: knows propensity to subscribe. If high propensity, lock more; if low propensity, lock less and earn ad revenue


Freemium challengethis year

From “dumb” meters and “dumb” freemiums to data/human subscription triggers

General trend upward among consumers in willingness to pay (Netflix, Amazon)

How to bracket local media onto this general trend upward

Major metros stuck in middle between global/national and small-market locals


Why so much chaos in paid content strategies

videoapps

paywalls

IR

content

native

Distributed content





Immersive Reality definedVirtual Reality (VR)

Augmented Reality (AR)

360-video

Today: experimental storytelling device, but equipment too clunky for mass appeal

Media playing catch-up to gaming, travel, retail sectors

Storytelling and advertising

THE “CHRISTMAS TREE”: IMMERSIVE REALITY

Overview of IRIR will never be as universal as smartphone

Killer app when smartphone is device for delivering IR experience (and move beyond niche)

Industry leaders have dedicated VR teams and managers leading those teams

For most: IR lumped in with multi-media, digital, interactive media, editorial

Easy entry point: US$200 camera for journalists to experiment


Who is IR best practice

Wall Street Journal: VR for Daydream

The Guardian: creates first VR team in late 2016

NBC News Digital: Virtual Democracy Plaza

Hürriyet: A Town Where Being Alive is Pure Luck


The New York TimesVR tip of the iceberg in new ways of storytelling, good for putting you “at the scene” to convey emotion

In 2016, 5% of T Brand Studio projects involved VR

Daily 360: 360-degree video per day for a year!


CONCLUSIONS:THE ROAD MAP

Local newsbrands

Tectonic plates shifting

Global news brands

Regional groups of news brands

National news brands

First, what is your primary purpose for existing?

Journalism

Audience

Advertising

Technology

Influence

Profitability

CONCLUSIONS: THE ROAD MAP

Second, establish your foundations

1. Brand

2. Culture

3. Data

4. Audience


Third, know your platformsStrategy/storyline

Over-arching platform and audience storyline

Targets, audience, and monetisation for which platforms

Philosophy on technology trends

Platforms

Print

Responsive Web

Smartphone

Tablet

Google AMP

Facebook Instant Articles

Snapchat Discover

Browser-based apps


The bright shiny objects


We are an audience-based company

We are obsessed with optimising foundations

We operate across 6 platformsdelivering X million audience

We aim to be expert in these 7 spaces

BRAND | CULTURE | DATA | AUDIENCES

Digital transformation will accelerate faster

Web changing from anonymous to identified, login crucial

Traffic, data new currencies that will accelerate with wearables, Internet Of Things

More data = better, more relevant and personalised services

Schibsted: how they view their road map

Advanced data analytics

Customer insights

Payment services

Technology platforms

Organisation and competence

Schibsted foundations

News Media OutlookThe Indispensability of News Brands

Earl J. WilkinsonExecutive Director and CEO

International News Media Association (INMA)@earljwilkinson

Date post:	10-Aug-2020
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News Media Outlook€¦ · Dominant in digital ad sales Latest “boogeymen” for media Far more...

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