Category results for "Research"

Q&A: Michael Friedenberg, CEO IDG Communications Worldwide, on Ad Viewability

September 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Q: Is “Viewability” ready to be used as a measurement of ad performance?

A: IDG believes that viewability is a measure of ROI more than a measure of performance. Similar to the statements that IAB has made, performance is what happens after the impression is viewed and is measured by metrics like CTR and post click conversion. If publishers like IDG can report higher viewability, marketers should be more comfortable with that investment.

However, the issue of fraud continues to be quite relevant when discussing viewability. It is usually assumed that, if an ad is viewed, it is being viewed by a human. Non-human traffic—which includes bots, click farms and other networks—can account for 30% of a digital ad campaign. So, if we expect more dollars to continue to flow into the digital space, we will need to address this in a much more measured and standardized manner.

Q: How do you work to ensure that ads are viewable and to provide marketers with appropriate and accurate measures for the performance of their digital advertising?

A: With the launch of IDG’s CMS, Apollo, and the new designs of our websites (CIO.com, NetworkWorld.com), we address the viewability issue by lazy loading the ads, and as long as the user is scrolling the content, we continue to load additional ads at specific intervals. This not only achieves a higher viewability and engagement rate but also results in reduced page load time for a better user experience.

We have also partnered with an MRC-certified company (MOAT) to measure and report on the viewability of the ads. This tool also allows us to monitor user habits and dial in the loading and placement of ads to obtain the highest viewability possible. The industry doesn’t have the tools yet to ensure that every ad served for a particular customer are viewed, but we can do our best to make sure our ad units don’t trigger impressions when not viewed.

Q: Is achieving a standardized measure and method for viewability important?

A: Standard units of measure are still an issue in our space. Reporting platforms often use their own algorithms when they count, and discrepancies between systems are common and, in many cases, just accepted. This new metric (viewability) will experience the same challenges, but organizations like the IAB and MRC are trying to alleviate and solve this the best they can.

If we are held financially accountable for viewable impressions served, we need to ensure that buyers and sellers are all counting the same way. There is a lot of work to be done here when it comes to standardized expectations that the publishers, clients, agencies and governing bodies all agree upon. Ultimately, this is still a moving target, but IDG, via our new CMS and site redesigns, is proactively addressing the issue.

Michael Friedenberg is CEO of IDG Communications Worldwide, the subsidiary for IDG’s B2B and consumer media brands and events in 86 countries. He was promoted from CEO, IDG Communications U.S. to worldwide CEO in 2013.

Prior to Friedenberg’s latest promotion, he was CEO and President of IDG Enterprise, an IDG company that develops strategic media properties and peer advisory services for IT executives. Friedenberg joined IDG in 2005 as president and CEO of CXO Media following a series of management positions at UBM (formerly CMP Media) including Vice President and Publisher of InformationWeek and, later, Vice President and Group Publisher of the InformationWeek Media Network and Co-Founder of Optimize. As VP/Group Publisher, Friedenberg set the vision, strategy, and positioning of multiple brands across print, online, events, and research services.

Q&A: Jeff Burkett, Sr. Director Ad Innovation & Product Strategy The Washington Post, on Ad Viewability

Q&A: Justin Choi, CEO, Nativo on Ad Viewability

Perspectives | Research

Creating a Successful Content Marketing Strategy

July 28, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Ninety percent of B2C marketers are using some form of content
marketing. However, according to the Content Marketing Institute, less than half of those marketers have a documented content strategy—despite the fact the most effective content marketing is based upon one. That said, creating an effective content marketing strategy is no small undertaking. There are numerous challenges and things to think about and prepare for, even if you are well on your way on your content marketing. We plan to address many of these issues at our new Content All Stars Event (September 18^th in New York City) as we bring together best-in-class marketers and our members from leading digital content companies to share what works and explore what’s next.

Creating Powerful Content
Without a doubt the most important—and most challenging—aspect of any content strategy is building a content engine that will drive success. Few do this better than Red Bull, which not only takes its marketing message to the extreme in terms of its action-sports content, but also in terms of content creation, having founded Red Bull Media House in 2007. The company’s content-based marketing is second to none, as Managing Director Werner Brell put it, “We have been creating media assets from the beginning.”

“The mindset for launching Red Bull Media House was a natural progression of the company…For all of the athlete projects and events Red Bull created, which subsequently built this brand, cameras have been there. Everything has more or less been put on film. We have been creating media assets from the beginning,” said Brell. While his approach is largely to create original content to which Red Bull has exclusive license, the company also partners with media companies, ultimately maintaining “a laser focus on creating the best in action sports programming, centered around storytelling, high production value and overall progression in all aspects of sports event broadcasting,” said Brell. At Content All Stars, he’ll offer insights into the company’s trademark approach to content creation. “At the end of the day,” Brell pointed out, “it’s entertainment. You have to play by the rules of the audience, and they want to watch something engaging on an emotional level.”

Engaging Audiences
Undoubtedly, content creation – great ideas that tie your brand to your target audience or consumers — is the foundation of content marketing. And while Brell’s company has taken the proverbial bull by the horns, not every brand finds itself in the position to create its own media house. However one thing that all marketers can (and must) do is understand their audiences in order to create content experiences that attract and engage them.

As the company’s VP of Content and Global Creative, Ann Rubin said, “We strive for everything we do in marketing to have some utility, some purpose…for the [audience] beyond the brand message.” In its “Made with IBM series”, the company set out to tell its customers’ stories of transformation to offer actionable insights for others. Beyond creating compelling and popular content, the project brought the company closer than ever to its customers as the process of storytelling became a collaboration. At Content All Stars, Rubin will speak candidly about how IBM focuses on customers and content to transform its marketing into more than a one-way message.

Driving Results
Attracting and engaging audiences through content will take marketers a long way as they seek to build brand awareness and customer relationships that engender trust and lasting affinity.

An important and challenging area of marketing measurement is social media. Yet Claire Tavernier, Managing Director of the UK’s Channel Flip Media and founder of StoryTechLife, believes that social can help demonstrate high levels of engagement and that “these engaged viewers do have more value in the long run.” She will offer concrete examples of how social increases engagement that builds value at Content All Stars.

Yet the most effective strategic marketing plans must leverage these laudable goals to achieve measureable results. Data offers not only a way to know your customers beyond general demographics, but the ability to make highly-granular correlations such as “when the dew point is X, the temperature is Y, and the rainfall is Z…Here are the 15 products you should be selling right now,” according to the Weather Company GM, Vikram Somaya. At Content All Stars, he’ll team up with fellow data guru Bog Ivins, CDO of Mindshare, to show how data can not only provide consumer insights, but actually demonstratively drive consumer behavior.

Are you a Content All Star? If so, request an invitation to attend this first-of-its-kind event, September 18^th at NYC’s Conrad Hotel to develop a content strategy that delivers meaningful results.

Research

Mobile Moves Digital Spending, eMarketer Reports

July 3, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

US industries will collectively spend upwards of $50 billion on digital advertising in 2014 according to eMarketer’s 2014 Digital Ad Spending Benchmarks by Industry report. While direct-response still captures the largest amount in the overall spending—$29.61 billion versus the $20.5 billion predicated to be spent on branding this year—both segments are growing at approximately the same rate. eMarketer also finds that, “As marketers get better at measurement and attribution, the lines between direct-response spending and branding are blurring more than ever.”

It is important to note that the larger trend numbers don’t tell the whole story. While eMarketer finds double-digit gains across virtually all industries since 2009, they say that more important data is among the “subtrends within individual industries.” In particular, evolving mobile behavior is impacting spending trends. To reflect this significant industry condition, this year eMarketer includes its first estimates of mobile v. desktop spending on an industry-by-industry basis.

eMarketer predicts that the US retail industry’s advertising spending on paid digital media will reach $11.05 billion in 2014 and rise to $17.39 billion by 2018 and it continues to be the single largest-spending industry by a wide margin. However that spending is largely concentrated in direct-response advertising. Among the factors driving retail’s use of digital media is consumers’ use of mobile devices throughout the shopping process.

The travel industry also skews heavily to direct response, devoting a larger share of its overall budget to performance advertising than any other industry covered in eMarketer’s report (74% of its $4.15 billion spend). However eMarketer foresees a possible shift increase in mobile spending from this segment as consumers shift to mobile travel booking and marketers experiment with advertising that taps into this trend as well as last minute purchases.

More than one-third (35%) of US automotive-related digital ad spending will be on mobile this year, eMarketer predicts, accounting for $2.15 billion of the $6.15 billion total. This will put the auto industry in line with the US industry average when it comes to mobile’s share of digital ad spending. In the automotive sector, mobile-based branding and upper-funnel advertising efforts are increasing in response to evolving consumer research behavior—which has shifted to mobile. eMarketer suggests that brands “must remain well-considered and top of mind among consumers who are not yet in-market in order to win a place on their shopping lists once they are.”

Mirroring increased consumer usage of a wide range of financial activities via mobile devices—including banking, buying securities and managing funds—the financial industry is increasingly viewing mobile as an attractive advertising platform. In addition to mobile, this sector is likely to increase its usage of digital video, social media and sponsored content. At present, 62% of the financial industry’s digital spend is being used for direct response and 38% is used for branding.

Somewhat stronger in the branding area is the US healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, which will spend $1.41 billion on paid digital media in 2014, including $373 million on mobile ad formats. This segment will invest 44% of its digital spend in branding-focused campaigns. An interesting growth segment among pharma and healthcare is the use of digital media to target small, specific audiences for expensive specialty drugs that treat less-common ailments.

The segment focusing the largest percentage of its digital spend on branding is CPG and Consumer products with the lion’s share of its ad budgets going towards TV. The CPG and consumer products industry, in which a mere 8.4% of total spending is done via digital channels, focuses a hefty 65% of their $4.2 billion digital budget on branding efforts. The good news is that the digital ad spend is growing and eMarketer predicts that some of the largest budget increases, by percentage, will be in digital video, as brands transfer linear TV efforts to online and mobile, where they are starting to find effective ways to measure campaign success.

The full 2014 Digital Ad Spending Benchmarks by Industry report is available only to eMarketer’s corporate subscribers, though an executive summary can be downloaded here. The full report covers Automotive, Computing Products & Consumer Electronics, Consumer Products, Financial Services, Media & Entertainment, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Retail, Telecom and Travel.

Research | Video

comScore Looks at Multi-Channel Media Consumption to Reveal Real Value

June 12, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

While the proliferation of digital media devices and its effect on consumption patterns presents challenges for media and marketers, it also creates opportunities for increased reach, according to a new comScore White Paper, “From TV to Total Video: How Integrated Video Planning Can Transition Advertising from Upfronts to Allfronts.” While comScore finds that “rampant digital media proliferation is a value-creating event” the research also shows that there is “considerable value currently being left on the table.”

“We’re all very familiar with the way the consumer is transitioning to more and more platforms,” says comScore Vice President of Marketing & Insights Andrew Lipsman. “Fortunately, much of this activity has been incremental so far; one platform is not taking away from each other.” However he also points out that in younger demographics, new habits are developing that may indicate bigger shifts to come. “Particularly among millennials, there is a shift away from TV to online, set top boxes and mobile. Sooner or later, it will hit a point of no return, where video is not just the domain of what is happening on TV.”

The good news is that there’s time to prepare for the shift so that everyone within the media ecosystem can maximize the full range of content delivery channels. “Right now we’re at a point of transition and we have a period of time here where everyone can manage this transition before we have to worry about any possible cannibalization crisis.”

In the meantime, Lipsman says that it is important to continue to develop cross-platform measurement so that media companies “get credit for the full audience they reach” but also so that marketers can more effectively address those audiences. Currently, much advertising buying and selling remains channel focused—desktop, mobile, television, print. However many believe that the most effective initiatives are user-centric, finding the right audience wherever they are with the appropriate message.

“One of the most important, critical points in this whole debate is that, to optimize GRPs, you need to be able to look at all of the channels together to optimize for reach and frequency goals,” says Lipsman.

comScore’s study examined the incremental reach by channel for the duration of a given campaign. In a frozen vegetable brand example, the campaign’s cumulative reach via TV hit a plateau halfway through the campaign, providing no significant additional reach despite continued spend. However, the incremental reach provided by digital platforms (in this case, web and online video) continued to increase even after TV reach had flattened, resulting in a 12.2% increase over the course of the 14-week campaign. As Lipsman points out, this level of multichannel awareness will provide a way for marketers to address audiences more efficiently and to spend more effectively given limited budgets.

Large shifts such as these take time, though. And while comScore has already invested five years of R&D into the issue of cross-platform measurement (with new Video Metrics 3.0 and a Total Media Planning System offerings rolling out this Fall), Lipsman foresees a period of transition akin to the shift from click-through to view-through metrics. “Maybe I’m a bit biased being part of a measurement company, but one of the things we’ve seen is that the big paradigm shifts have happened when there’s been measurement to support the changes. We need to be able to provide the data and insights to help make these decisions more effectively so that media can do better monetizing and marketers can work more efficiently. If we can bring buy and sell side along at the same time, that will change the industry.”

Research | Revenue

Ad spending is up. It is also all over the place: The Cross-Platform Advertising Opportunity

May 16, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Recent research from ZenithOptimedia predicts that the global advertising spend will increase its growth from 3.9% in 2013 to 5.5% in 2014—reaching $537 billion by the end of the year—and then rise 5.8% in 2015 and 6.1% in 2015. And while these are promising signs of growth, the opportunity is spread across ever-more devices, with mobile growing six times faster than the internet and online video advertising growing 23% a year according to the Zenith report.

In fact, comScore’s latest research found that, as of December 2013, U.S. digital media consumers constitute the “multi-platform majority. And, as digital platforms continue to emerge, media fragmentation will only accelerate, creating the defining marketing challenge of this era.”

So the top line is that advertising has returned to pre-recession spend levels. Delivering value to the bottom line, however, relies on a cross-platform ecosystem that requires a strategic approach in order to extract the maximum value of today’s marketing spend.

Interestingly, Rachelle Considine, President Future US finds that changing the mindset of advertisers remains a hurdle in creating truly cross-platform advertising initiatives. “Our users have migrated cross-platform and expect to have a seamless experience. However the advertiser does not always see the same value of an impression across platforms.”

Other challenges brought on by cross-platform consumption are organizational. At Fox News, Chief Digital Officer Jeff Misenti says that, “as audiences become more mobile, marketers are beginning to acknowledge the need for cross-platform buys.” Misenti finds that coordinating all of the parties involved in cross-platform initiatives is difficult, and he emphasizes that everyone—from sales team to production, programming, client agencies and more—must all “fuse together seamlessly in order to reach a shared goal.”

Certainly, a shared goal across media and marketing organizations is a desire for accurate cross-platform measurement. It is one that ESPN’s Project Blue Print, NBCU’s Total Audience Measurement Index (TAMI) and Nielsen’s Cross Platform Campaign Rating are all trying to tackle. But to date, a single standard has not yet emerged.

Among those investing in solving for this essential issue is Everyday Health, Inc., which leverages its subscriber log-in as a way to target content and ad experiences across a wide range of devices. According to the company’s Chief Data Officer, Greg Jackson, the company has invested “well over $100 million to aggregate and engage our registered audience with personalized content and marketing because relevancy matters.” The targeting algorithm “learns” through user feedback and behavior in order to deliver more relevant information and marketing campaigns.

“It’s our responsibility to know our audience, provide engaging solutions across devices, and then optimize delivery based on the real behavior impact each is having,” says Jackson. And to achieve this, he emphasizes the need for a solution-oriented sales team that is not “constrained by channel silos.” Considine echoes this, saying that one of the first things they did when she joined Future in 2009 was combine sales teams so that everyone became responsible for selling across all platforms. “We sell audience,” she says. “With the cross-platform, cross-brand approach, we can give advertisers a larger total reach or allow them to go after a specific audience.”

And, as Jackson sums it up, “We believe that every digital campaign is a cross-platform campaign regardless of whether it’s intended or not. Users will access content whenever, wherever and on whatever device they want. It is our job as digital publishers and marketers to migrate our messaging across these platforms.”

Three tips for cross-platform ad success:

Understand your audience and how your different segments consume content on your various platforms. While there is industry research that provides a general picture of content consumption trends, demonstrating a customer’s-eye view of behavior elevates the discussions your sales team can have with marketers and illustrates the unique opportunities you can build for them to reach their targets through your content.
Integrate your sales teams, in spirit, if not literally. A culture of collaboration goes a long way here and truly integrated teams that understand the full value chain will offer the best chance of success.
Invest in improving measurement. Be it through an industry organization, partnership with an established measurement firm or by creating your own solution, cross-platform measurement is critical for sales success.

Perspectives | Research

Research Reveals that Women Want Inspiring, Authentic and Useful Videos — From Media and Marketers

April 30, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Women seek out and value lifestyle videos for two main reasons—to be entertained and to be inspired— according to new research undertaken by Scripps Networks Interactive’s ulive video network and POPSUGAR (conducted by conducted by Ipsos OTX.) Among the key findings of the study, which focused on U.S. women ages 18-49, was that a large majority of women prefer to view lifestyle video that entertains them (74%),helps them learn (71%), and inspires them to try something new (60%).

Underscoring the value of such research, Lisa Choi Owens, chief operating officer of ulive said, “Understanding what our audience emotionally connects to helps us know what to create for them and how and where to program that content to maximize relevance.” And, not surprisingly, the research revealed that women have clearly defined views of what they’d like to see in the lifestyle video they consume. The study shows that 49% of women want to see more videos that provide “how-to instructions” on how to accomplish the task, cook the meal, get the look or learn the exercise. Women also want more personalization, including content that is based on their interests (46%), that is short and of high quality (30%).

“We’re learning how our current audience segments feel about our existing content categories, as well as the new ones we’re expanding into,” said Choi Owens. “That emotional connection is even further deepened by the quality and authenticity of our content.”

Authenticity is, in fact, among the qualities that female video consumers specifically value. Women strongly prefer high-quality video that is authentic, concise and positive in tone. Significantly, the most avid lifestyle video consumers seek video content that is fun to watch (59%), authentic and real (48%), and features hosts that are passionate about the topic (38%).

Rob McLoughlin, vice president of POPSUGAR Insights found respondents’ desire for positive content among the most interesting findings of the research. “With the large amount of negative and salacious commentary found on the web, women increasingly seek funny, profound and inspirational videos that are compelling and entertaining,” said McLoughlin.

The good news for media and other brands alike is that women are open to hearing from brands and take action when relevant brands are appropriately presented in their favorite lifestyle video content. In fact, 54% of women watch lifestyle videos to learn more about products and brands, and 50% of avid lifestyle video consumers (women who stream 240+ minutes of lifestyle content a month) have visited a site or brick and mortar store to purchase the product they saw advertised in a lifestyle video.

Research | Video

Infographic: Online Video Advertising Insights

April 24, 2014 DCN

With nearly all of our favorite websites now featuring video content, online video advertising is no longer a market for just YouTube and Hulu. The market for online video advertising, while young, is already enormous and it’s growing rapidly. Last year eMarketer forecasted that digital video ad spending will grow to $9.1 billion in 2017, and nearly one third of marketers are already shifting budget from online display and television advertising into online video ads, according to a 2013 study from Adap.tv and Digiday.

For publishers and advertisers there are still many challenges and questions about how to best capitalize on online video advertising. For example: What is the ideal duration for a video ad? What are some sophisticated ways to package video with traditional digital advertising to increase brand visibility?

To begin to answer these questions and gain insights into the online video advertising market, MediaRadar analyzed thousands of online video ads across more than 100 websites between November 2013 and January 2014. The study revealed some very interesting trends.

A few quick takeaways:

While the vast majority (79%) of online video ads are either 15 or 30 seconds long, 30 second ads are about 10 times more likely to have a skip option than 15 second ads. Perhaps counter-intuitively, shorter ads can deliver more brand messaging than longer ads.
When it comes to the high-impact packaging of online video with various forms of display and rich media ads, there are opportunities to be an early adopter within certain categories. While 52% of video ads on food websites are accompanied by display ads, just 11% of ads on tech sites also feature an accompanying display ad.

The findings are summarized in the infographic below:

Perspectives | Research

Infographic: From Chaos to Credibility

April 10, 2014 DCN

AAM’s “Digital Insights” white paper series shares our findings from recent AAM research to shed some light on the challenges and opportunities media companies are facing in today’s digital landscape. The third paper, “From Chaos to Credibility,” addresses the issues with media measurement and focuses on some potential solutions. Here’s a preview of what we found:

The methods used to track users’ media engagement and activities are just as varied and fragmented as the devices themselves. A quarter of publishers use two or more solutions to evaluate user interactions with their content. The multiple options, solutions and methodologies for tracking user engagement contribute to the fragmentation challenges of digital measurement and lead to lack of standardized metrics in mobile.

In our research we also heard a clear desire for industry-wide collaboration for definitions and standards that all digital media could use to create a level playing field. The number of associations and vendors working toward solutions is just as fragmented as other areas of the digital arena. As an independent third party, AAM is able to maintain a neutral presence with numerous groups. There is a lot of collaboration happening in our industry and AAM is proud to share our members’ voices and gain feedback during these discussions.

Setting those guidelines and standards is the first step to bring order and comparability to digital media. The next critical phase is independent, third-party verification and timely reporting of data. Audits help ensure everyone is on the same page when buying and selling digital media. For buyers, it takes the guesswork out of the equation and provides confidence in the product. It ensures reliability because even if the data is sourced from different vendors, it still has to pass the rigorous inspection of an audit. And it ensures accountability among all participants in the process — vendors, publishers and buyers. As we come together as an industry to set standards across each channel and then agree to audits of those channels to provide confidence and comparability for buyers and sellers alike.

See how we can move as an industry from chaos to credibility in our infographic:

Perspectives | Research

Digital Future in Focus 2014: The upside of mobile disruption

April 3, 2014 Adam Lella, Senior Marketing Insights Analyst—comScore

Although smartphones have been in the hands of consumers for a long time, these devices, now along with tablets, have probably never had a more drastic impact on consumer behavior as they did in 2013. What started out as a niche, high-end market has quickly exploded into the mainstream, with Americans now spending more time – approximately 137 BILLION more minutes per month – on mobile platforms than on desktop.

In comScore’s new whitepaper, the 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus, we tackle of variety of themes influencing the current digital landscape, including social media, video, search, and e-commerce. But the prevailing theme that ties all these issues together is how our rapid increase in mobile usage is causing major shifts in all of these areas.

Social Media companies have already embraced the transition to mobile, perhaps more successfully than any other digital vertical. Many major social networks are now seeing far more traffic and time spent coming from mobile devices than from desktops, as the mobile/desktop divide continues to grow. Among the largest social networks, only Linkedin and Tumblr maintain a majority share on desktop, while newer social networks such as Instagram, Snapchat and Vine are almost exclusively mobile in their usage.

On the other end of the spectrum, e-commerce is still largely dominated by spending via desktop – yet signs indicate that mobile may disrupt this arena sooner than later. Mobile commerce now accounts for a meaningful percentage (10.5% in 2013) of total digital commerce and is growing at a significantly faster rate (23% year-over-year vs. 13% for desktop). And while m-commerce is only in the low double-digits as a percentage of total digital commerce, more than half of digital media time spent in the Retail category now comes from smartphones and tablets.

It tends to be true, as is the case with digital advertising, that dollars eventually follow eyeballs. In the case of retail shopping on mobile, the eyeballs are already there. It seems inevitable that, as technology and consumer behavior evolves, m-commerce will play an increasingly prevalent role in retail buying as it stands to become more disruptive to desktop-based e-commerce. And that’s not even to mention how mobile is currently disrupting the shopping and buying process for brick-and-mortar retailers as consumers take to showrooming.

So while disruption from mobile is inevitable, it’s important to remember that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. On balance, it is a value-creating innovation that delivers benefit to consumers, media companies and marketers alike. It’s beneficial for consumers, whose lives are becoming more convenient, more fun, more informed, and ultimately more connected due to their mobile devices. It’s beneficial for media companies because mobile usage is largely incremental to desktop, rather than cannibalistic. As consumers spend more time overall with screens, they engage with more content, conduct more searches, and do more online shopping. And it’s beneficial to marketers who have more channels and different creative palettes to use in developing strategies to reach, influence and convert consumers into brand buyers. While there are certainly challenges ahead, the benefits of mobile’s disruption greatly outweigh any disadvantages.

To learn more about this platform shift, along with other digital trends we can expect in the year ahead, check out the 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report

Perspectives | Research

The State of News Media: It is Springtime and We Can Grow the Business

March 27, 2014 DCN

After a tough “winter” in the news business, the latest Pew report on the state of journalism predicts an energizing spring ahead, based on a key trend that may have sneaked up on you while you were busy shoveling: The big disruption in the journalism business is now coming from within the profession, not from the old tech bugaboos of the last decade or so.

Part of Pew’s report highlights the proliferation of digitally-centric news organizations and the migration of “traditional journalists” to new media ventures, but the reality is that traditional ventures are not so traditional anymore. And even Pew recognizes that the hiring trend that receives so much hype is not a one-way street noting the New York Times hire of Slate veteran, Farhad Manjoo and The Washington Post’s addition of Jason Millman, who hails from Politico.

The fact is there is reason for optimism in the digital news business, and it is based on the business itself, not (just) tech. So, let’s move past search, social and even mobile as discussion points and embrace the new conversation about real innovation inside the business. It took some time to materialize, and now it’s coming, from both new and old places.

Before Pew cited the trend, a conversation about the big changes underway in digital news, in particular growing audiences of news readers, had already started. Marc Andreessen’s recent blog post took it a step further, looking at the business opportunities arising from this audience explosion. It was also clearly the context for Justin Smith’s recent public memo about the new direction for Bloomberg Media, in which he talks about the ways in which Bloomberg will innovate and experiment to address its growing audiences.

It’s clear that a new inflection point is upon us in the news business, and without diminishing concerns about lost jobs, lost audiences and lost influence resulting from the disruption of traditional media, it’s important to start exploring the new territory that’s being opened. At the Associated Press – the big mainstream news agency I work at – that means continuing to innovate on the content front for the benefit of our customers. Spring is here and there is more news consumption going on, and more journalism blooming. Ultimately, that’s a good thing for established as well as native digital players.

Innovation | Research

Discovery Digital Networks Growth Fueled by Staff Superfans

March 6, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Discovery Digital Networks is feeling the love from its audience more than ever. The web-native portfolio, which is made up of four original video networks – Revision3, TestTube, Animalist and the DeFranco Network – has increased views and audience 400% since Revision3 joined the Discovery Communications family in May 2012. An increased focus on video has been a key factor in the growth. Today, fans across these four digital networks are consuming, on average, 160 million video views each month and, in social circles, the communities are stronger than ever – with 35 million followers and 14 million Facebook fans.

Discovery’s digital-native portfolio has driven its growth the ‘Discovery way,’ with highly curated, premium content. Content that Discovery owns. Great storytelling is at the heart of the programming, led by show hosts who are as authentic as the content itself. It’s the relationship between the show host and each community that drives engagement.

In fact, according to the latest Discovery Digital Networks’ Audience Survey, the most compelling driver of views and social interaction is the fact that Discovery hosts are, themselves “superfans of their brands, the network and its content,” according to Suzanne McDonnell, SVP of Sales Strategy & Client Solutions at Discovery Communications.

According to Discovery’s research, the authenticity of its hosts is at the core of why its content resonates with fans and advertisers alike. As McDonnell puts it, “our hosts are experts not actors. They are born of the communities that they represent.” This affinity between the shows’ fans and the equally engaged hosts has inspired the programming.

Comments from survey respondents made this sentiment clear: “The Rev3Games team comes across as honest professional[s] that actually play and enjoy games…You are critics, yes, but you also have a love for gaming.” Of Hak5, a respondent said “I think it is the personalities that make it top notch. They really seem to be enjoying themselves.” And one DNews viewer said “I feel just like I’m listening to a friend talk.”

Discovery Digital Networks found that 97% of viewers are very/somewhat satisfied with the host’s personality and 92% with the host’s expertise. This fact, says McDonnell, keeps the network focused on “a hosted-show model around which we build passionate communities.”

The power of highly curated, premium programing, led by authentic hosts, extends itself to advertisers as well. Discovery’s research found that 64% of respondents feel that brands featured within the network programs are usually a good fit with the show/channel, and 50% have more confidence in brands featured within the programming. “Viewers trust Discovery Digital Networks to feature brands that are relevant to them. Viewers’ highly favorable opinions of our content adds a halo effect to brands featured within the content,” says McDonnell. “That presents unparalleled opportunity for advertisers to join the conversation and become a member of these communities.”

Innovation | Perspectives | Research

Q&A with Joe D. Weir, VP of Digital, A.H. Belo on Mobile Advertising Innovation

February 14, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three is with Joe D. Weir, VP of Digital, A.H. Belo.

Q: In mobile advertising, what is the most important thing to consider?

A: I think that it is the ability to reach the consumer where they are. “Where they are” means two things: First, it can mean geolocation. But it can also mean where the consumer is within the buying cycle.

For example, I am going to dinner. So first we need to think about how we play a part in where they are physically. Then we need to think about where they are in their decision making process about dinner. At that point, we factor in our relationships with businesses, grocery, restaurants, to help marry up the consumer and “where they are” with our advertisers.

People are using mobile more often, in more places and more ways; they are using it in line to buy movie tickets or at the grocery story, or pumping gas. But behind all that may be them doing something bigger. For example, maybe they are in the process of buying a car and using mobile to explore and research products.

We need to understand how the consumer is using mobile so we can connect them with content that helps them make better decisions or, as we’ve done through our partnership with cars.com, to bring buyers together with sellers in the marketplace. Another factor to keep in mind is the importance of reviews. An exciting opportunity for us has been matching up consumer reviews with other content.

Mobile helps change the landscape because of its mobility, but also because of its connectivity. It allows for more data points around various topics.

Q: Describe one of your recent or forthcoming mobile ad initiatives that you think is particularly innovative:

A: First let me tell you a bit about our approach. The way we’ve looked at mobile is that we’re trying to build a network of mobile access. We have variations of our content that is HTML5 that can be pulled up and rendered on whatever device consumers are on—mobile or tablet. We also have applications that we’ve launched for iOS and Android and we’re working with Windows right now.

If you look our stuff, you’ll see things like “Dallas’ Best Burgers” and “Dallas Skyline”. Obviously, we also have our core offering like Dallas Morning News as websites, epaper and applications. One of our strengths, as with a lot of newspapers, is sports.

I think one of our most innovative stories is in sports. So it is an understatement to say that High School football is big in Texas. In December, we had a game that broke the national High School attendance record with more than 54 thousand attendees. Needless to say, we’d been creating all this content around High School ball and realized we needed a mobile play in that space.

The way we created the SportsDay High School app, and the way we sold the whole campaign, is a good example for media companies. The app delivers all of the content we were creating, but we also built live score delivery into it, which is really optimal for mobile. It also includes push notifications and alerts for teams you are interested in. So what we did was work hard to create an app experience audiences would really want.

Then we sold a single sponsorship to the app as part of a much larger package, which had print, desktop and mobile components. Albertsons sponsored an entire High School Sports package. It even includes a community element where Albertsons honors top players at a banquet. Mobile, for us, fits into something bigger. It allows us, as publishers, to pull together revenue opportunities that might exist in a range of areas as one larger sale, which delivers more to the advertiser as well.

Q: What is working in mobile advertising, and what do we need more of, in order to drive success in this area?

A: We need a couple of things. First, there needs to be as much standardized delivery of advertising as possible.

We also need the best ease the integration of mobile into our existing business. There are a lot of media companies right now who, with their mobile, are doing ad serving with x company over here and then on desktop, with y company over here. And all of those systems are separate and don’t talk to each other. All media companies need to look at their technology stack and figure out how their technology can support the needs of salespeople. It needs to be very efficient for pre-sales—to understand how big the audience is and what the opportunity is. It also needs to be efficient for post-sales—I’ve closed the business and need to implement the campaign across platforms.

We have this great group of sales people who go out into the market every single day. Their job is to sell audiences and those audiences exist on mobile, print, desktop, tablet. So to make the most of that, we need to create the best technology stack to distribute the ad dollars seamlessly across our different platforms. The easier this is for sales people, the easier it will be to get those dollars in the front door.

Joe D Weir leads sales of all digital offerings of DMNmedia and is responsible for product development and digitally related strategic initiatives. Prior to joining DMNmedia, Joe had been with Belo for 18 years. His most recent position was Vice President of Digital for Belo since 2009. His responsibilities included digital strategies for revenue and audience growth across new media platforms. Weir was named a “Digital All-Star” in 2010 by Broadcasting & Cable magazine. In 2009 he was named “Outstanding Young Alumnus” from his alma mater Hardin-Simmons University and in 2008 he led WFAA.com to be honored with a National Edward R Murrow for online innovation. Weir currently serves on The University of North Texas RTVF (Radio, TV and Film) Executive Board.

Also in this series:

Q&A with Brian Colbert, Chief Revenue Officer, About.com on Mobile Advertising Innovation