REVISED & ADAPTED

JOHN WILPERS JUAN SEÑOR EDITORS

A SURVEY BY INNOVATION MEDIA CONSULTING FOR FIPP — CONNECTING GLOBAL MEDIA INNOVATION Nome do artigo IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT Table of Contents 2 2020-21 4 Introduction James Hewes, FIPP President & CEO 6 Editors’ Note John Wilpers and Juan Señor, Innovation Media Consulting 9 The Post Covid-19 World of Work 31 How to Recruit and Retain the Very Best Talent 53 Direct 2 Consumer 91 Going Green : No More Slacking On Sustainability 105 Podcasts : The Latest New Revenue Subscriptions Tool 125 Even You Can Be Creative : It's Easier Than You Ever Thought 147 Monetisation: 13 Business Models To Drive Financial Success 187 Print & Offbeat : Our Annual Dose of Human Genius and Imagination 202 Good Journalism is Good Business Innovation Media Consulting 204 Empowering Members To Build Market-Leading International Businesses FIPP

Author Commercial ISBN Not all digital replicas John Wilpers John Schlaefli IMWR Digital Edition: 978872274706 [email protected] Editors Digital Edition: free to FIPP members John Wilpers, US Director and Senior Consultant Publisher INNOVATION Media Consulting James Hewes, FIPP President & CEO To order, go to: www.fipp.com are built the same www.innovation.media [email protected] [email protected] | +1-1-617-688-0137 FIPP Editor Branded Editions, our award-winning digital edition Juan Señor, President Sylkia Cartagena INNOVATION Media Consulting [email protected] solution, is the not-so-secret ingredient that leading www.innovation.media [email protected] | +44-79-3275-4732 Content Management publishers use for engaging digital replicas. Our secret Cobus Heyl Sub-editing [email protected] Victoria Etherington sauce, on the other hand, is constant innovation. FIPP – Connecting Global Media Design [email protected] www.fipp.com Your readers deserve the very best. Vasco Ferreira A Survey and Analysis by On Behalf of Fonts Staff and Gliko from r-typography.com

Marketing, Sales & Finance Come innovate with us. Marta Torres brandededitions.com/solutions First edition published 2010, 13th edition copyright © 2021 by INNOVATION Media Consulting Group and FIPP. All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. Powered by INNOVATION Introduction IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 4 2021 “NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OUR OF INVENTION” PERSPECTIVE PLATO ON THE FUTURE ell yes, and never more so than in the last 12 months. When I wrote the welcome note for last year’s Innovation in Media World Report, no-one could have guessed what was in store OF MEDIA for us all. The pandemic has forced all of us to do an awful lot of extremely rapid adaptation. In the rapidly changing media landscape, This was certainly the case for FIPP, where we’ve gone from running physical events and working out of an office, print publishing continues to thrive. to an entirely virtual set-up, all in a very short space of time. The coexistence of print and digital media I’m sure you’ve all had similar experiences. For us, this has been largely positive, giving us the opportunity both to learn constantly takes new forms and offers new skills and to experiment with new products and services, and it’s with that media owners new sources of revenues. inW mind that we present this year’s Starting with issues around people and culture and moving through One thing is clear: print adds value podcasting, new approaches to creativity, and sustainability, and we provide the right choice of this year’s report captures all of the key innovations we’re seeing across the media industry. We’ve also included a paper for varying purposes. substantial new chapter on direct-to-consumer business models. Building direct, monetised relationships with consumers is a key priority for media businesses everywhere, as they move away from advertising-funded business models. In each case we’ve found a host of examples of innovative thinking and I hope these will help you to think differently about your own business. The last year has required us all to adapt not only our products and services but also our thinking and our approach to work. It’s clear that those companies that had a flexible, innovative culture have been best able to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic. The coming year promises further uncertainty, as different economies – drive by wildly different rates of general vaccination – emerge from the crisis at different speeds. Here again, further agility and innovation will be needed to take advantage of the new challenge of hybrid working methods (and hybrid products) that span the physical and virtual worlds. Of one thing you can be sure, though. Our industry, with it’s tremendous track record of innovation, will continue to adapt and to innovate to take advantage of these new opportunities. I look forward to showcasing them in the next edition of the Repot. Which new opportunities does Having opened with a well-known quote from Plato, I’ll leave you with a print provide for publishers? less well-know one : “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. And how does the digital-to-print That’s never been more true than today. model add engagement and I hope you find this year’s edition of the Report enjoyable and useful, thank value for media users? you again for reading it. Download the UPM and FIPP white paper using the QR code or at go.upmpaper.com/fom

James Hewes FIPP PRESIDENT & CEO Grañena Luis INNOVATION INNOVATION Editors’ Note IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 6 2021 2021 7

Global crises always change something for- relationship we have endured for over a decade. ever. In the past, they put an end to the gold This is such an important subject, we will address 1.standard, employment for life, and cheap in a separate white paper to come from INNOVA- consumer credit. This crisis has put an end to the TION Media Consulting in the coming weeks. fixed Monday-to-Friday 40-hour work week and HOW TO ADAPT TO replaced it with a hybrid flexible office model There is now a definitive global recogni- where we will have staffers commute to work tion that quality news and information is possibly only 3 to 4 days per week. This does 4.worth paying for. When your life depends not mean the end of the editorial office, open on knowing what is true and what is fake, the newsrooms and our collaborative ways of mak- role a quality media brand can play to keep one ing great content, but technology will be part of informed with what is independently verified as this new abnormal normal way of publishing and reliable news, is valued and people are paying for THENEWABNORMAL broadcasting. In our Human Capital chapter, we it the same way they are paying for digital music, delve into this in detail. movies and data. The rise in digital subscriptions he past 52 weeks have changed the in the past year has been a record for the industry IN LENIN'S UNCHARACTERISTICALLY media landscape in profound ways. The death of print has been telegraphed globally. As we have been saying for years, only Trends that would have taken for decades. Print, however, is eternal and journalism, will save journalism. Consumer 10 years to become the norm have 2.as a good opera soprano, will not die a journalism, local journalism, relevant journalism INSIGHTFUL WORDS: “THERE become the ‘new normal’ in less ‘definitive’ death. But the accelerated migration published without fear or favour. This is an inflec- than 10 months. So, what are the of readers from print to digital platforms during tion point for our industry. It is, in a way, our ARE DECADES WHERE NOTHING most salient new realities we must this crisis is notable and universal. Many media Netflix moment. Publishers are rushing to launch adapt to? We have identified 5 we houses have responded by shutting down their data-walls and paywalls. We have been selling HAPPENS, AND THERE ARE need to act upon with the informed print operations to offset costs. But you cannot the wrong thing; stop selling ads and clicks, as analysis and insights we include in cut your way to growth. Desperate measures in now there is a willing audience who will pay for WEEKS WHERE DECADES HAPPEN.” this edition of Innovation in Media. desperate times are justified, but they cannot your journalism. In our monetisation chapter we TWelcome to the new abnormal: become the norm. We worry, though, when we address a plethora of ways you can generate sub- see so many claiming to ditch print to become stantial reader revenue – whether it be via digital ‘digital-first’ when their revenues are not yet subscriptions or membership programmes. ‘digital-first.’ The trick for many is to become digitally sustainable before you become print Finally, mindsets have changed forever. unsustainable. Once you get past that inflection Media owners and some editors who were point, then it makes sense to explore reducing 5.wishing that this ‘new normal’ would end publishing frequency. Not before. In our Direct- up being the ‘old normal’ have let go of the past to-consumer chapter we explore a panoply of to accept and adapt to a new abnormal. This spe- ways to diversify revenue and avoid becoming cial and revised edition of Innovation in Media is digital-first in name only. for them, and for you as we recover in this fragile world. This year has been described as ‘Social Me- dia Independence Day (year).’ The invest- Happy reading and be positive while remain- 3.ments we have made in social media audi- ing negative. ences are not paying off. Social media distancing is imperative to regain a direct relationship with John Wilpers [email protected] our audiences. During the pandemic and due to Juan Señor [email protected] the pandemic, people have stopped ‘getting my Co-editors news from Facebook.’ Many have developed the habit of visiting news and consumer sites directly each morning. This is a welcome habit we must In addition to many important new seg- protect and promote. In addition, legislation has ments, the 2021 edition of our Innova- been passed or will be passed in parliaments, tion Report also includes some updated from Canberra to Washington. DC, via Brussels chapters from last year's book as we have seen many of the same issues continue to

Luis Grañena Luis and Brazilia to rein in the Big Tech Duopoly and force them to sit down with publishers to challenge us. The new segments tackle the sudden "innovations" forced upon us negotiate a fair fee for using our content for free. by the pandemic as well as a new look at Should publishers join Google’s Showcase or the seven elements of the media business Facebook News equivalent or are these initia- model of the future: Direct to Consumer. tives new versions of tokenism by Big Tech to avoid a definitive resolution to the dysfunctional INNOVATION INNOVATION Nome do artigo IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 8 2020-21 2020-21 9 FIPP Training

“Education is not the filling of a pot but the lighting of a fire.” W.B. Yeats

Light yours

More at FIPP.com/training INNOVATION INNOVATION Nome do artigo IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 10 2020-21 2020-21 11

HOW TO PREPARE YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM FOR THE POST COVID-19 WORLD OF WORK NOTHING — OFFICES, MEETINGS, MANAGING TEAMS — WILL EVER BE THE SAME: HERE ARE EARLY TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE TRANSITION INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 12 world of work 2021 2021 13

ur world of work wrote. “Shame on us if we don’t seize this op- has changed radi- portunity.“ cally and irreversibly. The challenge now is to define priorities for But you know that the next stage. already. “We have the chance to reboot, to accelerate However, knowing digital transformation and rethink organisa- and being ready are tions to fit a future that will now be with us two very different much faster than we had expected,” Keung NO MORE EXCUSES things. concluded. “This chance will not come again How media companies are making progress on gender equity Not to put too fine and the window is already starting to close. It is By Pierre de Villiers for FIPP a point on it, but time to be bold.” your own and your company’s success The media industry is a long, long way from gender The [media] industry is dysfunctional on many levels, depends on you hav- WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO? equity. A 2020 study of 200 media brands across she added. “We need to change. We need to change ing a new mindset ten countries found that only 23% of editors were the way we work, the way we speak to audiences; we and new skill sets, women, despite the fact that 40% of journalists in need to change the stories we tell as journalists. whether you are What do you need to do to ensure that you and those 10 countries were female. “Ultimately gender representation is about power,” a media company your company not only can continue to survive Selva said. “It’s about seeding power at the top and owner, executive, but also actually thrive in this new world? NO WOMEN EDITORS IN JAPAN it’s also crucially about making sure that the people manager, or staffer. How do we minimise the negative impact The “Women and Leadership in the News Media at the top — those making decisions — come from If your head isn’t in the right place, and if of the disruptions and maximise the positive 2020” study by the Reuters Institute for the Study the most diverse range of society.” your skill sets aren’t up to the new world of changes that have been thrust upon us and con- of Journalism at Oxford University found that Japan work, the disruption, angst, and challenges of vert them into our new workplace best practic- was the worst example with no women editors and NO EXCUSE THAT 50% OF EXECS AREN’T WOMEN 2020 will only get worse. es, not the least of which will be a permanently South Africa the best with 47%. “With gender in particular there is little excuse for it O The percentages for the other eight countries were: not to be 50%,” Selva said. This moment in time is unique, and we must hybrid workforce where staff will be dividing seize it. their time between home and the office? Mexico (6%), South Korea (11%), Hong Kong (13%), Replacing men in newsrooms with women who act It starts with leadership, from the top down. Brazil (22%), Germany (27%), the UK (29%), Finland and behave like men would be failure, said panel “The radical flexibility inherent in hybrid (33%), and the U.S. (41%). Why are the percentages member Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of consulting THE MANTRA IS “ACCELERATE” workforce models delivers a host of good still so low after decades of efforts by women in firm 20-First. She referenced some organisations outcomes — but only if your leadership has the media and their male allies to achieve equity? that try to “fix the women” by having them adopt or mindset to champion hybrid work,” wrote the mimic male leadership styles. “We spent the last 20 years talking about dis- authors of a January 2021 report by global re- THE ‘PIPELINE” ARGUMENT IS OUT OF DATE “That’s when you get statistics of women who don’t ruption,” wrote digital transformation expert search firm Gartner. “A hybrid workforce model At the FIPP 2020 World Congress, a panel make it,” she said. Lucy Keung in her late 2020 book, “The Trans- offers the kind of radical flexibility required to moderator wondered if the lack of women editors The real challenge, Wittenberg-Cox said, is to formation Manifesto”. build organisational resilience, but does your might be attributed to female talent only now starting change the company culture, the internal systems, “Now the word is ‘acceleration’,” she wrote. organisation have the leadership mindset and to break to the top. Panel member Meera Selva, and the leadership culture to “get women all “The coronavirus crisis has accelerated struc- skills to capture the opportunity? Director of the Journalist Fellowship Programme the way through”. To achieve this, organisations tural shifts that have been underway for at the Reuters Institute, insisted that the so-called need both the will to change and the skills to decades. We have seen eight years of changes in “pipeline” issue has often been used as an excuse for achieve change. While many have the will, not eight months. OLD IDEAS FRUSTRATE CHANGE the paucity of female editors. many have the skills, she said. “Changes that were part of companies’ mid- That, however, is not acceptable, Selva said. Apart term planning are now showing up in forecasts from Japan, most countries have had talented and BUILD A CULTURE TO EMPOWER WOMEN for the next 12 months,” she wrote. “This rapid “Many business leaders still question the merits capable female journalists for many years and they To develop those skills, leadership first needs acceleration has dramatically shortened the of this nontraditional workforce model, but should have risen to the top a long time ago. to align and prepare managers to lead them runway for digital transformation. often because of common myths and old ideas “It’s a different conversation now,” Selva said. “We through this process of gender balance. This about what a hybrid workforce model is, and need to look at what people think leadership looks will allow the culture of the organisation to where, when and how employees perform at like. What do people think a news editor looks like? change towards an awareness of and skills for “THIS IS A RESET MOMENT” their best,” according to Gartner. What attributes are needed?” empowering women to rise to the top. “More employees go above and beyond at Finally, lasting change will not happen without work when organisations give them a choice DON’T SHOEHORN WOMEN the systems to drive it. Many of these systems “This is a reset moment,” Keung wrote. “Or- over where, when, and how much they work,” INTO TRADITIONAL ROLES will need to be reviewed to streamline human ganisations are unfrozen. People are expecting said Gartner Director Sasha Tuzel. “But those For this to happen, she warned, huge changes resource processes in accordance with change. You have a cover. There will never be a benefits can only be captured when leadership must be made within the [media] industry and diversity challenges. better time to tackle deeper changes that need is willing and able to reimagine how we work organisations themselves. “For the [media] industry Better to ask “How can women and men build a to happen. and communicate, without sacrificing the com- to continue to do what it is doing and merely more balanced newsroom for everybody?” than “This is an unmissable opportunity to propel pany culture and collaboration.” shoehorn women into an existing model would be to ask “How can we fight toxic masculinity in the forward digital transformation initiatives,” she Leaders who are ready to embrace the new futile,” Selva said. organisation?” INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 14 world of work 2021 2020-21 15 DIVERSITY SOLUTIONS: MINDSET CHANGES LEAD TO CULTURE CHANGE Increasing diversity in a media company begins with changing minds

At Meredith, the push toward diversity is moving not saying that that person wouldn’t be great, ahead with deliberate, but not breakneck, speed. but let’s look at some other people. It’s about Shona Pinnock, who is responsible for all of asking people to slow down and widen their net Meredith’s diversity and inclusion programmes, for the talent they are funnelling in. found that the pre-pandemic initiatives she had “Let’s focus on the competencies for the role, been planning had been accelerated after lock- not my comfort with the person,” she said. “Make down. Between the pandemic and all of the racial space for people you might not have as easy a a few comments that were not as supportive and ensuring they’ve got a good mix of represen- unrest in 2020, an important first step to get language around. And that difference can be — especially after the discussion that got into tation, and how they can expand that over time.” the company to focus on a more equitable work anything — ethnic, racial or how you approach historical facts. Meredith also did an audit of its benefits system environment was drafting a message of support work. There will be a time when it will become “I understand that with everything, there is going to see how it can support diversity and inclusion to black employees from the CEO. second nature, so it’s about how we create that to be a spectrum of where people are in accept- goals. “Working on that was helpful in terms of feeling muscle memory.” ing this and where people are in that journey,” “When it comes to parenting, we have access at least we are doing something and making a Another focus area for Pinnock is staff retention. said Pinnock. “Everyone is not in the same place to in vitro fertilisation that includes waivers,” statement,” Pinnock told FIPP. “It helped get the “I want to make sure that if we make these great and I can’t make that assumption. I have to have Pinnock explained. “There’s a six-month waiver ball rolling in a different way and reset us on strides in recruiting diverse talent that everyone the understanding that there are some people where you are supposed to try as a couple to our path.” has equal access to opportunity, growth and we have to bring along in this discussion — and naturally have a child. But if you are in a same- development” and can see a future with the com- I’m fine with that. sex partnership, no matter how much you try, STEP ONE LISTENING WITH INTENT pany such that they’ll stay, she said. “In terms of the diversity discussions, there are you are not going to be able to produce a child. After the CEO’s statement, the next step was not structures and strategies that you can create, So, if we can waive that six-month period for a a rush of hiring but a listening session hosted by STEP THREE LEARN FROM HISTORY but there are also very emotional discussions same-sex couple, that’s a tweak to our benefits its Employee Resource Group (ERG) for Black Before moving forward, it’s important to first look around these topics,” Pinnock said. “You have that ensures easy access to all couples. It’s Employees that proved to be very impactful. back and learn lessons from the past. “There to give people a safe space to come along — or creating a benefits mix that feels reflective of the “For a lot of our white colleagues, this was the has to be education about the impact of racism not. We have to figure out what happens to the employees we want to engage with. first time they were hearing very raw accounts that exists in almost every realm of life,” said people who don’t. They will show that they don’t “We can create practices that are more inclusive of what it feels like to live in this society, to see Pinnock. “I think [people] educating themselves fit into that culture in other ways. today,” Pinnock said. “You have to keep working.” some of the acts of violence, to work and push on how this came to be — all of the little pieces “In general we know where we are as an or- through that, and the emotional impact of that,” that built up over hundreds of years to get us to ganisation,” Pinnock said. “We have positioned MINDS TAKE TIME TO CHANGE, said Pinnock. where we are — is important.” ourselves as an organisation that is moving this BUT NOT POLICIES “I think the work we all have to do — and I Meredith is currently rolling out inclusive leader- discussion and process forward. My vision is Pinnock is realistic when it comes to a time- include people of colour in this — is to provide ship sessions — first to senior leaders and then that Meredith is the thought leader in this space frame for change. “When it comes to the diver- a little space and grace for people to begin that to middle managers and the rest of the staff — as a media brand.” sity and representation of our workforce, that process of educating themselves, and then that explore the concepts around diversity, like part will take time,” she said. “In our company, we figuring out how we need to do the work to make unconscious bias. STEP FIVE CHANGE YOUR CONTENT are about 77% white and about 23% ethnically change, and what the responsibilities are for “It’s around creating understanding, creating a The changes happening at Meredith include the diverse. So, to move the needle in terms of what everyone in that,” Pinnock said. shared language around a sense of belonging, content of its magazines, with Pinnock having that looks like and be representative of the US growth and development, objectivity, and how conversations with editors to make sure stories population, which is about 60% white, that will STEP TWO SLOW THE HIRING PROCESS we mitigate bias,” said Pinnock. “And bias is are reflective of the audiences they serve. take time. In terms of recruitment, companies need to slow something we all have — it doesn’t discriminate.” “We are looking at how to expand the contribu- “But in terms of the inclusion and equity part, down and not go for the convenient option, Pin- tors creating the stories and showing that we those things can happen immediately,” she said. nock said. STEP FOUR DEALING WITH PUSHBACK have a wider net of freelancers,” she said. “Food “We can create practices that are more inclu- “You might have a manager who, when there’s a Meredith has also run sessions built around the & Wine has done an audit looking at their issues sive today. You have to keep working. There are position open, says, ‘my college roommate’s son history of racism and how to dismantle it. While over the past two years — looking at the stories, many things that happen that knock you down, would be perfect for that role’,” Pinnock said. “I’m the feedback was largely positive, there were the contributors, the photographers, the recipes, so resilience is a big part of this journey.” INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 16 world of work 2021 2021 17

hybrid workplace model don’t see it as a risk, contribution and they don’t force their people to return to l Foster inclusive team climates, indepen- the old-fashioned office-based model. Hybrid- dent of employees’ choice of work location ready leaders embrace the changes as an oppor- l Build trust and psychological safety so that tunity to increase staff happiness, engagement, dispersed workers feel safe to share their chal- commitment, and productivity. lenges for collective problem-solving and feel they have the same opportunities for participa- tion and advancement TAKING ACTION MANY LEADERS ARE NOT READY l Establish team culture and norms Hearst’s diversity and inclusion initiatives FOR A HYBRID WORLD throughout in-office and remote teams Let’s take a look at what needs to change and At Hearst, several diversity and inclusion of company funds to four organisations: the Flexible, hybrid-ready leaders are not yet the how in terms of your office, your teams, and initiatives were already underway when the NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund, norm. your meetings, as well as your diversity and pandemic hit. The Hearst 2021 Diversity the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, Colour of Change A vast majority (78%) “of HR leaders identi- gender equity efforts. & Inclusion Overview report cited several (The Emergency Fund for Racial Justice), and fied leaders’ mindsets as a greater challenge examples, including: the Equal Justice Initiative. Together, HBC and than their skill sets in driving the success of Hearst raised over $1.22 million.” a hybrid workforce model,” according to the PERMANENT WORK FROM HOME HEARSTLAB Gartner report. “The skill sets required in a “Established in 2015 to address the DIVERSITY IN COMMERCE TASK FORCE hybrid-ready leader include the ability to build GIVES WAY TO HYBRID underrepresentation of women in the venture “The Diversity in Commerce Task Force united a trust, empower employees, enable collabora- capital community, HearstLab has been cross-section of editorial and business-develop- tion, and establish productive team climates.” While lockdowns made working from home investing in, supporting, and growing women- ment team members,” the report stated. “The goal (WFH) five days a week unavoidable, it cannot led startups in North America and Europe, as is to onboard more businesses owned by people Gartner identified four types of hybrid lead- stay that way, especially in creative organisa- well as increasing visibility and promotional of colour into the brands’ affiliate program and to ers: tions like media companies. opportunities for women at Hearst,” according learn more about how to expand partnerships.” Human beings are social animals, and jour- to the report. “HearstLab functions as an 1. Hybrid champions: Leaders with the right nalism is a social process, both in the gathering early-stage incubator for these promising, SUPPLIER DIVERSITY EFFORT mindset and skill set to lead a hybrid workforce of the information and the creative process of highly-scalable businesses with all of Hearst’s “Hearst is actively looking for ways it can crafting the presentation of that information. resources at their disposal, including access directly, and positively, impact its diversified to HearstLab Scouts, who mentor, advise, and group of suppliers to broaden engagement 2. Hybrid strivers: Leaders who have the Ditto sales and marketing. prepare these enterprises. To date, Hearst has right mindset but lack the right skill set to lead While some workers have blossomed work- with minority- and women-owned business invested in 30 startups: 100% are women-led enterprises (M/WBEs) and other historically a hybrid workforce ing from home, a recent survey also uncovered and 40% are led by a woman of colour.” disenfranchised small- and medium-sized a worrisome decline in mental health across all enterprises,” according to the report. “Hearst is 3. Hybrid resistors: Leaders who have the industries, seniority levels, and demographics. CONSCIOUS INCLUSION partnering with SupplierIO to source additional right skill set but a closed mindset toward a Before the pandemic, 62% of employees “By June 2021, more than 15,000 Hearst M/WBEs and bring them into Hearst’s supply hybrid workforce reported positive mental health. By late 2020, colleagues had participated in conscious chain. Working with the National Minority that number had dropped to just 28%, accord- inclusion training to understand the multiple Supplier Development Council, Hearst is Leaders who lack both ing to the report by the Martec Group, a global 4. Hybrid laggards: dimensions of diversity and how biases can seeking more ways to foster relationships the right mindset and the requisite skill set for strategic intelligence and market research solu- impact behaviours at work,” the report said. through recruitment, supplier fairs, and other leading a hybrid workforce tions company. Job satisfaction and job motiva- “This includes understanding the science D&I opportunities.” tion had also fallen — job satisfaction from 57% behind bias, recognising when behaviours are Gartner also identified the skill sets of a hy- to 32% and job motivation from 56% to 36%, less than inclusive and guiding team members LEVEL UP VENTURES brid leader. A hybrid leader must: according to the report. through a process of discovery, prioritisation, “Impressed with the meaningful impact and and action. A certification programme has been growth of HearstLab, and as a member of the l Drive performance, even when teams are added, allowing employees to explore important HearstLab Investment Committee, Carlton remote, without close monitoring or supervi- PERMANENT WFH IS NOT inclusion topics on a deeper level.” Charles, senior vice president and treasurer sion THE “NEW NORMAL” of Hearst, helped develop Hearst’s latest l Champion development to ensure that HEARST BLACK CULTURE initiative to support diverse founders: Level employees are equipped with the skills and “The Hearst Black Culture (HBC) initiative is an Up Ventures.” according to the report. “Level physical tools needed to drive current and “For a business like ours, which is an innovative, extensive set of programs aimed at engaging Up Ventures is a launching pad for Black and future performance collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not and amplifying Black voices at Hearst and Hispanic founders of high-growth startups l Communicate effectively across a variety ideal for us,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solo- beyond,” according to the Diversity Report. that will be based in the South Bronx, and of channels to lead virtual and in-office teams mon told a conference in late February 2021. “In the wake of the May 2020 killing of George its community development arm will assist l Enable enterprise contribution, connect- “And it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration Floyd, HBC’s leaders conducted a grassroots existing small businesses in the Bronx and ing remote workers with their in-office and that we’re going to correct as soon as possible,” fundraiser and worked directly with corporate Harlem. Level Up Ventures is on a mission to otherwise dispersed peers and supporting them he added. leadership, who supported their initiative by identify commercial ventures that can close the all to drive high enterprise performance and Other finance sector executives agree with matching their contributions with a donation wealth gap in these neighbourhoods.” INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 18 world of work 2021 2020-21 19

Solomon. In the autumn of 2020, JP Morgan WHO WILL BE THERE? CEO Jamie Dimon said WFH has negatively impacted productivity. Barclays CEO Jes Staley recently said he hopes employees will be return- “We’re just not going to go back to five days a ing to the office after the vaccine has been week in the office,” Deloitte’s Global Human OFFICES ARE BEING widely distributed. Capital Leader Erica Volini told The Washington On the other hand, the tech industry is em- Post. “The idea that we’re going to get to some bracing WFH now and in the future. new consistent way of working flies in the face The giants — Microsoft, Facebook and Twit- of what we’ve learned in the pandemic.” ter — have all told their staffs that they will What is here to stay is the end of nine to five, have the option to work from home perma- Monday-through-Friday working hours. This RECONFIGURED AS PLACES nently. Up to half of Facebook’s staff could work pandemic has changed the 40-hour a week remotely within five to ten years, according to office-based experience forever. the company. Flexible versus fixed working hours will be Those companies are in the majority. Eight the biggest change media firms have to adjust out of ten companies surveyed by 451 Research to going forward. Some people may do three THAT PRIMARILY EXIST reported that they have implemented or ex- days a week remotely, some two days, some four panded universal work-from-home policies as a and so on. result of COVID-19. Remarkably, 67% of those “All-remote-all-the-time is not healthy, companies said they would keep their WFH especially in media, where the creative process policies in place either permanently or for the needs to happen in person,” Liz Vaccariello, long-term, according to 451 Research. Editor-In-Chief of Real Simple at Meredith, told FOR TEAMWORK AND DigitalContentNext. “But as a creative lead, I don’t see the need for office hours to be Mon- HYBRID IS HERE TO STAY day to Friday, nine to six. It’s just inefficient. Twice a week is good enough! COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITY — But the answer isn’t an either-or choice; the answer is a hybrid approach. TRUST YOUR STAFF TO GET THEIR “The work from home craze is not hyped,” wrote Gene Marks, CEO of the tech and finan- WORK DONE cial services company Marks Group PC. “It’s just ALBEIT WITH STRICT SOCIAL overhyped. “Working during this pandemic is just about “Every business needs to have a work-from- getting work done when you can,” Vaccariello home policy and if you didn’t learn that from continued. “You have to trust your staff to get the pandemic then you are definitely missing their work done, at a time that fits in with their the boat,” Marks wrote in The Guardian. “Giv- home life. ing employees some flexibility to do their jobs “Giving them more autonomy, rather than DISTANCING MEASURES IN remotely not only improves their job satisfac- constantly checking if they are online, will cul- tion but creates a great recruiting tool for those tivate a culture of trust, respect and ultimately younger employees who have been demanding hard work,” Vaccariello told DigitalContent- this benefit for years. Clearly the technology Next. “The work will speak for itself. If a team works and, depending on the person, your pro- member can get their work done in five hours, PLACE AND PARTITIONS ductivity should not suffer. good for them!” “But work-from-home policies need balance,” So, how do you manage a hybrid system? How Marks wrote. “I’ve seen from many successful many days? Which hours? For whom? Do teams clients that a good policy requires a certain need to be in the office on the same day? number of days every week in the office. There has to be physical presence. You need to see SEPARATING DIFFERENT that worker and that worker needs to see you HYBRID AIN’T EASY and his or her colleagues. You can’t create a team when everyone’s completely virtual. Something is missing. Human contact is miss- Hybrid workplaces will not be easy to run; ing. Technology just can’t replace that. Don’t they will require an unprecedented amount of TEAMS AND DEPARTMENTS. worry, your dog will be fine.” coordination. “Someone going to the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for example, will want to make the most of their time and we need to INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 20 world of work 2021 2020-21 21 HOW TO KEEP EMPLOYEES FEELING VALUED IN TOUGH TIMES Imaginative solutions to staffers feeling cut off, under-appreciated

During tough times, how does a company Digiday. Fast holds a virtual lunch every week, in 2020), Harness sent each of their 250 their home office, a Hearst spokesperson told make staffers feel valued and safe when they and sends each employee $25 to spend on employees a box to create their its fun on that Digiday. are working remotely, worried about the future their lunch or dinner. day. Each fun box, costing the company $125 Recognising that the pandemic and the of the company, and anxious about their own Fast also sends snack boxes to staff once a apiece, included a blanket, mat, water bottle, extended remote working arrangements future as well. week. The type of food changes, with different tie dye kit, a few snacks, sunscreen and some were causing serious mental health issues, And how do you do all that while also helping types of oatmeal and cookie boxes being two other treats. The company then held a photo Condé Nast started funding up to eight free them cope with the worst pandemic in a century? favourites. contest challenging its staffers to document counselling sessions at a mental health service Multiple companies in the media space and the most creative setup of their gift. The winner platform (TalkSpace). Similarly, employees also in other industries have developed creative, HELP WITH THE KIDS received $50. received free accsss to a meditation app called powerful tools to keep their staffs emotionally, With schools in lockdown, many staffers are And as happy hours weren’t happening Unplug. physically, and financially whole. The initiatives not only working from home but also having anymore, Harness sent $30 gift cards for include virtual wellness services, subscriptions to help their children with at-home learning. drinks and snacks to enjoy during a virtual ON-DEMAND THERAPIST to mental health apps, gifts, cash for drinks Business software firm UKG developed two company-wide happy hour. ACCESS and snacks for a virtual happy hour, lunch programs for their employees with young While happy hours and socially distant picnics Three other media companies also moved to money for a virtual team meal, a kids' club children — it provided a virtual summer camp are fun, many staffers have been worried about support their staffers’ mental health. BuzzFeed, to entertain after-school children, a picnic and during the school year created a kids' club their physical and mental health. Group Nine, and Vox Media have all partnered kit in lieu of the company picnic, stipends for the after-school hours. with mental health support platform Ginger for home gym equipment, stipends for home “It was the right thing to do,” UKG Chief People A VIRTUAL GYM AND PERSONAL for on-demand therapists. BuzzFeed also office equipment, stipends for counseling, free Officer Dave Almeda told Digiday. “Practically GYM EQUIPMENT encouraged staffers to take a monthly self-care meditation apps, free self-care days, etc. speaking, if your kids are occupied, you are Meredith created a virtual gym — 4YourHealth day and promised it would not be deducted more productive and feeling better about work. — in late 2020 to enable staffers to take from their personal paid-time-off days. THE NEED TO FEEL VALUED It was a good win-win situation.” workout classes online, according to Digiday. Vox Media also partnered with meditation and “Employees need to feel valued, to feel like their Gifts also send a message to staffers. “Gifts While Meredith has covered gym memberships yoga class provider HealHaus so employees bosses care. And that the bosses care about are important during this time to keep people for a long time, with gyms closed, Meredith could take online classes, a company the whole human being, not just the employee engaged and aligned with our mission,” Luan wanted to help staffers find alternatives. The spokesperson told Digiday. part,” monster.com Career Expert Vicki Salemi Lam, Harness’ vice president of global talent, company also loosened the limits on the BuzzFeed has started encouraging employees told Digiday. told CNN. “We like to surprise employees every company’s annual health and fitness stipend to to take a monthly self-care day that’s not “There is nothing like being able to have a big so often with a gift of some kind.” enable the purchase of home gym equipment. deducted from their PTO days after receiving team lunch or team dinner, it is a really great At Condé Nast, the company will allow feedback from its parenting employee resource rapport-building activity,” Domm Holland, CEO PICNIC SUPPLIES employees who choose to work remotely post group that this was a perk they needed while of e-commerce checkout company Fast, told Instead of the company-wide picnic (cancelled pandemic to receive a larger stipend to support working remotely. INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 22 world of work 2021 2021 23

ensure their teammates will also be there,” Liz Andrew Filev, founder and CEO of collabora- global advertising and marketing agency with Burow, former WeWork VP/Workplace Strat- tive tools company Wrike, on Forbes. “Both of 100 employees. egy, told The Washington Post. these models can put existing office space to In the spring of 2020, with their expensive “I think you’ll hear a lot more about H.R. de- use while also accommodating the flexibility of downtown lease expiring in August, R/GA had partments saying we have ‘no meeting Mondays’ work from home that employees have become a decision to make. The new remote working and very clear, intentional days of the week [for accustomed to during the last several months.” SIX STRESS- system was proceeding famously, with 30% different activities],” Burow said. “You have to of supervisors saying that their workers were manage flexibility.” more productive at home and only 7% saying The innovations we need to make this transi- WHAT WILL THE NEW OFFICE LOOK people were getting less done, according to the tion are technological and organisational. What LIKE? company. tools do we need and what organisational sys- MANAGEMENT Between the cost of staying and the success tems and behaviours must be in place? of remote working, R/GA’s decision was not How do you have all these WFH flexible “With individual workstations effectively very difficult. “We said, ‘Let’s pull ourselves out editors, designers, and sales teams collaborate relocated to people’s kitchens and living rooms, of this lease, go fully virtual, and treat the office seamlessly with the office team? offices are being reconfigured as places that like we would treat any client project, where One example of a technology solution is the primarily exist for teamwork and collaborative TECHNIQUES we start from a blank slate,’” David Corns, the BBC’s permanent open Zooms with key team activity — albeit with strict social distancing California managing director of R/GA, told The members so they can be asked questions on the measures in place and partitions separating Stress is everywhere. We all faced drastic New Yorker. spot. It’s as close to working side by side that different teams and departments,” accord- changes to our lives and work — a year we can manage while accommodating remote ing to digital workflow company Service Now. of social isolation and debilitating anxiety working arrangements. “Architects and office planners are already busy about health, family, and finances. If you are TURN LEASE SAVINGS INTO There are literally dozens of tools teams can with a raft of changes, including larger desks feeling stressed, try using some of these use to keep their WFH staff fully integrated and layouts that make more use of stairwells to simple, proven habits from Michelle Bihary WORKPLACE ENHANCEMENTS with their office team (see the sidebar on tools reduce the use of enclosed lifts. And, of course, a workplace resilience expert, writing in the for hybrid teams). After an initial period of there’s the ongoing drive to minimise the use of Harvard Business Review: Corns’s decision also meant the company could, intense safety precautions in offices, we envi- frequently touched surfaces, such as taps, door while saving money on their physical plant, sion the removal of plexiglass partitions and the handles and buttons. 1 Move, move, move: Any exercise is a turn around and invest those savings in build- creation of open team collaboration areas with “Within the office, new technologies are fantastic stress reliever. ing custom, cloud-based digital workspaces lots of space as well as big screens to connect being adopted to enable more rigorous safety with proprietary work and video-conferencing 2 Breathe: practise meditation and with remote team members. protocols,” according to Service Now. “Compa- capabilities. So, for example, “if you want to mindfulness exercises to tame your mind. nies are shifting to touch-free sensor technol- know what happened in the virtual office last ogy for handles, buttons and taps, signalling a 3 Journal: Writing can help us unpack Tuesday, you can go back and replay the meet- WHAT DOES THE OFFICE reverse from the preponderance of pre-Covid what’s going on inside. Start by documenting ings,” Microsoft VP/Modern Work Jared Spataro touchscreens. Some planners are even looking what you’re grateful for each day. told The New Yorker. OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? at technology that will allow staff to control Having made the decision to reduce their lifts and vending machines using their personal 4 Laugh: Watch a funny show, call a funny office footprint, R/GA retained Studio O+A, a So, if we’re going the hybrid route, what kind of smartphones.” friend, and feel some joy. San Francisco-based architecture and design office will staffers be coming back to? firm with three decades of experience creating We’re going to start with the office because, 5 Find your flow: What activity or task workspaces for companies such as Facebook, while handling your people is more important TEAM-BASED WORK IN PODS demands your deepest focus? Uber, and Yelp. than handling your office building, the office 6 Listen to music: Research proves that it Studio O+A began creating a new set of seems to be top of mind for many executives and helps us relax. COVID-related “typologies” — activity-based staffers, and the office structure sets the tone for To accommodate both safety concerns and the spaces that could become standard features of a interpersonal interactions in so many ways. increasingly common team-based approach to post-pandemic workplace. What will the post-COVID-19 office look like? work, open-space offices will give way to more How will we operate while we’re there? Who team pods. Workplaces originally designed to will actually be there? bring teams closer together now must keep regulatory bodies and industry groups offer A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE FUTURE We don’t yet have all the answers, but we do them apart, at least in large numbers in wide little or no guidance or regulations (yet). It’s a know it can’t and won’t be the same. open spaces. blank slate, with high stakes. What does an office look like that can accom- Discussions among designers include one- There are no precedents, either. When the plan was ready, Studio O+A gave R/ modate the new hybrid working arrangements way hallways, distance markers, staggered GA and The New Yorker a virtual tour of the as well as meet health and safety concerns? shifts, fewer desks, team pods, plexiglass proposed plan, beginning with the reception “Well, for one thing, media companies are divider screens, touchless functions like coffee A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE area. looking at models where existing offices serve machines and doors and even elevator panels “This space should signal a feeling of safety,” as collaboration hubs, or essentially permanent controlled from your smart phone. O+A senior designer Dani Gelfand told The WeWork-like office spaces where employees There is no guidance to make the transition A good, if possibly premature, case study is the New Yorker, pointing out the touchless entry may meet to collaborate as needed,” wrote easier. Most national and local governmental experience of R/GA, a San Francisco-based doors, sanitising stations, infrared temperature INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 24 world of work 2021 2021 25

checkpoint, and an isolation room for people who register a fever. Then Gelfand “took” the group to the Don- ning/Doffing Room, which has lockers for outside gear and personal items, and a place for TECH TOOLS FOR SUCCESSFUL mandatory hand-washing. The next stop on the “tour” was the Radio TIME TRACKING TOOLS Station that featured enhanced audio-visual capabilities for connecting with remote col- 36 Clockify leagues, followed by the Boot Camp, an area for 37 Hivedesk new hires, and the Rickshaw, a small, enclosed HYBRID TEAMS OF REMOTE AND private workspace, according to The New 38 Toggl Track Yorker.

39 Harvest Tomato Timer

40 KickIdler EVERYTHING IS TOUCHLESS

OFFICE-BASED WORKERS The next stops were the communal pantry A rich selection of options to make your lives easier and better ORGANISATION APPS with touchless equipment (a contactless coffee machine, a touchless utensils dispenser, and 41 Todoist (a to-do list organiser) a pedal-operated water cooler), followed by a Here are 55 suggestions on which tools to use (a team time-tracker service), ProofHub 42 Evernote general-wellness room, which, Gelfand told The to facilitate remote work and make it easier for (team collaboration products), WifiTribe (a New Yorker, would be mainly for nursing moth- your team to work together and stay productive work remotely community), and GrooveHQ 43 Whiteboard and mind mapping tools ers but also for “prayer and decompression.” no matter where they are, according to Clockify (customer support software) “The main communal workspace was made 44 Whimsical (collaborative docs) up of 20 four-person workstations, with unas- TEAM CLOUD STORAGE AND PROJECT signed but reservable individual desks arranged COMMUNICATION FILE-SHARING TOOLS MANAGEMENT TOOLS in a pinwheel formation, and barriers between the desk surfaces that offered a modicum of TOOLS 12 Dropbox 19 Trello WORK-LIFE BALANCE TOOLS visual privacy,” wrote New Yorker author John 1 Chanty 13 MicroSoft OneDrive 45 Way of Life (a habit tracker) Seabrook. “This part of the post-pandemic 20 Workzone 2 Slack office looked much like the pre-pandemic open- Google Drive 46 Cozi Family Organizer 14 21 Asana plan layout, only more so.” 3 Pumble When Corns saw the communal workspace, 15 Box 47 Headspace (a meditation app) 22 Basecamp he objected to its similarity to the pre-pandemic 4 Troop Messenger office. “Nothing needs to look like the office Instagantt 23 before [COVID-19}, so these workstations don’t 5 Friday FILE COLLABORATION 24 Podio SECURITY need to be desks, per se,” Corns said, according 6 Tettra to Seabrook. TOOLS 1Password 25 ProofHub 48 16 Google Workspace 26 Blink 49 Cloud9 Office 365 VIDEO 17 NOTHING NEEDS TO LOOK CONFERENCING 18 Confluence LIKE THE OLD OFFICE TOOLS BEST TIME EMPLOYEE REWARDS Gelfand agreed. “Maybe we just have lounge 7 Skype CONVERTER TOOLS 50 WooBoard furniture and a place to plug in,” Gelfand sug- DEVELOPMENT AND 31 World Time Buddy 8 Google Meet 51 Compt gested. DESIGN TOOLS 32 TimeAndDate The tour next went through an area full of 9 Zoom 27 GitLab 52 PizzaTime “focus pods” similar to three-sided restaurant 33 Remote Desktop booths. “The pods could be made higher, so 10 Krisp (background noise 28 InVision Software 53 CoffeeTime cancelling tool) they are more like an enclosed-booth experi- 29 Bamboo 34 TeamViewer 54 iAppreciate ence,” Gelfand noted. 11 Miro (online white board The tour also included a studio for digital tool) 30 Figma 35 Chrome Remote Desktop 55 GiveAWow art work and photography, and several semi- enclosed conference rooms with sizeable video INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 26 world of work 2021 2021 27

screens and advanced sound systems for meet- people are doing and not just brush off the ings with remote staff. response, which some people are uncomfort- Other companies are looking at arrange- able with.” ments to make a hybrid working system. For example, digital agency Jellyfish looks to bring “I'VE BEEN CHECKING IN employees into the office three days a week START WITH EMPATHY and, to facilitate that, it will use desk-booking software to track when people are coming in and where they’re sitting. The booking software Good communication starts with empathy. WITH EVERYONE BY CALLING will enable the company to control how many “Managers need to empathise individually and people are in the office, and pinpoint which think about each member of their staff and desks need cleaning. what they need,” Vaccariello said. “Since lockdown we have also introduced five THEM EVERY TWO WEEKS. wellness days, which are paid days when staff WHAT ARE THE NEW TEAM can take a break to get their head together,” MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES? said Devine. “And we provide resilience training [...] MANAGERS NEED TO on how to manage yourself in a remote environ- ment.” Team management has become far more com- Without the old in-person connection mo- plex and nuanced. ments around the water cooler or in the lunch- EMPATHISE INDIVIDUALLY We have discovered lots of new tools that room, managers must find new ways to have enable communication (Zoom, Slack, Scrum, conversations with their teams — especially ProofHub, Trello, etc.), but do they also enable with new staff members. connection? AND THINK ABOUT EACH All of those tools let managers stay in touch with their teams and deal with daily duties, but PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR TEAM they are not enough to truly build connections with individual staff. MEMBER OF THEIR STAFF “I’ve been checking in with everyone by call- “We can’t grab a beer or have a welcome bagel ing them every two weeks,” Real Simple’s Editor party,” Vaccariello told Digital Content Next. in Chief Liz Vaccariello told DigitalContentNext. “So, to make new staff feel part of the team, AND WHAT THEY NEED.” “A phone call feels more intimate and it makes we play games on Webex. Or we go around and us feel more connected. This is even more have everyone say something about themselves, Liz Vacariello, Editor in chief, Real Simple true than when we were in an office together, such as a book they’ve recently read or what where I was around, but not always available. they’ve been doing lately.” Additionally, I personally email each person a Entertainment and media company Com- note about each issue, mentioning a story they plex Networks also takes special care of its worked on, or how they contributed.” staff. Complex VP of People & Culture Krystle Douglas created Complex Coffee Talks, a virtual gathering for staff where different staff mem- USE SURVEYS TO CHECK TEAM’S bers talk about their professional and personal lives. “I wanted to find a way to keep morale TEMPERATURE high, but also provide a learning experience, so that all employees understand what everyone Another way to manage your teams and “take else is doing because understanding is the route their temperature” is to use surveys — the ano- to empathy, which builds a stronger, happier nymity gives staffers the comfort level to freely workforce,” Douglas told Digital Content Next. express their opinion. The Financial Times (FT) regularly surveys its staff. Its surveys focus on questions about well- SOMETIMES DITCH ZOOM being and working from home, FT U.S. Head of allowing the manager and staffer to get some ton said you can either ask people to chime HR Kirsty Devine told Digital Content Next. FOR THE PHONE fresh air, maybe even talk over the phone while in informally prior to diving into a meeting “Empathic leadership has never been so they’re walking outside, according to an Up- agenda or actually schedule meetings purely important, but not all managers are used to it,” Video is not always the answer. While Logitech Work report. for the team to hang out and chat as a way to said Devine. “In the office, you can read body GM of Video Collaboration Scott Wharton Wharton told UpWork that he encourages fill that gap we might be missing from per- language. But with people working remotely, firmly believes in video calls, he also believes leaders to schedule casual conversations that sonal contact. [leaders] need to ask questions about how that one-to-one audio calls are a nice break, often accompany in-person meetings. Whar- THE NEW MANAGEMENT INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 28 world of work 2020 2021 29

Track your worker's Listen progress The most successful managers Have your employees give you a are good listeners, communicate work schedule, along with tasks trust and respect, inquire about they are expected to accomplish workload and progress without within a given time. This will micromanaging, and err on the calm4 your fears and give your team the 6side of over-communicating. A monthly structure they need to fulfil their role. or quarterly employee survey can be Remember, just because you can't see useful to assess employee sentiments. them working at their desk doesn't But remember, if you ask for feedback, TIPS FOR MANAGING mean work isn't getting done. Trust the you must do something about it. process.

Build connections and be Emphasise communication available to your team Consider which communication Many workers feel isolated and tool best fits the team's disoriented in this new work culture — e-mail, texts, phone reality. That's why it's important calls, video chats, an intranet to build connections with REMOTE TEAMS channel — and find that delicate 7employees. Share positive feedback, 5balance between constantly pinging open a fun chat channel, or try to Communicate, communicate, communicate employees with texts and e-mail … “grab coffee” together — whatever and then radio silence. The frequency helps maintain a sense of normality It’s a whole new management Set expectations early and of communication may differ among and solidarity, and reminds everyone challenge working with remote often employees. The best method is to they're not an island working alone. teams whose work experience is Providing guidelines, setting ask employees how they want to be now totally different from what boundaries, and reviewing the managed while working remotely. they knew as in-office workers. basics are among the most That way, managers can keep a pulse Adapt the length of your "If this is the first time that important steps to take. Managers on what each employee needs to be meetings managers are in charge of should1 model behaviour around productive. Too much oversight is a What works in the office may managing remote employees, the hours employees work, such as sign of mistrust. not work] remotely. Instead it can be scary to navigate establishing expectations around of lengthy meetings, have and ensure employees are responding to any after-hours work short virtual huddles … Apply productive, engaged and e-mail and texts. 8this thinking to team resourcing, thriving," software company scheduling and action planning. Kazoo CEO Paul Pellman told the Society of Human Be organised and flexible Resource Management (SHRM). While a concrete plan is a must, “IF THIS IS THE Resist the urge to "The transition to remote you should be open to adjusting micromanage communication removes the strategies as needed. Whether You shouldn't be looking over personal context that helps us your employees choose to put FIRST TIME your team's shoulders in the interact with each other.” in their hours in the morning or office, so you shouldn't do it “It's not just a matter of 2evening shouldn't matter, as long as the MANAGERS when they're remote, either. providing remote workers with work gets completed on time and is of 9Regular one-on-one check-ins help a new video communication high quality. managers avoid micromanaging, while platform and assuming it will ARE IN CHARGE still enabling them to keep a pulse on be business as usual,” Culture employees and provide them with an Builders founder Jane Sparrow Provide a way to collaborate OF MANAGING opportunity to ensure feedback goes told SHRM. Providing a shared document both ways. WFH team members might that tracks work activities is one be coping lonliness, children way managers can stay apprised REMOTE learning from home, an of what their teams are doing. It Celebrate success unemployed spouse, illness in will help managers refine their EMPLOYEES, IT Managers should also look for relatives, etc. 3expectations and responsibilities of opportunities to celebrate the According to the SHRM, the employees. Also, agree as a team same work milestones that following are the top tips on acceptable behaviour for virtual CAN BE SCARY.” would be celebrated in the for managing remote team collaboration, such as how quickly to Tom Standage The Economist Head office. members: respond to messages. of Digital Strategy 10 INNOVATION INNOVATION The post-COVID-19 IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 30 world of work 2021 2020-21 31

CHALLENGE: REMOTE MEETINGS press an opinion without fear of being singled out, and the results prompt thoughtful probing to dig into diverse views.” HOW A summary of R/GA survey results found that Zoom meetings resulted in “more voices being TO 4. Chat: “Allowing everyone to contribute heard and there is better meeting etiquette.” at the same time in their own words, with One R/GA survey respondent wrote: “People their names tagged, the chat function lowers tend to wait for others to finish their thoughts the threshold for participation,” wrote Ed- before speaking.” Another commented: “Work- mondson and Daley. “At times, however, the ing from home (WFH) actually forces our sheer volume or length of entries leave some entire team to work more closely.” overlooked. But the sudden and universal use of remote "Setting norms about brevity can help, but RECRUIT meetings has also uncovered serious road- chats also can distract from the spoken con- blocks to inclusion, honesty, safety, group versation. When it’s vital that everyone listen AND consensus, real communication, etc. intently to what is being said, chat may need to “There are good reasons to worry,” wrote be turned off.” Harvard Business School professor Amy C. Edmondson and Harvard Business Publishing 5. Breakout rooms: “Creating smaller virtual Moderator Gene Daley in the Harvard Business breakout rooms during large meetings allows Review. “Detecting social cues or non-verbal small groups of, say, three to five people to talk agreement is nearly impossible. more easily without muting and unmuting RETAIN “Team members may feel isolated without themselves, providing a more natural conversa- the natural support of an ally nodding from tional experience than large virtual meetings,” THE across the table,” they wrote. “And distractions wrote Edmondson and Daley. “Breakout rooms, (emails, texts, doorbells, children, pets) are with specific tasks or topics assigned to differ- everywhere. If virtual meetings are inher- ent groups, provide a psychologically safe space ently difficult, the current environment — the to test ideas and build relationships. When health and economic threats, the overwork, participants return to the large group, they find and the social unrest — makes them even it easier to report ideas from the small group more so.” with the confidence that comes from testing VERY and sharing perspectives in that relatively safer space.” HOW TO SOLVE REMOTE 6. Video: “Seeing faces creates engagement, MEETING PROBLEMS? but too much visual stimuli (faces and back- grounds) can be distracting, and low bandwidth “The good news is that the very technology that can add to visual disruptions,” they wrote. thwarts candour and mutual understanding “Leaders may want to encourage view options also offers ways to offset these losses,” wrote in which one face is centre stage while speak- Edmondson and Daley. “In our work leading ing and others recede to the background. Other BEST hundreds of virtual sessions, we’ve identified times, audio-only may be a better option for opportunities and risks associated with each deep listening.” of several common tools found in most online meeting platforms: Edmondson and Daley suggest that after a virtual meeting, managers should reach out to 1. Hand-raise: “The hand-raise function helps talk to participants who were quiet during the people signal that they want to speak aloud,” session. “To replicate informal water cooler mo- they wrote. For taking polls, it’s not as effective ments, managers can use text, phone, or email, as there is no anonymity. to give reinforcing or redirecting feedback,” TALENT they wrote. 2. Yes/No: “Typically a green checkmark and If we can get our heads in the right places and SPOILER ALERT: red X, this tool allows quick input from every- acquire the skills necessary to make this new one,” they wrote. “The tool’s obvious limitation hybrid world work, we’ll all be in a richer, bet- is that not all issues are binary in nature. For ter, more flexible, more nimble place. And our greater nuance in soliciting voice, poll and chat companies will be the better for it. YOU’RE PROBABLY DOING IT ALL, tools provide worthy alternatives.” 3. Polls: “Anonymous polls make it easy to ex- OR MUCH OF IT, WRONG INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 32 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 33

race yourself. techniques to understand, improve, and opti- cians, and athletes found that high performers It’s time to change — mise the people side of business from recruiting are 400% more productive than average ones. and we mean radi- to retention. “Studies of businesses not only show similar cally change — how In terms of recruiting, human analytics has results but also reveal that the gap rises with a you recruit and retain already proven its effectiveness. job’s complexity,” Keller and Meaney wrote. “In HOW TO RECRUIT people. The US-based National Bureau of Economic highly complex occupations — the informa- What’s worked Research did a study of 300,000 hires in tion- and interaction-intensive work of manag- before doesn’t work high-turnover jobs at 15 companies. In those ers, software developers, and the like — high anymore. hires, the researchers pitted a hiring process performers are an astounding 800% more (If you’re honest, using human experience, instinct, and judg- productive. you have to admit ment against a hiring process using a human “Suppose your business strategy involves that the old way analytics algorithm. The result? The homo cross-functional initiatives that would take never really worked sapiens were routed. Employees chosen by the three years to complete,” they wrote. “If you predictably all that algorithms stayed on the job far longer and had took 20% of the average talent working on the well anyway, right?) performance evaluations equal to or better than project and replaced it with great talent, how WOMEN “Businesses have those chosen by humans. soon would you achieve the desired impact? It’s a very safe statement to say that most never done as much And that wasn’t the only such study. In a Uni- If these people were 400% more productive, of us do not have enough diversity in our hiring as they do versity of Minnesota examination of 17 studies it would take less than two years; if they were staff, most universally with an under-repre- today. They’ve never that compared the hiring success rates of algo- 800% more productive, it would take less than sentation of women. Here are some tips on spent as much money rithms v. humans, the algorithms outperformed one. If a competitor used 20% more great talent recruiting women from Sarah O’Brien, head of global insights at LinkedIn, writing in The doing it. And they’ve never done a worse job humans by at least 25%. “The effect holds in any in similar efforts, they would beat you to mar- Harvard Business Review in late 2019: of it,” wrote Professor Peter Cappelli, Director situation with a large number of candidates, re- ket even if they started a year or two later. of the Wharton Business Schools Center for gardless of whether the job is on the front line, “You get even more remarkable results com- Make job postings more inclusive. Human Resources, in The Harvard Business in middle management, or (yes) in the C-suite,” paring the productivity of the top and bottom B Focus job descriptions on the Review. according to the study authors. 1%,” wrote Keller and Meaney. “For unskilled expectations of the role. Remove Everything has changed — the skills we need, That’s not to say humans weren’t involved in and semi-skilled jobs, the top 1% are three 1 language like “rock star” and “ninja” the type of people we need, the way they com- the algorithm-based decisions, but their choices times more productive; for jobs of middling that tends to alienate female applicants, municate, their needs, their values, the work- were deeply influenced by the algorithm’s rec- complexity (say, technicians and supervisors), and use more straightforward job titles place, the pace of change, the ability to predict ommendations. 12 times more. One person in the top 1% is and descriptions. In our Language Matters performance, the availability of data that can Need another push toward human data ana- worth 12 in the bottom 1%. For high-complex- Report, we found that 44% of women would take much of the guesswork out of recruiting lytics? How about this: A recent Deloitte report ity jobs, the differential is so big it can’t be be discouraged from applying to a job if the and retaining, our ability to be flexible about so found that organisations using people analytics quantified.” description included the word “aggressive.” many things that used to be rigid. appropriately reported 82% higher three-year The late Steve Jobs put it succinctly: “Go after The new work environment, the new work average profit than those who have not yet the cream of the cream. A small team of A+ Share stories of women who are suc- force, the new skill sets, and tight job market all adopted data analytic strategies or who are not players can run circles around a giant team of B ceeding across all levels of your organ- force us to make a choice: Change the way we using them correctly. and C players.” There’s not much disagreement isation. When women see themselves recruit and retain people, or lose potential key So, are you ready for this new future of re- about the benefits of hiring the best and the 2 represented in your firm’s recruiting hires and essential existing staff to more open, cruiting and retention? need to do so. collateral, they’re more likely to apply. flexible, employee-focused, appealing organ- Let’s start with recruiting. Incredibly, there is also almost universal isations focused on using data to make their agreement that we aren’t doing a good job. Post salary ranges for positions. recruiting and retention efforts more predict- Despite the acknowledged importance of top When an employer is upfront about ably successful. talent, “a whopping 82% of companies don’t be- salary transparency and shares salary We can only succeed in this talent market RECRUITING lieve they recruit highly talented people,” wrote 3 ranges, it’s a signal that they are committed to fair pay. if we radically reimagine our recruitment and Keller and Meaney. “For companies that do, only retention practices and polices, and that starts 7% think they can keep it. More alarmingly, only Highlight your flexibility: Our Language with reimagining our corporate culture. First, let’s set the table stakes. 23% of managers and senior executives active Matters Report also found that jobs that This change and the others that must follow The unavailability of talent and skills is only on talent-related topics believe their current promoted flexible work, working from it will require open minds, flexibility, transpar- the biggest threat to our businesses, according acquisition and retention strategies will work.” home, and additional medical benefits ency, new roles, and a willingness to part with a recent PwC CEO Survey. As we all know, it’s not easy. 4 were the most popular among women. comfortable but increasingly ineffective and Why is talent so important? In many countries around the world, unem- counter-productive recruitment and retention “Superior talent is up to eight times more ployment is low and the people with the skill Expand your early-in-career talent practices. productive,” wrote McKinsey Senior Partners sets we need are, in many cases, already work- funnel. Blizzard Entertainment, the Here’s an illustration of one of the most im- Scott Keller and Mary Meaney in their book ing for a competitor or in a related industry or video game publisher behind World portant changes you’ll have to be making, one Leading Organisations. “It’s remarkable how at a high tech company. 5 of Warcraft, increased its number of you probably won’t like, one you might initially much of a productivity kicker an organisation How do we entice them to our media company, female interns by 166% by reaching out to think is totally bogus: Human analytics. Human gets from top talent. A recent study of more especially with the relentlessly negative press our on-campus women-led groups such as the analytics is the use of data and data analysis than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politi- industry has been getting for two decades? “Women in Computer Science” club. INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 34 the Very Best Talent 2020-212021 2021 35

fit when you’re clear with your employer brand ingly common, Amy Warner, director of talent and values from the outset,” Talent Manage- acquisition at recruitment software company ment Director Kim Stewart of the First Citizens iCIMS, told the Society of Human Relations Bank told The Business Journals. “Employees Management (SHRM). “Recruiters are consider- HOWTOSETUPA MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME feel more engaged and are more likely to flour- ing things like self-education, online schooling, ish when their values are aligned with those of certification programmes, and work experience “A clear career path is important but so is the will make the programme a priority and honour their employer.” when identifying potential employees. Employ- idea that the company you are working for is their commitments to one another. Your mission, and how it impacts custom- ers are also investing in more training pro- invested in your professional growth and devel- ers and employees, should be front and centre grammes to groom their own employees to have opment,” wrote Jami Oetting, Senior Manager of 3 EMPOWER THE MENTEE TO TAKE CHARGE on your website. How does your mission come the skill sets needed to tackle jobs of the future.” HubSpot's Multimedia Content Strategy Team. The mentee should be responsible for setting alive for staffers day-in and day-out? How does “When you have a mentor who is removed from the time and date of the meetings. Give each it challenge them professionally? Demonstrate judging your performance, it makes it easier to mentee a Starbucks coffee card so they could how you practise your mission in how you treat GET YOUR best ambassadors ask those questions, vent about small things, be seen as the one "taking out" their mentor. your employees. 3. involved in recruiting: Your and open up about fears, worries, and the inevi- employees table stumbles. 4 CREATE STRUCTURE, BUT NOT TOO MUCH “By pairing a person up with someone from an- In the contract, set up expectations (eg, meet CREATE AN employee-focused From a job-seeker’s point of view, the best re- other department or team, you are exposing the once a month for a year). Also make sure the 2. culture, emphasising individual ferral about a company is from a trusted source: employee to new knowledge about the way the meetings take place off-site. growth, flexibility A friend or an employee inside an organisation. business is run, people with different ideas and You can ensure that your staff are great perspectives about the industry, and new oppor- 5 ALLOW FOR REVERSE MENTORING Employees want to be at a company where their tunities,” she wrote. “This is especially important Mentoring isn’t just for new or young employees. work is appreciated and they can make a differ- for people who may love the company but have Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of leading agency MEC ence, where their professional growth is actively found out that they are just not passionate about North America, wanted to connect with today’s enhanced, where their work schedules and their current position.” Here are her tips: tech-savvy generation to better understand how locations are flexible, where work-life balance they are truly using and connecting with new is valued, where they are paid competitively, 1 MATCH PEOPLE BY INTERESTS OR WHAT and emerging tools and technology. She joked where benefits enhance their lives, and where THEY WANT TO ACHIEVE that her mentor would have to be open to “teach- THE IMPACT OF GIVING they have the opportunity for promotions and ing an old dog some new tricks.” Getting senior professional growth. 2 DON’T FORCE IT, BUT MAKE IT SERIOUS leadership involved in any type of formal pro- A recent study by talent mobility solutions EMPLOYEES REGULAR FEEDBACK Don’t make the mentorship mandatory but insist gramme shows the team that this is a priority for company RiseSmart found that 84% of employ- that mentors and mentees make a commitment. the agency and that there is no end to learning ees would consider leaving their current job to l 39% of employees report they don’t feel Have them sign a “contract” that states that they and professional development for employees. move to an employer with a fantastic reputa- appreciated at work tion — even if the salary bump wasn’t that big. Another study found 80% of candidates l 15% lower turnover rates in companies would choose an employment offer with more that have regular employee feedback flexibility, according to the International Work- l Employees are 30 times more likely to be We must make our companies appealing Journals. “To attract and retain talent, hiring place Group. actively engaged at work when managers “That’s a big number, and this is a big ad- places to work. We must remake our company’s managers will need to meet workers’ hiring, focus on their strengths culture to be employee-focused. And then, we on-boarding and career expectations, and vantage for recruiters,” wrote John Dawson, must market the hell out of that to attract the provide the perks, work-life balance and career Director of Sales at recruitment tech firm Ideal. l Four of 10 employees are actively people we want. “Good help isn’t hard to find advancement opportunities they demand.” “They need to find ways to offer flexibility in disengaged when they receive little or no when top talent looks for you,” wrote business This is information about your company that different situations: Multiple young children feedback author Jim Molis in the US-based Business shouldn’t take a job interview to discover. You (start/end times for work might need to be l 43% of highly engaged employees Journals. must promote your culture on your website and adjusted); ageing parents (same, with more receive feedback at least once a week That top talent is looking for very specific on social media platforms, using it as a magnet remote flexibility); and remote work in general. “If your HQ is in Toronto but the best person characteristics and opportunities in the com- for people looking for great places to work. This l 65% of employees said they wanted for your team is in Denver and they can’t move pany they would consider joining: A mission takes time and a strategic approach. more feedback right now, you should still find a way to bring they can believe in, a positive culture, stimulat- Here is a multi-step process to spread the them into the team,” wrote Dawson. “Don’t ing challenges, professional growth, mentor- word about your terrific company: l Only 58% of managers think they give sacrifice candidate quality simply because of enough feedback ship, competitive pay, rewards for excellence, flexibility or location needs. We have enough advancement opportunities, flexible work technology — think about just Skype or Zoom l Almost 70% of employees say they hours and locations, and more. MAKE SURE your company’s — where these things can be managed success- would work harder if they felt their efforts “Benefits, location and commute time are 1. mission and values are appealing, fully.” were better recognised increasingly important factors,” CareerBuilder clear, and easily discovered Hiring candidates with non-traditional edu- CEO Irina Novoselsky told The Business “Candidates have a better time assessing their cational backgrounds has also become increas- Source: Workforce management company OfficeVibe INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 36 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 37 13 KEY RETENTI ON STRATEGIES START WITH A SMART CREATE A MENTOR FOCUS CREATE AN EMPLOYEE VALUE 1ON-BOARDING PROCESS 2PROGRAMME 4ON THE 5PROPOSITION (EVP) 5% WHO DELIVER From their very first day, set up your new hires up for “Pair a new hire with a seasoned employee An EVP is what employees get for what they give. What do you expect success with a thorough, well-planned on-boarding to ensure the greatest chance of employee 95% them to “give” in terms of time, effort, experience, ideas. What will they process. “Make sure that you aren’t just teaching the retention,” wrote Regan. “Your veteran “get” in terms of tangible rewards, the way leadership helps employees, new hire about their job role and responsibilities,” said employee will act as their best resource and the substance of the work. “If your EVP is truly stronger than the Rea Regan, Marcom Manager at employee manage- and vice-versa. The new hire can offer fresh OF THE competition’s, you will attract and retain the best talent,” wrote Keller ment company Connecteam. “It is just as important to eyes and a new perspective on how things and Meaney. “But for three reasons, few companies have EVPs that teach them about the company culture and how they are done. However, make sure the mentor VALUE meaningfully help them win this war: can thrive every single day. Lay out goals for them, for doesn’t act like a supervisor. Instead, they their first week, first month, first three months, first are there for new hires to lean on, to be a The EVP is not distinctive: Stand out for something. Be unique in six months and their first year. Make sure they have sounding board, and to welcome them to 1 some way that reflects your special mission and your culture. every opportunity to talk with you about questions or the company culture.” issues they have, set them up with a mentor.” Patriot Mentor programmes have a quantifiable The EVP is not targeted: While it’s great to have an overall EVP, Software CEO Mike Kappel on Forbes.com wrote: impact on retention. A study by mentoring 2 it’s most important to have a winning EVP for the 5% of roles that “Done well, on-boarding can increase your employee software company MentorcliQ found a 13% Some employees matter most. If, for example, data scientists are hugely important, you’ll retention rate. Done poorly, on-boarding can result in retention increase among employees who disproportionately create want an EVP that lets them invent things, offers a clear, rapid career employees quitting within six months of starting.” have participated in just one mentoring or protect value. In a world progression, and helps them have a big impact. relationship. “Bump that up to two of constrained resources, mentoring relationships and retention companies should focus The EVP is not real: “An attractive EVP cooked up by HR and increases by 18%,” said MentorcliQ Senior their efforts on the few 3 pushed through PR used to help secure the best talent,” wrote Success Coach Nate Ward. “Of employees critical areas where the Keller and Meaney. “In the long term, however, this was always a losing with two years or less at their current best people have the proposition, since great people would quickly become disillusioned if PROVIDE THOUGHTFUL, organisation, the turnover rate for those biggest impact. the reality didn’t measure up.” without a mentor is 26%, but for new PROFESSIONAL employees with a mentor that number 3 drops to 8%.” “We surveyed 13,551 employees for our 2020 Global Employee Experience Trends FEEDBACK ON A SHUT UP AND LISTEN. report and found that regular listening has A Society for Human Resource Manage- a huge impact on employee engagement ment survey of managers found that only REGULARLY. and employee retention,” wrote Catherine REGULAR BASIS 2% were providing quarterly or ongoing 6 Thurtle, a content strategist for experience feedback to employees. People crave feed- management company Qualtrics. “For back, and they need it more than once or example, engagement rises to 61% for twice a year. They want recognition of their those whose company has a feedback efforts and advice on how to improve. (See programme, compared to 45% for those sidebar on the impact of feedback.) without.” , INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 38 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 39

, Gaining engagement through listening pays big dividends: Highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their companies than their less engaged counterparts, according to Qaultrics. “If you wait until an exit interview to find out why a valuable employee has decided to move on, you've BE MORE FAMILY ENCOURAGE A missed a golden opportunity — not just to keep a productive member of your team but to identify and fix issues within your organisation before you lose others,” wrote Rea Regan, the Marcom Manager at Connecteam. “Instead, touching base with employees about what motivates them while they’re still on FRIENDLY WORK-LIFE BALANCE staff is part of a key strategy in gaining an edge in today’s tight talent market: employee retention.” 10 12 BUT ACT ON THE HELP YOUR If we are not family friendly, we are driving “We recommend taking feedback and suggestions away people who could make a difference. from staff regularly to find out what matters to them 7RESULTS OF 9PEOPLE GROW; For example, “43% of highly qualified most, and what’s negatively (and positively) affecting women with children are leaving careers or their work-life balance,” wrote Thurtle. “As well as LISTENING, OR ELSE… PROMOTE FROM off-ramping for a period of time,” according collecting ideas, you can measure staff responses to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in against indicators of employee experience like her best-selling book Lean In. Many never intention to stay and eagerness to go to work each WITHIN return from maternity leave because morning. Doing this will point towards the deeper their companies do not offer flexible work relationships between work-life-balance factors.” environments or on-site daycare facilities.

“Don’t bother asking for feedback if you’re not going to analyse and act on the results,” wrote Thurtle. “That can cause more harm than not asking at all. START PROJECTS Why? Because then you’re not really listening. Ninety-four per cent of employees would REGULARLY “Your people will soon lose faith with the process stay at a company longer if it invested if they don’t see changes being implemented,” she in their careers, according to LinkedIn’s WITH “STOP” wrote. “There’s very little in (and out) of the workplace 2018 Workforce Learning Report. For LOOK AT YOUR 13 that is as demoralising as being ignored.” 86% of millennials, offering career training 11 and development would keep them from leaving, according to a survey by employee PAY RATES V. OTHER development company Bridge. The number one driver of employee MEDIA COMPANIES IT’S NOT ABOUT engagement is having opportunities for One of the speediest ways to depress morale and growth, according to the Qualtrics 2020 push employees toward the exit door is to pile new ALL THE PERKS, Global Employee Experience Trends report. projects on top of old ones without removing any 8 “Promoting from within not only provides existing responsibilities. a clear path to greater compensation and “There is no better way to crush the spirit of BUT THE RIGHT ONES responsibility, it also helps employees feel innovation than to bring together a group of creative that they're valued and a crucial part of the No matter how gung-ho your employees thinkers, turn them loose to brainstorm, allow them to company's success,” wrote Regan. may be, they still want to be paid fairly. become excited about implementing some of these High-skills training and professional Only one in five employees feels like they innovations … and then require them to add new development programmes to hone soft skills are fairly paid, according to a study by projects to their existing workloads,” wrote Frank are perceived among the top benefits for compensation software and data company Mungeam, a professor at the Knight-Cronkite News retaining employees’ services over the next PayScale. The irony is that “ultimately Lab at Arizona State University. Don’t presume to know what perks your people want. five years, according to research from the it could cost you more to find another “There is no ‘free time’ today. Adding new activities Use the listening sessions to find out, and then try Consumer Technology Association. employee than it would to simply give them without eliminating other tasks is a surefire way to to offer the right ones. Doing that enables you to “Whether by corporate training to help a pay raise,” according to Thurtle. “Not to sabotage a promising innovation,” he wrote. “That’s save money on under-utilised benefits AND create a foster the acquisition of new skills, new mention the knowledge drain that comes why smart managers start their innovation process better employee experience. technologies or new processes, or through with losing a valuable employee.” by brainstorming a ‘Stop Doing’ list before they According to a study by LinkedIn, employees actually tuition reimbursement for outside courses, To ensure your salaries are competitive, generate a ‘Start Doing’ list,” wrote Mungeam. “They care most about healthcare coverage, PTO (paid furthering your employees' education can use third party data to get market rates in create capacity for innovation first. “The ‘Stop Doing’ time off), and flexibility. You could also offer working help them feel valued and invested in the each speciality and compare them what list should include its best friend and neighbour, the remote options, unlimited paid time off, help with company,” Dan Pickett, CEO of managed you’re offering. Also, watch out for gender ‘Do Differently’ list”. “Together, they offer a potent daycare expenses, or time-shifting as a policy. services firm Nfrastructure, told Qualitrics. pay gaps. path to creating capacity for new innovation.” INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 40 the Very Best Talent 2021 2020-212021 41

5 IBM Watson Recruitment The power of AI meets recruitment analytics An industry leader. Focused on diversity and in- HOW TO CREATE AN EMPLOYEE REFERRAL SYSTEM clusion. Analytics detect bias in hiring process. TEN HUMAN Predicts the success rate for a candidate profile. An employee referral programme can be a positions. Offer a flat amount for each referral Prioritises job requisitions based on urgency. superior recruiting tool: referred candidates are and then offer more if referred candidates get typically cheaper and faster to hire and stay at interviewed, get hired or stay at your company 6 Bullhorn Canvas An advanced re- their jobs longer than traditional hires, according for at least six months. Pay some of the bonus porting and insight generation tool for recruiters to global hiring platform Workable. after the new employee has been on board for ANALYTICS Applicant tracking, executive search, candidate How do you set up an employee referral pro- six months or a year. relationship management, and on-boarding. Build gram? Here’s what Workable recommends: any report/dashboard you need. Reports easy to 4 ACKNOWLEDGE GOOD REFERRERS share. 1 EXPLAIN OPEN JOBS AND THE REQUIRE- In addition to rewards, publicly recognise effec- TOOLS MENTS tive referrers. If one employee has referred 10 7 Talismatic Competitor hiring analysis to Employees don’t know what jobs their compa- people in the past three months, six of whom Whatever Human Capital Management (HCM) gain a market advantage nies are looking to fill and what the requirements were hired, you’ve got a star referrer on your system you have should control the trinity of Offers what your competitors are doing. Trend- are. Include links to job descriptions when send- hands. Make sure they know you appreciate talent acquisition, management, and optimisa- ing cities, hiring cycles, and the quality of ing emails asking for referrals. their effort. Any acknowledgement, ranging from tion — and ultimately, multiple mission-critical candidates hired by industry peers can provide an award to public praise from the CEO, can be performance outcomes, according to HRTech- valuable insights into where your organisation 2 KEEP EMPLOYEES UPDATED meaningful. Make these acknowledgements a nologist.com. Choosing the right solution for your stands on the hiring efficiency curve. A dedicat- Employees who refer candidates expect to re- codified part of your referral programme policy. organisation is essential. Here is its line-up of ten ed data analytics solution for recruitment. Not an ceive updates on the process. Not hearing back HCM systems to consider: add-on to 360-degree hiring software. Assess can make employees reluctant to refer again, 5 ENHANCE USER EXPERIENCE IN YOUR historical recruitment performance. Identify the which undermines your employee referral pro- JOB APPLICATION PROCESS 1 erecruit A comprehensive search and right cities, job boards, and universities most gramme. Let employees know what’s happen- Your referral process shouldn’t be lengthy, analytics tool likely to deliver high-quality talent. Dashboard ing at every stage. When a referred candidate complicated or require lots of clicks. Otherwise, Plugs into a variety of popular job boards. Pro- gives historical insights on past hiring cycles, isn’t selected for an interview, send the referrer you risk driving referrers away. Use a referral cesses data from thousands of job boards and zeroing in on underachieving posts and overlong a thank-you email anyway. Encourage him or software program or platform that allows hiring companies to share vacancies right into employ- closing times. her to keep looking for great people. That way managers and recruiters to send requests for ees’ inbox. Claims that it drives placement by up employees won’t feel under-appreciated. referrals for particular positions. Some referral to 30%. Offers automated reporting and exten- 8 Kallidus Recruit Recruitment soft- software systems enable employees to share sive customisation. ware with analytics at every step 3 OFFER A MIX OF MONETARY open positions with their social network. For in-house recruitment teams.The recruit- AND NON-MONETARY INCENTIVES 2 Phenom People End-to-end recruit- ment journey from application to on-boarding. Money is a popular incentive, but offering an 6 EXPERIMENT WITH REFERRAL TACTICS ment experience management with robust analytics Automates the admin-heavy parts of the journey. experience (eg trips, vouchers, gifts) can better Survey employees to find out what prompted Data on candidate, employee, recruiter, and man- Shows data on active requisitions, available market your employee referral programme. them to refer (or not refer) and what suggestions ager experience. Experience-centric perspective. candidates, and closed requests. Also succes- And some of these incentives, like time off and they have to improve your referral programme. Native artificial intelligence capabilities, including sion planning, targeted content, learning manage- gift vouchers, are less expensive than cash A successful referral programme continues to a bot for assisted hiring. In-depth recruitment ment, and performance reviews. awards. Give higher rewards for harder-to-fill adapt by making use of a variety of initiatives. insights — real-time data, drill-down capabilities, and ROI evaluation. 9 SmashFly Recruitment Ana- lytics Data analytics for business users 3 Yello Data analytics to help understand Minimalist dashboards with clear insights. View candidate expectations the ROI after every candidate journey. Predictive referrals for potential hires by fulfilling task #2: to and including signing bonuses. Tools to optimise recruitment processes at the analytics to measure the health of your talent Creating an employee-focused culture. So, before posting your position on job sites candidate sourcing, engagement, and completion pipeline. Direct correlations between candidate In fixing or enhancing your culture, you will and thus opening the floodgates to countless stages. Different business use cases. Essential personas and specific job boards. not only be making your company more attrac- unqualified applicants whose paperwork will KPIs. Centralised repository of recruitment-relat- tive to potential key hires, but you will also be consume your HR department’s valuable time, ed information. Optimised for mobile. 10 TalentLyft Deeper insights on recruit- making your existing employees happier. Hap- tap in to your company’s built-in chain of con- ing campaign performance pier employees usually stay longer and help you nections: Your staff. 4 Saba Recruitment analytics for your Identifies which campaigns and recruitment mar- attract the best new hires by showing them that Create “recruitment cards” touting the unique industry keting tactics are the most successful. Support they could be happy there, too. company’s attractive culture and the benefits Variety of industry types. Real-time insights. for inbound and outbound channels. Perfor- If your staff is happy, they might also be will- of working there, and hand them out to staffers Fully configurable dashboards. Customised data mance metrics on email campaigns, conversion ing to be brand ambassadors and recruit new along with the promise of some sort of reward sources and reporting fields. Trend identification, tracking, and historical data analytics. Analyses staff, especially if you show appreciation for for steering candidates your way (a cash bonus, multi-device access, third-party connectivity, your careers site with top-performing pages, call- their efforts with recognition of some sort, up gift cards, extra time off, etc.). automated reporting features. to-action effectiveness, etc. INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 42 the Very Best Talent 2021

You could also expand your social footprint sation, digital marketing, content marketing, and get your brand in front of the right talent social media engagement, reputation manage- through content shared by your employees ment,” Lori Sylvia, founder and CEO of Rally on their own social accounts. “Mobilise your Recruitment Marketing, told SHRM. “Recruiters employees into an army of brand ambassadors,” [in HR departments] who fall behind in using said Allison Kruse, social media director at digital and social strategies are going to get staffing and solutions firm Kforce. “Consistently left behind, not to mention put their employers deliver content to them in a format that is easy at a huge disadvantage in the competition for for them to share with their networks. And talent.” when employees share content with their net- The top ways companies grow employer works, they are shaping the perception others brand are through social media (47%) and their have about you as an employer. It will not only careers sites (21%), according to the most recent exponentially increase your company’s digital Recruiter Nation Survey from recruiting tech footprint, but the content will also perform company Jobvite. LinkedIn is the most used better because people tend to trust their peers channel for recruitment efforts, used by 77% over brands.” of respondents (down from 92% in 2017 with The unspoken and powerful filter in this ap- more companies using other sources like Insta- proach is that no staffer is going to recommend gram), followed by Facebook (63%). someone who will make them look bad. Every- “Recruiters are turning to social media plat- one will know who recommended the candidate forms where they know potential candidates and it’s their reputation on the line. are more active,” Jobvite’s Matt Singer said. “A downside to referrals, of course, is that “This might explain why more recruiters are they can lead to a homogeneous workforce, turning to Facebook and Instagram. Insta- because the people we know tend to be like us,” gram’s popularity with job seekers is increasing wrote Wharton’s Cappelli. “This matters greatly its use with recruiters, especially millennial for organisations interested in diversity.” recruiters and those working at technology companies.” MARKETING YOUR COOL NEW COMPANY CULTURE WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING ON YOUR WEBSITE AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

Now that your company is irresistibly attractive, it’s time to market yourself, whether you’re in “Content has the power to help potential the market for new staff or not (actually, you candidates decide whether or not they are a fit should ALWAYS be looking for great people for your company,” said Kforce’s Kruse. “Candi- to build your portfolio of candidates so you’re dates are savvy internet researchers and use a not scrambling at the last minute and risking number of sources when searching for jobs and WITH MORE OPEN having to settle for less due to the pressure of evaluating potential employers.” time). “By strategically creating and curating JOBS THAN PEOPLE But you’re not going to start by taking out content that maps to every stage of the candi- ads or doing any other traditional marketing. date journey, you can answer their questions, “With more open jobs than people to fill provide an inside view into your organisation, TO FILL THEM, RECRUITERS them and the market at near full employment, tell true stories, and more,” Kruse said. recruiters are finding new ways to reach candi- “Companies with a competitive advantage ARE FINDING NEW WAYS dates where they are — whether that's on Insta- are sharing compelling content (not just post- gram or via text,” recruiting software company ing jobs) that adds value — including why Jobvite VP/Marketing Matt Singer told SHRM. working at their organisation is different from TO REACH CANDIDATES “Employers are creating new roles dedicated working at similar companies, which helps to recruitment marketing to effectively pro- guide a candidate’s decision to apply or accept WHERE THEY ARE — WHETHER mote their culture and values and attract well- an offer,” Kruse explained. “Content can make fit candidates because recruiting is harder than or break your talent attraction strategy.” ever before,” Amy Warner told SHRM. But social media is not the end of what you THAT'S ON INSTAGRAM “The candidate journey is influenced at every need to be doing differently in marketing your stage by marketing strategies — search engine company to potential hires. OR VIA TEXT.” optimisation, landing page conversion optimi- “If you’re not leveraging technology and in- Matt Singer Jobvite VP/Marketing INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 44 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 45

nothing more speedy than texting. Forty-three offer staffers, former staffers, and job appli- per cent of recruiters responding to a Jobvite cants the opportunity to rate your company survey said they have texted candidates and ap- on all sorts of criteria, from overall reviews to plicants, and 88% report positive feedback from specific topics such as salaries, benefits, and job CRITERIA FOR A HUMAN ANALYTICS SYSTEM job seekers. interviews. Employees or former employees get “Recruiters and job seekers both value their to give your company a star ranking (from 1-5), Any HR analytics solution that will be used at technology to learn and reason autonomously, time, so the need for faster hiring has made text rate the CEO, and answer the question: “Would scale must have certain components, accord- revealing insights that data scientists can then messages and chat even more important than you recommend the company to a friend?”. ing to HRTechnolgist.com. Here is its list of key analyse. the traditional communication channels like The respondents range from entry-level to top features of an HR analytics solution: 5 Based on predictive analytics. Ability to e-mails or phone calls," Warner said. management. Applicants get to rank the inter- extract information from existing data sets Meghan McFee, a manager and recruiter for view process. The results are revealing and, too 1 Answer the business questions the C-suite staffing firm WinterWyman's technology divi- often, disturbing and damaging. asks. Choose a unified solution that can assess to determine patterns and forecast future outcomes. sion, slowly began using texts a few years ago, Here are some random examples of Glass- multiple metrics to answer each business but the option has since become indispensable door rankings of several publishing companies question. 6 Powered with visualisation technology. since her company implemented a texting plat- (these numbers were gathered in late December 2 Easy to use by individuals who are not data Allows for better understanding of trends and form that integrates with her business phone 2019): scientists. events. and applicant tracking system. “It's been terrific for scheduling and quickly 3 Cloud-based rather than on-premise. 7 Available through a subscription model. They getting in touch with people," McFee told GLASSDOOR.COM allow you to easily access the latest upgrades SHRM. “Especially for candidates who are 4 Powered with statistical analysis and and eliminate the significant upfront expense of working, it can be very effective in getting a COMPANY RATINGS machine learning technology. This allows the purchasing an analytics solution. faster response, and it's gotten great feedback COMPANY Overall Approve Recommend Negative or Rating (1-5) of CEO to a friend neutral job from our recruiters.” Before texting candidates interview

the first time, you should ask permission, she Conde Nast U.S. 2.8 70% 36% 52%

cautioned. Meredith Corp. U.S. 3.1 67% 48% 49% novation in your talent acquisition strategy, you need to hire,” said Sachs. Hubert Burda Germany 3.2 93% 36% 25% risk being at a competitive disadvantage,” said “From there, a highly targeted recruiting India Today India 3.2 100% 68% 44% Karissa Sachs, VP/Digital Strategy at Kforce. strategy can be developed to identify, recruit DEFENSIVE MARKETING: WATCH Editora Abril Brazil 3.2 No ratings 62% 26% “Pixels, chatbots, AI — oh my! In theory, it’s and motivate these individuals,” Sachs ex- YOUR BACK BY MONITORING (AND SCMP Hong Kong 3.6 74% 48% 25% quite simple; how can you get in front of the plained. “What type of content will best reso- NURTURING) REVIEW SITES Dennis Publishing UK 4.0 97% 61% 31% right candidates, at the right time, with the nate with them? How can the job description Bonnier Corp. Sweden 5 2. 45% 34% 27% right message and make it easy for them to be optimised to increase application conversion Mondadori Italy 2.8 31% 37% 67% apply? Technology will continue to answer this rate? What does their digital footprint look like In this super-connected world, part of your TVA Publications Canada 3 2. 14% 20% 50% question.” so that you know where to advertise?” brand building (or brand destruction) is hap- Bauer Media Germany 3.2 47% 52% 26% Using data about your own and other profes- pening without any input from you… unless you sionals in different skill areas, you can include decide to be proactive. THEN YOU’VE GOT TO MAKE YOUR the unique interests typical of these target While you’re busy marketing your company’s Would you agree that all but a few of those MARKETING PERSONAL groups in your recruitment campaign. “A lead- cool new culture on Facebook, LinkedIn, and companies have a problem? If you were ap- ing IT company once told me that one of their Instagram, your target candidates are cruising proached by a recruiter to work at one of the most successful recruitment ads for software anonymous employer review sites to see what companies where only 34-37% or just barely Once you’ve identified the best places to go engineers called for people who ‘could pull the life is like inside your company. 50% of the staff reviewers would recommend looking for talent, start personalising your cam- ears off a gundark’ — an obscure Star Wars Seventy-five per cent of recruiters told Job- the company to a friend, would you even bother paign, to the point of creating personas to guide reference they knew would resonate with their vite that Glassdoor reviews are very or some- with an interview? Those companies might be your content creation team. target group,” said Richard Mosley, VP of Strat- what important in the hiring process. “While doing a slam-bang marketing job and spending “In-demand candidates are beginning to egy at global talent research firm Universum. consumer brands quickly realised the power of a good deal of time and money on a branding expect a unique and personalised recruit- “These persona-oriented profiles make it easier reviews as either third-party endorsements or campaign to convince potential employees what ing approach,” said Sachs. “This means that to market content to specific target groups, and sound chambers for services and product fea- a great place it is to work. But all that work is recruitment will have to evolve from a transac- help you find the right talent.” tures that needed fixing, employers have been a eviscerated by these ratings, cutting the legs tion-driven activity to a relationship-building little slower to adopt this mindset,” Christopher right out from under any PR campaign. process with an emphasis on providing a highly Kurtz , CEO of employment brand PeerThru, It’s not all bad news: Those rating numbers customised candidate experience. TRY TEXTING (SERIOUSLY!) told SHRM. “This can be especially true in aren’t just static grades with no context. Each “Similar to how marketers use buyer per- companies that are run by executives who are current or former staffer or job candidate who sonas as a representation of a business’s ideal not digital natives and have yet to fully realise writes a review ends it with a list of pros and customers, recruiters and talent acquisition Everyone in the hiring process appreciates the value of the insights and feedback being cons, followed by their “Advice to Manage- professionals can create candidate personas to speed: Speedy applications. Speedy replies. delivered for free.” ment”. Sure, some are negative and nasty, but develop a strategy focused on exactly who you Speedy updates. Speedy decisions. There is Third-party sites like glassdoor.com now some suggestions are solid and give managers INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 46 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 47 a clear picture of how they could improve their new hires and suggest that if they are comfort- WHAT’S CAUSING THE RISE culture, conditions, benefits, training pro- able adding their reviews, you’d appreciate it. grammes, communication, etc. Free advice! IN THE USE OF DATA ANALYTICS? So, if you aren’t aware of these sites, you could 4. Other traps include trying to respond to be getting stabbed in the back, undermined by every review or engaging in shady practices FIVE QUESTIONS unhappy employees or scorned applicants, and for gathering reviews. “Don't offer bribes for The rise in the use of analytics has been caused by not even know how badly your marketing efforts positive reviews,” Kurtz said. “Along those same three main factors, according to Ideal, an artifi- are being torpedoed. (See sidebar on “Employee lines, do not pay a third party to write positive cial intelligence-focused talent system company: review sites you need to know about”.) reviews for you.” 1. Improvements in technology and soft- TO ASK AT A “STAY” ware has caused an explosion in data and data analytics. This adoption has been seen recently HOW DO YOU WATCH YOUR BACK? HUMAN ANALYTICS: in the transformation of sales and marketing WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW departments. INTERVIEW SHOULD YOU USE THEM? PeerThru’s Kurtz suggests the following four- 2. The need for measurable outcomes: If you are doing what we suggested earlier step process: HR departments are increasingly being asked (holding regular small-group and one- to-one “listening” sessions), one of those One of the fastest-growing trends in the HR to justify their decisions based on measurable 1. Follow your profiles on Glassdoor, Indeed etc. sessions should focus on how to get the world today is known as “people analytics,” or outcomes. This has led to the push for busi- and sign up to receive notifications of reviews employees you want to keep to stay. Here the data analysis techniques applied to under- ness decisions to be made based on analytics as they come in. are questions that could help you make that standing and improving processes that affect and data rather than just using gut instinct and happen from Catherine Thurtle of experi- employees, job-seekers, performance manage- subjective judgment. 2. Develop a plan for responding to reviews ence management company Qualtrics: ment, and everything human capital, wrote Isa- both internally and externally. “Having a plan bella Lazzareschi, Content and Managing Editor 3. The stunning rise in the collection of helps take the guesswork out of which reviews Which aspects of your job make you at education tech company Degreed. staff data: Most HR departments are sitting need to be triaged immediately and by whom, eager to come to work each day? Which “When specifically applied to hiring, people on mountains of data about their employees and which are OK to let simmer,” Kurtz said. including demographic data, performance data, 1 aspects do you not look forward to? analytics can help save you money, increase “And remember, if people outside of your com- efficiency, and cut down on wasted time on job history, compensation, and training. Until pany are reading reviews, your employees are How well do you believe your talents are recruitment efforts,” she wrote. Here is her list recently, this data had yet to be effectively and likely reading them as well.” being utilised? What skills do you pos- of what human analytics can do for a company strategically leveraged. 2 sess that you feel aren’t being utilised? in terms of recruitment alone: 3. Encourage more reviews by addressing l Assess which talent pipelines are most suc- and responding to them, not just by asking for What are you career aspirations? How cessful, so you can appropriately allocate spend- THREE MAIN TYPES OF them. “Blanketing the company with a request are we doing in helping you accomplish ing to optimise successful recruitment for reviews is not a good idea,” Kurtz said. TALENT-RELATED DATA THAT them here? l 3 Identify recruitment cycles to help determine “People by nature are suspicious. Asking for CAN BE ANALYSED, ACCORDING when to spend money actively searching for specifically positive reviews is fundamentally Have you ever thought about leaving the candidates and when to slow down TO IDEAL, ARE: flawed.” You could talk to your employees about company? If so, what caused you to con- l Analyse market rates to remain competitive how valuable those reviews can be for potential 4 sider leaving? Why did you decide to stay? in recruiting and retaining top talent l Keep a pulse on your current employees to 1. People data such as demographics, skills, and What are the biggest challenges you examine racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in engagement. face? Is there anything you’d like to your existing workforce to ensure you’re offer- change about your job? Are there things ONE OF THE ing equal opportunities to all 2. Programme data such as attendance, adop- 5 tion, participation in training and development you would like to change about your team or department? FASTEST-GROWING “When applied to the hiring process, data and leadership programmes, and outcomes of analytics can remove human biases by isolating key projects and assignments. objective traits in applications and identifying TRENDS IN candidates with appropriate backgrounds,” 3. Performance data such as performance rat- wrote Lazzareschi. “And beyond just minimis- ings and data captured from the use of instru- THE HR WORLD ing prejudice, proper analysis tools can actually ments such as 360 assessments and succession “You could have historical analytics (generat- promote diversity within your company by find- programmes. ing insights from past data), real-time analyt- TODAY IS KNOWN ing applicants with appropriate skill sets, but ics (in the moment notifications and alerts), atypical backgrounds or work experiences. This “Recruitment analytics is defined as the use predictive analytics (measuring future possibili- is along the lines of hiring for a ‘culture-add’ of statistical models to make sense of the vast ties), and prescriptive analytics (suggesting the AS “PEOPLE rather than a ‘culture-fit’, but using more direct amount of data collected across the hiring pro- way forward),” according to HRTechnologist. techniques to ensure you’re finding the best cess, enabling meaningful data-driven recruit- Research suggests that most companies are ANALYTICS” candidate for the job.” ment,” according to HRTechnologist.com. still using inefficient recruitment processes. Ac- INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 48 the Very Best Talent 2021 2021 49

cording to HRTechnologist, data analytics can: questioned. l Provide valuable insights on which And there are concerns about the fast-grow- talent sources are performing the ing field. best, the effectiveness of internal versus “A problem with machine learning ap- external hiring, and any preventable costs proaches is that few employers collect the 5 SITES WHERE CURRENT AND FORMER incurred. large volumes of data — number of hires, l Redefine the candidate experience by performance appraisals, and so on — that the pinpointing problem areas and high-per- algorithms require to make accurate pre- forming touch-points along the way. dictions,” wrote Wharton School Professor l Refine your talent acquisition and Cappelli. “Although vendors can theoretically recruitment strategy to the point where overcome that hurdle by aggregating data EMPLOYEES RATE YOU each recruitment effort is productive and from many employers, they don’t really know optimised for measurable results. whether individual company contexts are so distinct that predictions based on data from These employer review sites are both a curse INDEED Research featured in The Harvard Business the many are inaccurate for the one. and a blessing. Best known for aggregating millions of job Review found that using an algorithm increases “Another issue is that all analytic approaches They are a curse because you don’t have any postings but it also provides job reviews, the ability of recruiters to find the best qualified to picking candidates are backward looking, in control over the content, and because dis- 2 company ranking (a 5-star scale), and pros candidates by more than 50%. the sense that they are based on outcomes that gruntled employees or former employees can and cons. The benefits of human analytics to recruit- have already happened,” he wrote. “As Amazon publicly air their grievances, whether they are ment include: learned, the past may be very different from the legitimate or not. They are a blessing because if you run a truly VA U LT l Reducing time-to-hire by replacing manual future you seek. It discovered that the hiring processes algorithm it had been working on since 2014 employee-focused business, your employees Famous for its industry rankings based on will reward you with great ratings, which then employee survey answers. Offers access to l Increasing quality of hire by avoiding un- gave lower scores to women because histori- conscious biases early in the hiring process cally the best performers in the company had serve to attract potential new hires (these sites 3 premium research in exchange for em- are one of the first places people go to when ployee reviews with “uppers” and “downers” and l Collecting recruiting and hiring data that disproportionately been men. So the algorithm can be correlated with business outcomes looked for people just like them. Unable to fix they are researching a company to work for or comments. such as increased revenue that problem, the company stopped using the when a company approaches them about a job). algorithm in 2017. Nonetheless, many other You should subscribe to many or all of these “Of course, the final hiring decision will companies are pressing ahead.” services so you will get notifications whenever a FAIRYGODBOSS always come down to a human, but data and Even if you use human analytics (and make review is posted. With quick notification, you can Aggregates female employees' job satis- analytics can save a lot of time by narrowing the accommodations for the above-cited weaknesses), respond to both good and bad reviews. faction. Also whether women think their field down from maybe hundreds of candidates you still need human beings to exercise their judg- Look at these sites as one way of monitoring 4 company treats men and women equally to the most suitable 10 or 20,” wrote business ment and expertise to carefully analyse the data, your performance as a good employer (analysis and fairly, and would they recommend their author Bernard Marr on Forbes.com. “This to put it in the context of the company and the from FairyGodBoss.com, a women’s career site): employer to other women. automation of certain processes frees up the HR particular job, and then to decide how to use the team to focus on other activities.” data. Human critical thought and analysis cannot GLASSDOOR Analytics have also shown downstream ben- be replaced by algorithms, just enhanced by them. The best-known website for employee CAREERBLISS efits in HR: Remember when we talked about crafting reviews. A huge number of contributors Employee reviews (a 5-star system), and who rate their CEOs, provide open-ended open-ended commentary, scores for l Attrition rates decreased by 35% your mission and culture statements to make 1 reviews, list pros and cons, and leave advice for company culture, colleagues, working l Performance increased by 20% your company appealing to potential recruits. 5 management. setting, etc. l Revenue per employee improved by 4% Data can help there, too. In creating your mission and culture state- It would not be surprising to know that some ments, you want to answer the questions: HR departments resist using data-based recruit- l What do you want your company to stand ing methods for fear of having their expertise for? l How do you want employees to feel about ful your employer brand really is,” wrote Marr. “Ten human analytics systems” and “Criteria for working for the company? “Short, anonymous pulse surveys can tell you choosing a human analytics system”. l What makes you different from other how likely employees are to recommend the employers? company to others. Crucially, instead of taking YOU STILL NEED the temperature once a year in a big staff sur- AFTER YOU MAKE OFFERS, Once you have your vision, you can use data vey, or asking the question in exit interviews, SOLICIT FEEDBACK ON YOUR HUMAN BEINGS and analytics to determine if your brand image pulse surveys allow you to ask employees once actually matches the reality of the experience of a week, one a month or once a quarter to get a CANDIDATE’S EXPERIENCE working at your company. stronger sense of how they’re feeling through- TO CAREFULLY “You can, for example, conduct sentiment out the year.” analysis on interview and survey responses and For more help on understanding and using “Companies that understand the value of solicit- ANALYSE THE DATA social media posts to establish how success- human analytic systems, see the sidebars on ing feedback about their candidate experience, INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 50 the Very Best Talent 2021 2020-21 51

know how to quantify and measure it — and per- 3.58 million or 2.4% of the workforce — quit haps most importantly, to frame their strategy their jobs in July 2019, according to the Job around those insights — will beat their competi- Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. That’s tion in the war for talent,” said KForce’s Sachs. almost 115,484 a day. Or almost 4,812 an hour! “Using tools that produce valuable feedback In the U.S. alone. enables organisations to identify areas of im- What’s going on? provement throughout the candidate experi- At least five forces are at work: ence, allowing them to strategise a plan to become an employer of choice,” she wrote. 1. A strong labour market. In many countries, there are more skilled job openings than there are people with those skills. MEASURE, MEASURE, 2. Poaching: Census data shows, for example, MEASURE… AND ANALYSE that the majority of people who took a new job last year weren’t searching for one: Somebody came and got them. “Few employers know which channel produces the best candidates at the lowest cost because 3. Employee dissatisfaction: Half of all em- they don’t track the outcomes,” wrote Whar- ployees feel like they only have jobs, not careers, ton’s Cappelli. “Monitor recruiting channels and 32% of all employees plan to leave their jobs and employees’ performance to identify which before the end of 2020, according to a recent sources produce the best results. CareerBuilder survey. “It’s impossible to get better at hiring if you can’t tell whether the candidates you select 4. Greater job mobility: Related surveys re- become good employees,” he wrote. port that 73% of employees are “thinking about You must measure which hiring practices and another job” and that 43% were more likely to platforms produce the best employees. consider a new one than they had been a year “Why is that not getting through to compa- earlier. nies?” asked Cappelli. “Surveyed employers say the main reason they don’t examine whether 5. Lack of loyalty: Millennials are far less loyal their practices lead to better hires is that to their employers than their parents were. In measuring employee performance is difficult. the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Surely this is a prime example of making the that workers now stay at each job, on average, for perfect the enemy of the good. Some aspects of 4.4 years, but the average expected tenure of the performance are not difficult to measure: Do youngest workers is about half that. employees quit? Are they absent? Virtually all employers conduct performance appraisals. If “FEW EMPLOYERS Why is retention so important? you don’t trust them, try something simpler. “People often underestimate the cost of Ask supervisors, ‘Do you regret hiring this indi- turnover: the more information- and interac- KNOW WHICH vidual? Would you hire him again?’” tion-intensive the job, the greater the threat “Organisations that don’t check to see how to productivity when good people leave it, and CHANNEL PRODUCES well their practices predict the quality of their the more time and money must be invested in hires are lacking in one of the most consequen- searching and on-boarding,” wrote McKinsey’s tial aspects of modern business,” he concluded. Keller and Meaney. “And if competitors poach THE BEST your talent, they get an insider’s understanding of your strategies, operations, and culture. CANDIDATES AT “And the scarcer top talent becomes, the RETAINING more companies that aren’t on their game will find their best people cherry-picked by compa- THE LOWEST COST nies that are,” they wrote. It’s a human capital double whammy. In addition to the time and effort of hiring, BECAUSE THEY In addition to the massive recruitment Wharton Business School Professor Matthew challenge, media companies are also facing an Bidwell found that outside hires take three DON’T TRACK THE employee retention crisis. years to perform as well as internal hires in the More employees than ever before are volun- same job, while internal hires take seven years tarily leaving their jobs. In the United States, to earn as much as outside hires are paid, wrote OUTCOMES.” for example, the most workers since 2001 — Professor Cappelli. Peter Cappelli Wharton Business School INNOVATION INNOVATION How to Recruit IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 52 the Very Best Talent 2021 2020-21 53

Bidwell also found that outside hiring also l Employee performance data to forecast causes current employees to spend time and en- future attrition ergy positioning themselves for jobs elsewhere, wrote Cappelli. “It disrupts the culture and “Through this data-driven approach, HR ana- burdens peers who must help new hires figure lytics can illuminate the major causes of attri- out how things work.” tion, and new policies, along with training pro- grammes, can be put in place to help mitigate the problem,” according to Microstrategy. “For THE VERY SERIOUS COSTS OF NOT example, data might show that high-aspiration employees are not challenged or employees are RETAINING YOUR BEST PEOPLE frustrated with a certain management style. “Human resources analysis will reveal these issues, and then it will be up to leadership to act,” According to the Work Institute’s Retention they wrote. “It’s also possible to spot an at-risk Report, 75% of those people who resigned from employee before they leave, so preemptive ac- their role could have been retained. tions can be taken to resolve issues. For example, The cost of not retaining them: From 90% to a once high-performer may not be as produc- 200% of annual salary. tive because he feels he or she is underpaid. An “The true cost might even be higher due to analysis of productivity alongside a comparison training/on-boarding, lost productivity, recruit- of market-value salaries can help spot this.” ment, and decreased morale among other On a macro scale, Glassdoor Chief Economist employees,” according to a report by the enter- Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D., examined data prise analytics and mobility software company from 5,000 job transitions from a sample of Microstrategy. “Losing an employee that’s in the thousands of resumes on Glassdoor from 2007 top 1% of performers could mean the difference to 2016. Some moved to a new role at the same between growth and decline.” company while others moved to a new employer. “By combining the data on real-world job transitions with Glassdoor company ratings and CAN DATA COME TO salary information, we were able to pinpoint THE RESCUE HERE, TOO? which statistical factors push workers out the door and which motivate employees to stay and grow in their existing organisation,” Chamber- As in recruiting, human analytics can help with lain wrote in the Harvard Business Review. “We retention: looked at how job turnover correlated with pay, According to Microstrategy and Keller and company culture, how long an employee has Meaney, HR analytics can help improve reten- been in their current job, what industry they’re tion through churn analyses that look at data in, and more. points like: “Candidates who have stagnated in roles for a year or more are statistically more likely to be l Current churn rate receptive to recruiter inquiries than candidates who are rapidly climbing their company’s ca- l Attrition by department reer ladder,” he wrote. “Workers who don’t see l Attrition by estimated commute time a clear progression from their current role to a l Participation in training and development better position in their company ultimately turn l Similar attributes of employees with lon- to opportunities elsewhere. And that suggests ger tenure an easy solution. By providing clear paths for l Outcomes of key projects and assignments employees, moving them through job titles on l Similar attributes of employees who leave a regular progression over time, employers can within one year help boost perceived career opportunities and l On-boarding experience limit this type of harmful stagnation.” l Attendance “And candidates whose current employers l Skill sets have low culture ratings or who are underpriced l Performance ratings relative to the market are statistically more l 360 assessments likely to consider offers at new employers,” l Survey data wrote Chamberlain. “When employees switch l Qualitative data such as employee inter- employers, we find they usually move to compa- views nies with higher Glassdoor ratings.” INNOVATION INNOVATION Nome do artigo IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 54 2021 2021 55 YOUR PRIMARY REVENUE STREAMS OF THE FUTURE 2 DIRECT CONSUMER INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 56 Digital Subs 2021 2021 57 DRIVE WANT TO DOUBLE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERS? Le Parisien did it by putting premium articles behind a paywall

In early 2020, Le Parisien began adding To get there, Gourmelen has been using data to …OR DRIVE TO “premium” articles available only to figure out what types of stories convert. To date, subscribers, and made the site a hybrid of the top converters have included long reads, metered and paywalled content. human interest stories, real estate and local In the first months of 2020, only ten premium mobility topics, such as cycling. stories per day were behind the subscription To drive the point home, Gourmelen has had paywall. By the end of 2020, 50 premium dashboards installed on every writer’s computer THE MORGUE stories were going behind the paywall every where they can see how stories are performing day according to Sophie Gourmelen, Managing with premium subscribers in real time. Director and Publisher of Le Parisien speaking To reach its goal of greater conversion ratios to WAN-IFRA. and more digital subscription revenue, Le Successful media companies must morph from the dying That strategy of withholding the good stuff Parisien created new editorial strategy goals, worked. In just one year, 90% of all new Gourmelen told WAN-IFRA: subscribers are coming through the premium transactional, print-advertising business model to a lasting article, and digital subscriptions had doubled, Create fewer, but better stories with high according to Gourmelen. 1 digital potential for impact, engagement. and profitable reader-relationship model As if that wasn’t good enough, Le Parisien not only doubled the number of digital Increase the value of local news with a subscriptions, but it also doubled their digital 2 new newsroom structure and new focus subscription revenue. Why? It not only didn’t on content. he media industry’s centuries-old our trusted information, and, lately, they are reduce subscription prices in a desperate ploy marriage to advertisers was never a showing that they are willing to pay to get that to attract subscribers, it actually raised them Create new teams and new positions to marriage made in heaven. information. from five euros a month to eight, and then to 10 3 cover editorial priorities with flexibility. They always wanted lower rates, euros a month. special treatment, up-front place- Gourmelen also wants to increase the ratio Restructure its production so that its ment, expensive make-goods, more FORGIVE THEIR DALLIANCES of engagement to conversion. Each premium 4 workflows are in sync with digital needs. traffic, proof of sales, free editorial article now triggers 0.4 subscriptions whereas copy, pictures of their ribbon-cut- Le Parisien wants to increase that ratio to 1:1, Acquire new digital capabilities, especially in the areas of video, graphics tings, stories about their new hires, Yes, they have only almost always been there she said told WAN-IFRA. 5 and social media. and prominent play of their charity for us because they have had their dalliances checque presentations, etc., etc., ad nauseam. outside of our relationship, wooed by the siren Improve the digital culture and TBut now, given the shameful way those un- song of free information on the internet, but 6 capabilities within the newsroom through faithful advertisers are lavishing their cash on when those sources turned out to be whacky, trainings, sharing data and KPIs. the harlots in the big houses down the street, untrustworthy, false, and sometimes dangerous, TOP CONVERTERS HAVE it’s time to say “enough!” and get a divorce. they started coming back home again. INCLUDED LONG READS, Another part of the strategy is aimed at It’s time to dedicate ourselves to the part- “The magazine media industry is on the brink 7targeting audiences by creating mini- ners who have almost always been there for us of a new chapter in its history, morphing from HUMAN INTEREST publishing topics around areas that are very and almost always valued us for what we do so transactional, print advertising to being hyper- popular with readers such as the environment, well: journalism that makes their lives easier, focused on building lasting and profitable rela- STORIES, REAL ESTATE buying power, PSG (the local football team), and more rewarding, more successful, more excit- tionships with readers,” wrote Martha Williams, “obsessions,” such as food and science and ing, more fun, more informed. They love us for author of the FIPP 2020 Paywalls Report. AND LOCAL MOBILITY. technology. ww

INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 58 Digital Subs 2021 2021 59

Star Goal, setting the vision for the future and galvanising teams. THE REPORT FOUND BUILD A FAST-LEARNING AND DRIVEN A DIRECT CORRELATION ORGANISATION Once a North Star Goal is set, you need to put your organisation in BETWEEN A READER- WHAT CAN DEFEAT YOU, AND HOW 2 motion to achieve it. a) SETTING OUTCOMES: BRING FOCUS TO FOCUS AND SUBSCRIPTION TEAMS. A North Star goal is brought to life through a set of outcomes to be achieved by the GROWTH. organisation. Outcomes define what success looks like. They should be supported by metrics TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING that help measure success and guide prioritisa- audiences. By fully understanding the type of tion. engagement that leads to conversion, the value of each action can be measured and optimised. A digital-subscription business model has many enemies, b) HYPOTHESES & EXPERIMENTS: ACCEL- but a study found ways to beat them ERATING LEARNING. Hypotheses and experi- ALIGN THE ORGANISATION Digital ments form the test-and-learn approach, and subscriptions require interdisciplinary can help reach key outcomes while navigating and cross-functional collaboration, so it is complex and ever-changing market conditions. 3 critical to keep disparate teams aligned on In February 2020, eight publishers joined the LACK OF ALIGNMENT A profitable a common path. Defining common objectives, European arm of the Google News Initiative subscriptions model is a demanding goal that FIND YOUR NORTH STAR METRIC The providing teams with a single measure of (GNI) Subscription Lab to figure out how to requires focus and resource from the entire North Star metric is a single measure of success, and making key learnings available to strengthen their digital subscriptions capabili- 1 organisation. how valuable a product is for subscribers: It everyone allows for alignment and pace in the ties and grow their reader revenue. 3 is the reader-centric gauge that correlates organisation. Nine months later, the Lab, a collaboration of BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF READERS best with their likelihood to subscribe. Having a Google, IMNA, and FT Strategies, produced the Many news organisations think they are North Star metric provides a common language SEGMENT READERS Potential “Towards Your North Star” report, outlining a reader-centric. But in reality, they remain and a common measure of success across an subscribers are only a small fraction of the subscription-focused business model’s chal- 2 product-centric, dealing in audience organisation, building critical alignment and overall audience. Identify them and focus lenges and solutions. averages and not using the right metrics. focus; it is an important step in embedding 4 efforts on a tailored approach. Do not base The “North Star” report examined the common reader value at the heart of an organisation. a strategy on average metrics across an entire challenges faced by publishers as they build POOR EXPERIMENTATION CULTURE audience: whether assessing the impact of subscription-driven businesses, and how to Often, testing programmes suffer from a EMPOWER YOUR ORGANISATION content, product or marketing campaigns; make overcome them. lack of prioritisation, proper iteration, and WITH DATA To grow subscriptions, an sure efforts reach the most valuable segments. 3 buy-in from all parts of the business. organisation needs strong customer- “COMMITMENT TO CREATING 4 centric data capabilities, where readers DEVELOP AN EXPERIMENTAL MINDSET VALUE FOR READERS” DEFICIENCIES IN TOOLS & are identifiable and known, as well as Explore opportunities with scientific The report found a direct correlation between a CAPABILITIES Many publishers do not experimentation capabilities. Many publishers curiosity. Replace hunches with evidence reader-focus and subscription growth. “These have robust structures in place to store and from the European GNI Subscriptions Lab have 5 and failed experiments with shared findings suggest that publishers who demon- 4 analyse subscriber and reader behaviour, had their progress hindered by weaknesses in learnings. Bring rigour and transparency to strate the strongest commitment to creating such as central data lakes and data analysis those capabilities. the experimental process so teams can safely value for readers see the strongest performance platforms. explore their boldest ideas and build the in subscriptions,” wrote the authors. SIX SUCCESS FACTORS shortest path to success. “Publishers holding on to a volume-driven The Subscriptions Lab addressed these chal- The North Star Report found that there are six mindset will find it very difficult to shift to a lenges through the implementation of a growth success factors required to become a sustain- EMPOWER THE ORGANISATION WITH value-driven organisation,” the report declared. framework called North Star. This framework able, subscription-first business: DATA Data has the potential to create a “Volume metrics, the cornerstone of advertising- was developed by the Financial Times to reach common language across disparate teams. based revenue streams, are still a hard currency its goal of 1m paying subscribers. The publisher SET AN AMBITIOUS AND CLEAR GOAL 6 Choose the data platform that breaks for newsrooms, marketeers and senior leader- achieved the goal in 2019, a year ahead of The subscription goal should be SMART data silos and builds a single view of readers. ship teams, but growing a subscription business schedule. (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Focus on early business insights that will bring requires a change in this approach.” The North Star framework recommends the 1 Time-bound), but also bold, so everyone tangible value, and put data at the centre of the As a matter of fact, an advanced subscriptions following measures for publishers who want to in the organisation understands the impetus most critical business processes and decisions. model can still generate substantial advertising build a sustainable, subscription-first business: for radically transforming the culture and revenues “in a world where first-party data is the processes. The eight publishers who participated in the Holy Grail of ad targeting monetisation,” accord- CLARIFY THE VISION project were: Bonnier News Local (Sweden), La ing to the report. Defining a single, shared objective across an MEASURE VALUE FOR READERS Digital Croix (France), Denník N (Slovakia), The Inde- Beyond a volume mindset, the report outlined organisation is one of the most powerful tools platforms and subscriptions provide an pendent (UK), Kurier (Austria), El Mundo (Spain), four other obstacles to a subscription-focused 1 to align resources and accelerate growth. unprecedented opportunity to understand RP Online (Germany), and Gazeta Wyborcza business: This objective becomes your company’s North 2 interactions between products and (Poland). INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 60 Digital Subs 2021 2021 61

“The reader relationship strategy is about their overall audience pales in comparison “The big question was, are the people who creating engagement, customer satisfaction, to larger brands, the people who access their joined only for Hamilton going to stay?” asked and lifetime value with users through targeted content use it in their everyday lives, consider it “IT'S ALL ABOUT Baxter. The answer was no. Disney+ realised content, products, advertising, and services for valuable, and feel a strong affinity to it.” that it needed to charge people something or individual customers,” wrote Williams, the CEO So how do you identify those ideal readers KNOWING YOUR it wouldn’t attract the right kind of long-term of consultancy Data & AI for Media. “It’s about who are most likely to become subscribers? customer. collecting user data with permission through [ ] “It’s all about knowing your audience,” said registration and paywalls, and leveraging those AUDIENCE ... EVEN Baxter. “Even Amazon doesn’t serve every- data to drive user satisfaction.” USE DATA, ANALYTICS, body!” Organisations should identify what kind AMAZON DOESN'T of customer is high value for their business pur- AND MACHINE LEARNING poses and go after them and forget the people BUILD PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS SERVE EVERYBODY.” who are only after deals and tchotchkes. The Economist, for example, created a per- With the increasing success of subscriptions, WITH READERS sonalised, engaging experience online by Robbie Baxter Author some publishers have been able to eliminate leveraging its rich customer database and a low-price trial offers, thus improving profitabil- “Our brands and broad print distribution are machine-learning-driven engine called Lytics ity, while focusing instead on the real value of a no longer enough. The Internet requires media to leverage an exhaustive database of audience “From heavy-duty machinery company subscription including enhanced membership companies to build personal relationships with data. “The strategy has been responsible for an Caterpillar loaning out cranes, to Pret-a-Manger benefits to reward increased loyalty. Hearst, for readers,” said Troy Young, President of Hearst 80% decreased cost of customer acquisition, a and Burger King offering coffee subscriptions, example, told CampaignLive that it was able to Magazines, in a 2019 memo to his staff. “Our 3x increase of digital subscriptions since 2016 every business seems to have recognised the remove a number of its most keenly priced trial ability to capture interaction data at scale, turn by using behavioural scoring and predictive value of formalising the relationships they have offers, and still grow subscribers by 33%. it to insight, and leverage it broadly across our modelling, and increased dwell time onsite with with returning customers,” Baxter said. “It’s not That said, freebies don’t always have to lead to organisation will define our success.” recommended stories for targeted readers,” ac- that high-tech, it’s just about knowing your cus- churn. “What is the attractive freebie?” asked Bax- Building those relationships requires not only cording to the Paywall Report. tomer and providing ongoing value to them.” ter. “Does it align with your mission? Is it more or that deep data but also an acceptance through- However, publishers “can only retain custom- Baxter emphasised thinking about the fol- less likely to bring in the right kind of people?” out the media organisation of a reader-first ers for a lifetime if they hold up their end of the lowing questions: Freebies can also serve a useful purpose when focus, daily discipline, and a commitment to pay bargain,” the report cautioned. trying to establish the reasons that people leave a attention to the data. The Paywall Report listed how to uphold l What is the forever promise you’ve made? service or subscription. “Segment out reasons so “The relationship strategy requires a deep your end of the bargain: l Who have you made it to? you can remedy them,” Baxter suggested. “If some- understanding of each user through audience l What are they expecting to see from you? one doesn’t have time to use your product, then data, and a whole-organisation transforma- l Give the customer many reasons to come l Who might you think you serve, but it might be worthwhile offering them a discount tion that requires a customer-focus discipline,” back on a daily and weekly basis actually don’t? or freebie. But if they are leaving because they according to the report. “The real-time data l Delight them with surprises and help make l Who do you lose (eg. with entry offers)? hate the product, there’s no reason to give them collection, analysis, and targeting is the glue their lives frictionless and fun l Who sticks around? anything. The remedy must fit the problem.” that keeps customers engaged with relevant l Anticipate and solve life’s niggling Audible, for instance, offers those who at- information.” problems for them “It’s about helping customers solve a prob- tempt to cancel their subscription one free credit l Feed their passions lem, and delivering on the promise you’ve made (worth one audiobook) or three months at a dis- l Transport them to content, advertising, to them,” she said. counted rate. Indie movie streaming site MUBI, IDENTIFY THE REGULAR VISITORS shopping and entertaining places created “If [people] trust your organisation to solve like many companies in these trouble pandemic just for them, made possible by data and their problem, or achieve their goal forever, times, now offers the option to “pause” a mem- artificial intelligence that enables they take off their ‘consumer hat’, don a ‘mem- bership. This allows people to take a breather The first thing to do when building a subscrip- personalisation ber hat’, and stop considering alternatives,” without breaking their loyalty, said Baxter. tion model is to identify not only the readers Baxter said. But for all the work your data analysts, mar- who already visit your site on a regular basis After identifying who are the most likely con- keters, and customer relations people might be but also those who regularly open your newslet- BUILD A FOREVER TRANSACTION version targets, the next extremely important doing right, the folks with their hands on the ters and regularly click on your content on mul- step is to avoid making the subscription options wheel to drive this success are the journalists. tiple platforms and devices — all behaviours too complicated. “The more noise — bundles, If they are not on board with doing reader- you can identify through analytics. Converting a visitor to a subscriber is not the discounts, special offers — you have, the harder focused journalism, nothing else will work. “All of those actions indicate an engaged end of the media executive’s conversion jour- it is for you to tell what your customers really “A successful media company may find that audience, which is more important than the size ney; it’s only the beginning. value,” Baxter told FIPP. “You end up with a moving to a member mindset is difficult be- of the audience itself,” Matt Skibinski, reader “Execs just weren’t putting the pieces to- muddy business model. cause it must necessarily become reader/view- revenue advisor at the Lenfest Institute for gether, and I wanted to highlight the fact that “If your introductory offer is amazing, you’ll er-first,” said Baxter. “The content needs to be Journalism, told Folio magazine. it’s not just about subscriptions, but about long- get a lot of subscribers but a lot of people are content that is worth paying for, as opposed to “There are cases where smaller, niche pub- term relationships with the customer,” best-sell- going to leave,” she said, citing the example content worth writing.” It must also be content lishers have a really high conversion rate and ing subscription economy author Robbie Baxter of Disney+ initially presenting the extremely focused on their readers’ needs and desires. have enough of a digital subscription business told FIPP. “It’s not about the transaction; it’s popular musical Hamilton for free to new sub- So, the journalists must be willing to pay to be meaningful,” Skibinski said. “Even though about the relationship.” scribers before backtracking. attention to what the data analysts have to say, INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 62 Digital Subs 2021 2021 63

and deliver content that converts. Step 4 Some things to consider in looking at the Develop your products data are: using facts and insights l What is the last article someone reads SEVEN STEPS TO BUILDING DIGITAL “Since 2016, we have been working closely before they subscribe? with our newsrooms … on how to make the l What do subscribers read vs. articles more relevant to readers, and on non-subscribers? explaining Amedia’s strategy and making l Who are the most valuable readers? the editors own the strategy, Schultz said.” Here’s another thing many media companies haven’t yet considered that can be crucial in SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE Step 5 the run-up to a subscription business model: Sell your paid Product managers. After 15 years of failure, a dramatic turnaround subscription product to “In addition to sophisticated data analysts, new readers it’s important to have product managers as “We use search engine optimisation; we well,” Baxter said. “You need a ‘product per- use Facebook; and we use the front page son’ who is employed to think about the whole to sell our products,” Schultz said. package: How does someone log in, navigate around the site, choose what to download, plus In 2014, Amedia in Norway had been losing journey … Most important of all, it’s about data pricing, features, and content. Employ someone subscribers for 15 years. capture,” she added. “Third parties will reduce Step 6 whose job it is to think about those things.” “In 2014, we were at a critical point,” Executive the control you have.” Focus on churn Another essential organisational change is to VP Victoria Schultz told participants at WAN- Choosing the right log-in model is also reduction with IFRA’s Digital Media Asia 2020. “We had important. After extensive testing, Schultz said everyone refocus your customer service team to become experienced 15 years of falling subscriptions Amedia adopted a “plus strategy” with 50% to “The more they read; the less the readers a customer success team! “They should be and felt increasing competition from 60% of all articles behind a paywall. churn,” Schultz said. Amedia’s research proactive about what the problem is and how to international, social media, and search players, revealed that for readers who read once solve it,” Baxter said. “Having this mindset is a and were losing a considerable amount of every three days or less, churn is seven to big change — not being reactive, but proactive.” advertising money.” Step 2 12 percent. For those who read every two This new role is critical to transforming how Six years later, the tide had not only turned, but Focus on your existing days, it is 5-6%. And for those who read subscribers are treated beginning on day one risen sharply. subscribers daily, it’s only 3-4%. and continuing every day thereafter. “A really Amedia’s subscribers on all platforms went “Explain why and how to log on,” Shultz said. “We continuously focus on getting readers important part of the onboarding process with from 430,000 to 675,000. “Not long ago, we “Amedia launched a marketing campaign back in, creating daily habits … We have new subscribers, for example, is to send pre- had 1% digital subscribers,” Schultz told the involving editors and local celebrities to divided our analysis into two main areas. emptive reminders to help them make the most WAN-IFRA audience. “Today we have over 50% encourage subscribers to login. Some elderly Increasing sales and reducing churn,” she of your content, or send a text message saying of our subscribers who are digital-only readers. customers were invited to Amedia’s newsroom said. ‘Read this tonight!’ with some personalised In addition, we have 1.6 million, or 40%, of all and treated to tea and cakes to learn how to do By analysing usage data from 600,000 recommendations,” said Baxter. “Those are the Norwegian population over the age of 18. this.” articles every year, Amedia can predict examples of a customer success team in action.” They have registered with us. This gives us an Another aspect of the campaign was to purchases and predict with 82% certainty Another overlooked part of the subscriber enormous potential for further growth.” encourage subscribers to share the login whether a story will sell even before it is journey — retention — historically has been What happened? with family members as they do with a printed published, she said. addressed only when the customer calls to The company started by creating a digital-first newspaper,” she said. “This had the effect “Targeting of those stories to non- cancel. The retention effort actually must publishing policy, Schultz told the WAN-IFRA of recruiting future subscribers and young subscribers on newspaper front pages begin the day the subscriber signs on, and must audience. “This is about changing the mindset readers.” is very important in the recruitment continue throughout the relationship, ramping of the editorial department,” she said. channel for our newspapers,” Schultz said. up months before the subscription is about to Amedia then inaugurated a seven-step Amedia’s algorithms enable the creation expire if the subscriber is showing any concern- game plan: Step 3 of personalised homepages and story Democratise data and recommendations based on the readers’ ing behaviours. insights, and empower reading history and those with similar The data team should be monitoring reader Step 1 your journalists preferences. behaviour regularly and if they notice a drop- Get readers to log in Give journalists access to data so they can see This system is still being refined, but so far off in whatever that reader had been doing “You need a login solution where you control how their articles perform, Schultz said. it has resulted in a 13% increase in reading (reading stories or opening newsletters or com- the value chain. We do not recommend you “All our 800 journalists can see how many time among the test publications. menting), the customer success team should be collaborate too much with Facebook or Google subscribers are reading their articles, how notified so they can intervene with emails and or its likes. It’s vital to keep control of the much time is spent on the articles, how many texts reminding the reader when something relationship with your readers,” Schultz told the new subscribers it has sold. It has created a Step 7 the matches the reader’s interests is about to be WAN-IFRA audience. healthy competition amongst all our employees Do the same with published. “Control is about customer contact, customer and journalists,” she said. advertising data Engage, engage, engage. INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 64 Clubs, Memberships and Partnerships 2021 2021 65

information, for the access to knowledge. But in The Guardian is a poster child for memberships, fact, people actually engage with the media for growing from 12,000 members in 2016 to more CLUBS, MEMBERSHIPS many other reasons.” than 900,000 monthly supporters in late 2020. IT’S THE NUMBER OF PERKS, ONE NEW CONTRIBUTOR BUT THE RIGHT ONES EVERY 2 MINUTES

“You don’t need a boatload of features to be suc- “The Guardian has gained 268,000 new digital cessful [with memberships],” Ristagno told WNIP. subscriptions and recurring contributions over AND PARTNERSHIPS “Rather, just two or three things on top of a the last year — that’s an increase of 43%, and a subscription to your content is usually enough to joining rate of one person every two minutes,” drive conversions. Just make sure these offerings wrote Editor in Chief Katharine Viner in De- It’s all about whales, wine, and profitable symbiosis solve the tangible and emotional needs of your cember 2020. “Total digital recurring support whales,” including things like access to experts or now stands at more than 900,000 people, up editors, tools that make it easier for members to from 632,000 only a year ago.” do their jobs or pursue their hobbies, and educa- The Daily Beast’s membership product, Beast tional resources, like videos and eBooks.” Inside, saw an almost 100% growth in sign-ups e all need more “whales.” l Churn less often and buy more often, thus Memberships have been booming lately. in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the The term dates back more increasing their lifetime value first, and helped the publisher recoup some of than two decades in the l Provide favourable word-of-mouth its revenue losses, according to Digiday. gaming and media worlds. marketing While Daily Beast CRO Mia Libby did not It refers to the biggest l Want to help you innovate “WE WANTED share specific figures with Digiday, she did say spenders “who make up a l Behave more predictably that the average order value on Beast Inside tiny group (think about 2% of memberships is up 35% and that memberships audiences) that drives most TO BUILD A are their second largest revenue stream. of the revenue for publishers”, STOP TRYING TO BE according to GameBeat, an PROGRAMME online magazine covering the gaming industry. EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE W“Whales” are the people publishers want as CLUBS members, not just subscribers. They are also “The key is focus: We need to stop being AIMED AT BARS the cohort of subscribers most likely to join our everything to everyone and start honing in on niche clubs. our best readers,” Ristagno told WNIP. “Survey AND RESTAURANTS Clubs are an even more refined and focused form them to understand their needs and wants, of memberships, zeroing in on very niche inter- followed by developing a value proposition to THAT ARE REALLY ests, and offering both value and community. address them.” The Boston Globe wanted to help bars and MEMBERSHIPS The needs and wants that media companies restaurants struggling with lost revenue from can fulfil and that people are willing to pay STRUGGLING AND the pandemic so they started a cocktail club. for, include the following, according to INMA’s “We wanted to build a programme aimed at To build a successful membership revenue Researcher-in-Residence, Grzegorz Piechota: HELP FOLKS WHO bars and restaurants that are really struggling stream, the first thing publishers must do is and help folks who are in Boston feel more figure out a way to identify their “whales”. l Cognitive needs (acquiring information, connected to their community while still being “You know your whales when you see them,” knowledge, and understanding) ARE IN BOSTON socially distant and safe,” boston.com General Rob Ristagno, Founder and CEO of the Sterling l Affective needs (emotions, pleasure, Manager Matt Karolian told the Nieman Lab. Woods Group, told What's New In Publishng and feeling) FEEL MORE “We thought, what if we bring bartenders into (WNIP). “They’re wearing a hat with your logo l Personal integrative needs (credibility, people’s homes to show them how to make this on it. They treat your editors like celebrities. status, and stability) CONNECTED TO perfect cocktail that they’ve been missing, and They read and comment on everything you l Social integrative needs (family, friends, support the bars and restaurants in the process?” send them. They’re the most committed 10-15% and community) of your audience [and] generate as much as 70 l Tension release needs (escape and THEIR COMMUNITY to 90% of reader revenue.” diversion) A CLUB FOR FUN AND Ristagno said whales do more than generate WHILE STILL BEING revenue. Whales: “It’s interesting that when we lock content, A GOOD CAUSE we just focus on one of these needs — the l Are less price sensitive, making them more cognitive need,” Piechota said during a 2019 SOCIALLY DISTANT.” The club launched on New Year’s Eve with more profitable INMA webinar. “We charge people to access the Matt Karolian General Manager, boston.com than 500 signups for the first Zoom meeting INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 66 Clubs, Memberships and Partnerships 2021

where they watched a Boston bartender teach into the forefront for then-novel media-owned them how to make two cocktails. wine clubs in the U.S., according the the Nei- Boston.com partnered with Boston mixolo- man Lab. gist Jackson Cannon to identify bartenders and restaurants representing Boston’s unique food and bar scene. The bartenders brainstorm with A CONTENT CONNECTION … OR NOT Cannon about what cocktails to showcase. Registered club members have the option of buying a $59 cocktail kit ahead of each week’s Some media wine clubs, like the New York event that includes everything they’ll need to Times, make it clear to their wine club mem- make the drinks being showcased, according bers that the club and its recommendations are to the Nieman Lab. The proceeds from kit sales not affiliated with what is in the paper. Others, are donated to Off Their Plate, a grassroots like Eater, tout the connection. organisation that helps feed frontline workers, “It’s the only wine club out there that’s actu- including service workers, during the pandemic. ally curated by the editorial team itself,” Eater The bartenders themselves are paid by bos- General Manager Jill Dehnert told the Nieman ton.com the equivalent of what they would have Lab. made on a really good weekend night. Club Prices vary widely from club to club. “The members are encouraged to use Venmo to send New York Times Wine Club has two tiers, the tips to the bartenders. ‘Sampler’ ($90 for 6 bottles) and the ‘Reserve’ ($210 for 6 bottles),” according the the Nieman Lab. “That excludes shipping ($9.95) and tax. REPLICATING AN EXPERIENCE NPR offers 12 bottles for $149.99, plus tax and shipping. The Eater Wine Club ($110 per month for 4 bottles) seems high, but unlike most offer- “We say ‘Hey, if you’re having a great time, and ings, that number is all-inclusive. It comes out you’re enjoying the cocktail, please take care of to about $27/bottle, ten dollars less than the them,’” Karolian said. “We’re trying to replicate total cost of a New York Times Reserve bottle,” the experience as much as possible and make according to the Nieman Lab. sure that folks who are important parts of our community can continue to be able to make a BEYOND BOOZE living.” Karolian told the Nieman Lab that the Cock- tail Club is modelled after Boston.com‘s Book Not all clubs revolve around alcohol. How about Club, which brings in local authors and book- crocheting and kids books? sellers to talk to members. I Like Crochet magazine has a “Collections Wine clubs have been around for a while and Club” tht includes carefully curated collections are still going strong. of designer crochet patterns from scarves and According to the Nieman Lab, the first major shawls to afghans and baby items, all hand- publication to use its prestige as a platform selected by the editorial team. for vintners was the United Kingdom’s Sunday Meredith Corp.’s Parents magazine debuted Times, which debuted its wine club in 1973 and its Raising a Future Reader Club in August 2020. is still thriving almost 50 years later. Starting with its first-ever list of “100 Books to Innovation or sustainability? In the United States, media companies were Inspire Your Kids”, Parents magazine asked well- not able to ramp up wine clubs in a big way known authors to share the book that opened because running a national operation required their own or their children’s eyes to the joy of Pick both. complying with different liquor laws in each of reading. The initial club offering included tips on the 50 states plus Washington and federal laws. how to raise a child who loves to read. Being a PressReader partner goes beyond monetising your That roadblock was removed when compa- content. See how PressReaders’ innovative features can help you nies who specialise in liquor distribution began springing up and offering their services to pub- extend reach and find new audiences as readers discover your lishers, allowing the media companies to have a PARTNERSHIPS content across our diverse business verticals. Drive subscriptions national wine club brand without having to deal in new markets, explore new technologies, all with fair and with local logistics. sustainable compensation. When The Wall Street Journal launched its Partnerships are another form of direct-to-con- club, it partnered with one of those companies, sumer revenue streams that have been around a Direct Wines, in a move that pushed the WSJ while but that have picked up steam in the drive We innovate. So you can be sustainable. [email protected] INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Direct 2 Consumer WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 68 Clubs, Memberships and Partnerships 2021 2021 E-Commerce 69

impetus to its subscription boom (subscriptions “PEOPLE OFTEN more than doubled in 2020). THINK IT’S JUST FREE SIX- OR 12-MONTH TRIAL WHEN ONE DOOR ABOUT DRIVING SUBSCRIPTIONS In late 2020, BI started offering American Ex- SUBSCRIPTIONS, press credit card holders free six- or 12-month trials to the digital publication, depending on CLOSES ... the type of credit card they use, according to BUT IT’S NOT. IT’S BI’s SVP of Consumer Subscriptions Selma Stern speaking to Digiday. ABOUT DRIVING The Washington Post is also exploring part- Another opens, and during the pandemic, it’s been the e-commerce door nerships with brands in the fields of educa- TO A CONNECTED tion, healthcare and finance, according to Post Chief Marketing Officer Miki King speaking to Digiday. RELATIONSHIP Those industries are “the most appealing as o surprise: When people are ONLINE SHOPPING FRICTION there is a decent amount of overlap with the pa- locked down in their homes JUST DISAPPEARED WHERE YOU per’s coverage and the interests of the custom- for months, they transfer their ers these partners can offer,” she said. “Any of shopping trips from the mall to the areas where people are seeking info beyond mobile. “Once you turn to ecommerce, the convenience CONTINUE TO EARN what the provider of that service can give to So, while advertising revenues and reduced friction will make you stick with them offers a real opportunity for the Post.” were crashing, e-commerce rev- it,” Jonas Sjostedt, Founder and CTO of Tipser, THE RIGHT TO BE There’s more to this partnering thing than enues were exploding for those an ecommerce platform for publishers, told meets the eye, set up to take advantage of that FIPP. “We have seen a steady increase in sales shift. because our publishing partners are spending CONNECTED.” The size of the shift was almost beyond belief. a lot more time on ecommerce as a revenue James Henderson CEO, Zephr NAt least in pre-pandemic terms. source.” PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS Sjostedt believes publishers are in a great BEYOND SUBS position to cash in on the ecommerce boom. for more D2C revenue. A DECADE IN JUST EIGHT WEEKS “Publishers have an edge against commerce The Wall Street Journal is one of the leaders “People often think it’s just about driving sub- sites because they have organic traffic return- in subscription bundling partnerships. scriptions, but it’s not,” said James Henderson, ing to their sites and many are returning several In just the last five years, the WSJ built more CEO and co-founder of subscription software “The percentage of retail done on digital chan- times a week,” he said. than 40 bundling partnerships in 25 countries, company Zephr, speaking to Digiday. “It’s about nels has gone up 1% each year. As of 2020, it “Publishers have a strong media brand that with partnerships really blossoming lately in driving to a connected relationship where you was at 18%. Then, in eight weeks, it went to people trust and editors who curate the world specific regions like Asia, according to Jonathan continue to earn the right to be connected, but 28%! We had a decade in eight weeks,” said and make it relevant to the readers. Publishers Wright, global managing director of WSJ’s par- you are the business that can leverage the first- NYU Professor Scott Galloway at the Lions Live can leverage that brand and capitalise on con- ent company Dow Jones, speaking to Digiday. party data relationship.” Both parties benefit, event in June. sumers directly where inspiration strikes.” gaining data that can inform their businesses. “When you have a shop front where people Sjostedt describes the numbers being gener- These partnerships are “mutually beneficial can’t purchase, consumers become even more ated by ecommerce as “staggering”. FIND SIMPATICO COMPANIES because while the subscriptions are free to the reliant on trusted sources. You don’t have the non-publisher linked consumers, partner or- same face-to-face interactions with people be- ganisations have also been able to improve their hind the counter,” Hearst UK Chief Commercial THREE TO FIVE TIMES THE PROFIT In 2019, the WSJ and Standard Chartered own key metrics, such as acquisition, engage- Officer Jane Wolfson told Digiday. “More beauty Bank signed what Wright called a “significant ment and retention of their customers by using clients are coming to us for help.” partnership deal” that gave WSJ and Barron’s our subscriptions and content,” Dow Jones’ “Hearst’s purpose is to get more out of life,” “We see a three to five times increase in profit subscriptions to the bank’s “top-tier” Asia-based Wright told Digiday. Hearst UK Chief Content Development Officer compared to affiliate programmes for the same customers, according to Digiday. “Other partners So, if you haven’t identified your “whales” and Betsy Fast said at a What's New In Publishing products,” he says. “Tipser has over 30 % average in recent years have included trading platforms, converted them to members or created niche roundtable. “From mid-March [2020], that commission for the first half of 2020 while the telecomm companies, membership groups, air- clubs or partnered with like-minded companies really became our MO: Helping readers find average commissioned paid out from affiliate lines and language schools,” Wright said. in simpatico industries, you might want to give what they need and couldn’t get before, help programmes is around 12 %. The conversion rate Since the beginning of 2020, Business Insider these direct-to-consumer revenue streams a them pass the time, help them with life spent at is also really fine — 1,5% end-to-end. As a com- partnered with American Express to give added shot. home.” parison to that, the end-to-end conversion on INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 70 E-Commerce 2021 2021 71

affiliates should land on something like 0.2%.” arena for interactivity and deeper relationship Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) with your customer who’ll come back,” Wolrath was able to double its online sales revenue from said. The e-commerce services that Hearst and 2019 to 2020 after deploying an embedded e- other media and non-media companies now commerce strategy. It also helped the publisher provide drove an unprecedented explosion in survive the economic fallout of the pandemic. online shopping after March 2020. DN has an in-house commercial team that E-commerce grew 54% in the UK during July selects the products it offers to its readers. This 2020 alone, according to a GroupM 2020 report. PUBLISHERS HAVE way they ensures that the offerings are relevant “Growth was similar to the 55% pace of growth and match the interests of its audience. observed during the entire second quarter, sug- gesting that elevated levels of growth for e-com- merce are likely to persist beyond the duration of OFFER EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS the pandemic,” said GroupM Global President/ AN EDGE AGAINST AND DEALS Business Intelligence Brian Wieser in the report.

The publisher also has a designated shop- A STUNNING 322% QUARTERLY ping section, Erbjudanden (“special offers”), which carries exclusive products and deals for REVENUE GROWTH COMMERCE SITES subscribers. This creates an added value to its content offering. Fashion and lifestyle maga- In the U.S., e-commerce rose by 47% on a zines Elle and InStyle from BurdaStyle Group comparable basis to data tracked in the UK, (Germany) also have an editorial shopping according to GroupM. This was significantly team that selects products in line with readers’ ahead of the 15% growth rate observed during BECAUSE THEY HAVE interests. They use audience data to continually the first quarter. refine their offerings. Harm Heibült, Director of For example, Hearst UK’s e-commerce Product at the BurdaStyle Group, sees in “em- revenue grew 322% during the second quar- bedded eCommerce the evolution of classical ter of 2020, according to Digiday. New York affiliate marketing, a tool for a deep integration Magazine’s shopping site, The Strategist, saw an ORGANIC TRAFFIC in digital publishing offers.” 85% year-over-year increase in revenue during the second quarter of 2020, and Marie Claire’s e-commerce revenue in the first seven months SHOPPING WITH A FRACTION of 2020 was equal to what it generated for the entire year in 2019, according to Digiday. OF THE CLICKS At BuzzFeed, the company is moving even RETURNING TO THEIR more aggressively to take advantage of this “The users stay on our site and can purchase consumer shift, transitioning the focus of its products in only a fraction of the clicks,” e-commerce efforts from affiliate revenue Heibült told FIPP. “This improves the user expe- to direct-to-consumer revenue. For years, rience and increases conversion rates. Buzzfeed was a leader in affiliate revenue, rec- SITES AND MANY ARE “Publishers have an edge against commerce ommending products and earning income when sites because they have organic traffic return- readers clicked on the links and bought things. ing to their sites and many are returning several That line of work generated $300M in revenue times a week,” Sjostedt said. in 2019, according to the company. RETURNING SEVERAL E-COMMERCE WILL GROW KEEPING THE SHOPPERS POST-PANDEMIC ON YOUR SITE

Embedded e-commerce and content commerce Now, BuzzFeed is trying to create a more lucra- TIMES A WEEK.” can be framed as an offering of convenience and tive direct-to-consumer revenue stream with Jonas Sjostedt, Founder and CTO of Tipser expertise. You want to be able to tell your read- its own standalone website called BuzzFeed ers: “We want to be your one-stop shop. We want Shopping that lets visitors complete purchases to provide you with the full experience,” Tipser without going anywhere else. founder and CEO Axel Wolrath told FIPP. The new site, distinct from the Shopping sec- As publishers, “you’re turning yourself into an tion on BuzzFeed’s main site, is a partnership D2C Global INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 72 E-Commerce 2021 Digital D2C Subscriptions with Shop Bonsai Inc., an e-commerce platform that connects publishers and brands. Right off the bat, it’s a much better deal for EMBEDDED Global & Beyond BuzzFeed. The company says it will get an aver- age 25% commission on sales from its own store, E-COMMERCE AND compared to just 10% from sales with affiliates. CONTENT COMMERCE Digital KEEP THEM ONSITE, KEEP THE DATA CAN BE FRAMED AS Subscriptions Perhaps even more importantly, BuzzFeed AN OFFERING OF & Beyond will build a more direct relationship with its shoppers and be able to collect consumer data, eventually leading to personalisation of recom- CONVENIENCE AND mendations, according to SVP of Commerce Nilla Ali speaking to the WSJ. Ali cited average EXPERTISE order value as one potential variable of interest. “Creating our own e-commerce platform gives us the opportunity to own the entire user jour- industry where content creators provide the ney and create an even deeper, more direct rela- inspiration to buy a new product, go on a vaca- 8-10 and 15-17 June tionship with our readers,” Ali told AdAge. “We tion, or watch a new show, but don’t capture know that we drive meaningful discovery for our much of the economic value created,” wrote audiences, and we’re now focused on collapsing BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti in a company blog that journey from discovery to conversion.” Ac- post early in 2020. FIPP’s first ever event dedicated to cording to Ali, BuzzFeed is keeping affiliate links Peretti called it the “attribution problem,” on the main site and editorial staffers on the where Google and other middlemen end up direct-to-consumer business models commerce team will write stories for both sites. capturing value they didn’t create. “We see a real opportunity for us to reclaim some of that * * profit,” Peretti wrote. “The convergence of Subscriptions Memberships and clubs INTERNAL SITES mobile content and mobile commerce means * e-Commerce * e-Learning * Events we can finally make progress on this problem. = DIRECT RELATIONSHIP The traditional marketing funnel can be com- pressed and consumers can move more fluidly “Publishers like BuzzFeed that have really em- from inspiration to transaction.” braced affiliate over the last few years and built The move to direct e-commerce also comes a solid business, and that have actually trained at a good time for publishers as companies are D2C their audience to shop from them and expect to reducing affiliate commission rates. F be sold product — those publishers are really ripe for this kind of product,” Bonsai CEO Sid- diqui told the WSJ. BESIDES, AFFILIATE RATES Global “Creating our own e-commerce platform gives journey and creates an even deeper, more SLASHED 50-70% direct relationship with our readers and a real Digital opportunity for us to reclaim some of that “Walmart and Amazon have both pulled back profit,” Ali told AdAge. on affiliate options since the pandemic started,” Taking back control of the user relationship wrote Dianna Christie on Marketing Dive. Subscriptions D2C is a key element in the transition from affiliate “Commissions on commerce staples includ- to direct e-commerce. ing headphones, beauty products and business supplies have been cut in half, from 6% to 3%,” & Beyond according to Digiday. “Commissions on home Global LET’S RECLAIM SOME products, a fast-growing category with so many people now sheltered in place, has been OF THE PROFIT cut by nearly two-thirds, from 8% to 3%; com- Digital missions on health and personal care products, “Our work in commerce also will be part of another major growth area, fell from 4.5% solving a longstanding problem in the media to 1%.” More at FIPP.com/events Subscriptions & Beyond INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 74 E-Commerce 2021 2021 75

subscription box brands that have benefited from coronavirus need to prepare to adjust “SUBSCRIPTION again,” Harding wrote. “With circumstances changing every day, subscription marketers should use this unique time to establish long- BOX BRANDS MUST term buyers. “Subscription box brands must convey that CONVEY THAT A QUICK LOOK AT OTHER their services have the ability to deliver much more than just beauty products, workbooks and easy meals,” Harding wrote. “When marketed THEIR SERVICES correctly, the appeal of subscriptions for consumers is found in value, access and conve- HAVE THE ABILITY nience. And now more than ever, those factors are of the utmost importance in the eyes of E-COMMERCE OPTIONS many people.” TO DELIVER MUCH BOOKAZINES MORE THAN JUST Licensed products, bookazines, subscription boxes, affiliate revenue, Bookazines are “a very profitable business”. and your own store That’s what Doug Olson, president and general BEAUTY PRODUCTS, manager of Meredith Magazines, called booka- zines in early 2021 speaking to CNN. LICENSED PRODUCTS companies (an opportunity missed!). Food and Last year, Meredith released 331 issues, up WORKBOOKS AND Brand licensing can be big business. Really big. beverage subscription boxes in particular have from 330 issues in 2019 with sales growing Look at Meredith. They were second in the world been in high demand, as much of the popula- about 2% from year prior (a major achievement EASY MEALS.” in 2020), with some data yet to be reported, only to the Walt Disney Company in retail sales tion is keeping grocery store trips to a minimum, Carolyn Harding DMS Assoc. Manager of Comms of licensed merchandise in both 2019 and 2020. according to the Subscription Report. The according to CNN. Meredith generated $25.1B to Disney’s $54.7 prepared-meal service, Freshly Inc., delivered billion in 2019, according to License Global. five million meals in the month of March alone, A very bright future costly to produce, and marketed to consumers The top publishing companies in 2019 by brand a major jump from the 3.5 million the company At National Geographic, “the future is actually as collectors' items. Most bookazines are ad-free licensing revenue were: Meredith ($23.2 billion predicted in February, the report said. very bright for bookazines specifically,” SVP for and sell at a higher price than weekly or monthly in retail sales in 2017), Playboy ($1.5 billion), Similarly, subscription boxes in the education Global Media and Experiences Yulia Boyle told magazines. For example, the majority of Mer- Hearst ($500 million), and Condé Nast ($150 space have also seen an increased demand. Ki- FIPP. “We doubled the production of our booka- edith's bookazines cost $9.99 or more. million), according to License Global. wiCo, for example, which delivers STEM-based zines from 14 per year to 28 this year…we find And, despite the pandemic hammering virtually activities monthly for kids, has seen “a huge that the more niche you go, the more specific Conversions to bookazines and every other area of revenue, Meredith reported spike in subscriptions and one-off purchases” you go to a subject area, you find passionate contract printing in November a 21% increase year-over-year in in its ecommerce store during the COVID crisis, communities of people who want to buy that Two twists on the theme is the conversion of branded content sales in Q1 of 2021 v. Q1 of according to KiwiCo Chief Product and Mer- particular niche interest magazine.” titles to bookazines and publishing for others. 2020 (their fiscal year starts in July). chandising Officer Lisa Hom speaking to Digital Similarly, Bauer and Hearst also are growing the For example, Meredith has converted older titles Media Solutions (DMS). numbers and profits of their bookazines,. into bookazines, such as Traditional Home and Coastal Living, and also produces bookazines SUBSCRIPTION BOXES Coping with cancellations Bauer doubles production for partners such The Los Angeles Times, The Another old direct-to-consumer idea that’s new But not everyone in the subscription box world is Bauer Media Group USA doubled its bookazine New York Times (NYT), and Rolling Stone, ac- again is subscription boxes. thriving. With family and personal budgets tight- production in 2020, publishing 60 bookazines, cording to CNN. Take GQ, for example. The magazine’s subscrip- ening during the pandemic, some companies and plans to publish more than 100 titles in 2021, The combination of a higher price and lower tion box is $50 every three months, or $190 a are being proactive in preventing subscription according to CNN. Hearst Books doubled profits cost of production makes bookazines much year, for a collection of products selected by box cancellations. Barkbox Inc., for example, is from 2019 to 2020 and produced 80 bookazines, more profitable. Bookazines that "sell a fraction GQ's staff. That “Best Stuff Box” nearly tripled its letting customers pause their subscriptions until up from 75 in 2019, according to Hearst Books of the copies of an issue of one of our magazines revenue in 2020 and has a retention rate of more people “feel more secure about their finances,” VP/Publisher Jacqueline Deval speaking to CNN. can be successful,” according to Steven Kotok, than 75%, according to the company. More than according to DMS. Citing bookazines as a key contributor, Mer- CEO and president of Bauer Media Group USA, 22% of companies have seen subscriber acquisi- “When subscription brands show understand- edith, which publishes People, Food & Wine speaking to CNN. tion rates grow during the current pandemic, ac- ing, provide transparency with regard to product and dozens of other popular titles, said in "To me, [bookazines] represent a really nice cording to the 2020 Subscription Impact Report availability and deliverability, and offer the February 2021 that its newsstand revenue pandemic treat," Syracuse University Associ- by subscription service company Zuora. flexibility to temporarily close accounts, defer grew by $3 million in the final quarter of 2020 ate Professor of Magazine Journalism Aileen payments or pause subscriptions, consumers compared to the year prior. Gallagher told CNN. "We're all still stuck in our Other industries are likely to remember that and feel a sense of Just to be clear, bookazines are big (as in thick- houses and the only place we're really going is outperforming media loyalty to the brands,” wrote DMS Assoc. Man- ness, sometimes exceeding 100 pages), single- the grocery store. It's like, 'Oh, here's this thing Most of the beneficiaries of the boom in sub- ager of Communications Carolyn Harding. topic, in-depth magazines filled with stories and that will entertain me for a little while that I will scription box sign-ups have not been media “Stay-at-home orders are already subsiding, so photos from their archives, making them far less invest $10 in.’" INNOVATION INNOVATION DirectNome do 2 Consumer artigo IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Direct 2 Consumer WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 76 Digital Subs 2021 2021 E-Learning 77

approved. Participating brands included Self- ridges, ASOS, Topshop, and NET-A-PORTER, “THE FUTURE IS according to What's New in Publishing (WNIP). ACTUALLY VERY A 6% conversion rate By August 2019, the site was delivering an aver- HOW DO 20%-70% age 6% conversion rate, and average basket size BRIGHT FOR of £397 pounds ($478), according to Retail Dive. “We are now ranking for over 18,100 key shop- BOOKAZINES ping terms in Google such as ‘Arket dresses’, terms that with content alone we would never have been able to reach,” Ferguson told WNIP. PROFIT MARGINS SPECIFICALLY, [...] Another 12 months, the results by August 2020 are still impressive — ecommerce accounts WE DOUBLED THE for 40% of all digital revenues, a 675% annual growth, according to Ferguson, speaking to WNIP. “We are on target to hit 2020 revenues — SOUND? PRODUCTION FROM which will double 2019 performance — with a 14 PER YEAR TO 28 70% profit margin.” Expecting 6,000 sign-ups, Media companies with e-learning businesses can make serious money they got 25,000 THIS YEAR” Also in 2020, Ferguson launched Marie Claire Yulia Boyle National Geographic SVP for Global Beauty Drawer, a free beauty sampling service if they invest serious time and resources Media and Experiences designed to appeal to stuck-at-home women while also delivering a highly personalised ad- vertising channel for its brand partners. Fergu- AFFILIATE REVENUE son hoped to get 6,000 sign-ups a month, but Despite the cutbacks in commissions, some within just 48 hours, more than 25,000 people et’s see if this quote grabs your need to be trained/certified to maintain their media companies are still reaping significant had signed up, according to WNIP. attention: jobs in many industries. rewards from affiliate revenue. Marie Claire UK As successful as it all sounds, there were glitch- “We have also seen successful B2C publish- is a prime example. As recently as 2017, ecom- es. Ferguson recommends that anyone embark- “E-learning is a very valid and ers in learning, but it would more than likely be merce and affiliate revenue accounted for only ing on a similar project move the tech stack to high-margin business opportunity a lower percentage of total revenue than B2B,” 2% of total revenue. In late 2020, ecommerce the top of the priority list. “If I could do one thing for publishers (both B2B and B2C) if Kelly said. “But good to know: B2C publishers revenues accounted for 40% of all digital rev- differently, I would change the prioritisation of they make a commitment to learning can add multi-million, high-margin learning pro- enues representing 675% annual growth, partly some of the technical roadmap that we used to product development and the mar- grammes to their overall portfolio with the right off the back of creating touchpoints to purchase build the site,” she told WNIP. “We started the keting of the programmes … I have market and a commitment to sticking with it.” from the top to the bottom of the ecommerce site using some old tech … I think it’s better to seen (once a programme is opera- And what does “commitment to sticking to funnel, according to WNIP. “We are on target start development on a clean slate.” to hit 2020 revenues — which will double 2019 tional) anything from 20%-70% margins.” it” mean? performance — with a 70% profit margin,” Marie —L Barry Kelly, CEO, Thought Industries Kelly outlined what it takes to succeed in Claire UK E-commerce Director Emily Fergu- YOUR OWN STORE e-learning: son told WNIP. In 2017, Marie Claire UK hired Many media companies run their own online Got your attention? Good. Now, here’s how to Ferguson, an ecommerce veteran, to find new stores with branded merchandise. get some of that profit. 1 A business owner who holds P&L responsibility non-traditional affiliate revenues. The Condé Nast Store sells licensed merchan- “Publishers who have been successful have is critical. dise, and there is the Vogue Shop and the Wired dedicated time and resources to build these 2 A dedicated budget to set up the business and Immediate gratification and Store. Meredith and Hearst also have online business units,” said Kelly, whose software a model that recognises that it will take a little quality assurance stores for some of their media properties. company creates white-labelled learning ex- time is also essential. Like any good business, it One year later, Ferguson launched Marie Claire The latest entrant, in August 2020, was Condé periences for all sorts of companies. “Creating requires time and money to get off the ground. Edit with the tagline “Shop the brands you love Nast's GQ magazine store. high-quality learning experiences that serve a 3 A content creator/instructional designer must — Fashion Editor approved”. The MC Edit site Opened as yet another way to combine content need in the market is key. be identified who will research the needs of the offered easy and immediate gratification plus and commerce, the store launched with a hand- “What I am saying is that while it’s not a sil- learners and create high-quality courses. quality assurance. Readers could purchase ful of shirts and sweatshirts, some with original ver bullet, it IS a very effective business oppor- products they were reading about and have the graphics adapted from the men's fashion maga- tunity if committed to like any other revenue 4 A team of strong, willing marketers with the budget to promote the programme must be quality assurance provided by approval badges zine, according to Publishers Daily. A long-sleeve strategy,” Kelly told FIPP. assembled and charged with this responsibil- from Marie Claire editors. shirt with a picture of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry “B2B publishers in particular tend to have The site gave visitors the ability to browse and David from GQ's "Wellness and Success" issue ity. This is the key that separates those who are strong learning components to their business,” successful from those who are not. If you build shop more than 50 stores and one million prod- in February 2021 sold out in the first week, a Kelly said. “The simple reason is that profes- ucts all in the same place and all fashion-editor promising start, Publishers Daily reported. it, they will not necessarily come. You need to sional development is big business. Individuals promote it and convert readers into attendees. INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 78 E-Learning 2021 2021 79

While media companies have the assets in terms of deep, valuable archives and years of staff expertise and experience that are needed “PARTNERING to create courses, their primary focus is their publication and website. WITH EDUCATIONAL No worries. WHAT DOES IT COST TO SET UP One really good thing about e-learning busi- ness models is that, even though you could do it INSTITUTIONS yourself with internal staff, there are people out there who can help, from a little to a lot. PRESENTS A HIDDEN Rather than let your expertise and assets go un- or under-leveraged, you can partner with SOURCE OF REVENUE academic and commercial institutions who can E-LEARNING COURSES? turn your physical and human assets into gold because online education is part or all of what FOR PUBLICATIONS.” Depending on your vision, you can do it for $30k to $500k they do. Rob Kingyens CEO, Zephr

Here’s the bad news: It isn’t cheap. costs are one of the biggest challenges. PARTNER WITH AN EDUCATIONAL companies are a natural fit since they’re often Here’s the good news: Once a course is up and “I’ve seen organisations choose right tech, build looking for new ways to engage their audience running, it’s very lucrative. All your set-up costs the right product, and then call the marketing INSTITUTION and create community.” are one-time costs, but you can keep charging department the week before launch!” said Kelly. the initial fee and your margins skyrocket. Similarly, Kelly’s company, Thought Indus- “It’s not that easy. You must dedicate media “Like any business, in order to do this, there is assets and revenue to paid media and market- “Partnering with educational institutions tries, delivers “a platform that is designed to no cheating, right?” said Barry Kelly, CEO of ing and consistent deployment opportunities to presents a hidden source of revenue for publica- serve all facets of learning product creation, e-learning company Thought Industries. “You market your courses.” tions,” said Rob Kingyens, founder and CEO of monetisation and delivery. “From single short- need an educational platform — a high-quality, The cost? the online education technology firm Yellow- form online course creation to long-format consumer-grade platform. You’re competing with “In the first year, I have seen organisations invest brick in speaking with Folio. “Education is a blended learning programmes with instructors, the Pelotons of the world for consumers’ e-learn- $60,000 and others invest $400-500,000,” said complementary way for media brands to not virtual and in-person meetings, our technology ing dollars and they will want a consumer grade Kelly. “It depends on your ambition and the scope only generate revenue, but also to give back to helps with every element of e-learning business experience, not a Zoom-call quality experience. and quality of the courses you want to create. their audience,” he told Folio. “Revenue genera- delivery and management,” Kelly said. “Moneti- “You also need the tech and server capability to “You could start with one course on the platform tion isn’t the only reason to do this.” sation is turn-key.” handle the volume of distribution and be able to and be in the $30k-$50k range, or you could be deliver at scale,” Kelly told FIPP. “You need the deliberate in your research, and licensing tech- software to monetise it and design it in a way nology, and putting a marketing budget aside, PARTNER WITH AN E-LEARNING WHO ARE THE MEDIA COMPANY that creates a brand experience — a learning and hiring a team, and end up at $300k in first procedure that is completely on-brand. year,” Kelly said. COMPANY E-LEARNING LEADERS? “The next line item is content creation — You “The P&L needs to make sense — how many at- need instructors with subject knowledge, but, tendees do you need to see at what rate to cover Yellowbrick, for example, manages partnerships Among media companies, The Guardian is a unlike most companies, media companies don’t your cost?” Kelly said. “Pricing is a very critical between higher education institutions and leader in the e-learning niche, with its “Master have to look too far for those people,” Kelly said. component. The type of learning experience you media companies, usually at a national level. Classes”, a diverse programme of dozens of “In media companies, you have the subject-mat- offer will determine that: High-quality subject According to Folio, recent Yellowbrick launches courses every month across a variety of disci- ter experience and the content creation capabil- matter experts and a deep learning experience included two courses with Complex Media and plines, including journalism, creative writing, ity. You have all the important ingredients for a over long period of time can command signifi- one with Billboard: photography, design, film, digital media, music/ good e-learning product. cant amounts of fee money. cultural appreciation, social media, data visuali- “Then it comes down to how long it takes to cre- “So, if you’re running the kind of course you can ate the course and take it to market,” Kelly said. 1 “Sneaker Essentials”: A Complex Media part- sation, business skills, and wellbeing. Another charge $800 for, you’re going to recoup your “And that is a major line item — the marketing costs quickly,” Kelly said. “If the course fee is in nership with the Fashion Institute of Technol- leader is Burda, which offers the BurdaStyle the $15 fee range, well, the pricing speaks for ogy Academy for online sewing education. itself. The BurdaStyle Academy promises to give 2 “Streetwear Essentials”: A Complex Media “The beauty of online learning is you can create partnership with Parsons School of Design its students “all the tools you need to learn how evergreen courses that will continue to generate to create beautiful, stylish, and professional- PRICING IS A VERY 3 A music-industry-focused course in partner- revenue at scale year after year and the margins looking garments from the comfort of your ship with New York University and Billboard CRITICAL COMPONENT. will continue to grow at the lower cost base once own home (and sewing studio),” according to the programme is created,” Kelly said. “Then it “What’s unique with our model is we’re tak- the company. “We hand-pick sewing industry THE TYPE OF LEARNING just comes down to marketing and training. ing the media outlet’s strengths — the exper- specialists we know to develop courses. Our “I’ve seen businesses generate margin in the tise of their staff, their audience — and man- instructors guide you through our courses with EXPERIENCE YOU OFFER first year, but it’s like any business — you are not aging and operating all the things that aren’t one-on-one help and they are there to make going to be profitable in the first two months,” their core strength,” Kingyens told Folio. “Media sure you are on track with each session.” WILL DETERMINE THAT. Kelly said. INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 80 E-Learning 2021 2021 81

total user base was estimated to be about 15 Similarly, the Condé Nast College of Fashion million, according to Campus Technology. & Design “prepares students for a career in the The initial exuberance a decade or more fashion, media and luxury lifestyle industries,” ago was “a classic example of the ‘hype according to the company. “Our courses fuse cycle’, where people tend to overestimate exciting and intensive academic learning with the effect of a technology in the short run unrivalled access to the best and brightest and underestimate the effect in the long run,” minds in the industry, including the teams at said University of Arizona Distinguished Vogue, LOVE, Glamour, GQ, and a host of other WHATEVER HAPPENED Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey writing Condé Nast titles. for The Conversation. Generally, MOOCs “The College delivers creative courses com- attract learners with two types of motivation. bined with a solid foundation in the business “Some are motivated by general interest and and strategic sides of the fashion, media and personal growth,” said Impey. “Others are luxury lifestyle industries,” according to the motivated by professional advancement. company. “The purpose of our courses is to pre- The Class Central report found that the pare students for a multitude of careers: styling, learners’ interests had indeed become more journalism, fashion buying, marketing, brand- diverse, as Impey suggested. “Whereas ing, graphic design, PR, digital strategy, busi- TO MOOCs topics in technology, business and career ness, events, entrepreneurship, e-commerce, development dominated pre-COVID-19, dur- and myriad other career paths within these If you were worried that MOOCs failed and e-learning success ing the pandemic, learners focused on wider exciting, fast-paced industries.” is a mirage, think again interests: Art and design, self-improvement, Some media companies offer classes for free the humanities, communication skills, with the costs underwritten by sponsors or by health and medicine, and foreign languages surfaced in the top 10 subjects,” according to the media company itself in the interest of sub- CampusTechnology. scriber/member attraction, conversion and/or Remember when MOOCs were the rage? era's total number of users in early 2021 to be 76 In a time of massive physical and psycholog- retention. Other media companies offer classes Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) debuted million, reported Campus Technology. ical disruption, it’s no surprise that the Class with a range of fees, and still others offer them with great fanfare almost a decade ago and they Not far behind, the second largest MOOC com- Central report found that the most popular as a perk for purchasing a membership. were going to radically disrupt the hidebound world pany, edX, doubled in size, gaining 10 million new course during the pandemic was Yale Uni- Some of the larger media companies use or of traditional higher education and knowledge ac- registered users in 2020, up from five million. versity's “The Science of Well-Being”, with hire in-house staff to produce the courses while quisition. The hype was breathless. The New York Shah estimated the total edX user base at 35 mil- more than 2.5 million enrolments in 2020. others outsource it to companies like Yellow- Times declared 2012 “The Year of the MOOC.” lion, according to Campus Technology. In addition to the COVID-19 spike, over the brick and Thought Industries. Not so fast. The UK-based Future Learn grew 384%, adding last few years, there has been a rapid growth “Academia, like media and finance before it, “From the start, MOOCs had abysmal completion five million new registered users up from in micro-credentials — modular learning has long been ripe for disruption,” said FIPP rates,” according to Forbes. “While they attracted 1.3 million in 2019, according to the report. The units that can be combined for a qualifica- Chief Content and Marketing Officer Cobus tens of thousands of ‘students’, very few stuck tion like a master’s degree. In addition, full Heyl. “Apart from whether old methods of around long.” The students were discouraged by online degree programmes were also boom- teaching are still best, universities especially the same challenges that trouble today’s pan- ing. Additionally, the MOOC companies have leave students with sky-high debts for often- demic-era students forced into distance learning: THE STUDENTS WERE evolved. times worthless degrees where vocational train- screen fatigue, lack of interactivity, lack of human “The instructional ingredients of success, ing could’ve been better. Besides at the start of contact, and more. In addition, ten years ago the DISCOURAGED BY SAME the sites found, include short videos of six their careers, people cannot go through their technology was far less sophisticated. minutes or less, interspersed with interactive careers anymore without doing professional While the MOOC companies stayed in business, CHALLENGES THAT drills and tests; online forums where stu- development out of their own accord. dents share problems and suggestions; and they didn’t turn out to be as transformational as “Some universities still charge multiple thou- online mentoring and tutoring,” according to they’d hoped. TROUBLE TODAY’S sands for a professional development course, Then along came COVID-19. New York Times tech writer Steve Lohr. but: 1) Not everyone can afford that, and The COVID-19 quarantines resulted in millions “Active learning works, and social learning PANDEMIC-ERA 2) Not everyone has the time or means to at- of people suddenly having lots of free time on works,” edX founder and CEO Anant Agarwal tend classes,” Heyl said. their hands. Many of those people turned to STUDENTS FORCED INTO told the NYT. “And you have to understand online courses. Of all the learners who have ever that teaching online and learning online are “Enter the likes of Udemy, Thought Indus- registered for MOOCs throughout their history, DISTANCE LEARNING: skills of their own.” tries, Coursera, GetSmarter, Yellowbrick, the one-third did so just in 2020 alone, according to “Executives eventually discovered that Guardian’s Masterclass, and, last but by far not a late 2020 report by Class Central, a company SCREEN FATIGUE, LACK earning credentials for completing courses least, LinkedIn Learning,” said Heyl. that tracks MOOCs. and paying fees drove completion rates far So, if your company is B2B or in a consumer According to the Class Central report, the largest OF INTERACTIVITY, LACK higher,” Lohr wrote. “Typically, 10% or fewer niche where your audience is seeking advance MOOC operator, Coursera, saw a one-year growth students complete free courses, while the knowledge or skills in that niche, by all means of 387% in new registered users, exploding from OF HUMAN CONTACT, completion rates for paid courses that grant start doing the research that will tell you eight million in 2019 to 31 million in 2020. Dhawal certificates or degrees range from 40% to whether any significant e-learning revenues are Shah, founder of Class Central, estimated Cours- AND MORE. 90%.” in your future.” INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 82 Events 2021 2021 83 EVENTS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME FIPP TIPS And that’s a good thing

Measure success Tech matters “Key data to look out for are the number of regis- Make sure the platform allows levels of customi- s it trite yet to say: “Things will never be be some content that will be exclusive to people tered delegates versus those actually attending; sation and branding, communication with del- how long they stayed on; how much attention egates before and after, and automatic recording the same”? who turn up in person that you don’t want to they were paying; and transcripts of questions Well, trite or not, when it comes to show in a digital environment,” Francescone asked and chat,” says James Hewes, FIPP CEO. events, it’s true: Things never will be the told Press Gazette. You can also send out different URLs for your Use the chat function same. “Event businesses that can’t experiment with event as a way of tracking where your audience is Webinar attendees ask more questions. Keep an They’ll actually be better. new models will be left behind,” Sterling Woods coming from. eye on incoming queries and integrate Q&As into Once we get through this pandemic, CEO Rob Ristagno said in his introduction to the webinar events will become what they should the FIPP Congress “What’s Next For Events?” have become five or even ten years ago: webinar. Have a script Hybrid! After getting our sea legs, media companies Without face-to-face interactions and body lan- Use analytics to learn “I think, long term, actually we’ll have a much made online events succeed beyond anyone’s guage, the value of the spoken word is supreme. about your audience Ibetter business, a more diverse business, and wildest optimistic expectations when the lock- Having a script is a must, says Hewes.“Pauses Make sure your platform supports custom URLs a more sustainable business going forward,” downs first hit. and hesitation are even more apparent on video to allow source tracking (FIPP creates 10-15 Simone Broadhurst, MD of sustainable events than they are in real life, so make sure your script different URLs for each webinar, to allow us to company Incisive Media, said at the FIPP World l Condé Nast’s recent pivot to virtual pro- helps you navigate your way through the event.” understand where the audience members come Congress in the autumn of 2020. gramming, for example, has included more Use Zoom’s practice function. from). Will it integrate with your CRM platform. “When real-life events return, they will en- than 150 virtual events globally, reaching Look for data such as the number of registered deavour to have an online side to them if they more than 700,000 consumers at home, delegates versus those actually attending; how can,” said Edie Lush, executive editor of Hub according to MediaPost. Plan the ending and long they stayed; how much attention they were Culture, an invitation-led social network ser- l Cherry Bombe, the female-focused food follow-up paying; and transcripts of questions asked and vice, in the FIPP 2020 Future of Events report. brand, had anticipated 700 paying at- End by outlining actionable points. Eschew the chat. “After all, if online events have been a suc- tendees at its in-person Jubilee event in vague “get in touch with me with any questions”. cess, why stop now? Even as the strictest lock- New York, but instead used Instagram Live Sending followw-up emails with any slides and a down conditions ease and physical events begin to put on Jubilee 2.0 — an entirely online link to the recording is a great way to remind your Prepare, prepare, audience of what they learned, share links to topics prepare to return, online events are now an established event that reached 180,300 Instagram discussed, and invite them to your next event. Give Have a script; practise it; call your panelists be- part of the ecosystem,” concluded the authors accounts, according to the FIPP Future of sponsors a boost. After a food-focused conference, forehand to talk through how the event will unfold. of the FIPP report. Events report. Cherry Bombe Co-founder Kerry Diamond emailed Test slide-sharing. l “We can [have] the best of both worlds,” said At long-form journalism site Tortoise participants a “goodie bag” with discount coupons Orson Francescone, managing director of FT where they host “ThinkIns”, they now have and vouchers from the event’s sponsors. Live, the Financial Times’ events arm, speaking anywhere from 200 to 2000+ attending Have good sound to Press Gazette. “No matter what happens in — “the maximum capacity in our [physi- and lighting the future, all events are going to be hybrid … I cal space] was around 120 (if everyone It’s a talk show, A lapel mic is a good investment don’t think anyone is ever going to run a large squeezed in…),” said Tortoise Co-founder not a lecture public-facing B2B event without a digital com- Katie Vanneck-Smith. Ditch the lengthy slide decks; focus on conversation ponent ever again.” l Women’s Health Live was viewed by more Backdrop and visual Hybrid events can offer different experiences than 10.9 million people across Facebook, elements for the “live” crowd and the virtual crowd, with Twitter and YouTube, creating a new on- Keep it small Get a vinyl backdrop and stand to hang it from. content curated for each group. “So there will line fitness community in a matter of days, A host and no more than two guest speakers They are not expensive. INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 84 Events 2021 2021 85

according to Campaign Live. second-best alternative to make-do in these l FTLive drew 5,500 attendees to a four-day uncertain times’ to ‘you want this digital solu- FT Digital Dialogues digital event in April “I DON’T THINK tion a lot more than you thought you wanted 2020. that physical event, and let me show you why’,” l FT Global Boardroom, a fully live, global ANYONE IS EVER he said in the FIPP report. TIPS FROM TEXAS digital event, had 100 remote speakers and Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith offered the 52,000 delegates. Poynter Institute the following tips: GOING TO RUN IT AIN’T NECESSARILY OVER “We’re never going to let go of that digital l Schedule the action over a full month piece,” said FT Live's Francescone, the Fi- A LARGE PUBLIC- rather than three days nancial Times’ events arm, speaking to Press As we prepare for the post-pandemic future, we Gazette. FACING B2B EVENT also cannot forget that this whole coronavirus l Given shortened Zoom attention spans, In a “normal” year, the FT’s average event thing is likely to happen again. aim for segments totalling two to three calendar would have included 150 live events Second waves of COVID-19 are predicted, and hours a day at most around the world. When COVID-19 hit, the FT WITHOUT A DIGITAL the risk of another global influenza pandemic turned on a dime, and launched The Global remains high on the World Health Organisa- l Up the number of speakers — currently Economic Emergency webinar. COMPONENT EVER tion’s list of top 10 threats to global health. 250 for 100 sessions “We turned [the event] around in four days Additionally, concerns about the climate and we got 8,000 people registered for that… and people working from home en masse will l Tilt the content more to national topics it was suddenly like ‘crikey, clearly there’s AGAIN.” certainly impact live events and make quality than previously — about 40% something in this’,” Francescone told the Press Orson Francescone FT Live, Managing Director virtual events even more essential as standalone Gazette. events or part of a live event. l Mix formats — live and taped, free and The success of that webinar was the “spark” So, it’s incumbent upon us to take the hard- paid, one-time, and archived for rewatch that led to The Global Boardroom, a new and its “biggest launch ever”, Francescone told earned lessons about how to run virtual confer- digital-only event born as a result of the pan- the Press Gazette. Guests included ex-UK prime ences and apply them to the hybrid future. demic and delivered within five weeks, drawing minister Tony Blair and ex-US vice president Al Aided by AI, improved noise-cancelling tech- 150 speakers and more than 50,000 people at- Gore among others, big names who could have nology is in the works, and, fuelled by demand, tendees over three days in May 2020, according taken years to organise in pre-pandemic times. we are likely to see more online event innova- “Unlike in physical events, where asking to Francescone. “The power of digital meant that suddenly in tions come along as firms scramble to provide questions can be painful, online audiences It has become the FT’s most profitable event five weeks we could corral this incredible audi- high-quality virtual event services, establish are more than willing to submit questions via ence from all over the world because people themselves as the go-to service provider, and the webinar platform,” said FIPP CEO James could call in on Zoom,” Francescone told the reap the financial rewards. Hewes. “During one recent webinar, we had Press Gazette. “That was a huge eye-opener for more than 30 in a single hour.” us. Suddenly we went from digital being a bit of Some of the downsides of virtual events are a lifesaver to digital being a big opportunity.” offset by the enormous reduction in costs. Find- Digital events had allowed the FT to “super- ing a venue, taking care of speakers, and mak- charge” the internationalisation of its audience BENEFITS OF ing sure everyone has enough to eat and drink A NEW TWIST TO EVENTS base “in a way that could never have happened are concerns that don’t apply to virtual events. in a physical environment,” Francescone said. VIRTUAL EVENTS Many logistical difficulties can be sidestepped. By the end of 2020, the Financial Times had All you really need are good speakers and a put on 290 events (versus the average of 150 professional set-up. AND SUBSCRIPTIONS pre-pandemic). Compared to physical events, “the [virtual] rooms are more inclusive, global, and can scale,” In what some considered a controversial Tortoise Co-founder Katie Vanneck-Smith told VIRTUAL EVENT DOWNSIDES move, the Boston Globe inked a six-figure FIPP. “They have allowed people who wouldn’t contract with biotech company Biogen THE DOWNSIDE: SPONSORSHIPS have normally been able to make it to one of AND WORK-AROUNDS that gives all of its 4,000 Massachusetts AND EXHIBITORS our ThinkIns to be part of it. We have also been employees access to the digital version of able to convene really interesting speakers who The lack of in-person networking is one chal- the paper plus the Globe will run two town- hall style events around topics of Biogen’s While unprecedented numbers of people were are more available. It has removed geographic lenge, according to Mike Hay, President, Ringier choosing at the company. attending media company events, the number barriers and also made them more accessible to Trade Media, Hong Kong, speaking to FIPP. “It’s like Amazon Prime,” Globe Chief of and revenue from sponsors and exhibitors an increasingly diverse group of people — espe- “This is so often where the important business Commercial Officer Kayvan Salmanpour did not follow suit. cially attracting a younger, engaged audience.” gets done at a conference and where you get said. “Your company becomes a member of Nonetheless, Francescone is optimistic about Virtual events have a low cost base — there’s moments of serendipity between delegates,” he the media company ... It’s an HR tool and it’s the ability of media companies to get better at no need to hire a venue and feed guests, for said. an employee engagement tool.” Salmanpour selling online events. example — and a high profit margin. Virtual “Therefore, when we hold virtual events in said that Biogen will have no influence over “The best salespeople will rapidly evolve attendee data also has a lot of value and can be China, we have a WeChat channel that runs in the Globe’s editorial decisions. their conversations with clients from ‘this is a used to grow subscriptions. parallel and they can communicate in public or INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Direct 2 Consumer WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 86 Events 2021 2021 Recurring Revenue 87

create private chat rooms, which has worked Lester said virtual events could not match in- well,” Hay said. person events for turnover. He estimated that “There is a lot of interactivity between the the loss in revenue from a total switch to virtual speakers and delegates,” he said. “So they’re events would be more than 50%. “It’s clear it is getting almost the same experience. The prob- a different economic business model,” he said. lem is getting the sponsors and delegates to “Profit margins can be higher, but revenue’s CAN REVENUE BE interact.” much lower and cost base much smaller.” “I participated in an event last week where The FT is using a “freemium” virtual events everyone had their LinkedIn and social handles, model, with extras such as on-demand ser- so you could easily connect with someone and vice post-event and access to B2B networking people were requesting invites,” Pocket Out- technology costing more, while the basic ticket door Media/USA VP of Fitness Amy Thompson remains free, according to Press Gazette. But told FIPP. the model is mainly driven by sponsorship, PREDICTABLE? Virtual events are “just as difficult” as physi- Francescone said, “because it’s hard to com- cal events, Bauer Event Director Chris Lester mand those big-ticket prices online”. told Press Gazette. “You’ve got to invest just as Indeed. Pricing for virtual events made event Recurring revenue business models offer publishers income beyond much time in a virtual event as you have an in- teams skittish at first. How could you ask an person. Obviously it’s a different world, but you attendee to pay big bucks to sit in front of still need resource to do that — it’s not easy.” their screen for an “event”? Most virtual events their base content products started out free of charge. But as media companies got more comfort- able with and proficient at running quality virtual events and came to understand that the content was still unique and valuable, they othing warms the cockles of “Entering into longer-term relationships with began to charge. a media executive’s heart like customers allows businesses to escape the For example, after airing their initial virtual recurring revenue. endless cycle of constantly having to resell to DOES IT HAVE TO BE ZOOM? the same customer over and over. Recurring events free of charge, New Scientist started Money coming in month after revenue also allows businesses to more accu- One thing that experienced online event testing ticket prices. While an in-person New month. Money coming in predict- Scientist lecture might have cost between £25- ably. Money coming in, if you’re rately forecast demand and, therefore, operate organisers know is that the platform really more efficiently.” matters. While Zoom’s intuitive simplicity £30, the event team discovered after testing good at what you do, year after and the familiarity of Microsoft Teams and that virtual lectures could sell well at between year. 2. It provides certainty to future income, Google Meet make them popular options, £12-£15. Publishers have been enjoying decreasing risk. “For example, unpredict- other platforms offer different services, To recoup some of that lost differential in recurring revenue for centuries according the FIPP’s 2020 Future of Events ticket revenue, New Scientist began offering by selling subscriptions to their magazines and ability in the number of iPhones that will Report. value-adds. Nnewspapers and, recently, their digital sites. be sold in the future — the iPhone is not a SwapCard is an app and desktop site “Some of the revenue streams that we missed But those same publishers have been leaving recurring revenue product — adds volatility to designed specifically to facilitate online net- from our physical events were things like book a lot of money on the table because they haven’t Apple’s revenue,” according to Baton Global. working. Cisco’s Webex has a user-friendly sales and sub sales,” Event Director Adrian milked the recurring revenue cow the way some “If the iPhone sneezes, Apple catches a cold. look and feel; and vMix is popular for its Newton told WNIP. “[For the virtual events,] consumer product companies have done lately Whereas Microsoft can rely on a steady stream green room function. we’ve been able to do some partnerships with to stunning effect. of revenue from companies that pay hundreds Internet security should be actively con- publishers to do a book offer, where we can get In addition to their primary products, makers of dollars per employee per year to obtain sidered, too. Zoom, for instance, has been ticket prices with the book included closer to of athletic equipment, cars, clothing, software, access to theMicrosoft Office software suite. troubled by security breaches, while We- the £35/£40 point.” shopping sites, professional development ser- Microsoft never catches a cold because Office bex’s end-to-end encryption option must be Even those media companies who are realis- vices, health and wellness products, and more gives it immunity.” manually enabled by call administrators. ing some event revenue, they acknowledge that have created recurring revenue subscriptions Microsoft’s Skype, meanwhile, recently live events are far more lucrative than virtual as a substantial revenue stream, in some cases 3. Income tied to the clock. “Humans con- launched a new feature called Meet Now events. driving revenue that competes with their main stantly underestimate the pace of time, so the that allows any user to initiate or join a B2B publisher Euromoney saw event cancel- product’s income. ideal revenue model is one that is tied to the group video call without creating an ac- clock,” according to Baton Global. “That’s recur- count. But since anyone with the link can lations lead to a £9.2 million revenue hit in Why is recurring revenue so valuable? Global the first half of 2020 alone, with virtual events management consulting firm Baton Global ring revenue. Payments that occur automati- access a meeting (and the links don’t ex- cally every month serve as a sort of inertia that pire), there are security issues there, too. making less than 30% of the revenue of their recently outlined the benefits of recurring rev- face-to-face counterparts, according to Press enue to businesses: prevents customers from considering alterna- None of this is prohibitive — it all depends tives or deciding they no longer want or need a on the type of event you are hosting, and Gazette. subscription or membership. As a result, busi- how much security matters to your users. But all told, for media events businesses to 1. It leads to stronger margins in the nesses with recurring revenue naturally have Book clubs likely won’t have the same pri- come out of the pandemic and economic down- long-term. “Businesses that have built a large higher renewal rates (or lower churn), which vacy requirements as, say, a conference on turn in the surprisingly good shape that they recurring revenue base spend less on retain- internet safety for children. did offers hope for an even rosier future. ing customers,” according to Baton Global. puts them one step closer to monopoly.” INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 88 Recurring Revenue 2021 2021 89

“Subscription business models are every- where — from Netflix to Apple Music to Salesforce.com,” wrote Sam Klann, a financial “YOU’RE SEEING analyst for Baton Global. “Recent research found that subscription businesses are achiev- GROUPS OF PEOPLE ing 5x faster revenue growth than the S&P RECURRING REVENUE STREAM 500 (18.2% versus 3.6%). From Apple Music to Netflix, companies are moving from transacting THAT NEVER with customers to building long-term relation- ships and recurring revenues.” BOUGHT ONLINE Subscription services like Apple Music, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix are not unlike NOW HAVING TO BUY magazines and newspapers and digital native OPPORTUNITIES websites that sell subscriptions to their primary products. ONLINE, BREAKING But it is the companies that go above and beyond their primary product to create relevant DECADES-OLD subscription products that are really impressive. “Instead of focusing all your energy on one-time subscription fee. Even tech giants like Adobe Take Peloton, for example. sales, you should be thinking about how you and Microsoft went in this direction as opposed Peloton sells exercise equipment. A ton of it. SHOPPING HABITS can create recurring revenue for your company,” to their previous one-off selling strategy.” wrote Matt Harrison, vice president of Strategy From 2017 to 2020, Peloton’s revenue grew of freelance marketplace FreeUp. Here are his from $218 million to more than $1.8 billion, TO CREATE NEW suggestions for recurring revenue stream op- 5 Physical Product according to the company. That is a mind-bog- portunities. Subscriptions gling 726% increase. HABITS ONLINE.” (monthly box subs) But that represents only 75% of their rev- Joanna Coles CEO, Northern Star “A physical product subscription or box sub- enue. 1 All-You-Can-Eat Library scription is perfect for a business that naturally Guess what makes up the rest? Apparel and… “If your business revolves around creating lends itself to mailing items. It’s also a great subscriptions. content, then an all-you-can-eat library is a great option for creative entrepreneurs who have Peloton’s subscriptions are either a reason- But Barkbox’s goldmine is its subscription way for you to earn recurring revenue. You can access to niche communities. All you need to able $13 per month or a pricey $39 a month delivery service. create a library of content and build a member- get started is to source products in bulk at low to access exclusive workout content streamed The pandemic lockdowns have massively ship subscription system that allows people to prices, find a reliable order fulfillment and deliv- directly to their at-home device ($13/mo.) or di- lifted pet-related services like Barkbox. Folks access it.” ery platform, and do some creative marketing. rectly to the screen on their Peloton equipment. stuck at home bought new pets at such a rate The cost may be high in the beginning, but once Peloton’s profit margin on both the physi- it was hard to find any pets for purchase, even you get going, your revenue will start exceeding cal product and the subscriptions is a stunning at shelters. All those new pets needed food and 2 Online Courses as your expenses.” 43%, according to the company. supplies and toys. Evergreen Programs The lower subscription rate is not dissimi- “People spend an insane amount of money “Offering online courses as evergreen programs lar to the rate media companies charge for a on their dogs, and getting any kind of package works similarly to membership programs. You 6 Memberships with monthly subscription. But Peloton’s upper-end in the mail is an exciting event during these can share your knowledge about a specific topic Physical Products rate is quite steep, totalling $468 a year. quarantine times,” wrote Nicholas Jasinski, to paying students. The caveat here is that it can (e.g., knitting club with patterns shipped) Peloton reports that it has have more than stocks reporter for Barrons. “BarkBox satis- take a lot of effort in the beginning to create the ”You can also combine a membership site pro- three million subscribers, including more than fies both of those cravings, offering monthly content and crank out a marketing campaign to gram with a physical product delivery program one million paying the higher price — a 113% subscription boxes full of dog toys, treats, get the word out to your target customers.” for a richer customer experience. You can set up a community around a particular niche, provide increase year over year from 2019 to 2020, and other goodies for America’s four-legged content and education, and bundle that with a which the company expects to double in 2021, companions.” 3 Building a Membership physical product.” the company reported. The eight-year-old company saw a 58% surge Program Peloton’s performance is also impressive in subscriptions in 2020, to more than 1 million “A membership program lets clients sign up when it comes to churn: an average 0.64% net as of December. for ongoing access to a particular offering on a 7 Private clubs monthly customer churn since 2017. More than “What we’re seeing is a massive acceleration membership site. Here, you can deliver content, “If you like socialising, teaching, or bringing peo- 90% of the higher-end subscribers keep their in consumers’ online confidence and comfort,” build a community, or offer consulting services ple together, then establishing a private club is memberships for 12 months or more. By com- Northern Star CEO Joanna Coles told Barrons. for a monthly recurring fee.” a great recurring revenue option for you. There parison, traditional gym membership renewal “You’re seeing groups of people that never are people who are willing to pay a premium for rates are closer to 60%. bought online now having to buy online, break- exclusivity and connectivity, and this is exactly Another recurring revenue poster child is ing decades-old shopping habits to create new 4 Software as a Service what this business model banks on.” Barkbox, a pet food supplier with products for habits online. And you’re seeing movement (SaaS) Offering sale in more than 23,000 retailer locations, from one-time purchases to subscription pur- “You can generate recurring revenue by offering including Target, Costco Wholesale, and Petco. chases for staples.” software in exchange for a monthly or annual need three lines more on this column pl INNOVATION INNOVATION Direct 2 Consumer IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 90 Recurring Revenue 2021 2021 91

The Barkbox folks go beyond just mailing packages of goodies chosen by pet owners. “BARK Eats asks for information about a dog’s ANOTHER EXAMPLE size, breed, age, level of activity, and more, and has a nutritionist come up with a portion size OF PROSPECTING and meal type for each pet,” wrote Jasinski. “That customisation makes dogs healthier, and OUTSIDE OF keeps customers subscribing, according to [the company].” “We can provide that unparalleled level of YOUR MAIN LINE personalisation, and we can deliver it right to your home and do it at competitive price OF BUSINESS IS points,” Barkbox co-founder Matt Meeker told Barrons. “And once you’ve got a personalised, nutritionist-validated food supply for your LINKEDIN. dog, you’re not going back to just the regular 30-pound bag from the store that’s supposed to be meant for all dogs.” viral video that generated 12,000 new The classic toy-and-treat BarkBox monthly customers in the first 48 hours, growing delivery goes for $35 for a single package, or to 330,000 customers by 2013,” wrote $26 a box for a six-month plan, and is also Fox. “It is now estimated to have annual customisable, according to the company. The revenues of over $260M.” GOING company says it ships 150,000 different con- l HelloFresh: “HelloFresh passed Stitch figurations monthly to more than 1.05 million Fix to become the largest subscription subscribers. e-commerce company, with $1.4 billion in Barkbox isn’t kicking back and counting 2018 sales,” wrote Fox. “The Berlin-based its new riches. “[Barkbox] is developing new startup that offers recipe boxes as a service subscription plans in categories including dog is expected to hit total earnings of more dental care and goods like leashes, beds, and than $2,000M in 2020.” collars,” wrote Jasinski. “Its products are all l RentTheRunway: “RentTheRunway was proprietary under its own brands.” the first major fashion platform that of- Another example of prospecting outside of fered a subscription service for clothes,” your main line of business is LinkedIn, the net- wrote Fox. “It validated that the ‘access GREEN working website. instead of ownership’ model was possible The social network for professionals for fashion. The clothing rental service SLACKING ON bought e-learning startup, Lynda, in 2015 for became a unicorn in 2019.” $1.5B and rebranded it LinkedIn Learning. “LinkedIn partners offer LinkedIn Learning “Companies involved in subscription busi- courses to companies and reports that 78% of nesses get to know their customers a lot better, SUSTAINABILITY Fortune 100 companies offer LinkedIn Learn- and acquire more data across their customer “NO MATTER WHAT, SUSTAINABILITY IS NO LONGER ing, according to Gary Fox, Strategy, Business base,” wrote Fox. “Subscription models can also Model and Innovation expert at Cranfield offer deeper customer insights. A NICHE PLAY: YOUR BOTTOM-LINE AND BRAND University. “When interactions with customers are Fox cited several other subscription services restricted to one-off purchases, it’s difficult GROWTH DEPEND ON IT.” NIELSEN STUDY that have stood out in recent years: to develop a nuanced understanding of con- sumer behaviours and preferences,” wrote Fox. l Amazon Prime: “Amazon Prime gives you “Consequently, the data improve profiling and access to selected TV streaming products, targeting for customer acquisition.” 2 million songs, playlists, thousands of “Those insights inform a company about in- books and magazines (a smaller subset of novation opportunities — from product altera- the Kindle Unlimited subscription), online tions and new products to marketing decisions,” storage and saves you the delivery costs for Fox wrote. your other purchases,” wrote Fox. “All this Publishers need to take a look at what con- comes at a reasonable monthly subscrip- tent and products they already have or could tion (or on annual basis at lower cost).” create in their niche areas with an eye toward l The Dollar Shave Club: “Dollar Shave Club building recurring revenue subscription busi- launched in 2012 with a revolutionary ness models around each. GOING GREENNO MORE SLACKING ON SUSTAINABILITY AS WE GET THE PANDEMIC UNDER CONTROL, THE WORLD WILL RETURN TO BATTLING GLOBAL WARMING, AND READERS WILL BE HOLDING PUBLISHERS’ FEET TO THE FIRE INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 94 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 95

aybe we’ve many don’t have sustainability policies or just been goals, and of those that do, many of the mission too busy statements and goals have either never been struggling to substantiated with progress reports or their survive. progress reports have not been updated in Lately, we’ve many years. been pum- Multiple Google searches for sustainability melled by the activities by media companies turned up virtu- STRATEGIES TO WIN IN pandemic. ally nothing. That result reinforces the conclu- Before that, sion that, if we actually are doing sustainable it was the things, then we are terrible at marketing ongoing ad ourselves to a public increasingly demanding apocalypse, corporate sustainability initiatives. the digital (If you have sustainability mission statements, transition, ad measurable goals, and progress reports, please THE SUSTAINABILITY SPACE fraud, a chang- reach out to me for possible inclusion in next ing workforce, year’s book — [email protected].) new tech- From the Nielsen “Finding Success through Sustainability” section of its landmark nologies, the “The Evolution of the Sustainability Mindset” global study released in late 2018. tyranny of the CONSUMERS VOTE WITH THEIR duopoly, etc., etc., etc. IN THE SHORT TERM So, yes, we’ve been distracted. SPENDING MONEY How else to explain the apparent dearth of l Understand the impact of ingredients and the level of scrutiny that consumers Many — or any substantial — environmental sus- Consumers expect corporations to actively and apply to the products they purchase. tainability initiatives at most media companies? aggressively accept responsibility for their envi- After a rush of sustainability policy activity ronmental impact and take action to reduce it. l Connect the dots between what’s healthy for the environment and healthy for the about 10 years ago when the topic was initially To make their point, consumers are supporting consumer. hot, going green at media companies lately such companies with their money, and aban- seems to have been reduced to creating print doning those companies that don’t. and/or digital stories or packages about climate Virtually everyone on the planet now accepts l Communicate the value-add / benefit in your marketing. change, spelling out how businesses, govern- that we are in a global climate crisis (with some ments, and our readers can and should become notable exceptions prior to the 2020 U.S. presi- l Incorporate the applicable sustainability claims on your packaging. good environmental citizens. dential election). But as far as becoming good environmental In late 2020, the UN State of the Climate citizens ourselves … not so much. report was introduced by UN Secretary-General LONGER TERM It could be that we’re just doing a terrible António Guterres, who said: “Dear friends, hu- job telling people what we’re doing. But my manity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. l Invest in product development, testing and research. As the market becomes research seems to indicate that we really have Nature always strikes back, and it is already more crowded, it’ll take more to stand out. been too distracted with the other, more basic doing so with growing force and fury. To put it tasks of figuring out how to survive and thrive. simply, the state of the planet is broken.” Consumers are increasingly contributing to l Support your launch with the right marketing, promotions and distribution. the fight with their spending money. Bonus: Keep a pulse on your marketing and fine-tune your messaging in-flight. THERE ARE A FEW BRIGHT SPOTS A stunningly high percentage of consum- ers globally are shopping with companies with l Seek to build and grow your sustainability strategy to encompass every part of proven environmentally friendly practices. the business. To be fair, some media companies have created environmental sustainability mission state- l Build a roadmap for product enhancements you’d like to make, whether it’s ments. Some have identified measurable goals MAJORITY OF SHOPPERS WOULD shifting to more sustainability focused suppliers, reducing your use of packaging to reduce their environmental impact. Some materials, or changing the ingredient line-up across your portfolio. have established internal teams to examine CHANGE SHOPPING HABITS their own practices and processes with an eye l Address consumer scepticism and be wary of overused labels and claims. toward reducing or eliminating any that are In a June 2020 IBM study involving more than environmentally harmful. And some have even 18,000 consumers worldwide, “nearly six in published the results of their efforts. 10 respondents say they are willing to change l Understand that consumers and their expectations will continue to evolve. But a review of the 30 largest media com- their shopping habits to reduce environmental panies in the world and a random search of impact,” the report found. “Eight in 10 indicate l Get ahead of government bans and taxes and borrow successful tactics used in other large media companies revealed that sustainability is important for them. And for recent sugar and tobacco reforms. INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 96 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 97

those who say it is very or extremely impor- digital work and factors such as cloud comput- tant, over 70% would pay a premium of 35%, ing,” Dr. Malte Wienker, Director of Corporate on average, for brands that are sustainable and Communications and Sustainability told FIPP environmentally responsible. in June 2020. “Our goal is to work on climate- THE GUARDIAN: A POSTER CHILD “More than 7 in 10 consumers said it’s at least neutrality as an entire company. One important moderately important that brands offer ‘clean’ measure on our path to reaching this goal is the products (78%), are sustainable and environ- switch to certified green electricity since the mentally responsible (77%), support recycling beginning of this year [2020].” FOR CORPORATE MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY (76%), or use natural ingredients (72%),” the “The topic of sustainability has been an report found. important concern for many years,” Wienker “While Millennials may be leading the charge said. “In 1994, we were one of the first in the Starting in November 2019, The Guardian made In 2015, The Guardian Group divested oil, coal, in sustainability awareness, every age group in- media industry to voluntarily publish a Sustain- this bold statement in equally bold print and and gas companies from its investment portfolio. dicates that sustainability, environmental, and/ ability Report. Furthermore, sustainability has digital presentations: And in early 2020, the company stunned the or personal wellness attributes are significant officially been one of our five corporate values media world by announcing it would no longer considerations in selecting brands,” the report since 2019. The issues affecting the print side of “At The Guardian we believe the climate crisis is accept advertising from oil or gas companies in found. the business — paper production and printing the most urgent issue of our times. And we know any of its properties, digital or print. operations — are obviously hugely relevant.” that Guardian readers are equally passionate “Our decision is based on the decades-long In 2020, Condé Nast Spain became the first about the need for governments, businesses and efforts by many in [the fossil fuels industry] NOW IS THE TIME TO GET SERIOUS Spanish media company — and the first within individuals to take immediate action to avoid a ca- to prevent meaningful climate action by the Condé Nast group — to offset its carbon footprint. A 20% decrease in overall electricity So, for any media company wanting to attract consumption, and a 100% reduction of Gasoil and keep today’s consumer, now is the perfect consumption by company vehicles, has now also time to get serious about sustainability. been achieved. “Enlightened self-interest is driving a lot of conversations [about sustainability] right now,” said Immediate Media CEO Tom Bureau speak- CONDÉ NAST TO BE CARBON ing at the 2020 FIPP World Congress. “The thing is, if you’re not supporting green creden- NEUTRAL BY 2030? tials you’re an investment risk.” The drivers for climate action within the pub- In May 2020, Condé Nast itself ramped up lishing industry are now multiple, according to its environmental credentials with the an- Tom Reynolds, Production Director at TI Media, nouncement of a new sustainability assessment speaking with FIPP in June 2020. programme and five-year strategy. The com- “Publishers’ climate change and sustainabil- pany aims to become entirely carbon neutral ity efforts are no longer a ‘tick-box’ exercise,” by 2030, starting with a reduction in corporate tastrophe for humanity and for the natural world. governments around the world,” The Guardian’s Reynolds said. “Finding more and new ways to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% and “ Today The Guardian is making a pledge to acting CEO Anna Bateson and chief revenue be more sustainable is now a strategic part of print and digital supply chain emissions by 10% our readers that we will play our part, both in officer Hamish Nicklin said in a joint statement. the business. And that is definitely in part being by the end of 2021. our journalism and in our own organisation, (Bateson was succeeded as CEO in March 2020 driven by our readers’ desire to buy from com- In February 2020, the BBC committed to to address the climate emergency. We hope by Annette Thomas — who holds a Ph.D in cell panies that are sustainable. We saw that first- determining and publishing the carbon foot- this underlines to you The Guardian’s deep biology and neuroscience!) hand in our own business when we were asked print of every story appearing on its new Future commitment to quality environmental journalism, “The Guardian will no longer accept advertising to replace poly wrap with paper wrap. It came Planet site. Future Planet produces in-depth, rooted in scientific fact.” from oil and gas companies, becoming the first directly from requests from the consumer.” evidence-based, solutions-focused stories on The company went on to promise to “take steps major global news organisation to institute an the climate crisis. It uses only local reporters so to address The Guardian’s own impact on the outright ban on taking money from companies the authors are not only people who are wit- environment”. that extract fossil fuels,” Bateson said. EXAMPLES OF CREATIVE 2020 nessing the changes firsthand, but they are also “The intent — and extent — of their lobbying already on site, thus minimising or eliminating The promise included: efforts has explicitly harmed the environmental INITIATIVES carbon-producing travel. l Achieving net zero emissions by 2030 cause over the course of many years — as our While that might appear to be a cute, politi- l A full audit of emissions to assess how to own reporting has shown and environmental Despite the upheaval caused by the pandemic, cally correct public relations move, behind the achieve this challenging goal campaigners have powerfully argued,” she some media companies actually found the time commitment to measure each story’s carbon l The acquisition of B Corp status, it has said. “Many environmental experts have and brain capacity to innovate in the sustain- calculation are a lot of corporate sustainability committed the company to reducing its called out the difference between fossil fuel ability space. decisions around all of the things that go into environmental impact as well as to high extractors and their foundational role in the Axel Springer, for example, marked “the reporting and publishing a story, from the ener- standards of governance and social impact carbon economy, and other sectors with high determination [to tackle] the entire-company gy used in any transportation to things like the l Full transparency and accountability emissions.” carbon footprint, taking into account purely energy usage in the office, the energy consumed INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 98 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 99

in transmitting it and consuming it, etc. Boosting the impact of that sponsorship on the The BBC claims it is the first major publisher BBC’s bottom line, Standard Chartered also has to take this step using an independent calculator. signed a contract with StoryWorks, the BBC’s branded content studio, to produce podcasts, audiograms, and dynamic articles around the SUSTAINABILITY CAN PAY theme of “a force for good”. This is exactly what brands need to do now, DIVIDENDS according to Ruggeri: “As the world emerges from the pandemic, the climate crisis will once MEREDITH’S SUPER The BBC initiative is already making a big dif- more emerge as the biggest challenge the world ference. “Between the site’s launch in Febru- is facing. So, for brands that are interested in ary 2020 and September of the same year, our being a part of the solution, there’s no better journalists have expended less than a tonne of message to send right now than to align with carbon on travel,” Amanda Ruggeri, managing platforms like ours.” editor of Future Planet and editor of the wider BBC Future vertical, told The Drum. “That’s the equivalent of less than a single flight from SUSTAINABILITY IS A WIN-WIN SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS Chicago to Los Angeles. “If we’d sent a reporter from London to all of PROPOSITION the destinations we covered in that timeframe, it would have amounted to more than 26,340 This whole sustainability thing is a win-win-win Examples of sustainability is LED or fluorescent, and the incandescent kilograms of carbon,” Ruggeri said. “That’s proposition for media companies. Sustainability successes from Meredith’s light kits previously used by WALA’s almost 26 tonnes of carbon saved or almost five activities deliver a triple-play of benefits: most recent (and impressively photographers have been replaced with LED round trips from London to Sydney. It shows extensive) sustainability kits. Both of these adjustments save power, the impact this model can make.” 1. Improved consumer relations: Stud- progress report. Use the eliminate the replacement of lamps and Not only has the initiative saved tonnes of ies have shown consumers prefer to support QR code to see the entire produce almost no heat. carbon, it also has attracted sponsors wanting companies with a track record of sustainable document for yourself (https://www.meredith. l At stations KCTV and KSMO in Kansas City, to be associated with such a creative sustain- practices com/about-us/social-responsibility): the team added variable frequency drives ability activity. (VFDs) to studio air handlers, providing Standard Chartered has signed up as flagship 2. Bottom-line savings: Studies have shown l Across the company, Meredith set printers significant energy savings on both studios’ sponsor of Future Planet from March to May that you can actually improve your bottom line to default to double-sided printing. In the first cooling. The VFD upgrade also included a 2021 in markets including Singapore, Hong by implementing sustainable initiatives year of this policy, the company reduced its control system in which operators can set up Kong, Taiwan, UAE, Kenya, Germany and China paper usage by close to 900,000 sheets of cooling schedules for different areas of the along with major cities in the United States. 3. Saving the planet: After an initial en- paper, the equivalent of 107 trees. Additionally, building, increasing efficiency in the overall vironmental audit of your activities, you can all Meredith printers use recycled toner. control system. subsequently prove that your efforts are reduc- l Between July 2019 and June 2020, Meredith’s l By installing low-flow shower heads at one ing your carbon footprint, among other things. reusable mug programme in the Des Moines of the company’s Des Moines offices, the What’s not to like about that? (Iowa) offices kept a total of 39,000 dispos- company saves an estimated 159,400 gallons “WE WILL PLAY OUR able cups and 7,000 disposable lids out of the of water per year. Another water conservation A recent study by global data firm Nielsen landfill and saved the company $3,764.40. project involved setting up a meter with the PART, BOTH IN examining the consumer journey to demand l To decrease Meredith’s energy use at one local water utility to credit Meredith for water sustainability from corporations concluded of its Des Moines offices, the building was that was used as irrigation instead of going into bluntly: designed with large windows to harvest the storm sewer. It saved US$12,800 per year. OUR JOURNALISM “No matter what, sustainability is no longer a daylight, and a dimming system to reduce l In 2018, each Local Media Group station’s niche play: your bottom-line and brand growth electric lighting based on the available foot engineering staff was trained to input water AND IN OUR OWN depend on it.” candles of natural light. bills into the Portfolio Manager. During this l By making efforts over the past several years input process, a leak was found at a Local ORGANISATION, to reduce energy consumption — such as Media Group broadcast station that saved THE BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABILITY converting to LED lighting and improving the almost $20,000. HVAC system — Meredith has saved more l At Station WSMV in Nashville, as part of the TO ADDRESS INITIATIVES than 215,000 kilowatt hours of energy and an editorial department relocation and redesign, average of almost US$12,000 a year. At the the company maximised its use of low- THE CLIMATE 1. IMPROVED CONSUMER end of 2016, Meredith had also earned more consumption plumbing fixtures, minimising than US$120,000 in incentives by making water usage. RELATIONS these energy-efficient upgrades. l WSMV also replaced its five-gallon water EMERGENCY.” ( OR DOING WHAT YOUR CONSUMERS ARE l At broadcast station WALA in Moble, coolers with a filtered water system, saving Guardian editorial ALREADY DEMANDING OF YOU ) Alabama and Pensacola, Florida, all lighting S$4,500 each year on plastic jugs. INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 100 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 101

“Corporate responsibility and sustainability strategies may take different shapes around the world, but one thing is clear: consumers are using their spending power to effect the change SAYING GOODBYE TO PLASTIC WRAPS they want to see,” said Regan Leggett, Executive Director of Nielsen’s Global Thought Leader- ship and Foresight Team. By Jessica Patterson, FIPP choose the planet, we could not continue to send additional costs to transitioning to paper “This isn’t a trend a company can simply out our own magazine wrapped in plastic. We had wrapping. “However, we needed to find side-step,” he said. “Sooner or later, whether In the last two years, publishers have to find an alternative.” a solution that made business sense,” through government regulation, sheer force of increasingly worked to eliminate plastic wraps. Galdieri said. “Working with our printing nature, or public outcry, companies will need to Some did it on their own to help save the DRAW ATTENTION TO YOUR CHANGE partner, we analysed several alternatives respond. No matter what market you’re in, con- environment and some acted in response to “For the first time in nearly 12 years, we sent — from belly bands, to fugitive glue, and necting sustainability factors to how it impacts their readers' concerns about single-use plastic. out our magazine wrapped in paper, and with several different types of paper — until we consumers is the key. In early 2019, The Guardian announced it the message 'Will this paper wrap save the found an alternative that was cost neutral, if “Sustainability has become an urgent oppor- was moving to compostable wrapping called planet? No, but it's a start.' We also asked all our we printed in black and white.” tunity for companies to connect with consum- Bioplast 300 derived from potato starch to international licensees to find an alternative that ers who are excited about change,” said Leggett. replace its polybag wrapping. moves away from the poly bags, and become PAPER WRAPS OFFER AD Nielsen’s late-2018 global study, “The Evolu- In March 2019, Condé Nast in Germany part of this movement with us. OPPORTUNITY tion of the Sustainability Mindset”, found that: introduced sustainable packaging film made of “Switching just our English Edition, which is “However, we decided on using a full recycled material for Vogue, Glamor, GQ and AD. produced in the US and sent to the UK, India and colour wrapper, which brought the cost to l A whopping 81% of global respondents The packaging from a German supplier is 100% other countries, is saving more than 2.5 million approximately 25% more than the poly bag said they felt strongly that companies recyclable, and will reduce C02 emissions by single-use plastic bags per month,” he said. version, in order to meet the high standards should help improve the environment. 27% annually, according to a press release. Also in June, Canada’s Uppercase magazine our consumers expected from our brand l Four-fifths of young people demand corpo- In May 2019, News UK, part of News Corp, Publisher Janine Vangool switched her and products,” he said. “This also created rate social responsibility regarding sustain- replaced polybagging with biodegradable polybags for kraft mailers. an ad sales opportunity for this space which ability: Millennials (85%), Gen Z (80%) and wrapping for The Times and The Sunday Times, In late July, Hearst UK pledged to replace its could help offset the incremental cost.” Gen X (79%) part of the company's pledge to remove all plastic polybags with sustainably sourced paper National Geographic is making a stand to l More than two-thirds of older generations single-use plastic wrapping by 2020. wraps on all of its print magazines by January significantly reduce plastic pollution, using also demanded corporate sustainability Also in May, Immediate Media's BBC Countryfile 2020. all its storytelling, products, services and commitments: Baby Boomers (72%), the and BBC Wildlife magazines partnered with Eco- Also in July, TI Media's Country Life started scientific work to lead the work of informing (over-70) Silent Generation (65%) tricity and switched to a sustainable paper wrap. delivering all of its UK-based subscriber consumers, identifying solutions, and editions in sustainably sourced paper wrap in guiding policies around the world, Galdieri Another sustainability survey of consumers LOSING THE PLASTIC; partnership with printer Walstead UK. said. by B2B research company Clutch found: COVERING THE PLASTIC GLUT Some alternatives are cost-neutral; others add “So we hope the magazine industry follows In June, US-based National Geographic has cost. But consumers seem willing to pay more to our lead and is motivated to act,” he said. l Almost three-quarters (71%) of respon- also swapped its polybag wrapping for a paper save the planet. “We are happy that many publications have dents considered a company’s environ- alternative. Together with a single-topic plastics already reached out to us asking how we mentally friendly business practices more issue of the magazine, National Geographic IF IT ADDS COST, READERS made the change, and we will soon publish important than the prices of that compa- launched a multi-year initiative aimed at SEEM WILLING TO PAY a white paper documenting our journey and ny’s goods by almost 30 percentage points reducing the amount of plastic waste reaching Going plastic-free will cost Uppercase’s Vangool challenges to further lead the industry to (44%). “When a company shares their the world's ocean, said Marcelo Galdieri, SVP, roughly $4,500 more per issue because of the follow our footsteps and make the change, consumers’ views and values and helps brand and franchise operations. additional cost of labour required to insert the helping deliver on National Geographic’s contribute to solving a problem everyone And in early 2020, TI Media started delivering magazine into the new envelopes. mission to significantly reduce the amount agrees is a problem, consumers are going all 42 UK subscriber titles in sustainably In addition, Vangool sent out a newsletter to of plastic waste that reaches the ocean. to want to keep working with or buying sourced and FSC accredited paper, cutting out her audience announcing the decision to swap “Making the switch from a plastic wrapper from that company,” Josh Weiss, CEO of 10 10.8 million items of polyethylene a year. The polybags for a compostable alternative and to any type of solution is not as easy as we to 1 PR told Clutch. paper wrap is carbon balanced and offsets an received a lot of positive replies “I think over 80 anticipated and alone won’t save the planet. estimated 144 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions people emailed me back with support, saying, 'I'll But it’s a start, and National Geographic This consumer demand for corporate sus- a year. pay more for a subscription,' and telling me what alone won't be able to make a global tainability commitments and action is not a “Our 'Planet or Plastic' initiative asked consumers they were doing in their own lives to be more impact,” Galdieri said. “We hope to inspire movement only in places like the U.S. or fa- to make a choice between saving the planet and plastics-free and environmentally conscious,” and show the way for other organisations, mously environmentally activist countries like single-use plastic,” Galdieri said. “For us to ask Vangool said. “It was nice to hear people saying, companies, and governments to do Sweden and Norway. As a matter of fact, it’s consumers to make that choice, we needed to set 'I'm willing to spend more on this because it's their part in tackling the global plastic quite the opposite. None of the countries with the example. One of National Geographic's key important to me.'” waste crisis by reducing, reusing, and the highest consumer demand for corporate brand attributes is our authenticity. Consumers Like others who made the switch, National encouraging active recycling of plastic. climate accountability were in North America trust what we say. So if we were asking them to Geographic anticipated there would be “We all need to choose, Plastic or Planet?” or Europe: INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 102 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 103

1 India (97%) to be more sustainable, and implementing a attracted by your sustainability efforts, you can sidebar on Meredith’s work and check out the 2 Colombia (96%) reasonable plan of action to accomplish it, actually save money by going green. examples in the following section. 3 Mexico (95%) companies achieve an authenticity that paid “Instituting more sustainable business advertising can’t buy.” practices can mean real cost savings, from lower 4 Indonesia (94%) The Nielsen study found that companies are energy costs to tax incentives, but businesses 3. SAVING THE PLANET 5 Philippines (94%) under increasing pressure from consumers and can also gain loyal clients and end-users looking 6 Brazil (94%) governments to be reactive initially and proac- to do business with like-minded organisations,” The media companies that have created 7 Venezuela (94%) tive shortly thereafter in terms of sustainability. wrote Jim Granat, Head of Small Business at sustainability policies and strategies are 8 Pakistan (92%) financial services company Enova International, having a significant impact on their (and 9 Argentina (92%) CAPITALISE ON CONSUMER DEMAND on Forbes.com. our) environments based on their impressive According to the Nielsen report, “brands that Many companies have no idea what their progress reports against their aggressive 10 Chile (92%) are able to strategically connect [sustainabil- carbon footprint is. And there’s really only one sustainability goals. 11 Peru (92%) ity] to actual behaviour are in a good place to way to find out. For example, since April 2017, the BBC has capitalise on increased consumer expectation “Start with reliable data,” wrote Granat. been buying renewable electricity, which has “Facing rapid urbanisation and a growing dis- and demand.” “Corporations can leave massive carbon contributed to a significant reduction in the parity between classes, many people in emerg- The report adds that “sustainability claims footprints behind, but you may not know the company’s carbon footprint and supports its ing markets are experiencing the harsh reality on packaging must also reflect how a company full extent of your company’s trail without science-based reduction target. Since 2008, the of pollution in this post-modern industrial age,” operates inside and out.” Media companies can a comprehensive and honest end-to-end BBC has saved more than 180,000 tonnes of said Leggett. “As a result, sustainability has be- make sustainability claims on both their paper investigation.” CO2, primarily through the concentration of its come an urgent opportunity for companies to and digital products, prominently touting their operations into fewer, more efficient buildings. connect with consumers who are excited about environmentally friendly initiatives and results. HIRE A THIRD-PARTY CONSULTING FIRM change.” More and more companies are doing that and “One way to truly put your business to the STOP USING PLASTIC WRAPS “Sustainability is personal for consumers, going beyond. “What’s growing is the boldness test is to hire a third-party sustainability An impressive number of media companies which is why ‘healthy for me’ and ‘healthy of the marketing messages and the commit- consulting firm that analyses your entire are moving away from plastic wraps in for the world’ claims do so well,” said Crystal ments that brands are willing to make,” said process,” Granat wrote. “An unbiased firm can favour of more environmentally friendly Barnes, SVP, Nielsen Global Responsibility and Crystal Barnes. find ways to help you responsibly manage or alternatives. For example, in 2019, The Sustainability. “By identifying an opportunity reduce waste and energy usage in ways you Guardian announced it was moving to BE A “BRAVE BRAND” may not have thought possible. Depending on compostable wrapping called Bioplast 300 “We’re seeing a bigger trend towards ‘visible the nature of your business, they can also help derived from potato starch which replaced and emotional sustainability’—brands taking you source more responsible or sustainable its polybag wrapping. News UK, part of News “MEREDITH'S a stance on social and political issues and mak- materials, develop greener technologies, or Corp, switched to biodegradable wrapping ing major commitments to eliminate waste,” even use less water. for The Times and The Sunday Times, part of APPROACH ALSO said Barnes. “At the most extreme end, we see “Salesforce Sustainability Cloud and similar the company’s pledge to remove all single-use brands being personified — being referenced as ‘carbon accounting’ products can also shed plastic wrapping by 2020. ‘brave brands’ or ‘hero brands.” light on opportunities to improve,” Granat Also in 2019, two other media companies DEMONSTRATES This is an unusual opportunity for media wrote. “However you go about it, start with made the switch: Immediate Media’s BBC companies where doing the right thing is also comprehensive, unbiased data, and try to keep Countryfile and BBC Wildlife magazines THAT COMPANIES doing the most profitable thing from both a an open mind.” partnered with Ecotricity and switched to cost-savings and revenue-enhancement per- There are both short- and long-term actions a sustainable paper wrap whilst Hearst UK CAN BE RESPONSIBLE spective. you can take to be more sustainable, ranging pledged to replace its plastic polybags with “This is official validation for how energy and from increased recycling and LED lighting to sustainably sourced paper wraps on all of its ENVIRONMENTAL sustainability work together to boost your top- paper changes, eliminating plastic wrapping, print magazines by 2020. line revenue growth and your profitability at and implementing smart tech to reduce waste. But when it comes to a company-wide, top- STEWARDS WHILE the same time,” E Squared Energy Advisors CEO to-bottom, internal and external commitment Tim Grosse told Entrepreneur.com. INVOLVE YOUR STAFF to corporate sustainability, Meredith takes the SIMULTANEOUSLY “Your business can ride this tsunami wave by Granat recommends involving your staff in top prize. By a mile. gaining market share from the rapidly growing brainstorming unique ways to reduce your At Meredith, in 2008, the company created number of environmentally responsible con- carbon footprint. an environmental sustainability mission INCREASING sumers or your business can lag the market and After creating your sustainability mission and statement and a Sustainability Task Force to peers by ignoring this trend,” Grosse said. strategy, use your initial data as the baseline to make it happen. BUSINESS EFFICIENCY, Not really a choice, is it? measure your progress and regularly publish “Meredith Corporation has taken a proactive progress reports, including both successes and approach to environmental sustainability AND ULTIMATELY shortcomings in the interest of honesty and because such action ultimately benefits our 2. BOTTOM-LINE SAVINGS transparency. shareholders, our clients, and our employees,” SHAREHOLDER VALUE.” Savings can be achieved in five-, six, and the statement reads. “This approach also Crystal Barnes SVP, Nielsen Global In addition to increasing the loyalty of existing seven-figure sums, and range from the simple demonstrates that companies can be Responsability and Sustainability Team consumers and acquiring more consumers to more complex. For inspiring ideas, see the responsible environmental stewards while INNOVATION INNOVATION Going Green : No More IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 104 Slacking On Sustainability 2021 2021 105

simultaneously increasing business efficiency, number of copies printed and distributed and ultimately shareholder value.” to its retail channel by more than 130 mil- Among their many achievements, Meredith lion since 2009. Meredith’s wholesale part- cites: ners then recycle unsold copies and sell the material to paper producers around the l ​Company-wide use of the EPAT — Envi- world. ronmental Paper Assessment Tool — to l Consumers can subscribe, renew, give gifts, track the environmental performance of and pay for their subscriptions online. If its paper suppliers and identify potential this option did not exist, Meredith would areas for improvements. have had to double the amount of direct l The corporate headquarters recycles more mail sent in 2018. office materials, such as cardboard, paper, l Meredith has also made great strides in re- and plastics, than it sends to landfills. ducing the size of direct mail packages. In l The completion of a new greenhouse gas 2019, the current standard package used (GHG) emissions inventory to create a 50% less paper than the standard package new baseline year (Fiscal 2019) and ensure used in 2008. By consolidating magazine its ability to track necessary data in all delivery for customers who subscribe to controlled locations per GHG Protocol multiple magazines, Meredith also antici- guidelines. pates a 15% reduction in the use of plastic l One of the company’s Des Moines head- polybags in 2020 compared to 2019. quarters offices was the first existing building in Iowa to be LEED certified. The For a list of sustainability initiatives at office building Meredith occupies in New Meredith’s far-flung media companies, see the York is applying for LEED Gold certifica- sidebar. tion, and Meredith’s office in Chicago has The Guardian is another poster child for set a goal of becoming LEED certified by media companies taking their environmental the end of 2020. responsibility seriously at the corporate level l On the corporate level, Meredith’s actual and field level (see sidebar for details). tonnage of paper purchased from mills At The Guardian, the leadership made a certified ISO 14001 (an environmental pledge to its readers that “we will play our part, management standard for minimising both in our journalism and in our own organisa- their impact on the environment) in- tion, to address the climate emergency.” That creased from 49% to 69%. has translated into: l When printing, Meredith has moved to ink optimisation that reduces ink usage for its l A commitment to achieve net zero emis- magazines by 10 to 12% versus traditional sions by 2030 methods. l A full audit of its emissions to assess how it l In 2012, the team began replacing hard will achieve this challenging goal page proofs with virtual proofs for colour l Divesting of all oil, coal, and gas companies approval. In 2016, Meredith invested in a from the company’s investment fund soft-proofing software to improve work- l The acquisition of B Corp status commit- flow and colour accuracy and is in the pro- ted the company to reducing its environ- cess completely eliminating hard proofs mental impact as well as to high standards company-wide. of governance and social impact l Additionally, Meredith deployed a paper- l A promise to be transparent and account- less contract management system using able digital approvals and e-signatures. In 2017, l And, in early 2020, the decision to no almost 20,000 total pages of contracts longer accept advertising from oil or gas were processed electronically, and more companies in any of its properties, digital than 6,200 documents were processed or print electronically. l To reduce unsold copies distributed Companies like Meredith and The Guardian to retail outlets, Meredith developed a Group give the rest of us great examples of how magazine wholesaler incentive program we might follow in their footsteps in reducing to improve each title’s overall distribution our environmental impact… whilst also reduc- process. Due to this process, as well as ing costs and increasing revenues. other initiatives, Meredith has reduced the How many initiatives can match that ROI? INNOVATION INNOVATION Nome do artigo IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 106 2020-21 2020-21 107 PODCASTS WHAT GLOBAL PANDEMIC? PODCASTING MOMENTUM SEEMS PODCASTING JUST KEEPS GROWING AND GROWING AND GROWING, EVEN AFTER UNSTOPPABLE A BRIEF, LIMITED PANDEMIC STUMBLE INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 108 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 109

nitially, the pandemic panicked l Even more new listeners podcasters. l Longer listen times What is going to happen now that people have stopped commuting? Would the ARE LISTENERS READY TO PAY? advertising meltdown hit podcasts, too? In the first month of the Not only is advertising revenue projected to lockdown in the U.S., the number grow healthily, but a new source of revenue is of podcast listens did crash, on the horizon: Podcast subscription revenue. dropping by 20%. But everywhere “The deep connection that many podcasts else, and ultimately in the U.S., seem to create could be opening up podcasting actually has exploded opportunities for paid podcasts, alongside during the pandemic. advertising-driven models,” according to the By April, global podcast Reuters Institute’s 2020 Digital Research listens had increased by 42% and Report. “Almost four in ten Australians (39%) European listens were up by 53% said they would be prepared to pay for podcasts in stark contrast to the American they liked, 38% in the United States, and a experience. similar number in Canada (37%). Willingness By July, Spotify reported that to pay was lower in Sweden (24%) and the UK the amount of content its subscribers were (21%) where so many popular podcasts come WHAT TYPES OF ADVERTISING listening to had more than doubled, according from free-to-air public broadcasters.” to The Verge. Throughout the second quarter In the summer of 2020, the analyst firm Iin 2020, weekly podcast listeners on average Research and Market found that 17% of consumed up to 6 hours and 45 minutes of Americans have paid to listen to a podcast. podcast content per week, roughly half an hour Within this, “men (21%) are more likely than WORK WITH PODCASTS more than the previous quarter, according to women (12%) to have paid, while heavy listeners HotPodNews. who listen to podcasts more than once a day In Europe, the Reuters Institute found an (37%) are also more likely to report pulling out The sudden explosion of podcast popularity has response metric of cost per action, which has overall rise in podcast listening to 31% (+3 over the credit card to listen to a podcast,” Research caught advertisers by surprise. very quickly fallen out of favour. 2019) of those surveyed across a basket of 20 and Market found. “Twenty percent of listeners “Marketers are starting to realise there are a lot of “Podcasting had been so significantly used countries they have been tracking since 2018. who have never paid or donated money to people listening to podcasts, and thinking, ‘Let’s by direct response advertisers in the past,” Almost four in ten people access podcasts access a podcast saying they are ‘somewhat’ or figure out how to best advertise in them,’” PwC Silverman said. “But being associated with a monthly in Spain (41%), Ireland (40%), Sweden ‘very likely’ to do so in the next 12 months.” Partner David Silverman told AdExchanger. particular podcast or host is good branding, so (36%), Norway (36%), and the United States As promising as that sounds, podcast So, what’s working? it offers a lot of good attributes for companies (36%). Podcast listening in the Netherlands subscriptions may not live up to expectations. Branding is getting to be a bigger player promoting a product.” (26%), Germany (24%), and the UK (22%) is They have disappointed before. on podcasts. Brand The report also found that nearer to a quarter. “The poster child for paid podcasting is awareness ads pre-produced, dynamically Podcast advertising has not only recovered Luminary, which launched to much excitement made up 38% of all BEING ASSOCIATED WITH inserted ads gained but has also grown. In the U.S., the number of (and then much annoyance) last spring,” podcast campaigns share. Almost half of all podcast advertisers grew 42% in September wrote Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman in 2018, up from 29% A PARTICULAR PODCAST OR podcast ads (49%) were after dipping in April, according to research Journalism Lab. The annoyance was a self- in 2017, according dynamically inserted in by Westwood One and Magellan AI. By May, inflicted wound after a Luminary launch to the Interactive HOST IS GOOD BRANDING, 2018, up from 42% in the number of unique podcast advertisers had pitch declared “podcasts don’t need ads.” Advertising Bureau and SO IT OFFERS A LOT OF GOOD 2017. Still, more than half almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. By The company’s intention was to suggest that PricewaterhouseCooper’s of all podcast ads (51%) September, a record 855 advertisers were using listeners should have the opportunity to pay Podcast Ad Revenue ATTRIBUTES FOR COMPANIES remain static and baked- podcasts, according to the same study. for podcasts without ads. Instead, Luminary Study released in June in, down from 58% in 2017. So if the pandemic hasn’t slowed podcasting, outraged the vast majority of podcasters whose 2019. PROMOTING A PRODUCT. The host-read ad is the how bright is the future? lifeblood is advertising. The default approach to Holy Grail because it Many in the podcasting industry foresee: Since its launch, Luminary has disappointed: advertising on podcasts allows the advertiser Despite a war chest of $130 million from — direct response campaigns — are falling from to take advantage of the host’s trusted status l The continuing growth of big tech investors, Luminary could count only 80,000 favour, accounting for 51% of podcast ads in and relationship with their audience. That said, incursions into podcasting paying subscribers after a year, Bloomberg 2018, down from 64% in 2017 and 73% in 2016, while host-read ads made up 63% of podcast l Lots of new podcasts reported. according to the report. ads delivered in 2018, that number is down from l Increased ad revenue Luminary isn’t the only subscription pioneer With the increasing focus on brand advertising, 67% in 2017 while cheaper and more scalable l More ad placements in podcasts to have fallen short. “Audible Channels, the primary pricing method is becoming CPM, pre-produced ads grew from 33% to 35% of all l More subscription-model podcasts launched in 2016 and backed by both the with 86% of buyers using it versus the direct- podcast ads last year. INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 110 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 111

might of Amazon and Audible’s audiobook interest. A late 2020 study of the podcasting in- Sure enough, Spotify is dominance, never got very far,” wrote Benton. dustry was able to project that the global podcast- now attracting far bigger “Stitcher Premium has been around for nearly ing market size would reach US$41.8b by 2026. advertising customers than four years and hasn’t set the world on fire. (It In the U.S., one in five digital radio ad dollars individual podcasters typically was recently bought by SiriusXM, which has its will go to podcasts in 2021, according to could ever dream of. For LAUNCH MISTAKES own established paid model.)” TheDrum.com. It is the first time podcasting ad example, Omnicom, a large While listeners might pay for their favourite revenue will breach the $1b mark, according to digital marketing agency, podcast, would they pay for access to a collection eMarketer. Marketing agency WARC predicts has signed up to buy $20 of podcasts like Spotify? “People need to be at that 38% of marketers are planning to boost million worth of podcasting least somewhat passionate about a podcast to podcast spend in 2021. ads on Spotify, according to TO AVOID want to pay for it,” wrote Benton. “They need Podcast market growth is projected to be Washington Monthly. 8 After all the blood, sweat and tears involved in setting up a to think that its absence from their lives would 24.6% CAGR between 2020-2026, according new podcast, why blow it at the last minute? Here are the be bad enough to merit two or five or 10 bucks to a study by the analyst firm Research and eight mistakes you should avoid on launch day, according a month. But those passions are hard to stretch Market. The report attributes much of the THE SPOTIFY to Matty Staudt, the founder and president of podcast across a broad-based subscription. If Spotify’s projected success to the accessible nature of consulting and production company Jam Street Media, premium package includes, say, 40 shows, what the medium, and the rise of at-home listening ADVANTAGE writing in the Podcast Business Journal: share of them is any individual user going to be during the COVID pandemic. passionate about?” Seeing that projected pot of ad revenue gold But, because Spotify is a and the promise of subscription revenue, tech mobile app, advertisers can do Not picking the right RSS Optimization). Many listeners giants are upping their podcast game. three things they can’t with feed provider: Check to find podcasts via Google RSS feeds: see where the feed will search. Make sure your show “THERE HAS BEEN 1 automatically send your description and notes are HERE COME THE TECH GIANTS 1. Get granular information shows, find out if they are In- SEO-friendly. (e.g., precise location, time of teractive Advertising Bureau SO MUCH DEMAND listening) (IAB) compliant, if they do No marketing or budget Spotify recently became the world’s leading dynamic insertion if you want strategy. FOR SPONSORSHIP podcast platform. In Q2 2020, a reported 42% 2. Insert ads dynamically to sell ads, and what other fea- of podcast listeners used Spotify. Apple placed into podcasts (RSS feed tures they offer like embed- 5 second at 32%, according to TheDrum.com. podcasts must have ads baked ded players and websites. THAT IT MORE To a large extent, Spotify has bought its way in, which means they can’t be Publishing the first to the top with massive investments in content. tailored to the listener) Starting your feed with- podcast episode you THAN PAYS FOR From mid-2019 to the end of 2020, Spotify out a trailer: Before you produce: Great podcast spent more than $400m to acquire podcast 3. Access user data, such launch your first episode, 6 production is an art. producers Ringer, Parcast, and Gimlet, as well as the demographic informa- 2 you want to make sure Nobody is great at it on their ITSELF” your show is on all of the first attempt. Produce a few as create new high profile shows such as The tion listeners must provide Tom Standage The Economist Head Michelle Obama Podcast. when they set up their account, major players like iHeart, shows to learn and go back of Digital Strategy Its biggest content deal, worth more $100 as well as behavioral informa- Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher and revise the first one so it’s million, was for “The Joe Rogan Experience,” tion, including preferences and perhaps on Castbox, the best you can offer. You a long-running show with an archive of 1,742 and habits revealing what they Overcast, Luminary, etc. It only get one chance to grab shows at the start of December 2020 that is listen to, information most may take a few days or a week a new listener. SUBSCRIPTIONS MAYBE; estimated to be the most listened-to podcast stand-along podcasters don’t for your feed to show up on ADVERTISING DEFINITELY in the world, with over 200 million monthly have access to. those platforms, so start with Not getting good downloads (compared to the New York Times’ a trailer. When that shows up, feedback: In radio, In 2015, fewer than half of Americans were The Daily, the second most popular, at around Indeed, in January you know you’re ready to go. there are things called familiar with podcasts; only 17% listened 120 million), according to the analyst firm 2020, Spotify unveiled its 7 “airchecks”. That is monthly, according to Edison Research. By early Research and Market. “Streaming Ad Insertion” Bad cover art: Cover art when colleagues listen to 2020, 75% of Americans were familiar with Spotify is also expanding overseas, with technology, which does is the first impression a your show and give you podcasts, 37% listened monthly, and 25% had 299 million monthly active users listening to exactly what its status as an potential listener gets honest feedback. Find listened to one in the last week, according to podcasts in 92 markets, a 200% increase in app made possible: using 3 about your podcast. Bad colleagues who will be Washington Monthly. podcast listening year-on-year, according to listener data such as their age, cover art can turn off a person honest and tell you what they As impressive as those numbers are, Research and Market. gender, location, and type of before they listen. Make sure think. the listening time numbers are even more Spotify is not only acquiring talent but also device, and use it to target ads it’s easy to see on a phone. impressive: Out of those who listened in the tech. Tech and talent together give Spotify at them, inserted in real time Overthinking: At the last week, the average time spent listening to greater listener numbers and thus makes the as they stream their podcast. Poor show descriptions end of the day, nothing podcasts is more than six and a half hours per platform more attractive to big advertisers As many as 100 Spotify shows and liner notes: is going to be perfect. week, according to Washington Monthly. looking for big numbers who are willing to pay now use the technology, These are the key to 8 Launch and learn from That growth has finally attracted advertisers’ big for them. according to The Verge. 4 SEO (Search Engine your mistakes. INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 112 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 113

USE DISTRIBUTION PLATFORMS SPOTIFY WON’T HAVE THAT ENABLE SUBSCRIPTIONS OR DONATIONS THE FIELD ALONE 2 One example is the US-based political and humour podcast Chapo Trap Spotify’s competitors weren’t about to cede House which uses Patreon and gener- the field. In September, Amazon Music opened ates $145,000 per month in subscription its podcasting front, allowing podcasters to THE PODCAST SUBSCRIPTION revenue.Another example is distribution add their feeds to the platform and planning company, Anchor (acquired by Spotify in to develop exclusive podcasts of their own, Feb. 2019). They are making money for according to The Wall Street Journal. Amazon Popular Science’s two podcasts by en- is also adding podcasts to Audible, its audio abling podcasters to accept pledges from book platform. With its audio speaker Alexa, listeners, according to Editor Joe Brown Amazon brings a powerful tool that Spotify Substack Audio, another platform that doesn’t have. Alexa could be programmed to TECH CHALLENGE enables podcasters to collect subscrip- deliver real-time ads for targeted products tion payments, launched in early 2019. offered on Amazon and enable the purchase The service is a newsletter subscrip- with a voice command. We’re past the point of wondering if people will Create your own hosting platform connected to tion platform used by writers including Late in December 2020, Amazon made a pay for podcasts. An increasing number of media 1 your app or web page, and channel subscribers American author Matt Taibbi, the author play into podcasting by buying Wondery, an companies producing podcasts are putting one through that instead of through a distributor like of four New York Times bestsellers, and independent podcast network, according to or more of their podcasts behind some form Apple an award-winning columnist for Rolling The Drum. of paywall. For example, Slate has more than Stone. The service emails private pod- Google, too, is jumping in. Although Google 50,000 subscribers to Slate Plus, over 70% Use distribution platforms like Patreon or casts to subscribers. accounts for a tiny 2% of the podcast market, of whom joined to get access to their premium 2 Stitcher that allow for donations as a means podcasts, according to the company. of gaining access to the podcast or to special But enabling subscriptions is not easy. subscriber-only episodes of an otherwise free There is no simple way to charge for access podcast AN INCREASING NUMBER because Apple, the overwhelmingly dominant podcast directory, doesn’t offer podcasters a Put your podcast on a Netflix-like platform like OF MEDIA COMPANIES ARE paid subscription option. (A directory is the 3 Luminary. These are third party podcast apps place where your podcast is listed and can be that charge listeners a flat fee for monthly access PUTTING ONE OR MORE OF accessed versus the platform where it is hosted to a limited or unlimited number of premium and lives.) podcasts in their library (Some, like Luminary, Nor, sadly, do most of the other directories and also have a free tier) THEIR PODCASTS BEHIND podcast hosting platforms that have popped up to service the burgeoning podcasting industry. Let’s take them one at a time: SOME FORM OF PAYWALL “The reason paywalled podcasts haven’t yet been fully exploited by publishers is because the usual CREATE YOUR OWN PLATFORM podcast distribution tech doesn’t support it very Slate did this, and it admitted it was difficult. PUT YOUR PODCAST according to measurement firm Libsyn, well,” Joseph Evans, analyst at Enders Analysis, But it ultimately succeeded to the point ON A NETFLIX-LIKE PLATFORM Google nonetheless brings weapons no one told Digiday. 1 where it now market that platform to other SUCH AS LUMINARY else has. When someone searches on Google “You either have to put your podcasts on your podcasters. 3 Luminary is trying to become the for podcasts, Google shows them podcasts own app, so people can’t use their own chosen A UK podcast company, The Anfield Wrap, has Netflix of podcasting, offering exclusive hosted on Google Podcasts at or near the player, or you have to do a weird secret RSS feed 80,000 listeners for its free podcasts and 10,000 podcasts for a flat monthly fee of $7.99. top of the page, even when the Google shows workaround, which isn’t very user-friendly and listeners paying almost $7 a month for premium Publishers ranging from The Ringer to aren’t as popular as the others listed below can be easily pirated,” Evans said. If some of the audio content. It decided not to rely on third-party Pineapple Street Media to New York mag- them. Also, Google’s Android system and its major podcast player apps, particularly Apple, apps but built its own back-end to deliver the azine have listed their shows on Lumi- own app store are embedded on 45% of mobile started supporting subscriber-only shows, it paid content via an Amazon server. nary. As of press time, it was too early for phones in the U.S., and Google has its own would make a huge difference, he added. You and your staff could do this, too, in just two podcast creators to have reported on the line of smart speakers. All of those assets give Some media companies have put their podcasts minutes with Do-It-Yourself systems like Sanity … success or failure of this revenue stream. Google a substantial platform and marketing within their own mobile app. But even the New if you understand the following instructions from Stitcher is another similar service. base from which to launch a serious assault on York Times, which launched its podcast Caliph- HackerNoon.com: "Sanity is a fully customiz- In Europe, new services such as Podi- Spotify. ate in its own app, still ultimately released it able, headless CMS that you can install and get mo in Denmark and Majelan and Sybel in And of course, there’s Apple. With its on free podcast apps. Sports site The Athletic started with within two minutes if you know some France also want to become a “Netflix of operating system, app store, and voice houses several paid podcasts behind its paywall. basic JavaScript. Just run npm install -g @sanity/ podcasting”. Like Luminary, they invest assistant (Siri) embedded in all its phones plus There are basically three workarounds to be able cli && sanity init to get started.” Right. Let’s look in original audio content and try to bring its own browser (Safari) and information- to get subscriber revenue: at option #2. podcasting to a wider public. gathering apps, Apple is also well-positioned INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 114 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 115 to make a play for podcast industry FOR THE SUCCESSFUL PODCASTS, WILL PROGRAMMATIC domination. ADS RUIN PODCASTS?

THE STUBBORN This move will be driven by “investments in audience measurement and the shift from THE NUMBERS ARE IMPRESSIVE. ADVERTISING PROBLEM un-trackable baked-in ads toward dynamically inserted ads will pave the way for programmatic The podcast advertising spend is increasing. buys,” eMarketer reported. “Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) data show The concern among many in the podcasting that podcasts are becoming an increasingly community is that podcasting could go the way FOR EXAMPLE, AT FREAKONOMICS important part of the annual buying process of the internet with inappropriate or intrusive for brands and agencies,” according to radio-style advertisements jamming up WhatsNewInPublishing.com. “Those making podcasts the way advertisements have wrecked podcasts part of their annual buy nearly much of the internet experience. doubled to 47% in 2019, up from 24% in 2018.” “We’re seeing big podcasts make money Podcasting may be the fastest-growing because podcast advertising has taken a more RADIO, WHICH AVERAGES advertising medium, but despite the growth, it’s traditional ad impression-based approach still a minuscule amount in the grand scheme to advertising,” Agnes Kozera, co-founder of of things. The industry’s total ad revenue is still Podcorn, a podcast sponsorships marketplace, less than $1 billion, which is remarkable given told Axios. That approach “tends to reward that than 90 million people listen to podcasts podcasters that get the most impressions 1.5 MILLION DOWNLOADS PER monthly, per Edison Research. but not always the ones who are the right fit But that industry-wide view skews the for the brand and have the potential to drive significant impact ad revenue is having on some conversions through great content.” media companies. It’s a slippery slope. “Ad tolerance among weekly podcast listeners is gradually growing,” according to the Westwood One Podcast EPISODE, AN ADVERTISER PAYING THE BIG GET RICHER, Network Fall 2020 Report. “The rationale behind this appears to be a recognition that NOT SO MUCH THE REST ads make these shows — which are often free – possible. While there are a lot of players, most aren’t “[But} an uptick in ad tolerance should not $50 FOR EVERY 1,000 DOWNLOADS seeing much traction. The top 1% of podcasts be taken lightly since many media consumers receive 99% of downloads, according to Axios. tend to be averse to advertising, proof being the And that top 1% are making serious money. existence of ad-blocking software and premium The New York Times podcast division, ad-free media subscriptions,” the report for example, reportedly brought in nearly concludes. WOULD RESULT IN AN IMPRESSIVE $30 million in revenue in 2019. The Times’ most Globally, podcasts are also rapidly gaining popular podcast, The Daily, draws four million traction, in some cases more dramatically listeners a day. Vox Media’s podcasting business than in the U.S. In the first quarter of 2020, is in the eight figures. Slate now makes about the percent of respondents to a Reuters half of its revenue from its podcasts, according Digital News Report study who had listened to the company. to a podcast in the past month showed five $225,000 PAYMENT PER EPISODE Vox Media exploded in just three years, countries surpassing the U.S. podcast audience growing from a handful of shows in 2017 to at the time, and 15 other countries with rates more than 200 shows in 2020, according to over 20%: the company. Revenue from podcasting is expected to double this year: “We went from it l 58% - South Korea FOR THREE MENTIONS being a hobby, to a strategy, to a big pillar of the l 41% - Spain company,” Vox Media Studios President Marty l 40% - Ireland Moe told the Washington Monthly. l 36% - Sweden One of the drivers of the rise in ad spend is l 36% - Norway programmatic advertising. Approximately 4% l 36% - USA of podcasting ads in the U.S. are being delivered l 34% - Argentina OF THE ADVERTISER. this way, but that’s expected to grow to 6% in l 23% - Canada 2021 and 8% in 2022, according to eMarketer. l 32% - Australia INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 116 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 117

l 32% - Switzerland Not only are vast numbers of podcast fans In December 2020, there were 1.68 million l 32% - Italy listening, but they are also listening A LOT, podcasts in more than 100 languages in the l 30% - Vietnam consuming multiple episodes in one sitting and Apple Podcasts directory alone, up from l 29% - Finland listening for previously unheard of lengths of 550,000 in June 2018, according to Podcast l 28% - Austria time! Insights. Of those 1.68 million, two-thirds l 28% - Denmark The Edison “Share of the Ear” report published their first episode in just the last two TIPS l 26% - Belgium found that the average listener consumes years. l 26% - Netherlands seven podcast episodes a week, which is also Since 2014, the share of time spent listening l 26% - France increasing over time. to spoken word audio has increased 20%, while l 24% - Japan time spent listening to music decreased 5%, l 24% - Germany according to Edison Research. l 22% - UK PODCAST LISTENERS PUT GOLDFISH TO SHAME In June 2020, the ten fastest-growing countries MOBILE TECH DRIVES for podcast creation were Brazil, Great Britain, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Poland, Beyond their voracious appetite, listeners CONSUMPTION New Zealand and the U.S., according to Voxnest. are also committed. We’ve all heard the witticism that the human attention span has Another driver of podcast growth is mobile shrunk to less than that of a goldfish (reputed technology: 65% of listening to podcasts to be eight seconds). happens on a mobile device, compared Not the podcast listener. to 9% just six years ago, according to the l Audio quality matters: Invest in good According to a recent Infinite Dial Report, Edison report and Oberlo.com. The advent of equipment such as mics, pop filters, and the average podcast listener finishes 80% of bluetooth and other connections in the car soundproof panels. a podcast episode (which average nearly 39 have made podcasts a key listening tool for A NEW HOTEL minutes, according to podcast.co). Contrast end users while they commute. And at home, l Build genuine relationships with industry that with a “good” YouTube finishing rate of the increasing penetration of smart speakers leaders and your audience. 50% and viewing time of one to eight minutes, like Alexa and Google Nest Mini and Apple AMENITY according to Chartable. The average Facebook HomePod have also contributed to the rise of l Don’t be afraid to edit: Shorter is better. Watching time is just 23 seconds, according to a podcast consumption. Think you’re finished? Edit down again. study by digital agency Uhuru. The market outlook gets better: The average Experiment with lengths, compare finish- So, we’ve established the size and dedication age of the podcast listener is 39 years old and, time data, and use the length the data THE PODCASTING of the podcast audience. How about the market perhaps more importantly for advertisers, the shows is most effective. opportunity? average salary of the average podcast listener Some observers believe that as a result of is $87,000, according to a recent study from l Build authority: Associate your podcast podcasting’s explosive growth, we’ve already hit Nielsen. with reputable people in your niche and BOOTH “Podcast Saturation” or are close to it. Aside from rapidly improving technology, with quality products. Deliver helpful advice. what’s driving the attraction to podcasts? What happens when you can travel again For the listener, podcasts are entertaining, l Have personality: This is theatre in a very and need to record a podcast episode? ARE WE AT PODCAST SATURATION? provocative, educational, and fill previously real sense. Find someone who connects No problem… if you’re staying at one of uninspiring times of the day: the twice-daily well with people, and has a voice for radio the hotels offering the latest in unique commutes (which will resume in some form), plus a flair for either the dramatic, or an amenities: a podcast booth Yes, the fact that we’ve hit almost two daily chores, long walks, grocery shopping, easy sense of humour, or a visceral tone million podcasts (1,750,000, according to etc.). Podcasts also become an almost personal that oozes gravitas. If it’s an opinion pod- l At the Los Angeles Mayfair Hotel, guests PodcastHosting.org) may seem to translate into relationship. “There’s something very intimate cast, make sure the host is quick, thought- can reserve a custom recording booth next an overwhelming and daunting environment about podcasts — you’re literally letting an ful, witty, trustworthy, and solid. to a library and a private patio for newcomers looking to be discovered. individual into your personal space for But consider the fact that there are more 30 minutes,” Grazia magazine Editor Hattie l Address pain points that affect the hap- l If you’re at the Ace Hotel in London or than 37 million YouTube channels. In that Brett told us. piness and well-being of your audience. LA, you can borrow in-room recording gear context, we are a long way from Podcast “As such, you develop a relationship with free of charge via a program called Studio A Saturation. the person who is hosting the podcast and, l Stream through multiple channels — Given this appealing opportunity to gain over time, really come to trust them,” Brett Apple is still the best way to get your pod- l Stockholm’s very posh Hotel At Six offers revenue and listeners, media companies and said. “So for media brands, that have been cast out to the world, but now there are an a rentable podcast studio individuals are launching new podcasts at a built on developing trust with their readers, ever-increasing number of options. There torrid pace. In 2018, an average of 575 podcasts it’s a natural extension; a way to show a more are also services that will distribute your l In downtown Chicago, Marriott’s new were started every day — that’s about one new intimate side of your team to your audience.” podcast to multiple channels. Moxy hotel lets guest use its in-house podcast every three minutes, according to the For the media company, it’s a relatively studio free-of-charge Edison report. cheaply produced revenue-producer and l Provide a ton of free value. INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 118 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 119

subscriber attraction asset that cannot be conventional radio ad spending … yet. Podcast poached. advertising is on double-digit growth trajectory “Podcasts are not like a text story, where a while radio ad growth will continue declining free title [or site] can come along and basically for the foreseeable future, according to research republish it, diluting the value of your paid and marketplace intelligence company Magna. WHY PODCASTS WORK FOR ADVERTISERS offering,” Enders Analysis Senior Analyst Joseph In 2019, podcast advertising was a mere a According to the “Audio:Activated” Study, a four- l Podcasts are consumed in ways that are Evans told Digiday. “If you want a particular 3% share of the $16.2 billion U.S. audio ad continent research project commissioned by additive to the marketing mix podcast, you have to go to the source. And marketplace, but will comprise an 8.2% share by BBC StoryWorks (BBC Global News’s branded they’re a lot cheaper to put together than video, 2022, according to Magna. content division), podcasts deliver the following l Podcasts are a particularly effective way to particularly the kind of editorial podcasts that Podcasting “is still growing at a healthy results for advertisers: reach ad avoiders news sites are looking into.” clip and certainly outpacing the overall ad industry,” PwC partner David Silverman told l Podcast branding messages stand out, l The language of a podcast creates AdExchanger. “We see a faster-than-industry with 16% higher engagement and 12% higher subconscious associations with the brand growth rate through at least 2021.” REVENUE IS FINALLY CATCHING memory encoding than the surrounding content, UP TO VIEWING almost 20% higher than radio measures, which l Podcasts deliver lifts in awareness (+89%), score 5% lower than content brand consideration (+57%), brand favourability PODCAST LISTENS ARE (+24%), and purchase intent (+14%) Media companies report a dramatic increase l 76% of listeners say they’ve taken action in advertiser interest in getting their ads on ADVERTISER DREAMS after hearing a podcast ad, which could include Because of the unique way podcasts are podcasts. “There has been so much demand visiting a site, making a purchase, or taking out a consumed — usually whilst multitasking — for sponsorship that it more than pays for Part of the reason for the success of podcast subscription brands are now able to reach people in what itself,” Economist Head of Digital Strategy Tom advertisements is listener responsiveness. were previously thought to be unreachable Standage told the journalism think-tank According to a 2018 Acast study, podcast lis- l 94% of listeners consume podcasts while moments. This is an enviable commercial Nieman Lab. “The big change is commercial, teners scored high in terms of engagement with doing other tasks. This mode of listening elevates opportunity as it is additive to the marketing which is that we had advertisers who started to ads, as well as responsiveness with 76% of listen- engagement with the brand, the study found mix. come to us last year and say, ‘We are only going ers saying they’ve taken action after hearing a to buy two kinds of ads next year: print and podcast ad, which could include visiting a site, podcast. What have you got?’” making a purchase, or taking out a subscription. As impressive as that number is, the audio Even though podcasting ad revenue is market in China (which includes podcasts growing in leaps and bounds, it’s still very much but is dominated by self-improvement audio a strategy by experimentation. growing demand as more advertisers across The story is similar at Slate, one of the early products) was estimated to be worth around “We’re all testing [paid-revenue methods] more sectors show interest in experimenting entrants in podcasting, where audio could $7.3 billion in 2018, according to China’s to see what actually sticks,” Stitcher CEO with podcasts,” according to Magna’s represent “nearly half” of the publisher’s Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Erik Diehn told Digiday. “Is it tipping; is it a September 2019 Podcasting Report. “Pricing revenues, up from 28% in late 2018, according Film and Television. What makes the figure publisher-by-publisher premium subscriber remains a challenge, as CPMs can range to Digiday. Slate’s 30 podcasts generated 180m even more impressive is that it is focused only model; is it the Patreon single show, single- anywhere from $10-$25 for pre- and post-roll listens in 2018, a 78% increase year over year. on consumers paying directly for audio content creator-support model; is it a Netflix-type spots to $20-$80 for mid-roll spots to $70+ for “You don’t get clients saying they want to be online and does not include ad-driven podcasts. model? There’s not going to be one thing.” One highly sought-after shows.” on pre-roll, but you get clients saying they want Podcast advertising isn’t threatening thing we do know is working are the CPMs. For the successful podcasts, the numbers to be on the Economist’s podcast,” MediaCom are impressive. For example, Freakonomics Head of Investment Charlie Yeates told Digiday. Radio, which averages 1.5 million downloads Part of the reason the ad revenue is SOME PODCAST CPMS per episode, an advertiser paying $50 for every increasing is the change in the methodology 1,000 downloads would result in an impressive and ease of placing podcast ads. In the early “INCREASINGLY, ARE EYE-POPPING $225,000 payment per episode for three days, most podcast ads were host-read (a mentions of the advertiser. time-consuming process to sell and create, and PODCASTS ARE Economist podcast CPMs are higher than The impact of these high CPMs is the rapid virtually un-scalable). Also, a podcast’s back YouTube’s network average CPM rates of growth of podcast ad revenue as a percentage catalogue was inaccessible. Equally challenging between $2 and $3, the Economist’s Standage of total media company revenue. For example, was the process of verification: Checking that GETTING TURNED told Digiday. For other podcasts in the UK with National Public Radio in the U.S., one of the the ads actually appeared. downloads in the six-figure range, podcast ads leading podcast producers, is set to see its Now, dynamically inserted ads enable INTO PROPERTIES can command at least a 30% premium on pre- podcast sponsorship revenues surpass those brands to create a single ad and place it in roll video ads, with some low-end CPMs around from broadcast next year for the first time. large numbers of podcasts in tightly scripted FOR OTHER $11.84 and the coveted host-read ads getting Podcasts have been a “huge return on campaigns. Some reports estimate that more than $40 CPMs, according to Digiday. investment for us and a major growth 48.8% of all podcast ads are now placed “CPMs are typically higher than what is seen engine for our business,” Deborah Cowan, programmatically. With this kind of scale, MEDIUMS” in the linear broadcast space, due in part to Chief Financial Officer at NPR, told podcast ads are approaching TV and major web Seth Resler Analyst, Jacobs the comparatively small podcast audience and WhatsNewInPublishing. platform scale and reach. INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 120 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 121

WHAT ARE THE PODCASTING accustomed to and comfortable interacting with In addition to the benefits Slate Plus offers, you in the virtual world, so this would be an easy other potential subscriber benefits could REVENUE MODELS? format for them. In addition, they don’t have to “DON'T TRY TO include: pay to fly or drive anywhere and aren’t facing all 1 Advertising of the attendant costs of food and lodging. HIT A GIGANTIC l Early access to episodes 2 Virtual summits “A virtual summit is a collection of webinar l Ad-free episodes interviews that you conduct over several days,” l Access to the back-catalogue of episodes 3 Influencer relationships/joint ventures HOME RUN WITH said Navid Moazzez, creator of the “Virtual 4 Online courses Summit Mastery” online service. “As the host, Getting podcast subscriptions to grow is 5 Subscriptions you curate a couple dozen or so industry leaders YOUR FIRST INFO- challenging because of technical difficulties 6 Memberships and sell all-access passes to the event.” associated with any subscription offering. The 7 Coaching and consulting For example, The “How I Built This” podcast PRODUCT.” podcasting world is fragmented with many tour has been so successful that National podcast listing apps offering the service but 8 Affiliate marketing Navi Moazzez Creator of 'Virtual Summit Mastery' Public Radio in the US created a spin-off small few offering a paid subscription option. Apple, 9 Services business and entrepreneur virtual conference which dominates market share, does not offer 10 Sponsorships called “The How I Built This Summit”. in-app payment functionality (see the sidebar 11 Repackaging your content: Books With virtual summits, you get to: on podcast subscription tech challenges). 12 Paid public speaking yl Unlike affiliate sales, you get to keep all One workaround is the growing collection of 13 Brand extensions (selling your own stuff) l Build an email list to use with some of your the revenue (unless a partner promotes podcast platforms — Patreon, Substack, Glow 14 Repackage/repurpose content other revenue models your course) — that give podcasters the opportunity to offer l Generate additional revenue (and perhaps l Unlike sponsorships, you don’t have to personalised RSS feeds to paying subscribers, with 15 Live events new sponsors who like the summit format) continually hunt down opportunities those feeds being accessible on most podcast apps. 16 Paid apps l Build the authority of your brands l By creating your own course, you But subscriptions are not always a good 17 Crowd-funding l Network with leaders in your niche (as guarantee that the content will be highly alternative to advertising. 18 Intellectual property speakers) relevant to your audience For example, the US-based show, “The l Create evergreen long-tail content that can l You’ll never run out of stock Athletic”, uses both approaches. It started with Many of these are self-explanatory, but let’s also be monetised 20 podcasts that were for subscribers only. But take a look at a few that bear an examination. as it expanded to 120 podcasts, most were set SUBSCRIPTIONS up to run on a schedule of one free episode per ONLINE COURSES week, plus an additional episode for subscribers VIRTUAL SUMMITS only. “Podcast ads fetch $25 CPMs, making a One of the poster children for paid podcasts freemium model based on ad revenue more Online courses are another efficient, relatively is Slate, a US-based daily web magazine and attractive [than subscriptions],” Athletic Co- Virtual summits have all of the same benefits of pain-free revenue model: Once you’ve done the podcast network. Founder Adam Hansmann told Digiday. real summits at a fraction of the cost (for you and hard work of creating the course, you can run it Slate jumped on the podcast bandwagon long Just two months after introducing for your attendees). Your attendees are already over and over and over again. before it was a bandwagon. Slate launched its advertising in late 2019, the advertising revenue “Teachable and Thinkific are two online first podcast on July 15, 2005, just five years stream grew enough in that time to compete course platforms that you can use to create after the creation of the first rudimentary with subscription revenue, Athletic Audio GM and host your online courses on with ease,” system that enabled the selection, automatic Nick Adler told Digiday. according to Moazzez. downloading and storage of serial episodic Figuring out what should be ad-supported “Don’t try to hit a gigantic home run audio content on PCs. and what can support a subscription is a with your first info-product,” Moazzez By late 2019, Slate was making almost half process, internet radio service Stitcher CEO THE WORLD’S recommended. ”Keep the project small and of its overall revenue from podcast advertising, Erik Diehn told Digiday. Further, the formats make sure it provides incredible value. Think with total downloads up 39% following a 78% that typically see subscriptions as a better of your first info-product as warming up your increase in 2018. strategy for monetization are scripted fiction, LONGEST PODCAST audience so that you can up-sell them on your In 2014, Slate introduced a subscription which may not drive as much advertiser first really big premium course. product called Slate Plus, which included appeal — or niche podcasts that have 10,000 The current Guinness World Record for “You may even want to consider giving your benefits such as discounted tickets to live to 50,000 listeners — since there are fewer the world’s longest audio livestream is first info-product away for free,” Moazzez said. events, and access to web-only content and options for those topics, he said. 52 hours and was set in 2012 by Turkish “Your audience will feel almost guilty if they don’t certain podcasts. A year later, it had attracted radio disc jockeys Cenk and Erdem. In late buy your premium product when it comes out.” 9,000 subscribers generating about $500,000 2018, nine students from the University of According to Moazzez, here are the benefits in annual revenue. By 2019, the subscriber total MEMBERSHIPS North Texas in the US recorded a 58-hour of online courses: was up to 50,000 people paying $60 a year, or long livestream in an attempt to break the $3 million. According to Slate, 70% of the Slate record. At press time, the Guinness site still l Leverage existing content Plus members joined to access the podcasts, Memberships are the other side of the listed the Turk disc jockeys as the record l Unlike physical products, there are no which means the podcasts are responsible for subscription coin, but without the hassle holders. shipping hassles $2.1 of the $3 million. of finding or creating a platform to INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 122 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 123

accept payments for podcast access. With their downloads is valuable. memberships, media companies can offer Transcribe the content of your podcasts benefits that they can house behind a paywall around a particular topic (recipes, themes, on their own site. most popular, influencer interviews, geographic For example, paying members could access: locations, tips, etc.). Create an e-book and let your listeners know it’s available for a fee. l Behind-the-scenes extras “Welcome to Night Vale”, a podcast covering l Live Q&A sessions strange happenings in a desert community in l Bonus interviews the southwest US translated the popularity of l Exclusive community its podcast into a novel. When the book became l Tutorials on subjects relevant to the available for pre-order, it became Amazon’s #2 PODCASTS A SAFE HEAVEN FOR podcast subject title seven months ahead of its October release date. COACHING AND CONSULTING After that initial success, “Welcome to Night Vale” released three more novels. Following on the success of the novels, EXTREMISTS, ...FOR NOW This is not a big revenue generator, but it could “Welcome to Night Vale” released four books lead to other revenue streams. Once you’ve featuring scripts from the show as well as developed your podcast and your studio, even commentary, introductions by the authors, and if it’s bare-bones, you will still have more original illustrations. podcasting expertise than most people in your niche or geographic market. You could offer coaching or consulting to HOST A LIVE EVENT aspiring individual or business podcasters, but another more lucrative approach in the long run would be to offer your expertise to Live events can be costly and time-consuming advertisers who might want to add podcasts to to run. However, if you have an experienced their marketing, native advertising or branded events team that runs events all the time, a live content campaigns. So, you could make money event, even if it’s just you doing your podcast with the consulting and then with the ad in front of a live audience, will attract paying revenues for running their audio content. customers. According to long-time podcaster Robin AFFILIATE MARKETING Kinnie, president of Motor City (Detroit) Woman and Audio Engineers, live shows are:

While it might seem obvious, podcasts offer a l A great way to connect with your twist on affiliate marketing that your run-of- audience: Live shows give loyal listeners the the-mill digital content does not: Longevity. opportunity to meet you face-to-face and give After the mob riot at the U.S. Capitol in of Congress to further his plans, and said ‘We The typical text story or video might gain you the opportunity to learn more about your January 2021, social media platform executives the people, we are the storm, and we’re coming a few search visitors over time, but podcast listeners. started banning extremists and purveyors to DC.’ Both are available on Apple and Google listeners are constantly discovering podcasts l A new way to monetize your podcast: You of false information, including U.S. President podcast platforms.” that might have been running for months can approach your advertisers, offering them Donald Trump. The podcasts X22 Report and Bannon’s War or even years… and they often start at the the opportunity to meet potential customers in But no one talked about podcasts. Room were No. 20 and No. 32 on Apple’s list of beginning of the series, especially if it’s an person. You can charge an admission fee. And The Associated Press found that accounts that top podcasts ten days after the riot, according extended sequential story like “Serial” or a you can make money from concessions and the had been banned on social media for election to the AP. Two years before the Capitol sequential approach to a topic or recipes that sale of podcast swag (souvenirs). misinformation, threatening or bullying, and insurrection, the Anti-Defamation League said relate to a season of the year. l A unique way to promote relevant local breaking other rules still lived on as podcasts podcasting “plays a particularly outsized role” in As a result, the affiliate deals you cut months businesses or nonprofits: If you’re looking available on the tech giants’ platforms. propagating white supremacy. or years ago will still be generating revenue for a space to host a live event, consider your “Conspiracy theorists have peddled stolen- “Google-owned YouTube axed ‘Bannon’s War long after their first appearance. advertisers (restaurants, theatres, sports election fantasies, coronavirus conspiracies Room,’ a channel run by Trump loyalist Steve facilities) or partners (museums, nonprofits). and violent rhetoric,” the AP reported. “One Bannon, on Jan. 8 after he spread false election REPACKAGING YOUR CONTENT: The business or nonprofit will probably podcaster, RedPill78, called the Capitol siege claims and called for the beheading of welcome the traffic and publicity, and might a ‘staged event’ in a Jan. 11 episode of Red Pill Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious- BOOKS AND E-BOOKS even pay you for the privilege of hosting the News. The day before the Capitol riot, a more disease expert,” the AP reported. “But podcast event. popular podcast, X22 Report, spoke confidently versions of Bannon’s show live on at Apple You’ve already spent the time and money to l An opportunity to expand your reach about a Trump second term, explained that and Google. Spotify took it down in November, create what your listeners are telling you by by sharing the live podcast on YouTube: Your Trump would need to ‘remove’ many members according to one of its hosts.” INNOVATION INNOVATION Podcasts: The Latest New IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 124 Revenue & Subscriptions Tool 2020-21 2020-21 125

podcasts are purely audio, but your live shows can be captured on video and shared on YouTube. You not only extend the shelf life of “TOURING IS OFTEN the event but you also expose your podcast to a whole new and massive universe of potential MORE LUCRATIVE.” listeners on a platform you’d heretofore been Jeffrey Cranor Night Vale Co-Founder absent from. You can also use the recording as a tool for prospective advertisers. Many podcasts have picked up on this revenue option: “Watch What Crappens”, outcome. And it’s a possibility expected to a podcast about Bravo’s reality TV shows, soar in the near future with the increasing charges $25 a seat but listeners can also fork demand for movie and television series out $200 for a VIP experience. The true-crime content. FX recently reached a deal with Sony podcast “Crime Junkies” sold out many shows Pictures Television to turn “Welcome to Night on its 2019-2020 tour, where tickets averaged Vale” into a TV show. $30 but a premium package that includes a “Increasingly, podcasts are getting turned private meeting with the hosts went for $100. into properties for other mediums,” said Seth Even with those prices, live podcast events Resler, an analyst at US-based media strategy aren’t going to be a huge contributor to your firm Jacobs. StartUp, Sword and Scale, Pod Save bottom line. The revenue is welcome, but their America, 2 Dope Queens, Up and Vanished, Lore, primary value is marketing and promotion. Dirty John, Homecoming, Serial, The Bright Apparently, podcast fans are hungry to see Sessions, CrimeTown, Alice Isn’t Dead, Desus their hosts live and in-person. One in five heavy and Mero, Atlanta Monster, Tanis, Limetown, and podcast listeners — those who listen more more have all spawned television shows. than six hours per week — have attended a “At CES [in 2019], a panellist in one live podcast show where the average price was podcasting session predicted that in the coming $42, according to a recent study by MARU/ years, we will see a quarter of all television Matchbox and Westwood One. shows and movies being developed out of One of the best podcasts at running live podcasts,” Resler said. “As a result, the panellist events is Welcome to Night Vale. predicted a boom in scripted podcasts, with The “Welcome to Night Vale” podcast opened the hope that the hits would find a profit in the their first live podcast tour in 2018 with two sold- licensing of intellectual property rights.” out shows at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle. With One seeming small but significant tickets priced at $30 and 800 seats in the audito- development in the recognition of podcasts as rium, the podcast brought in just under $50,000. a force in media was the announcement in late The 2018 tour included 20 more shows, includ- 2019 of a new Pulitzer Prize audio category. ing European cities such as London and Berlin The prize will be awarded “for a distinguished and additional US locations. By the time the 2020 example of audio journalism that serves the schedule was announced, the tour had exploded public interest, characterized by revelatory to more than 50 events in cities across the US and reporting and illuminating storytelling,” Europe with ticket prices ranging from $25-$35. according to the Pulitzer Board. “While the show often gets 400,000 With all these options for raising revenue downloads per episode, touring is more and attracting paid subscribers, podcasts are reliable and lucrative,” Night Vale Co-Founder already beginning to contribute to media Jeffrey Cranor told podcast database company companies’ bottom lines, from single digit ListenNotes. “Advertisers are fickle.” percentages of total revenue to nearly half. “Our current Golden Age of Television started 80 years after the invention of TV,” said INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Chartable Co-Founder and CEO Dave Zohrob.” By comparison, the Golden Age of Podcasts only took 15 years from the invention of the One revenue source that might not have medium, and it’s just getting started.” occurred to you is to convert your intellectual So, if you haven’t climbed on board yet, property (your podcast) into movies or there’s still plenty of room on the bandwagon. television shows. While it’s only happened to And it’s a hell of a lot cheaper, easier, and more a small percentage of podcasts to date, it’s immediately lucrative than, say, an in-house still a possibility with a potentially lucrative agency or building a VR capability. Right? PANDEMIC-INSPIRED CREATIVITY IS EVERYWHERE, AND STORYTELLING IS NO EXCEPTION EVEN

CAN BE

CREATIVE INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 128 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 129

edia companies by lightning to make art (or anything) doesn’t have faced a lot of mesh with my experience at all,” he wrote. challenges during “What comes much closer is the famous Chuck this pandemic, Close quotation: ‘Inspiration is for amateurs. but creativity in The rest of us just show up and get to work.’ storytelling has “The major implication of Mr. Close’s quota- not been one of tion is that you don’t have to be creative to them. Despite, create,” wrote Richards. “Don’t wait around for or perhaps even creativity to strike. Don’t wait around for cre- because of the ativity to come to you by accident. Be creative pandemic, cre- on purpose.” ativity in media And be creative with purpose. has never been Be creative with data and research and base more abundant lines and deadlines and KPIs and measurable in so many ways goals and bespoke teams. and in so many The media creativity we found wasn’t the re- places. Not only sult of a group of people sitting around a table is creativity alive one day brainstorming and waiting to be struck and well, it is also by the muse. Instead, there were processes: spreading into Hurdles to clear, needs to service, KPIs to meet, areas of the media business where you might not bespoke teams to fill, tests a prototype had to have expected it. Not so long ago, creativity in pass, etc. media meant a unique cover design or stunning Mprint page spread or unusual print ad campaign. Looking around the media universe, we found QUESTION: DOES THE CREATIVE creativity springing up in: IDEA SOLVE A PROBLEM? 1 Audio 2 Video “One very direct, sensible question to ask about 3 Audience identification an idea is ‘Does it actually solve a problem?’,” 4 Audience engagement wrote BBC researcher and developer Libby Miller. “If it doesn’t, why are you doing it? Valid 5 Storytelling platforms reasons include ‘to have fun’ or ‘because I like it’, 6 Story conceptualisation but what if they’re not there? Like wigs for cats, 7 Story presentation many ideas do not solve a problem. Cats don’t 8 Low-tech solutions need wigs.” 9 Data Reporting But does it crush creativity to force it into a straightjacket of having to solve problems and What also struck us is how, in almost every show results? case, the creative process begins with discipline. While it may seem counterintuitive, the As counter-intuitive as that may sound, uniquely human creative spirit can still be free- creativity without discipline is like a locomotive flowing, lively, and expansive even when it’s with no railroad tracks. “We all know the ar- guided by a checklist of tests. chetype of the creatives, right? Eccentric, weird, There are other questions beyond “does it “INSPIRATION scattered, messy,” wrote Carl Richards, a certified solve a problem” that should be raised when financial planner and author of “The Behaviour discussing creative ideas. As part of the BBC’s IS FOR AMATEURS. Gap”, in The New York Times. “Reinventing News Stories” project, its R&D “Every once in a while, the creatives are so team came up with the following questions for touched by the muse that they are forced to im- the result of a creative process: THE REST OF US mediately drop everything, go into a trance, and become a funnel for the beauty of the world. l Is it usable and understandable? JUST SHOW UP AND l Is it delightful and engaging? l Is it distinctive and new? “INSPIRATION IS FOR AMATEURS” l Does it meet audience needs and GET TO WORK.” behaviours? Chuck Close Artist l Does it strike the right tone and style? “This notion to wait around until you get struck l Is it easy to build? INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 130 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 131

l Is it easy to create stories for it? With podcasts booming, publishers looked struggling to grow. Even satisfied members l Does it work across different genres at one of the primary drivers of that boom — were leaving us.” of stories? convenience—and saw another logical opportu- In the course of searching for solutions, the nity: audio articles. Zetland team decided that one possible solution Miller added the following, the last of which The early players in the audio story arena might be to fulfil multiple requests from read- is our favourite: were mostly news content creators: The New ers for audio versions of their stories. York Times, The BBC, The Washington Post, “Some of our 14,000 paying members re- l How are people going to find the thing? The Financial Times, The Correspondent, The quested audio versions of articles, and though l Is it going to be easy to use? Economist, BuzzFeed News, and Bloomberg. our journalists were skeptical that such an l Will people come back to it? Some magazine publishers have also got into offering would provide much value, we started l Is it the right thing to do now? the act: The New Yorker, Wired, Rolling Stone, introducing audio files within our app in late l And, hang on, what on earth is it? Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Danish publisher 2016,” wrote Alfort. Zetland, etc. “The decision to publish all articles in an The New York Times video team, for example, While the text-to-voice excitement might ap- audio version was a complete transformation has a singular focus when it comes to creative pear to be fairly recent, the first efforts go way of our media in a relatively short time,” Alfort ideas: back. wrote. “And it turned out to be a great success.” “It should have a purpose within the busi- ness: How does [it] tie in to the Times’s sub- FIRST TEXT-TO-AUDIO? SURPRISE: 2003! AUDIO IS NOW 80% OF CONSUMPTION scription strategy?” NYT Executive Director of The first text-to-audio experiments began at “After just two months of offering the audio Video Nancy Gauss told journalist Simon Owen. a time that now seems like the dark ages. In versions of all Zetland stories, 40% of the con- “It’s something we talk about a lot. When we’re 2003, NPR veteran Andy Bowers was hired sumption was audio; in less than six months, thinking about a premium subscription product by Slate to produce a joint NPR-Slate audio it was 50%, and today, the audio articles make that’s worth paying for that’s differentiated in show. Intrigued, Bowers began experiment- up 80% of content consumption time,” Zetland the competitive landscape … it really is about ing with text-to-audio by simply setting up a Co-founder and Editor-in-chief Lea Korsgaard creating a differentiated, unique product that’s microphone and reading Slate articles into it, told FIPP. worth paying for.” according to Simon Owen. “The experiment was “Audio articles tend to be listened to all the How do you prepare for such a “structured” a hit; despite the low adoption of podcasting at way through, in vast contrast to text articles creative process? According to a variety of edi- the time, those article reads quickly amassed which have much quicker drop-off rates,” Alfort tors, you start by organising what might other- 10,000 regular listeners,” wrote Owen on wrote. wise be chaos. You must organise or identify: WhatsNewInPublishing. “It has a campfire feel to it,”said Korsgaard. Almost as long ago (2007), The Economist “Like I’m sitting here reading my story aloud to “WE’RE TRYING l The topic started an audio edition of its weekly magazine: you. l The data needed to determine or verify Every week, voice professionals record every “We credit the move with boosting retention a need story in the magazine. and audience loyalty,” Korsgaard concluded. TO BE MORE OF l The target audience (or a community “Audio versions of articles allow subscrib- “Audio has kind of quietly emerged … as the of shared interests) ers to complete issues when they don’t have preferred way for people to consume content,” A PARTNER WITH l The measurable goals enough time to sit down and read them,” Jim Bodor, MD, Digital Product Strategy for l The KPIs Deputy Editor Tom Standage told the Nieman the Harvard Business Review, told the Nieman [ THE PRINT SIDE ] l A baseline Reports. “Our evidence suggests that the audio Reports. “If audio does become, maybe not l The team (whom do you need from edition is a very effective retention tool; once the dominant currency of the internet, but if it which departments) you come to rely on it, you won’t unsubscribe.” becomes an even more significant piece, then IN DEVELOPING l The process (most recommend time-de- we have to be prepared for that.” limited sprints, e.g. two weeks, a month) THE LEARN-WHILE-COOKING ATTRACTION Given the clear popularity of hearing stories THINGS FROM l The quality control process Approximately 10 years later, The Washington read to you, the only question is: Tech or talent? l The schedule (mileposts of the project) Post started working on text-to-audio. “We l How to measure results against the goals conducted user research and learned that users TECH OR TALENT? THE GROUND UP l The next steps (how to make a unique want to stay informed, but they are busy, so There are two ways of creating audio articles: creative idea routine) they appreciate an option to get up to speed on 1) Have them converted from text to voice using THAT REALLY the latest news developments while cooking automated AI tools, or 2) Have the authors or Let’s look at some of the examples of content dinner, running errands, or exercising,” Emily professional “voice actors” read them. and design creativity we found: Chow, Washington Post director of site product, In addition to tech’s lower cost that enables a PLAY TO THE told The Wall Street Journal. publisher to produce a greater number of audio At about the same time, the small Danish stories, another compelling argument for the STRENGTHS 1. CREATIVITY IN AUDIO magazine publisher Zetland was struggling. tech approach is the fact that the text-to-voice The magazine had hit a “crossroad” in 2016, technology has advanced significantly since OF VIDEO.” according to Zetland Community Engagement the early days when such recordings sounded One creative success can breed another. Editor Sara Alfort writing on Medium. “We were like dictation from an automaton. Some of the Nancy Gauss The New York Times Executive Director of Video INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 132 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21

Listicles became popular in BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, but have been a widely adopted format in mobile news. Guardian Mobile Lab has studied the idea of “atomised” stories with its Smarticles, where you can continue reading a story wherever you left off.

9 TYPES OF VISUAL l NYT: Best places to go l Quartz: How We’ll Win

PERSONALIZED STORYTELLING, ADAPTING STORIES Used to filter the stories by one’s personal STORYTELLING ON MOBILE 6 choice, creating a personalised article in the end. Found to be very engaging; people spend more l In September 2017, the lead producer for the BBC Washington Post AMP stories: A city time with a story that they find Internet Research & Future Services, Tristan destroyed by riot meaningful to their lives. Ferne, identified 12 different story formats used in digital news. In early 2019, with new formats l The Times: Best place to live constantly emerging, Emma-Leena Ovaskainen, LONG-FORM SCROLLYTELLING l BBC: Life expectancy a visual journalist for Finland’s biggest daily Linear, narrative visual storytelling that’s calculator newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, modified the list mostly used in feature stories. Parallax and made her own additions — with examples. 3 scroll used to create smooth transitions The study was part of her Journalist Fellowship between different parts of the story; the popular LIVE BLOGGING programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of digital storytelling tool — Shorthand — is used, Mainly used for large-scale events like Journalism. This list is reprinted with permission. for example, at the BBC. breaking news, sports and cultural events Note: The examples of each type are best experienced and are visualised with short text pieces l BBC World languages 7 with a mobile phone. and updated frequently with photos, video and “WE CHOSE service: Modern women in user-generated content from social media. the land of Genghis Khan SHORT VIDEO, SHORT DOCUMENTARIES, l Washington Post: Six TO DESIGN EXPLAINERS teens and the wounds they BOTS, AUTOMATED Pioneered by AJ+ and NowThis, these are carry STORYTELLING NEW STORY 1 used in many newsrooms. The style uses This includes video, stills and animation or is a combination of applications that DATA VISUALISATION, VISUAL ESSAY, 8 FORMATS FOR these; mostly captioned and subtitled. They are create automated short videos like you’ve never seen. VISUAL STORY, BLENDED MEDIA storytelling, as newsrooms STORYTELLING experiment with more efficient ways to produce YOUNG PEOPLE l The New York Times 4 Graphs, infographics, interactives, or highly sports and election reporting. visual investigations: Texas visual stories that have no main text narrative — THEY ARE shooting element, but the text and typography are part of l BBC bots projects l BBC: Your phone is now a the visuals. refugee’s phone DIGITAL- AND l The Guardian: How Cape 360-DEGREE VISUALS, VIRTUAL AND Town is running out of water AUGMENTED REALITY MOBILE-FIRST l STORIES, AMP STORIES, New York Times: How There is a lot of testing around virtual and SWIPEABLE CARDS Rohingya escaped 9 augmented reality. The Guardian and The AND TEND TO BE Card-like visualisations with headlines, New York Times Magazine have done a series of 2 captions and text banners. These evolved virtual reality stories for their own apps. Google from the storytelling tools STRUCTURED ARTICLES, LISTICLES, also teamed up with NBC to OPEN TO NEW inside social platforms NEWSLETTERS AND BRIEFS create VR experiences. like Snapchat Stories and This includes listicles, which are usually EXPERIENCES.” Instagram. 5 numbered or otherwise structured under l The New York Times: one theme or title, and articles structured into Rethinking Rikers Tristan Ferne BBC Internet Research & l BBC Instagram Stories themes with strong typography or visuals. l BBC: Virtual reality Future Services Lead Producer Even You Can 134 Be Creative 135

new AI tools are so sophisticated that they can deliver, for example, voices in a local accent “ “speaking” in different moods (urgent, authori- THE MAIN FOCUS tative, soothing, etc.) according to the mood of the story. HAS BEEN ON In 2020, things really start picking up in terms of the technology and sophistication of TIME SPENT AND the text-to-voice experience. REGIONAL ACCENTS AND CHOICE OF MOODS CONVERSION, In September, South African news provider Media24 launched a synthetic text-to-voice BUT [COMMENTS] service on its News24.com website. But they wanted a local South African accent. “The audio AI, designed with British voice tech developer WILL HELP SpeechKit, speaks English with a South African accent and vocabulary,” according voice tech STRENGTHEN publisher VoiceBot. “The standard robotic voice doesn’t work well when it comes to words and phrases that aren’t standard in American LOYALTY AND English. South African English has a unique ac- cent and 11 official languages incorporated into FREQUENCY.” the names and phrases used in the country, so Martin Jönsson Dagens Nyheter Head the need for a localised synthetic voice is very of Editorial evident.” Then, in November 2020, the BBC an- nounced the launch of an AI-powered synthetic actors, but it sounded too perfect,” Zetland CEO voice called Project Songbird to enable the con- Tav Klitgaard told WhatsNewInPublishing. version of online articles to voice files. “Project “The personal voice of the journalists is quite Songbird offers a third way to consume BBC important to the success of our audio products. digital content, slotting in neatly alongside the We like to build what we call a ‘human product’, text and video news offerings, and deepening including all the glitches and quirks of human the relationship we have with our audiences,” beings. It is important for us that our content Errol Baran, Global SVP for Business Devel- conveys honest passion and curiosity, and we’ve opment and Innovation at the BBC, told The found that is done best when the journalist Drum. narrates.” “We have seen, through the success of our You can’t argue with the results. Since podcast business across World Service, that the Zetland launched audio stories, it has have demand for audio and audio-based propositions across all articles, which really reinforces its your life,” Stephanie Preiss, the NYT VP of TV grown 650%, according to the company. shows no signs of slowing down, and this allows availability.” and Audio, told The Wall Street Journal. our readers to be able to multitask should they Mulder added that audio listeners spend Audm is also used by The New Yorker, wish to do so,” Baran told tThe Drum. three times more time in the Post’s apps com- Wired, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, 2. CREATIVITY IN VIDEO pared to those who simply read stories. BuzzFeed News, and more. QUANTITY OVER QUALITY? Publishers like The Washington Post chose THE PROFESSIONAL VOICE APPROACH AN EXPERIENCE WORTH PAYING FOR The first step in the creative process in video technology for quantity: They wanted to be able The other approach is to have the authors or The Times wants to focus on the quality instead seems to be a very simple one, but it’s a step to offer all of their stories in the audio format. trained “voice actors” do the recordings. of the quantity of the listening experiences, a that is surprisingly hard for editorial depart- The tech route makes the conversion of text The New York Times is so committed to choice that, for cost reasons, restricts the num- ments to achieve: Breaking away from the to voice far more affordable than having to this approach that it acquired Audm, a service ber of articles that can be converted to audio agenda of the text, folks. pay writers or voice professionals to record an that uses professional audiobook narrators “We’re interested in building products worth “Rather than looking to the print desk for article. As a result, many more, if not all, of a to convert text-based articles and books into paying for,” Preiss told the Wall Street Journal. ideas or for ways we can do videos off of stories publisher’s stories can be converted to audio. audio. “We feel like ‘worth paying for’ doesn’t include they’ve already created, we’re really trying to “The nature of audio is habit-forming, but The Times had been working with Audm computer-sounding voices.” be more of a partner with them in developing it’s hard to build those habits if you only offer a since the autumn of 2019 to create audio Zetland also chose the human reader over the things from the ground up that really play to limited number of articles,” the Post’s Managing versions of select long-form articles before ac- AI approach, but they use their own writers to the strengths of video,” the NYT’s Gauss told Editor Kat Downs Mulder told The Drum. “Our quiring Audm in March 2020. “This is a way in record their own stories. Owens. “We’ve figured out how to work differ- readers know they always have an audio option, which long-form journalism can fit better into “We originally tried using professional voice ently where we’re no longer looking at print INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 136 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 137 budgets and saying, ‘Let’s make a video to go FROM ONE MINUTE TO TEN 3 This audience has a connection to our region. with that story’.” 4 We can “own” this audience locally. So, instead, Gauss gets everyone involved “WE FOUND THAT They also moved from short videos to long- from the beginning. “We’ve taken a step back form videos. Before 2018, most videos typically 5 We can “do a job” for this audience. and brainstormed how we could we tap into YOUNG PEOPLE ran for one to three minutes, now shows run six 6 We can identify multiple opportunities for the expertise around the newsroom,” she said. to 10 minutes and longer. For example, in 2017, revenue with this audience. “How can we leverage some of the ideas of a 35-second video about the top five archi- ARE TRYING 7 We can identify a reporter/team with a track people who aren’t traditional video makers, tectural marvels of Milan generated a measly record of attracting readership. and work together to realise these ideas? And I 17,000 views. “Engagement goes up as we create think that’s another great of example where it’s TO NAVIGATE longer episodes, and it creates opportunities for 8 We can identify a reporter/team able to run really about working together from the brain- ad insertions in ways you can’t when the content coverage on various platforms. storm phase at the ground level.” A DIFFICULT is only three minutes long,” Condé Nast Enter- 9 We can identify a reporter/team willing to As a result, Gauss and her video team have tainment President Oren Katzeff told AdAge. do the sprint. succeeded in bringing new levels of creativity to Data show that the entire YouTube audience the media company’s storytelling. PATH BETWEEN for Architectural Digest are new recruits who The Bee decided to test four communities: have never even read the magazine, according to State workers (Sacramento is capital of Cali- AN ANIMATED SERIES AIMED…AT PARENTS INFORMATION Drucker Mann. fornia), local diners, healthcare workers, and The Times video team has produced some re- homeowners or “wannabe” homeowners. ally creative work, including an animated series “After identifying communities they could geared toward parents, a fake infomercial adver- OVERLOAD AND 3. CREATIVITY IN AUDIENCE serve better, the newsroom pulled years worth tising a phone hotline for racists, and an ongo- of food and drink coverage analytics to get ing series called “Diary of a Song”, which uses a FOMO (FEAR OF IDENTIFICATION a baseline of what worked and what didn’t,” mixture of low-quality Skype interview footage, Gustus and Chance wrote. For the diners' com- behind-the-scenes informal studio footage, and MISSING OUT).” Creativity in audience identification is an ex- munity, the data told the team that restaurant Instagram animation techniques to walk the ample of how creativity is popping up in areas reviews were not popular and did not drive paid viewer through how a hit song was made. Tristan Ferne Lead producer for the BBC of media where you might not expect it. subscriptions. Internet Research & Future Services team For the animated series aimed at parents, a Before even brainstorming about story ideas producer pitched it when the Times was think- or content packages, The Sacramento Bee SPRINTS WITH MEASURABLE GOALS ing about ways to reach a younger female audi- brainstorms about audiences. The team launched “sprints” lasting six to ence. She started by doing a series of “call-outs” ers and nearly doubled that number in 2019 And even in doing that, it decided to be cre- eight weeks during which the editorial team (outreaches on multiple channels to their audi- (2.6 million at the end of the year). The same ative: “Audience” wasn’t the right term. created series of stories focused on content ence explaining the project and asking for sto- recalibration of the publisher’s approach to “I think sometimes we overuse the word ‘audi- relevant to each community to test what drove ries women would like to share). “We received video also resulted in another classic title, Bon ence’ — what we’re really looking for is: ‘Is there paid subscriptions. Because the idea behind more than 1,500 responses, which is pretty Appétit, tripling its subscribers to 3.7 million. a community here?’” wrote Lauren Gustus, west a “sprint” is speed, the team didn’t pause to remarkable.” said Gauss. “It showed us there was One of the new approaches was to incorpo- region editor for McClatchy (owner of the Bee), do focus groups but instead used a variety of a lot of demand for this kind of content.” rate famous hosts. For example, Architectural on Better News, a journalism innovation site. social media and Google Forms to reach out to After narrowing the responses to six pro- Digest created a new show entitled “Open Door” Sacramento residents asking for direction and files, the producer did the interviews and then and featured big-name stars from a variety of CREATIVE AUDIENCE TARGETING feedback. worked with a team of all-female animators to fields walking viewers through their multi- Gustus and Amy Chance, a Bee senior editor, Then they set content goals and aspirational bring the stories to life. million-dollar mansions. Here are some of the experimented with identifying and serving goals. “A sample sprint goal: We will grow stand-out stars and the number of views their specific audiences in an effort to grow digital audience by writing at least five high-utility TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES WATCH TIME episode accrued by mid-January 2020: subscriptions. and high-interest food stories a week,” the pair “More than 50,000 users spent 25 minutes “Our future success will be built around the wrote. “And we will know success if we see a or more on [the Times] platform per session, l Grammy winning record producer and value people see in our work — and their will- 20% increase in page views and a 50% increase which is a remarkable level of engagement,” DJ Zedd (38m) ingness to pay for it — versus today’s model of in subscriber views, a key metric for us as we Gauss said. “One of the things we’ve been really l Rapper Wiz Khalifa (34m) diminishing returns for programmatic advertis- look to grow digital subscribers.” focused on is serialised content and we are see- l Actress/Businesswoman Jessica Alba (19m) ing,” the pair wrote. During the sprints, the team measured obses- ing a lot of binge-watching behaviour. So now l Actor Robert Downey Jr. (15m) The Bee assembled a team of editors and writ- sively and met every week to discuss results and we’re thinking about creating content and shar- l YouTube personality David Dobrikj (14m) ers to use data to identify potential communities build new story plans. ing it with our audience in a way that they can l Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger (10m) using nine criteria to select and test several tar- It worked. consume a number of episodes per visit.” l “Full House” star John Stamos (5m) get audiences to see which content drives them The Bee saw 4% growth in digital-only sub- At Condé Nast, they used a creative video to become paying digital subscribers. scribers over four months in early 2019 and the approach for a title that might not be the “Celebrities were not the obvious choice for stories also grew subscriber page views by 95%. most obvious candidate for viral videos: the Architectural Digest,” Condé Nast Chief Rev- 1 This audience “self-identifies” as part of The success of the sprint was made plain by the 100-year-old Architectural Digest. In 2018, the enue Officer Pamela Drucker Mann told AdAge. a group. food writer’s standing in the editorial analyt- Condé Nast video team managed to quadruple “But we thought maybe it would be more rel- 2 Our analytics show this audience has a high ics over that period: Bethany Clough, the Bee’s its YouTube audience to 1.4 million subscrib- evant for that millennial and Gen-Z audience.” likelihood of return visits. restaurant and retail reporter, was: INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 138 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 139

l First in the newsroom and involved in constructive commenting. in direct subscription By April 2019, they had developed a series conversions “IT FELT of changes to the site’s comments strategy, ac- l Second in the newsroom cording to Story: in stories that led to a APPROPRIATE conversion l Comments have been re-labelled as l First in subscriber page “conversations” to indicate an environ- views FOR US TO JOIN ment where readers are welcome to l First in page views share their thoughts. FORCES WITH l Only select (around 30) news stories Gustus and Chance have advice and opinion pieces are open for audience for other editorial teams looking commenting and the commenting option to be creative in identifying and ONE OF THE is for a limited time. Those stories are servicing unique communities: clearly marked as being open for “Study existing data, build WORLD’S MOST conversation. SMART goals (Specific, Measur- l Conversations begin with question able, Aggressive yet achievable, ICONIC FASHION prompts from reporters who will also Relevant, and Time-bound), occasionally engage directly with readers. and jump on tactics your team l Only paying readers can join these thinks can get it there. You need AND BEAUTY conversations. enough content to demonstrate l Meaningful comments are highlighted. clearly that an audience is or PUBLICATIONS, l The project is managed by an Audience isn’t engaging. Don’t wait too Voices & Community newsroom team long to set things up and don’t with an editor, reporters, and multimedia allow for long periods between BRITISH VOGUE.” producers. stories — that all hampers the Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou effort. And meet weekly to L’Oréal Global Brand President It’s working. review performance and build Both the number of people reading com- your plan for the week ahead. ments and the number of people posting, liking Set an end date. DOING COMMENTS DIFFERENTLY Since reinstating on-site comments, they or replying to comments has increased by 5%, “If you’re successful, plan for how you transi- In looking to drive more engagement and paid are getting approximately 25,000 comments according to the Journal. The company also tion from a sprint to a marathon,” they wrote. subscribers while also reducing churn, two me- per month from subscribers, according to the claims the commenters are both younger and “You’ll have the data to demonstrate why your dia companies took a fresh look at comments: company. more female-skewed. sprint was a success. Sharing those successes Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and The The goal isn’t to grow the number but the “Broadly speaking, in the news business, we with key decision-makers, and the newsroom Wall Street Journal. quality, making it a useful place to read as well need to understand what the audience likes to more broadly, should help you get buy-in you’ll Dagens Nyheter abandoned on-site com- as contribute, Jönsson said. do and reflect that,” Story told Digiday. “You need to make the change stick. We all must be ments several years ago as readers flocked to have a public that really likes to participate in more nimble about shifting beats and coverage Facebook in large and increasingly boorish SOME AMAZING CONVERSION NUMBERS the conversation. They are looking for a more areas. This is a low-risk way to determine if your numbers. “The quality of comments on Face- Dagens Nyheter converts roughly 2,000 sub- thoughtful place. That was the opportunity we ideas have legs.” book has been so terrible, and it’s taken so scribers a week and in May 2019 it had grown saw. We’re increasingly focusing on our mem- much time in moderating to make sure people 40% year over year. Since 2017, the company bers — two-way interaction with our audience don’t break the rules,” Head of Editorial Devel- has nearly halved its churn rate from 15% to 8%. — and what that means.” 4. CREATIVITY IN AUDIENCE opment Martin Jönsson told Digiday. “It was For readers who have subscribed for more than Story says the quality of the comments is also becoming more of a burden.” a year, churn has dropped to 1.2%, according to getting better. ENGAGEMENT Two years ago, Dagens Nyheter decided to Jönsson. reinstate comments, but on its own site, not on At The Wall Street Journal, the editors chal- COMMENTS POLICIES THAT WORK It takes a creative mind to see potential in an Facebook where it has cut their posts in half, lenged themselves to revisit comments. Since the changes were instituted, the Jour- almost universally discredited or at least almost using the platform for marketing instead. “We looked at ourselves and asked what nal has tweaked its comments strategy even universally abandoned tactic: Comments. we were doing about it,” Editor of Newsroom further. Comments had been a powerful driver of COMMENTS BUILD LOYALTY Strategy Louise Story told WhatsNewInPublish- engagement and community building, but AND FREQUENCY ing. “Were we providing a forum for thoughtful l Lengthened the time that people can between the toxic nature of many comments “The main focus has been on time spent conversation? Were we providing an experience comment from 48 hours to four days and the unmanageable volume, most media and conversion, but [comments] will help that interested most of our audience? Were we because print readers were seeing stories companies long ago shut them down. Publish- strengthen loyalty and frequency,” Jönsson leading by example?” that had been published online two days ers decided that the risk of offending readers said. “The most common churn driver is lack of In late 2018, they decided to conduct a five- ago and were cut off from commenting. and the cost of dedicating far too many people frequency in visits.” Comments drive frequency month in-depth research study to get a handle l Thought-provoking comments are to managing them wasn’t worth the return. and loyalty, Jönsson said. on how they could get more readers engaged highlighted and shared on the WSJ’s INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 140 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 141

social accounts and in its newsletters TARGETING YOUNG PEOPLE (where highlighted comments have had As we’ve mentioned earlier, the most successful a higher click-through rate than the creative endeavours begin with discipline, start- original story!) ing with identifying the target audience and “WE’VE NOTED MATCHES creating a team. The moderating team (the “audience voice “For the first phase of the project we chose to WHERE ALMOST HALF THE team”) has grown from three part-timers to design new story formats for young people — eight full-time staff since late 2018. Their mis- they are digital- and mobile-first and tend to be ADULT POPULATION IN sion is to scout for interesting and newsworthy open to new experiences,” wrote Ferne. “They LOCAL TOWNS ACROSS stories rather than act as gatekeepers, Story are also a really important but hard-to-reach said. audience for the BBC so this seemed a good NORWAY HAVE LOGGED place to start.” IN TO WATCH.” HIGHLIGHT THE BEST COMMENTS They did their research online and in person Story also believes that the Journal’s new and learnt that 18–26 year olds want to: Amedia EVP Pål Nedregotten practice of highlighting the best comments has contributed to the reduction in comments be- l Skim, but dig deeper when they’re ing flagged as inappropriate. interested “That carrot increases the quality,” Story told l Understand complex stories Digiday. “We’re feeding this back into report- l Read a story all in one place ing. It is better when we include the audience. l Get help forming opinions Stories that are more interesting and relevant l Have a choice of media that suits context to journalists mean the audience is also more invested and more likely to stay.” “We found that young people are trying to In the summer of 2019, the WSJ started navigate a difficult path between information running video and audio posts that displayed overload and FOMO (fear of missing out),” he conversations. Story described this new tactic wrote. “In general, they wanted choice on how as the first step in a concerted campaign to to consume information. There was an apparent focus on building community between pay- preference for text, but it always depended on ing members and journalists, and between the their context and the story. Limited mobile data members themselves. plans, for example, meant video was consumed more at home.” succeed fast), the team translated ideas into we spoke to used for online news.” testable prototypes on a weekly basis, using real Here are some of those prototypes: 5. CREATIVITY IN STORYTELLING PLAYFUL EQUALS ENGAGING news stories, and over 12 weeks tested 12 proto- As the project proceeded, the team also discov- types with 26 members of the target audience. 1) Expander — Embedded context PLATFORMS ered through live testing with members of the In evaluating the audience’s reactions, they The team took a regular criticism of the BBC to audience that “the more playful we made our set the following guidelines (in addition to the heart: Critics say the BBC too often assumes the It’s hard to break a habit. prototypes, the more engaging our participants list in the beginning of this chapter): reader has in-depth knowledge of every subject, “News on the internet is largely served up found them — even if we didn’t always get the and uses jargon and complex terms in nuanced as 500 to 800-word articles — a legacy of interaction quite right,” he wrote. l People can understand and use the geo-political stories. newspaper,” wrote BBC Internet Research & After the research phase, Ferne assembled a format intuitively The “Expander” prototype takes the infor- Future Services Lead Producer Tristan Ferne on multi-disciplinary team with the key skills to l It fits their needs, contexts and technology mation that can fill those knowledge gaps but the BBC News Lab blog. “Although the digital dream up and then create paradigm-busting l It works at scale hides it within expandable boxes, giving the article has been enhanced and improved with prototypes; a multimedia journalist from the l It enables journalists to tell stories in an reader who doesn’t need that information new technologies, it still works on the assump- World Service, a UX designer, a user researcher, efficient and creative way a concise reading experience but also gives tion that ‘one size fits all’.” and a developer. A “minimum viable BBC” he another reader the opportunity to get clarity or So the BBC R&D team decided to get creative called it. “Overall we’re looking for formats that are more information on a topic or term by clicking about storytelling platforms. To enable the testing of as many ideas as feasible, desirable, meet user needs and are new on a yellow ellipsis icon. Clicking on that icon For almost all of 2019, the R&D team possible, the team created “experience” pro- and innovative,” Ferne wrote. opens up the additional information (e.g., a dreamt up and then experimented with almost totypes”. They also limited their scope to only In the first three-month phase of the project, profile of a key figure, a dictionary definition or three dozen options for mobile storytelling re-using content the BBC already produced so the team’s prototypes were a mix of working background to an aspect of the story). A blue beyond that standard 500- to 800-word ar- that all they were changing was the format, not web pages, mockups, and videos. “The ideas “eye” icon indicates additional information ticle. Over 12 months, the four-person team — demanding the creation of new content. ranged from playing atmospheric audio for that is visual — an image, video or social media including a full-time journalist — created 35 a story, scrubbable videos, swiping through embed. workable prototypes. Before 2019 was up, they 12 PROTOTYPES IN 12 viewpoints, choosing your format, curations of A 22-year-old male member of the prototype had activated two new formats in the BBC’s WEEKLY SPRINTS stories, cinematic introductions and expandable testing group said: “I like that, if you’re unfamil- reporting, with more new formats lined up for In what was an amazing use of the “sprint” explanations,” he wrote. “Everything was de- iar with something, it’ll clarify that”. adoption. innovation model (create fast, test fast, fail or signed for mobile, because that’s what everyone “It’s simple but effective,” wrote Ferne. “This

Pål Nedregotten Amedia AS INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 142 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 143

Generation Z audience seems to prefer informa- This prototype gives viewers the power to couldn’t possibly have dreamt up. tion in one place — rather than links taking skim the video to the parts they want by show- The “Non-Issue Issue” celebrating women them elsewhere. We think this modular ap- ing the text in synchronisation with the video. “THE GOAL OF THE over 50. British Vogue and L’Oréal Paris teamed proach could work well for long-form journal- The prototype also includes a “handle” on the up in the shared belief that age is a “non-issue.” ism and for topics that need additional explana- text area to enable viewers to expand it to fill 1619 PROJECT “In direct response to women over 50 tion like politics or economics.” the screen if they prefer reading to watching or remaining conspicuous by their absence in the vice-versa. beauty and fashion industries, and the wider 2) Incremental — Choose your own format “It tested really well — Participants talked IS TO REFRAME media landscape, this issue is dedicated to all the People are often put off by long articles, espe- about using it to skip to interesting bits or to women who feel left behind by the beauty and cially on their mobile devices. This prototype review something they missed,” wrote Ferne. AMERICAN fashion industries because of their age,” British — “Incremental” — breaks a story into sections “They found it intuitive to use once they’d dis- Vogue Editor Edward Enninful told AdAge. and then gives readers the option to consume covered the function.” HISTORY BY “As a brand which has always championed each section in whichever format they choose: “You can go back to clarify, that’s good,” said and celebrated female empowerment at every video, short text, long text, or they can choose one 21-year-old tester. age, it felt appropriate for us to join forces with to just skip that section. “We made it look a bit CONSIDERING one of the world’s most iconic fashion and message-y to appeal to this audience,” wrote MEETING READER NEEDS beauty publications, British Vogue,” L’Oréal Ferne. “Under the hood, it is conceptually WITH DIGESTIBLE BITS WHAT IT WOULD Global Brand President Pierre-Emmanuel object-based and the structured content could In the second phase of the project, the team Angeloglou said. “This [is] hopefully a first step be re-used in chat apps or voice interfaces.” focused on: 1) Tweaking the stories based on in a global movement that helps us to normalise The team found that this prototype was the fa- each reader’s information needs, and 2) Break- MEAN TO REGARD the subject of ageing.” Jane Fonda was the vourite among the test group. “We think it could ing down the news into more digestible bits, cover star and the issue included interviews be a kind of long-form by stealth — a way of helping readers grasp the complexity of various 1619 AS OUR with Helen Mirren, Isabelle Adjani, make-up engaging people put off by long articles or lots of current events. artist Val Garland, and others. sidebars and related article links,” wrote Ferne. The first idea, tweaking stories based on each Testers said the sub-headings and nuggets reader’s information needs, sounded a lot like NATION’S BIRTH of information were easier to absorb, having “personalisation”, a phase which has come to 7. CREATIVITY IN STORY content in one place was good, and they liked include ads that stalk you around the internet. YEAR.” PRESENTATION the option to select the length and media type The BBC consciously did NOT use that phrase Jake Silverstein Editor-in-Chief, The New to suit their preference or situation. nor seek to do what it has come to mean. York Times Magazine “I really like that, the long/short/skip” choice, “When we use [the word] personalisation, The New York Times left no medium or plat- said a 21-year-old female participant. people [think about] about ads following them form unturned in its monumental package around the internet,” Ferne told the journal- 2) Simplify about slavery in the U.S., “The 1619 Project”. 3) Viewpoints — Swiping opinions ism think-tank Neiman Lab. “They’d talk about Another extension of the Expander mission, In marking the 400th anniversary of the ar- The team’s research into its target audience found shopping sites and they felt that that jarred this prototype replaces jargon-filled paragraphs rival of the first slave ship, the Times created a that they really want to understand complex a bit with news, so we just decided to not use with more basic language as well more back- three-month effort including: topics — the “why” not just the “what” — and as the word personalisation, instead adapting ground. part of that, they want to be exposed to a range of the stories to you and getting away from those 3) Perspectives l A special issue of The New York Times viewpoints to help them form their own opinion. preconceptions.” Picking up where the Viewpoints prototype left Magazine devoted to slavery’s history and So this prototype — “Viewpoints” — was off, the “Perspectives” prototype repackages vid- legacy in America featured 17 literary designed to provide that background in a na- MOBILE WEB OVER APPS eo clips of people expressing different perspec- works including essays, poetry, fiction by tive mobile format. It is a series of cards, with The team also decided to focus on the mobile tives (clips that were already created for a long contemporary black writers the first being a brief overview of the issue, web instead of apps. In designing for Genera- video news report). The prototype puts them l A visual history of slavery assembled in followed by the option to swipe through short tion Z and lower-income women aged 28-45 into an Instagram Story format, giving users the collaboration with the Smithsonian’s videos making the pro and con cases, and end- — two groups underserved by the BBC — they ability to listen to a variety of viewpoints. For the National Museum of African-American ing with a final swipe to a poll. focused on designing for mobile web and text- prototype, for example, they could choose to lis- History and Culture The team found that the playful interaction based news instead of storage-needy apps/data ten to the victim of knife crime, a gang member, l Contemporary images accompanying was more effective than the same content pre- plan-eating video, said Ferne. a police chief, and/or a DJ. every text piece as a constant reminder sented in linear form, according to Ferne. The second phase resulted in four new pro- “They found it made the story feel more that even though slavery was formally “That shows you both sides, in video form, totypes: objective and less biased than having a single abolished more than 150 years ago, its and you can obviously decide for yourself and journalist presenting it,” Ferne wrote. legacy remains insidious see what other people think as well,” said a 1) Summary l Hundreds of thousands of extra copies 24-year-old male member of the testing panel. This prototype picked up on the goal of the Ex- of the magazine and special section pander prototype: Accepting the fact that many 6. CREATIVITY IN STORY distributed for free at libraries, museums 4) Fastforward — Scrollable video readers may not have an up-to-date or detailed and schools How often do you open a long video and wish understanding of the issues or the timeline. For CONCEPTUALISATION l Recurring stories in The Times itself you could skim it to see what’s coming and this prototype, journalists wrote summaries l A special issue of The New York Times choose the parts you want? and/or timelines. Here’s a creative editorial idea an algorithm for Kids INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 144 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 145

l Live events in New York and logged in to watch, and, for a local offering in Washington, D.C. small Norwegian towns, a host of other matches l Videos of those live events with simply stellar viewership numbers.” l An educational curriculum to be Amedia is now Norway’s largest producer of distributed to high schools and universities live sports, according to Nedregotten. AI, MACHINE LEARNING, AND “The goal of The 1619 Project is to reframe OLD IS NEW AGAIN American history by considering what it would As creative as it was, it was really just a logi- mean to regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year,” cal extension of print era practices: “Amedia’s wrote NYT Magazine Editor in Chief Jake newspapers have always tried to serve the Silverstein. “Doing so requires us to place the freshest data from football matches as possible,” consequences of slavery and the contributions wrote Nedregotten. “As recently as the ’80s and of black Americans at the very centre of the ’90s, it was not uncommon for newspapers to ALGORITHMENTS TO THE RESCUE story we tell ourselves about who we are as a tape paper sheets with updated game scores in Foreign-language stories no longer a translation headache country.” the windows of their offices, offering a glimpse into the match’s progression for information- thirsty local fans outside.” For as long as people have been writing great journalists in their daily routine. This data science 8. CREATIVITY IN LOW-TECH The transition to video started in 2010 when stories in their own language, whole chunks of the as a service for content-businesses is already the cost of production started going down. world have largely been denied the pleasure of subscribed to by major publishers in Germany and SOLUTIONS Instead of being encumbered by clunky cameras reading those stories. is available in numerous languages.” and hundreds of metres of cables and rick- Not anymore. “Starting in the summer of 2020, if publishers Sometimes creativity involves expensive or at ety scaffolding, newspapers like Tidens Krav A start-up called The Story Market was founded prefer to hire a freelance journalist themselves, the least complicated new technologies necessitat- utilised a simple Web cam and the free service in early 2020 in Munich, operating globally to put platform will offer this as a service as well,” said ing prototypes created by teams of program- Ustream. the work of the world’s best freelancers into the Co-Founder and CMO Doris Wiedemann. “After mers and developers. Amedia jumped into the game with just one hands of any media company, regardless of what getting a description of the project the publisher But not always. camera, a reporter, a laptop, an ethernet cable language that company uses in their media. wants, algorithms are used to suggest the best At Norway’s Amedia AS, a creative low-tech (and later, wireless SIM-card, and a streaming Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning matching journalists, whilst The Story Market idea delivered the following results: set-up). “We were getting good at production on techniques, and Natural Language Process- handles the complete administration and billing- a shoestring budget,” Nedregotten wrote. ing (NLP) algorithms, The Story Market makes process.” l 158% growth in terms of unique users the work of global freelancers available to any Even before they launched, The Story Market was of sports content VERY FORTUITOUS TIMING publisher around the world for very reasonable busy amassing an army of journalists in more than l 31% digital subscription growth — from Then came the shift to reader revenue and the prices and translated into the language of the 30 countries and building up a menu of more than 170,000 to 223,000 sports match streaming service was suddenly a publisher’s choice. several thousand articles for purchase. l Churn reduction from 10% to below 5% tremendous asset. “Our goal is that one day we all read [publications] The brains behind The Story Market are two l Extremely strong viewership numbers “Fast forward to 2015: Amedia had one full that represent the variety of people, cultures, highly experienced professionals in digital media (the record was 26,529 viewers in a town year of pivoting to digital subscriptions under ideas, and stories that make our world so unique,” and journalism. Lena Späth worked as a research with 55,000 inhabitants) its belt, was rapidly heading toward subscrip- wrote the founders on their website. “We want to analyst for start-ups and consultancies and is the tion growth, and all our statistics indicated read only the best stories, the ones that have been author and publisher of the bestseller 'Behind So what was the low-tech creative idea that streaming live sports had the hallmarks of a created by experts and people on the ground. If Closed Curtains: Interior Design in Iran'. Doris Wi- drove those impressive results? sleeper hit — with the potential to become we’re going to save quality journalism and foster edemann is a 20-year veteran in digital publishing, Live-streaming local football and other sport huge,” wrote Nedregotten. “In 2017, we pro- democratic societies, we need to support the ones with earlier managing roles at Condé Nast, Axel matches. Lots of them. duced no less than 1,500 matches. Level Two. who create great stories.” Springer, and German TV-station Pro7. Level Three. And youth matches: from week- The online platform offers a global marketplace 3,000 LOCAL MATCHES LIVE-STREAMED end-long football cups far away from home, we connecting media companies and brands with “A full 3,000 matches! Men’s and women’s reached absent parents, grandparents, uncles, top freelance journalists. It allows publications to THE STORY MARKET football. Youth matches and cups. Roughly half aunts, friends, and family — a whole different license articles published in major international football. The rest consisted of hockey, handball, demographic from your regular football fan. media outlets. Those stories can be published MAKES THE volleyball, basketball. You name it,” wrote EVP “Solid sports coverage was proving to be an instantly for just a fraction of the original price. To Pål Nedregotten on INMA.org. “What started important part of the value delivered to local keep the quality of the content high within the mar- out as a simple and — honestly, quite shaky — readers by the digital newspaper subscription, ketplace, all journalists and publishers are vetted WORK OF GLOBAL experiment has become industrialised.” as indeed it had in print,” Nedregotten wrote. by an experienced team of journalists. “We’ve seen record viewership numbers in- “By globalising journalism, we seek to support FREELANCERS creasing throughout the year, more viewers per SUDDENLY NORWAY’S LARGEST quality journalism and the people who create and match, and far higher peak viewership numbers LIVE FOOTBALL PRODUCER publish great stories, especially in these rapidly than in 2017,” he wrote in early 2019. “We’ve So Amedia signed an exclusive deal with Nor- changing times,” said Co-Founder and CEO Lena AVAILABLE AROUND noted matches where almost half the adult way’s Football Association to stream 10 match- Späth. “This is why the team is working addition- population in local towns across Norway have es per round from the local, Level Three for the ally on innovative data tools to help publishers and THE WORLD INNOVATION INNOVATION Even You Can IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 146 Be Creative 2020-21 2020-21 147

full 2015 season. By the end of the season, with porting, not just in big and ambitious projects.” 350 streamed matches, Amedia was already the So, how did the NYT get its writers to love country’s largest producer of live football. spreadsheets? With the pivot to a paid-subscription revenue Given the importance of the skill deficit, the model in 2014, and the decision to make the Times’s Digital Transition Team decided to streams available only to subscribers, subscrip- invest in training, starting with two pilot pro- tion sales climbed steadily upward as did views grammes and expanding to an intensive boot on the streams, according to Nedregotten. The camp open to reporters on all desks. From early subscription sales were enhanced by the steady 2018 through mid-2019, The Times trained increase in the number of streamed matches more than 60 reporters and editors who’ve and the expansion to youth matches and other since gone on to produce dozens of data stories. sports, The training is not for the faint of heart. “In 2018, we rebranded and redesigned the “Based in Google Sheets, it starts with beginner service under a joint umbrella, Norgessporten skills like sorting, searching and filtering; pro- (‘The Norway Sports’), available under all of gresses to pivot tables; and ends with advanced our 63 local news sites and one national site, as data cleaning skills such as if and then state- an integrated part of the newspaper subscrip- ments and vlookup,” wrote Cook. “Along the tion,” wrote Nedregotten. “All matches — even way, we discuss data-friendly story structures, if they are hyper-local — are available to the data ethics and how to bulletproof data stories.” subscribers of any of our newspapers across the country.” DATA BOOTCAMP FOR REPORTERS The boot camp lasts three weeks with a two- hour session every morning. During each ses- 9. CREATIVITY IN DATA sion reporters can work on data-driven stories and apply the skills they’ve learned. To ensure a smooth process, the team also trains each How do you get journalists to do something reporter’s editor. they not only don’t like to do, but also are It’s been so successful that “we have two or known to pride themselves on NOT even know- three times as many sign-ups as we have slots,” ing how to do?! wrote Cook. “As a result, we instituted a selec- “While journalists once were fond of jok- tion process where reporters are nominated by ing that they got into the field because of an the leaders of their desks.” aversion to math, numbers now comprise the Because The Times recognises that most foundation for beats as wide ranging as educa- media companies don’t have the budget to cre- tion, the stock market, the Census, and criminal ate the resources needed to run a data report- justice,” NYT Digital Storytelling and Training ing boot camp, it has shared their materials so Editor Lindsey Cook wrote on the company professionals as well as students and professors blog. “More data is released than ever before — can use them. there are nearly 250,000 datasets on data.gov What’s in the packet? alone — and increasingly, government, politi- Training Information: A list of skills in- cians and companies try to twist those numbers cluded in the training, both technical and things to back their own agendas. like data ethics, as well as the schedule from the “Even with some of the best data and graph- last round of training (“core skills”, “practice” ics journalists in the business, we identified a to apply those skills, and “story sessions” with challenge: data knowledge wasn’t spread widely reporters applying the skills to current stories). among desks in our newsroom and wasn’t Data Sets: Data sets and worksheet activi- filtering into news desks’ daily reporting,” she ties from practice sessions organised into three wrote. difficulty levels. Cheat Sheets: Intended as reference materi- STORIES LURKING IN DATABASES als for reporters covering each core skill they “With more competition than ever, we wanted teach. Since the training is in Google Sheets, the to empower our reporters to find stories lurk- technical prompts are for that program. ing in the hundreds of thousands of databases Tip Sheets: A collection of the more random maintained by governments, academics and and non-technical skills the course covers, such think-tanks,” wrote Cook. “We wanted to give as how to bulletproof your work, how to brain- our reporters the tools and support necessary storm with data and how to think creatively to incorporate data into their everyday beat re- while writing with data. MO 13 BUSINESS MODELS TO ENABLE YOUR MEDIA COMPANY TO THRIVE NE TI SA TION

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BUSINESS MODEL CLIENT INCOME INCOME TRANSACTION PROFIT REQUIREMENTS RISKS FOCUS COLLECTION POTENTIAL COSTS POTENTIAL

B2C Unique, relevant, must-have content; systems Customers not willing to pay. PAIDSUBSCRIPTIONS CONTENT Direct & B2B for raising awareness of that content High churn rate

A strong funding culture and strong Unless you already get foundation funding, NON-PROFITNON-PROFIT B2C Direct connections to the investor community the chances of breaking into that world in and wealthy individuals a substantial way are low

Deep understanding of audiences. E-COMMERCE B2C Direct Excellent platform. Unique and exclusive Lousy logistics and customer service E-COMMERCE & B2B product portfolio

Expertise to offer irresistible “content Strong existing competition in your niche. B2C Direct on stage”; internal event expertise Poor event organising capability. Unappealing EVENTSEVENTS & B2B or connections with event organisers content or presenters

Good partnerships with commercial and Creating a membership programme CLUB B2C Direct other outlets for product/service portfolio. that is just a thinly veiled subscription that CLUB & B2B Geographical reach aligned with media coverage offers little of value

An IT team that has already created (or is Substantial investments to hire expensive ITIT PROVIDERPROVIDER B2B Direct capable of creating) unique media software IT talent, and creating and maintaining and working comfortably with clients the software

Sales staff adept at consultative sales, Increased competition from big platforms ADVERTISING B2C Intermediated deep data to prove qualified audiences and from growing native/branded AD DEPENDENT & B2B and results, native/branded expertise advertising agencies

Creative teams within the organisation. Increasing competition from both traditional AGENCYAGENCY B2B Direct Marketing intelligence competencies and upstart advertising and marketing agencies

Sophisticated data-gathering software and Weak databases, insufficient analytics DATADATA BROKER B2B Direct internal analytics competencies to identify capabilities, inability to show results potential clients and deliver bespoke data

BRAND B2C Core brand deterioration due to poor BRAND LCENSER Direct Strong and valued brands LICENSING & B2B licensing choices

Unique (and expensive) investment talent with There are no guarantees. You risk losing it all. INVESTORINVESTOR B2B Intermediated deep understanding of the media start-up world The potential gains are insights into the cutting and the start-up world within your niches edge of the industry and profits

An easily accessed database of old photos, stories, Cost of handling exceeds profits due to B2C Direct pages/covers easily reproduced. Someone/team NOSTALGIA inefficiencies, insufficient demand assigned to handling sales/fulfilment

Internal expertise or access to external Poor execution; lack of expertise; poor expertise; a reputation for expertise in your EDUCATOR B2C Direct reputation; courses that miss the target niche(s); an audience looking to expand their & B2B audience's interests knowledge base

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 152 Subscriptions 2021 2021 153 52k to 13k In mid-2019, The Los Angeles Times reported KEY adding 52,000 new digital subscriptions in the first half of 2019, but netted an increase of only THE NUMBERS 13,000 due to churn. EditorAndPublisher.com 5%-25% 42% While there’s a certain allure that comes with Pre–COVID-19, a Deloitte survey showed capturing new customers, keeping customers the average U.S. consumer had 12 paid coming back will continually result in a greater media and entertainment subscriptions. ROI — and it costs 5-25X less to retain a Millennials averaged 17 subscriptions, customer. Harvard Business Review SUBSCRIPTION Gen Z had 14, and Gen X 13.5. And 27% of consumers, including 42% of Millennials, said they planned to subscribe to more services in the coming year. FIPP 0-25 Tellingly, back in late 2016, The Washington Post had no one dedicated to working on retention. Today, there are 25 people who work on retention BUSINESS 52% v. 14% in some fashion. Similarly, The New York Times According to the latest annual Journalism, tripled its retention-focused staff between 2015 Media and Technology Trends and Predictions and 2017. report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, more than half (52%) of the 200 media executives surveyed in 29 countries said subscription and membership would be their main revenue focus in 2019. This compared with 6% MODEL 14% for advertising revenue. Reuters Institute Publishers with over 6% stop rates have “thriving” digital subscriptions businesses (a stop rate is the percentage of all digital users who are “Reader revenue is providing stable and “stopped” by a subscription prompt, a paywall, growing income while advertising has or a meter limit), according to the Digital Pay- remained volatile, with many reporting 10x Meter Playbook from The Shorenstein Center worse than expected results in 2019.” Research firm Piano has found that the average and Lenfest Institute. The 50th percentile — The Reuters Institute conversion rate of registered users is 10x that of publishers in the study stops only 1.8% of anonymous visitors. Piano, a digital business of their readership with a paywall or meter. platform Publishers with sustainable digital businesses report stop rates above 4.2% of their readers. ot only is subscription “I do think there is an unbundling of the maga- WhatsNewInPublishing revenue growing, it is zine subscription,” Esquire Editor-in-chief Michael also morphing beyond its Sebastian told Folio. “Just as iTunes detached original form to include tracks from albums, we may be seeing the general From 1 to 8 greatly expanded niche access model for paid content splinter into passion Today, Investor’s Business Daily offers eight vertical subscriptions, points that micro-subscriptions serve with prod- different products, each designed with a different profitable enterprise uct mixes that go far beyond text and images.” investor persona in mind and priced accordingly: B2B sales, conversions We are also seeing the creation of entire de- Leaderboard costs $69.99 per month, while to high-end product partments dedicated to subscriber retention. MarketSmith costs upwards of $1,400 per year. subscriptions, and, most Tellingly, back in late 2016, The Washington Today, subscriptions account for 80% of IBD’s importantly, whole Post had no one dedicated to retention. Today, revenues, up from 50% in 2015. Digiday departments dedicated to there are 25 people working on retention. Simi- retention. larly, The New York Times tripled its retention- This transformation focused staff between 2015 and 2017. of reader revenue has “You don’t get money from conversion, it’s prompted what media from retention,” Kjersti Thorneus, Director industry magazine Folio called “a deep rethink of Product Management at Schibsted Media aroundN what a magazine is or can be”. Group, told WhatsNewInPublishing.

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REGISTRATION WALLS DRIVE CONVERSIONS “Recently we have seen more and more KEY publishers adding a new step to their subscription journeys: the registration wall. One reason is to better understand your audience and create more detailed user profiles. With this INSIGHTS deeper understanding of readers’ behaviours, THE publishers can convert them into paying subscribers. Piano’s research found that the MULTIPLE CONVERSION average conversion rate of registered users is STRATEGIES 10x that of anonymous visitors, thanks in part to The New Yorker has used multiple strategies to such tools.” TwipeMobile.com drive subscriptions: Newsletters (17 of them!), niche topic coverage (politics, business, food), personalised subscription pitches, and targeting ADVERTISING affinity groups on Facebook and Google with REALLY, REALLY TIGHT paid posts and paid search keywords to get their PAYWALLS content in front of potentially new audiences. “We know one of the common paywall mistakes FIPP is that simply not enough readers ever see the paywall. Industry-wide, the most successful paywall strategies aim to reach 5-10% of readers per month, as these are the most engaged readers PERSONALISED PAYWALLS who are in turn most likely to subscribe. In the past BUSINESS To meet its four-year goal of hitting three million few years, we’ve seen the number of free stories/ global subscribers, The Wall Street Journal month drop dramatically from 13 in 2012 to today’s spent four years building a paywall based on average of five. Some publishers like The Boston a machine learning algorithm that measures Globe are going even tighter, reducing from five reader activity across 60 variables and then stories over 45 days to just two!” TwipeMobile.com adapts the wall to each reader’s behaviour, delivering a free-story limit only in the areas of their interests. FIPP MODEL FEWER PEOPLE PAYING MORE “B2B publishers are increasingly moving from “Digital advertising is still a growth industry. With selling individual subscriptions to creating more SUBSCRIPTION FATIGUE? tailored packages for large enterprises. Melcrum, the ability to offer compelling content, brand safety, Recent research has raised the concern that which serves the internal communications and high-end audiences, savvy publishers are well- there are “potential limitations for the market community, concentrated on its few hundred positioned to be prosperous in 2020.” with terms like subscription fatigue entering the best customers and developed packages of — Tim Bourgeois, Digital Media Auditor and Consultant industry lexicon alongside suggestions that the condensed content and personalised advice, market for news and magazine media digital including best practice insights, practical guides, subscriptions is nearing a saturation point”. FIPP strategic tools, training programmes and access to a professional network. Melcrum went from thousands of subscribers at $500/year each or all the doom and gloom report concluded. (NY Times) to having a few hundred members at $30-50k about advertising, it The only solution for media companies each.” WhatsNewInPublishing NICHES LOOK GOOD nonetheless remains a growth competing for the cash not already taken by “Niche and specialist publications, as well as area. the platforms and squandered by ad blocking those with a marquee brand and a large base of The challenge is how to get is to fix the broken online advertising model, potential subscribers to tap into, may well be best your share. according to Jessica Rovello, CEO of content placed to ride the subscription storm.” — Damian CANNIBALISATION? Radcliffe, journalism professor/Univ. of Oregon, The advertising industry company Arkadium. The “downward spiral” of “The first argument against launching a new faces an “existential need the current system is caused by poor digital ad writing in WhatsNewInPublishing subscription vertical product is the fear of for change,” according to a formats that lead to ad blocking, reduction in cannibalisation. Will full-subscribers who had previously been paying for the entire product blunt report published in late revenue, more ads per page, and ultimately an downgrade to only paying for the subscription autumn 2019 by research firm awful user experience. To counter this, bet- vertical content? The counter argument is that Forrester. The media and ad ter engaging, less intrusive digital adverts will the alternative is actually churning entirely. agencies must “disassemble lead to an upward spiral, which will decrease If a subscriber is looking to downgrade their what remains of their out- ad blocking, increase revenue, lead to less, but subscription, isn’t it better to at least retain them moded model” or risk “falling more relevant ads per page and create a better as a subscriber with the vertical than to lose them further into irrelevance,” the user experience, Rovello said. as a subscriber completely.” Folio F

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WIDE PROGRAMMATIC 2.1% 65% ADOPTION EMarketer projects digital ad revenue will grow In a different survey of 135 publishers conducted “Programmatic advertising has reached KEY only 2.1% for magazines this year. Meanwhile, by Digiday Research in the autumn of 2019, unprecedented adoption in recent years as the print ad revenue this year is projected to drop over 65% of respondents said building direct- industry responds to changing marketplace another 17%. eMarketer sold ads was a major focus for them over the dynamics,” said Taylor Peterson, Deputy Editor at next six months. Other major priorities included Third Door Media. DigitalContentNext NUMBERS programmatic ads (almost 60%). Digiday

17-18% NATIVE COMMANDS MUCH Internet ad spend growth is led by the HIGHER PRICES 17% overlapping channels of online video and social 13-144% One of the main reasons for the incredible growth In the US, advertisers increased spending on media, which we expect to grow at average rates The findings showed that premium digital of native advertising representing from 31-69% digital formats by 17% during the first half of of 18% and 17% per year, respectively, to 2021. inventory running across quality content brands of total advertising revenue is that publishers are 2019. That’s a net increase of more than FIPP & Insight News in Q3 2018 outperformed digital marketing able to set significantly higher prices for native $8 billion, far outpacing total advertising growth measurement service Moat’s benchmarks advertisements compared to the traditional ones. rates of approximately 5%. DigitalContentNext by between 13% and 144%. World Media FIPP’s study claims that more than 60% (up from Group’s recent research concludes that the 56% last year) of publishers charge more for primary driver of increased engagement is the native advertising than basic promotions. FIPP 69% “halo effect” that comes from the value of the Native made up as much as 69% of overall contextual environment in which the ads are 52% revenue in some media organisations, up seen. Measurement service company Moat For the first time, internet advertising will exceed from 31% of the overall publishing revenue in 50% of the ad market in 2021 at a projected 2017, according to the FIPP’s report on native EMOTION-BASED 52%, according to the Advertising Expenditure advertising in 2018. FIPP & Insight News ADVERTISING Forecasts, published in mid-2019 by FIPP and In the spring of 2018, The New York Times Insight News. FIPP 66 piloted ad placements based on the emotions Desktop display ads on quality content certain articles evoke. By mid-2019, Project Feels sites achieved an active page dwell time of had generated 50 campaigns, more than $1b 66 seconds, 39% higher than the industry 30 million impressions, and strong revenue Marketers spent $479 million on podcast ads in average. Mobile display performed 35% more results (the Times declined to specify how much). 18% 2018 and are projected to spend over $1 billion interactions than average. Consumer attention Poynter The year 2018 saw a significant decline in ad on podcast ads by 2021. Reuters to videos on quality content pages was also high, revenue for magazine publishers in the US. Ad with audible and visible completion rates at 144% spending in print magazines, including Sundays higher than the Moat Q3 2108 benchmarks. Moat or inserts, fell by 18% year-over-year. wwd.com EMOTION-BASED ADS VASTLY OUTPERFORM 50% and With 150,000 data points, a Project Feels analysis team identifies articles with strong emotional resonance. The resulting algorithm 3.3%, but 36% then instantly finds which combination of Direct-sold and programmatic ads are the emotions is evoked as the story is posted. The brightest spots for publishers’ online revenues, Times and its advertisers can track with some also 12% the report shows. Fifty per cent of publishers precision whether the ad outperforms a more Spend in digital verticals of magazines reported that direct-sold advertising was a KEY random placement. Some have generated as actually rose by 3.3%, to $4.67 billion from large or very large source of revenue for them. much as 80% more impressions than regular $4.52 billion, but obviously not enough to make Programmatic ads are also another major source, behavioural targeting. The average lift is 40%. up the difference and not in line with the double- according to 36% of publishers. Digiday That success supports a premium charge. digit-percent growth in the digital ad market. INSIGHTS Poynter Combined, advertisers spent 12% less with magazines and related content, down to $13.64 billion last year from $15.47 billion PROGRAMMATIC the year prior. wwd.com 0% GUARANTEED BIG RESULTS Despite all the noise with the pivot to paid, Condé Nast boosted its revenue by 93% and subscriptions aren’t a source of revenue for an order volume by 41% in the past two years incredible 40% of publishers. Digiday through its “programme guaranteed” programme with Google. DigitalContentNext

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 158 Data Brokers 2021 20212020-21 159 KEY KEY THE DATA NUMBERS INSIGHTS UNIVERSAL INTERNAL 92 ACCESS TO DATA In a survey conducted in 2020 by NewVantage Part of the beauty of the Readerscope tool for Partners, 91.6% of executives said investment The Times is that anybody within its advertising in big data and data analytics is increasing, and group can access this information, explained 87.8% said there is more urgency to invest in Kendell Timmers, Times VP of advertising BROKERS these technologies. Lotame.com analytics. So, when salespeople have calls to make on clients, they can check ahead of time and get insights to share when they see their client, as opposed to having to talk to the data group for a lengthy analysis or talking points. 11b FIPP Vox Media’s Forte service, strengthened by the merger with New York Media, offers marketers BUSINESS access to direct-to-consumer relationships at nearly every passion point. They have 12,000 AI-DRIVEN DATA INSIGHTS custom proprietary ad units, representing a Publishers are finding new uses for algorithmic- data set of 11 billion impressions in the past based tools, like offering AI-driven data insights three years and brand KPI performance against to their advertising and marketing partners and considerations such as colour, action words and clients. A few years ago, The New York Times video lengths. Vox launched Readerscope, an AI-driven tool that summarises what segments of The Times' MODEL audience is reading, visualising who is interested in which topics and where they are. The tool “This is where first-party data becomes so important. can be used for content strategy, for branded 3 content, or for campaigns to help advertisers and Rather than developing entirely new inventory Three ways to make data actionable: marketers understand their desired audiences strategies, which is a heavy lift, publishers can 1. Targeted audience segments are a big better. FIPP look to what they already have — rich behavioural, opportunity: A key step for publishers is to build subscriber, and social data, most of it seriously under- “off-the-shelf” audience segments that can be leveraged. When used properly, first-party data can sold directly to advertisers. help publishers drive revenue in two ways — directly 2. Elevate new biz: Include data in RFPs. Publishers should build a customised response DATA BEATS GUTS and indirectly. It can help them to stop working “We’re really encouraging people to experiment to advertiser RFPs with audience data. harder and start working smarter. based on data as opposed to based on guts. I 3. Never leave out second-party data: There are — StreetFightMagazine think over time you'll find data beats guts,” said multiple ways data can be sold, either directly The Times’ Timmers. FIPP to another company through a second-party data exchange, or through a programmatic data exchange. Second-party exchanges are elling data-as-a-service (DaaS) you some serious money. Unfortunately, few particularly popular because they’re private has proven to be very lucrative media companies have figured out how to make marketplaces to buy or sell data one-to-one to DATA IS WORTH MORE THAN for some companies. Its success that happen. another company versus an open environment. ADVERTISING has fulfilled the prophecy “Publishers who want to not only compete StreetFight Selling data-as-a-service (DaaS) has proven to be of Prescott Shibles, Senior but also thrive in today’s media market need very lucrative for some companies. Its success VP/Data of advertising firm to look at what they already have in their back has fulfilled the prophecy of Prescott Shibles, Senior VP/Data of advertising firm Randall-Reilly, Randall-Reilly, who told the pocket,” said Fred Marthoz, Managing Direc- who said “targeting data will soon be worth more Connectiv Executive Summit tor at data solutions company Lotame, speak- than advertising inventory.” that “targeting data will soon ing to WhatsNewInPublishing.com. “We often be worth more than advertising talk about the pivot to video or the pivot to inventory.” podcasts. The pivot to data is really the biggest S Today data can actually make opportunity in the market today.”

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DATA OPENS LEAD UNLOCK MORE GENERATION FIRST-PARTY DATA At B2B publisher Hanley Wood in the US, its The key to unlocking more first-party data DataScale tool powers an advanced lead- lies with creating custom dimensions in your generation technology platform that is both analytics, giving you deeper insight into your flexible and scalable and integrates the audience. Publishers can use these dimensions company’s proprietary Construction Industry to segment data based on — among other things Database (the biggest in the industry with more — content categories, content types, and level of than 2.5 billion records). DataScale offers a audience engagement. Google’s User-ID feature full-service lead-generation platform focused also allows publishers to link this engagement on helping customers maximise internal data data to individual users in your other data assets and optimise their sales and marketing systems. By customising your Google Analytics automation investments. account to enrich your data, you can drive more value with the first-party data you already own. PubExec DATA-DRIVEN CONSULTING Hanley Wood now offers DaaS-related services including database management services USE FIRST-PARTY DATA and consulting with clients to align their data TO DRIVE MORE REVENUE with customer acquisition, media, marketing Demographic data by content type can provide and events strategies, as well as long-term far more actionable insight than a ranking of consultative marketing engagements, website URLs with the most page views, allowing you to development, lead generation, and content squeeze more revenue from your data. Knowing marketing. THE CLUB how many, say, men aged 25-34 who visit your site is one thing; knowing how many of them specifically consume automotive content is a powerful tool to command ad revenue from DATA-BASED advertisers, who can then target an audience AD-TARGETING TOOL they know will be receptive. PubExec The Washington Post has developed a first-party data ad targeting tool called Zeus Insights. It offers detailed contextual targeting capabilities BUSINESS along with user-intent predictions for marketers. The idea is to give marketers a sophisticated ad- targeting tool that does not depend on third-party cookies and yet drives results. The Post plans to license Zeus to other publishers by integrating it with its Arc technology platform. Currently Arc reaches 750m unique users globally. WhatsNewInPublishing MODEL “A subscription model requires audiences to pay money to get access to a product or service. A subscription conveys a transactional relationship. A membership model invites audiences DATA DRIVES EVENT to give their time, money, connections, professional expertise, ideas, and other non-financial ATTENDANCE contributions to support organisations they believe in.” Hanley Wood uses reader location and behaviour — Kate Myers, Executive Director/Revenue and Operations at First Look Media, a US-based data to promote attendance at live events. For journalism organisation example, when the publisher is organising an event, it will ensure that readers living nearby, who have consumed content related to the or starters, membership is not: What is it? event’s focus, are notified and invited via emails, “In membership, there’s a different social sites, or phone calls.“Without the data, we might l A subscription by contract or value proposition between the site have to market 20 times more than we do in another name and its members,” wrote Staff Writer Christine order to get the event registrations,” said Hanley l A branding campaign Schmidt for the journalism think-tank Nieman Wood’s EVP of Digital and Data Operations Sarah Welcome. you can launch when Lab. “At the basic level of: What do you give? revenue flags What do you get? Subscribers pay their money l A strictly American and get access to a product. But members media kind of thing join the cause and participate because they F l A consultancy buzzword believe in it.”

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America are earning between 20% and 80% of THEN CREATE A VALUE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE revenue from membership, according to Ariel “The biggest and most common mistake is to Zirulnick, Director of The Membership Project’s PROPOSITION take a pile of your existing products and throw Based on consumer feedback, determine what KEY Membership in News Fund. Nieman Lab them together into a membership programme, tangible problems you can solve, plus which then sit back and expect an enthusiastic emotional benefits you can provide (eg, we response. This lacklustre approach yields will make more confident, more recognised, lacklustre results.” Ristagno/PubExec more connected, more developed personally or NUMBERS professionally, or more entertained). Then put , together a value proposition that addresses your £1 200 readers’ needs and wants. Ristagno/PubExec At The Guardian members pay £1,200/year, A TWO-PRONGED STRATEGY “patrons” get access to exclusive events, Similar to Slate, The Guardian uses a dual- backstage tours, member-only newsletters and, pronged approach: 1) Provide enough value if they commit to double the contribution, access to attract and engage consumers in the free 5-10% to a morning editorial conference. For £5.99- CREATE THE PROGRAMME TO content, while offering premium, behind-the- The median percentage of unique visitors who £11.99/month, “subscribers” get an upgraded DELIVER ON YOUR PROMISE scenes content as an added benefit to members, become members is about .05%, according user experience in an app (two extra curated Now figure out how you take all your content, and 2) When the company publishes a story to the Lenfest Institute. However, over time, as feeds, ad-free) or an e-paper edition. INMA data, access to experts, and access to that holds truth to power and generates a lot publishers build their membership bases, the top communities and turn it into something that of attention, it is paired with a highly active performers typically can convert 5-10% of their fulfils the value proposition. Think beyond membership drive. Lenfest Institute unique visitors into paying members. Lenfest content. You don’t need a boatload of features. Institute Just two or three things on top of a subscription is enough. Just make sure these offerings 4 months solve the tangible and emotional needs of your MEMBERSHIP-DRIVEN Those who participate in at least one survey tend “whales”. Consider: TURN-AROUND to stay members for, on average, four months l Access to experts or editors in a monthly live, “On August 15, 2018, we announced the start longer than those who don’t. The closest that interactive webinar of membership for the Daily Maverick. At the , another touch-point comes to this is commenting l Tools that make it easier for subscribers to do 6 000 time, we weren’t entirely sure how we were going The free version of Slate’s Slow Burn podcast on an article. It has a similar effect: they last for their jobs: templates, diagrams, graphs, charts, to fund December’s payroll. [A year later], with generated 1.5 million downloads per episode, three months longer. The Engaged Journalism etc. National Journal, for example, provides more than 7,000 members joining us and a 75% and the podcast as a whole drove 6,000 Playbook members with useful PowerPoint presentations growth in headcount since we started, things look memberships in 2018. Slate’s strategy: Provide that can help streamline report creation a lot brighter. Building a recurring and significant enough value to attract and engage consumers l Tools that make it easier for subscribers to revenue stream has been liberating.” — Styli in the free content, while offering premium, pursue their hobby: calculators, charts, maps, or Charalambous, cofounder & CEO, Daily Maverick, behind-the-scenes content as an added benefit indexes, depending on your niche Cape Town, South Africa Nieman Lab to members. Lenfest Institute l Charitable contributions to a bigger cause l Educational resources, like videos and ebooks Ristagno/PubExec KEY MEMBERSHIP IS OWNED BY COMMERCIAL AND EDITORIAL 1,000,000 A MEMBERSHIP FUNNEL The Guardian decided membership would be In 2019, The Guardian in the UK had 650,000 more than a “marketing play” — it would be IS ESSENTIAL owned in equal part by the newsroom. The regular paying members, 360,000 of whom are Create a “trust funnel” by using qualitative INSIGHTS Guardian appointed one of its editors to be in recurring paying members and 290,000 pay for and quantitative audience data to develop charge of membership and to help define the print papers and digital memberships, according hypotheses on how to build trust, cluster membership strategy in partnership with the to the publisher. In 2018, it received more than members (ie by value or activity), set up commercial team. Lenfest Institute 364,000 single contributions from around FIRST, SURVEY TO a measurement framework, and create 318,000 contributors. In the last three years, the engagement activities. Engaged Journalism title received 1 million paid donations — a mix of DETERMINE NEEDS To develop a value proposition, identify your Accelerator Program one-offs, recurring paying members, and print “whales” — your most enthusiastic and engaged sales. INMA readers. Once you find them, go out and speak with them. Figure out why your publication is so important to them, what they care about, and MEMBERSHIP-LIMITED how well your brand satisfies their needs. Really CONTENT BEATS PAYWALLS listen for what gets them emotionally charged. A study of sites running closable models such Next, validate what you heard in those interviews as premium and hard paywalls, and non-closable 80% with a quantitative survey of your broader email Media organisations in other countries are models such as meters or memberships, found list. — Rob Ristagno, Founder and CEO of the often way ahead of US and European outlets in that locked content had a median monthly consulting company Sterling Woods Group developing membership. Many outlets in Latin conversion rate 14 times higher, according to PubExec subscription software company Piano. INMA

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 164 E-commerce 2021 2021 165 30% KEY When business send abandoned shopping cart owners emails, 71% are influenced by those emails (Adobe). Almost 30% of ecommerce revenue comes from abandoned cart emails. THE NUMBERS Salecycle 95% 95% of purchases will be made online by 2040. 60% More than 60% of customers say that they prefer Nasdaq, 2019 digital self-serve tools, such as websites, apps, or chatbots to answer simple inquiries. American E-COMMERCE Express 28% Although women are stereotypically assumed to dominate online shopping, men actually do, spending 28% more than women shopping 60% Almost 60% of people who own a virtual online. Kinsta assistant have used it to make a purchase BUSINESS through voice command. Voice commerce sales reached $1.8b in 2018, with the potential to reach 43% $40b in 2022. apolicious.com 43% of online shoppers have reported making purchases while in bed, 23% at the office, and 20% from the bathroom or in the car. Kinsta 80% By 2020, 80% of businesses will be using MODEL chatbots. Business Insider Intelligence “[What] smart publishers end up doing well is to become a discovery platform for their 10% readers. The best sites aren’t just talking about deals… it’s really about what types of 10% of customers report they have made a products are out there that reach this bar of ‘we want to write about it’.” purchase drunk. Kinsta — Stackcommerce VP/Business Development Ben Gafni speaking to WhatsNewInPublishing 16% Globally ecommerce sales will increase to 16% of all sales in 2020. This would be an increase of 19%. InternetRetailer -commerce and mobile TOTAL WORLDWIDE ECOMMERCE SALES commerce (m-commerce) IN TRILLIONS OF US DOLLARS Top 10 together enable both the The US is often considered the largest e-commerce market. It isn’t. By a large margin! instant creation of a need and Here are the top 10 largest ecommerce markets, then the instant satisfaction of eMarketer, 2019: $3.46T Global e-commerce sales were anticipated to hit that need. Media companies’ 1. China: $1.9b $3.46t by the end of 2019, up 17.9% from 2018’s brick-and-mortar pop-up 2. USA: $587m figure of $2.93t. Further, by 2022, e-commerce stores do the same thing. 3. United Kingdom: $142m sales are expected to reach $892b in the US 4. Japan: $115m The media company as a alone. InternetRetailer retailer business model can also 5. South Korea: $103m serve every level of the sales 6. Germany: $82m funnel. Media companies whose 7. France: $69m trusted editorial teams give the power of a media company to deliver results 8. Canada: $50m readers expert reviews of prod- to partners and advertisers while also creat- 9. India: $46m 10. Russia: $27m 72.9% ucts fulfil a consumer’s need for ing two new and potentially robust revenue The majority of first-time digital buyers used their product-purchase information streams: 1) Direct or commission revenue from mobile devices; by 2021, mobile e-commerce at the beginning, middle, and end of the funnel. product sales, and 2) Advertising revenue from could be $3.5t, 72.9% of e-commerce sales. In both cases, the success of publishers’ e- brands who purchase native ads and branded Emarketer and FIPP Ecommerce and m-commerce initiatives proves content around the service journalism. 70% About 70% of shopping carts are abandoned. In Pål Nedregotten2006, the average Amedia abandonment AS rate was 59.8%. Baynard Institute, 2018

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Monetisation WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 166 Ecommerce 2021 2021 Events 167 $8.2b Affiliate programmes, in particular, are lucrative KEY for digital publishers with large audiences. By the year 2022, affiliate marketing is expected to generate a whopping $8.2b in revenue in the US alone. Business Insider Intelligence INSIGHTS THE EVENTS THE BIGGEST CHANGE TO E-COMMERCE 14% “I suspect machine learning will be the biggest According to data from the US Census Bureau, change to e-commerce since it began — image e-commerce in the US grew by +14% in 2018 recognition in particular. What happens when following on a +16% growth rate in 2017. However, you can wave a phone at something and say ‘I like growth appeared to have decelerated further in this’?” — Media Analyst Benedict Evans speaking BUSINESS 2019 as the sector rose by just 5% in the third to WhatsNewInPublishing quarter of that year. US Census Bureau

THE IMPACT 18% OF VOICE SEARCH China’s official government statistics service The rise of voice search has implications for MODEL indicated online retail sales of physical goods publishers looking to sell products and services were up 25% in 2018 versus 28% in 2017. Sales on devices like Alexa, although Comscore found The increasing benefits from events are slowed further in the first quarter of 2019, rising that consumers are still less likely to purchase being driven by the growth of the “experience 21%, and just 18% in the first half of 2019. China through such devices than via mobile or desktop. Ministry of Commerce WhatsNewInPublishing economy.” According to the FIPP 2019 Events in Magazine Media report, 78% of millennials choose to spend money on a desirable experience rather than a material product. “People have TRUMP’S BIG TRUCK so many digital experiences these days, they’re 13% The President and the Big Boy Truck started out craving that live experience more and more.” Meanwhile, in Europe, they experienced a 13% as a listicle written by a BuzzFeed News reporter — Michael Caruso, Editor-in-chief at Smithsonian growth there in 2019, up from +12% in 2018. and was turned into a book when a Facebook Magazine. European ecommerce Report comment suggested it and received many likes.

edia companies have l A targeted mailing list a leg up on almost l A niche customer database SHOPPABLE RECIPES everyone else in the l Existing relationships with potential event Top 5 In August 2020, BuzzFeed’s food vertical, events space. Maybe sponsors Top five e-commerce tools WebPublisherPro : Tasty, launched a partnership with Walmart two legs! l Media platforms with large followings to 1. StackCommerce that provides Tasty app users with “shoppable 2. Shopify recipes,” allowing them to add the ingredient lists OK, most media promote events 3. Amazon from any video directly into an online Walmart companies do not 4. WooCommerce grocery cart for pickup or delivery.“This is employ an army of That is the kind of stuff you CAN’T buy! 5. Pretty Links different from advertising. It is very much down- event planners; many Magazine media companies who do run funnel and integrated with content.” Nilla Ali, don’t even have one events say events: BuzzFeed VP/ Strategic partnerships, speaking event planner on to Folio staff. But that’s the l Deepen the company’s connections with its 72% kind of expertise you readers Future Publishing saw its revenue from can buy. l Attract new readers and subscribers Media companies l Attract new advertisers who might not be e-commerce increase by 72% in 2018, with that CHURCH AND strand now making up 15% of its total revenue for DO have almost ev- interested in a print or digital relationship the year. STATE DEBATES erything else needed to run a successful event: l Deliver new revenue from fees and spon- While lucrative and growing fast, affiliate models sorships continue to challenge church and state traditions. l Relevant content l Raise awareness and brand recognition Talk of optimising conversions against content Ml l Niche expertise Make news are still fighting words for many editors and will always raise questions about the integrity of l A loyal following in that niche l Create content content decisions. Folio

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MEDIA COMPANIES CHECK ALL THE EVENT BOXES The number one thing to keep in mind is that KEY 20% most media companies already possess the right Revenue averages for a celebrity event: KEY tools to move into events — and turn a profit Year 1 revenue: US$150,000, with an attendance while they’re at it. A well-defined target audience? of about 800 Check. Existing channels for promotion? Check. Year 2 revenue: US$200,000, with attendance of NUMBERS A loyal following? Check. Bags of relevant about 1,100 INSIGHTS content and expertise? Double check! FIPP Average profit margin: 20% Lane/INMA HIGH-END EVENTS The niche content site, The Information, CREATING DEEP PERSONAL organises high-end events with VIP prices CONNECTIONS 78% starting at US$1,500. Subscribers get on-stage National Geographic’s live events team, National According to FIPP’s 2019 Events in Magazine Media report, 78% of millennials choose to spend acknowledgments, guest passes, and VIP Geographic Live, aims to create deeply personal 1.3M connections with attendees. “Customers who money on a desirable experience rather than a Hearst Live is Hearst UK’s 30-person events lunches with influential people. FIPP material product. “People have so many digital agency that in 2018 ran 100 events catering to experience Nat Geo Live events are some of the experiences these days, they’re craving that an audience of 1.3m people, doubling attendance most loyal customers to our brand, and most live experience more and more,” says Michael levels compared with the previous year. FIPP likely to recommend our brand to others,” Natali Caruso, Editor-in-Chief at Smithsonian Magazine. RUNNING EVENTS FOR Freeling, Director of Marketing, told FIPP. “The FIPP CLIENTS majority of our respondents report that attending our events increases their interest in watching Bonnier and Hearst Live run events for other our channels, subscribing to our magazines, brands. “As events have now become an purchasing one of our books, booking travel with integrated part of marketing plans, we have us, or shopping on our website.” 15 diversified to also offer the creation of events on How far in advance you need to plan all depends behalf of other brands,” said Victoria Archbold, 70% on the type and size of event you’re running, Managing Director of events and sponsorship at Revenue averages for a readers’ choice awards according to Thomas Howie, chief operations Hearst Live. FIPP event are: officer and one of the founding members of PROMOTE WAY IN ADVANCE l Year 1 revenue: US$80,000, with an Evessio.com, specialists in event management Having a user-friendly website and promotions attendance of about 300 software. “Smaller events that might be replicated up and running 12 months before the event will l Year 2 revenue: US$150,000, with attendance a number of times throughout the year might only IT’S NOT ABOUT PRICE help maximise returns and shine a spotlight on of about 500 need a few weeks,” he told FIPP. “Larger events ANYMORE your event rather than competitors’, Thomas l might need 15 months (such as an awards): three Howie, Chief Operations Officer and one of the Average profit margin: 70% “The four Ps [price, product, promotion, place] months to have all the questions, categories, founding members of Evessio.com, specialists in These expectations from Lyndsi Lane, Vice are not as important as they once were to branding and collateral sorted and then event management software, told FIPP. President of GateHouse Live Events and consumers,” said Archbold. “When it comes to 12 months to promote and make sales etc. Promotion are conservative, she said, as these experience, we are seeing them shift to the five Bigger international events might be two years events have very high profit margins. “If you’re in Ws — Where am I? Who am I with? What am I plus in the making.” FIPP a larger market, you’re going to blow these away,” doing? Which channel shall I share it via? Why she said. Anniversary years also provide big am I or they (the organiser) doing it? These are all opportunities for special recognition packages questions to bear in mind as you start planning.” to award recipients. Lane speaking at an INMA FIPP Webinar in Autumn ’19

A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT EVENT SPONSORS “The sponsorships vary greatly. We are now 30% beginning to think about, for example, could Revenue averages for an expo are: Year 1 revenue: US$100,000, with an attendance we have an official auto of (the event) ‘Journal of about 2,000 House’? Everywhere we are, that automotive Year 2 revenue: US$150,000, with attendance of partner is there providing shuttle services. Now about 5,000 that it's become more of a franchise, I think we Average profit margin: 30% Lane/INMA can think bigger about sponsorship,” said Josh Stinchcomb, the Global Chief Revenue Officer at WSJ, talking to The Drum.

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 170 Non-profit 2021 2021 171 €497b There are more than 146,000 “public benefit” KEY foundations in Europe. They have accumulated assets of at least €497b, and an estimated annual expenditure of €51b. A tiny fraction of European foundation funding goes to core support for THE NUMBERS journalism, especially in comparison to the US. Yet all of those foundations rely on the enabling environment a robust media provides in order to deliver their programmes. Adam Thomas, director 925 v. 300 of the European Journalism Centre Journalism-focused philanthropy in the US has nearly quadrupled since 2009, when just under NON-PROFIT 300 funders made $69 million in grants to just over 300 recipient organisations. By 2017, more 90% than 1,200 funders made over $255 million in The US non-profit media field is still highly reliant journalism grants to 925 organisations. Media on charitable giving, with grants and donations Impact Funders accounting for 90% of total revenue. Efforts to diversify revenue streams, a key indicator of financial stability, are evident: More than half of media non-profits have three or more revenue BUSINESS 200 streams, and one-third have four or more. INN Today, the US has more than 200 non profit newsrooms and growth is accelerating. Institute for Non-profit News-INN 70% Still, individual donors and particularly major donors are relatively undeveloped revenue MODEL sources for news non-profits, making up one-third $1m of total revenue for the organisations in the INN More than 50% of the non-profit US media Index. By comparison, individual donors provide “But while the overall funding for non-profit news sites presents a ‘robust picture’ according organisations generated revenues of $500,000 more than 70% of revenue for all non-profits to a recent Institute for Non-profit News survey of 88 of the network’s media members, large or more in fiscal year 2017 and well over a third across the US, according to Giving USA. INN donations by rich philanthropists and foundations generally have benefited only a handful generated $1 million or more. INN of new startups and nationally focused nonprofit media.” — Bill Birnbauer, Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University, Australia 40% €315,000 In the US, three national news organisations — t ain’t easy. Unless you are one of In 2018, ECPMF became the EU’s intermediary ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity and the established big non-profits, you to provide grants totalling €315,000 for cross- the Center for Investigative Reporting — took in are left with the crumbs and little border investigative journalism (IJ4U) — a rare US$185.4m, or 40% of funds for media non- chance of breaking into the big case in which teams of journalists could get profits. Bill Birnbauer, School of Media, Film time to get significant foundation their hands on EU money for actual reporting. and Journalism, Monash University on The support. To supplement whatever European Journalism Centre conversation.com funding you do get, your best chances for survival are to find other sources of revenue, including individual donors, memberships, and e-commerce. 8 $423m The European Centre for Journalism recently The 20 largest US non-profit media operations Philanthropic funding of funded eight news organisations across six amassed the vast majority of the funds: journalism is happening, but it’s More than 93% of journalism-focused grant European countries. European Journalism US$423.1 million. Birnbauer barely a drop in the bucket and money goes to US-based organisations, leaving Centre what little is happening is heavily just 6% for Europe, and only about 1% for media concentrated in the United States outlets in the developing world, according with a sprinkling in Europe and virtually to Media Impact Funders (MIF) and the Inothing happening anywhere else in the world. Foundation Centre.

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FROM FRAGILE TO 2% FINANCIALLY STABLE By contrast, the 20 least-funded non-profit The field has moved from precarious financial organisations eked by on just US$8.6m over footing to a measure of stability and growth. these five years — less than 2% of all money Though many individual outlets remain raised. Birnbauer financially fragile, more than half of the US non-profit organisations generated revenues of $500,000 or more in fiscal year 2017 and well over a third generated $1 million or more. INN THE 34,000 Even individual donors follow the big players: For example, the small US non-profit FairWarning WEANING YOURSELF FROM had 200 individual donors; by contrast, one of the largest non-profits, ProPublica, received THE FOUNDATION almost US$7 million from 34,000 donors. Because of the uncertainty of foundation funding, Richard Tofel, ProPublica’s president, speaking many non-profit news sites are attempting to AGENCY to The Conversation ramp up their incomes through membership programmes and boost the donations they get from individual donors. That strategy makes them less dependent on foundations and other 2,200 big philanthropies. Birnbauer The 180 members of the Institute for Nonprofit News have a total staff of about 3,000 — BUSINESS including nearly 2,200 journalists — and BRINGING EUROPEAN combined annual revenue approaching FUNDERS AND MEDIA $350 million. Institute for Nonprofit News INN TOGETHER The Journalism Funders Forum (JFF) in Europe is an initiative that brings philanthropic foundations and public-sector institutions together with journalists and news organisations in order to exchange best practice and to develop MODEL new pathways for supporting an independent and quality-oriented journalism sector. European Journalism Centre “One day we might be working with a 10-person small business KEY and the next day we might be working with the largest telecom provider in the country.” — Tom Needham, Business Journals Content Studio executive director YOU HAVE TO BE BLUNT INSIGHTS “People see the ‘Donate’ button, but they don’t click on the button. You have to tell them: ‘If you value us, please donate to us.’” Christina Shih, t’s hard. It’s expensive. It’s time- l Multimedia, multi-platform, multi-channel COO of the News Revenue Hub consuming. It’s fraught with ethical expertise NOT A SAVIOUR church-state issues. But it is also one l Proven marketing expertise BUT A CONNECTOR of the fastest growing sources of l A nuanced understanding of how to build In Europe, neither engaged journalism nor revenue for media companies. sophisticated multi-platform campaigns foundation funding will save the media industry. What makes a successful agency? However, both will give European journalism organisations an essential opportunity to Does that list sound like a media company to reconnect with audiences and plot a new path l Knowledge of a desired audience you? Sure sounds like a media company to me. towards sustainability. Adam Thomas, Director of l Knowledge of the brand’s The expertise inside media companies is the European Journalism Centre customers looking like an agency to more and more l Access to and a relationship with brands around the world. Many have given up the desired audience trying to create branded content and media l An audience database second campaigns on their own, or even with tradi- to none tional legacy agencies. l Exquisite storytellers. Expert As a result, many media companies that have videographers created in-house agencies are seeing results l Media tech expertise that have come to represent from five to 60% of Il Proven, sophisticated design capabilities total revenue!

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IT CAN BE HARD AND EXPENSIVE , , However, creating branded content can be hard KEY 14% $5000-$70000 and expensive. Brian Tolleson, Head of Content Almost all publishers measure traffic (90%) — Since it launched its studio in 2016, The at branded content studio Bark Bark said, “Great defined as reads or views—and engagement Business Journals Content Studio has branded content is really tough. I’ve been in this (95%) — time spent and scroll depth — when experienced 213% revenue growth. (It declined to space for 15 years and the biggest mistake I’ve reporting on the success of their campaigns. NUMBERS disclose revenue.) Its standard content packages made or seen people make is thinking that it’s Contrast this with the fact that only 14% range from $5,000 to $70,000, and it projects simple.” FIPP use studies to show brand lift or recall. to publish 1,800 pieces of branded content this PressBoardMedia, 2019 year, a 29% increase in two years. Digiday IT CAN BE TIME-CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE 90% These campaigns also require multiple steps of Our research suggests that branded content will continue to grow over the next few years, with approval, which complicates and extends the 600 process. Further, clients and agencies demand 90% of publisher survey respondents saying As of 2018, the number of publishers building out they expect branded content revenue to increase branded content offerings had reached 600 from 10%-40% high-quality multimedia content, which in turn “Five years ago custom content was probably 15 just a few years ago. DigitalContentNext requires expensive equipment and writers. moving into 2020. WhatsNewInPublishing 10% of our business. Now it’s closer to 40%.” — Richard Russey, VP and publisher of Inc. Media. Digiday DON’T SERVE CRAP “While creating great content might look easy, 16% it’s not. And just as people will hate your brand if 40% you bombard them with annoying ads, they’ll feel Another research by branded content platform The global content marketing industry will grow Polar found that publisher branded content at an annual rate of 16% per year through 2021. exactly the same if you waste their time serving revenue grew 40% YoY from 2017 to 2018. Polar Technavio crap content.” — Stéphanie Thomson, Editor and KEY Content Strategist at Google speaking to Digiday A DELICATE BALANCING ACT 86% “In some situations, the content really over- 33% 86% of B2C brands now employ content INSIGHTS emphasises the brand and makes it all about One-third of publishers cite convincing marketing. Content Marketing Institute them,” said Thomson. “That can end up sounding advertisers to buy branded content from them like a repurposed press release. It’s also possible instead of their competitors as their greatest to fall short on the other side of the equation, obstacle. Scaling content production is the USE YOUR DATA TO GUIDE where you’re telling a really great story but there’s next stumbling block, followed by proving the THE WHAT, WHERE AND WHEN no connection to the brand. The idea is to fall in effectiveness of content. PressBoardMedia, 2019 “Every Guardian Labs project is designed to the middle, where your content provides value resonate with and target readers wherever they to the audience while also having a clear brand 75% may expect to see a type of content,” Adam According to a subscriber survey at Business connection.” FIPP Journals (publisher of more than 40 locally Foley, Guardian Labs Dir./Sales & Strategy told oriented sites like L.A. Biz), more than 75% of Digiday. “That’s partly thanks to the commercial their readers would like to see more branded team getting access to in-house data-analytics content on their platform. Business Journals tools used by the editorial team.” The Labs has AVOID BRIGHT SHINY THINGS 50% an audience team of editors who analyse data to According to HubSpot, publishers win only half Sometimes the allure and pressure of including of all RFPs they respond to, and our experience determine where, when and how content should bright shiny new things can be tempting. Graham indicates it could be even lower. The difficulty: appear in order to be of interest to the right McDonnell, Creative Director at The Times’ Publishers are competing against other sites in target. T Brand Studio said, “Some clients come to us their niches as well as more traditional products and say they want AR and VR. They want all the like TV and display ads. PressBoardMedia, 2019 78% bells and whistles, and all the flashy toys. But we Seventy-eight percent of Business Journals CONTENT MARKETING tell them it’s much more important to think about subscribers would like to see more branded BOOMING the story first, and then how to tell it.” FIPP content on the platform. Business Journals “Ad spending is declining across the media industry, except in content marketing. From native posts to ebooks and even lush print 35% magazines, the form is booming,” wrote Tony Only 35% of respondents said they take a data- Silber, former VP at Folio, in Forbes. driven approach when pitching ideas to clients. PressBoardMedia, 2019

INNOVATION INNOVATION Monetisation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA Nome do artigo WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 176 Brand Licensing 2021 2021 177 10 & 10 For the second year, Esquire has co-created KEY 10 items of clothing and accessories with 10 different retail partners. The collection took between six and nine months to create. The capsule collection is meant to feature all the THE BRAND NUMBERS winter wardrobe essentials, including a pair of shoes by Crockett & Jones for £420 ($513) and socks from The Workers Club for £20 ($24). Digiday $23.2b The top publishing companies by brand licensing LICENSING revenue: Meredith ($23.2 billion in retail sales in 5-25% 2017), Playboy ($1.5 billion) and Hearst ($500 Margins in prepared foods are typically as low million), but well ahead of Condé Nast ($150 as 1% or 2%, according to Karina Masolova, million). License Global the executive editor of the Licensing Letter, which tracks the licensing industry. Margins for other products can be higher; a BuzzFeed spokesperson said that the royalty rates it earns on brand-licensed products range from 5% on BUSINESS 2nd foods to 25% in publishing. Digiday In the US, Meredith generated $25.1 billion in retail sales of licensed merchandise in 2019, second only to The Walt Disney Company’s $54.7 billion, according to License Global. MODEL $25.1 Meredith 2018 branded sales numbers: l $25.1B, 2018 branded sales KEY “Robust brand extension strategies are vital to maintaining relevance in today’s hyper- competitive marketplace. To a degree, brand extendibility represents the most logical way l 3K+ SKUs, Better Home & Garden (BHG) to achieve profitable brand growth, however, many companies struggle with how far to products at Walmart l 12K+ BHG Real Estate professionals stretch, where specifically to extend, and how to ensure success.” l 3K+ SKUs, Southern Living products at INSIGHTS — Mitch Duckler, Managing Partner at Full Surge, a brand strategy consulting firm, told Dillard's WhatsNewinPublishing l 17K+ Grocers sell EatingWell frozen entrees l 1K+ SKUs Real Simple products at Bed Bath & Beyond DO YOU KNOW THE anufacturers are QUESTIONS TO ASK? increasingly willing Publishers should ask themselves the following to partner with questions before making a plunge into extending publishers to make their brands, according to Steve Harvey, Co- founder of FabrikBrands, a creative and branding branded products 1m agency: because of their A Tasty consumer promotion helped one refrigerated beverage advertiser gather an 1. Is there a desire for the new product? Can you digital properties (ie, additional 1 million millennial customers, a find a USP that will sell your extension? compelling content BuzzFeed spokesperson said. 2. Is the extension natural for your brand, or does and robust social it seem forced? media accounts), way to spread the impact of your company into 3. Is your existing brand reputation strong according to Business new areas and products. Used correctly, brand enough to support a new product, service or Insider. Additionally, extension can reinforce the credibility of your marketplace? publishers also company, help you connect with new audiences, 4. Do your customers trust you enough to see the possess the first party and even strengthen your image around the value in your offering? data of millions of world,” Steve Harvey, Co-founder of Fabrik- customers. Brands a creative and branding agency, told M“Brand extension strategies are a fantastic WhatsNewinPublishing.

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A POTPOURRI OF PRODUCTS THIS IS NOT A TREND In 2019, BuzzFeed’s Tasty launched: “This is the way retail and the shopping l A suite of ice cream flavours created in experience is moving forward.” — Arnaud partnership with Nestle Simeray, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Storefront l Spice blends created with McCormick l A set of meal kits produced in partnership with Mistica l A cake decoration product with Wilton THERE HAVE BEEN SOME l THE A set of wines with Wines That Rock NOTABLE FAILURES l A line of kitchen appliances with Cuisinart The failure rate of brand extensions can be as l Pre-made side dishes with Food Story high as 80-90%, according to Mitch Duckler, l Expansion of Tasty’s kitchenware outside Managing Partner at Full Surge, a brand the US, in partnerships with kitchenware strategy consulting firm. He gives the example of manufacturers Fackelmann in Europe, the Middle Kentucky Fried Chicken’s (KFC) ‘Finger Lickin’ East and Africa and Continente in Latin America Good’ edible nail polish that was launched in 2016. It was supposed to taste like fried chicken IT PROVIDER and was a flop. The Huffington Post described it

as “your worst nightmare coming true”. ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND PERSONALISED FRONT PAGES The New York Times is currently selling branded FAILING AT THE FINISH LINE apparel (sweatshirts, t-shirts, caps, etc…), books, “What most advertising platforms miss out on are archival photography, and personalised front the final 20 metres of the 100-metre dash,” Eric BUSINESS page reprints. To control quality, the publisher Karp, BuzzFeed’s global head of licensing, told holds its own stock. Reuters Community Digiday. “A campaign creates awareness, drives urgency, but once folks get into those stores, the message is lost, and you simply see your typical retail displays. If we can take elements of the A WINNING FORMULA campaign we’ve created and dress that point of “When you combine the insight we can glean sale, and remind folks of the content we create in from hundreds of millions of consumers, the the first place, and do so in a way that’s authentic, MODEL relevance of iconic brands in our stable and the we can drive conversion at point of purchase.” power of our distribution platforms, I like our Digiday chances in any market environment.” — Josh “The Washington Post is one of several companies selling a content management platform. WordPress, Stinchcomb, Chief Experience Officer, Condé whose parent company Automattic raised $300 million from Salesforce earlier this month, is perhaps Nast. the most well known. Vox Media, which owns The Verge, Recode, Eater and is acquiring New York FITNESS FITS THE MISSION Magazine, licenses its Chorus publishing platform to media outlets such as the sports site The Ringer.” The Stylist Group has opened a fitness studio in — Nat Levy, Geekwire.com London, called Stylist Strong. The gym runs five SAME BRAND, NEW SETTING 45-minute classes each day of around 20 people, Looking from the publishers’ perspective: before work, at lunch and after work, focused eing an IT provider is to on strength training. Classes cost £17 ($22.23). “It’s a chance for digital media companies to be a member of a very reach their audiences who would recognise Once a week, it runs talks with key speakers in exclusive club. their brands in these new settings,” said Diana the fitness arena covering the psychological Gordon, Director, Shop+ at Mindshare North and practical elements of strength training, like Only the largest, America. learning how to push through barriers in the gym best-funded, and most and at work. Digiday established publishers can create and then sell or license technologies and, ALL THE RETAIL, NONE as a result, tech sales and OF THE OVERHEAD licensing was the least These partnerships also allow media companies common revenue source Purch, for example, started in 2015 and took to get into retail and reach more customers for publishers in a Digiday four years to build its $24 million ad platform without investing in the expensive overhead 2018 survey. for publishers, according to Digiday. of a store, according to Arnaud Simeray, VP Most publishers lack It also takes big investments, like Amazon of Strategic Partnerships at pop-up location the resources to build tech CEO Jeff Bezos’s purchase of The Washington platform company, Storefront. products because it takes Post, which then built Arc and Zeus, its content lots of expensive talent and lots of time to build management platform and advertising plat- Bmarket-ready technologies. forms, to license to other publishers.

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A SMALL FRATERNITY The Washington Post is one of just a few companies that sell publishing technology. $100M Another is WordPress.com, whose parent The Washington Post’s Arc editorial system company, Automattic Inc., raised $300m in the expects to generate $100 million in annual autumn of 2019 from the tech giant Salesforce. BUSINESS revenue within the next three years, according to com Inc. Another is Vox Media Inc., owner of Shailesh Prakash, Chief Information Officer and the Verge, Eater and Recode websites, which VP of product development. Prakash sees Arc licenses its publishing platform, called Chorus, to becoming the Post’s third major revenue stream, more than 350 media outlets such as the Ringer, rivalling subscription and ad revenue. Bloomberg led by Bill Simmons. Bloomberg MODEL MEMES, VOTES, POLLING & PERSONALITIES “Masterclasses started in 2010 to offer classroom-style sessions taught by an expert. 250 Advance Local’s Alpha Group has four products These classes and workshops tend to have a higher price point than our Guardian Live The Washington Post has about 250 employees — the Elsewhere app (a video meme creator); events, because of the educational content provided. A masterclass could be three hours working on Arc. The Washington Post Pigeon (users vote on the best content via long, and over the course of one day, a weekend, or even running over six weeks.” a Facebook Messenger chatbot); the Tylt (a — Lyndal Reed, Head of Strategy and Development for the Guardian Live social polling site explaining two points of view on polarising topics and asks people to vote); Project Text readers to pay for texts from their 600 favourite media personalities. AdExchange Arc has primarily focused on the needs of major news publishers, and its clientele comprises publishers of more than 600 websites worldwide, ADVERTISING SOFTWARE including The Boston Globe, Tribune Publishing, and Raycom Media. The Washington Post ALTERNATIVE TO GOOGLE he Educator business ism, creative writing, photography and design, & FACEBOOK model might sound a lot film and digital media, music and cultural In the autumn of 2019, The Washington Post like a subset of the Events appreciation, social media and data visualisa- launched Zeus Prime, a product that allows business model. tion, business skills and wellbeing,” said Lyndal companies to buy automated ads in real-time, But it’s a horse of a differ- Reed, Head of Strategy and Development for similar to Big Tech platforms. Zeus also supports a new ad network that will include other publishers. ent colour, wholly separate the Guardian Live. 150 Advertisers complain that they would like an from the consumer-orient- “[These are] classroom-style sessions taught The Vox Chorus CMS team has grown to more ed festivals, awards dinners, by an expert. The classes and workshops tend than 150 full-time employees. Vox said its team alternative to buying ads on Google and Facebook would grow by 50% by the end of 2019. Vox — where the content isn't always vetted — but travel excursions, bridal ex- to have a higher price point than our Guardian there are no other places where they can buy ads positions, beach parties, and Live events, because of the educational content as quickly and efficiently in real-time. The Post such that make up the bulk provided,” she said. “A masterclass could be hopes Zeus will change that, and put more ad of media company events. three hours long, and over the course of one money in publishers' pockets. The product will allow Events with an educational day, a weekend, or even running over six weeks. publishers to open their ad space to marketers focus are much more sub- “We now have a very diverse classes and directly through a real-time buying tool, similar stantial and require a very workshops portfolio, covering topics from 25% to what Google and Facebook offer, across the Purch — a commerce-focused publisher — made different approach. digital media, photography and copywriting, to network of publishers' websites and apps. Axios 20% of its 2018 revenue from ad tech products For example, in 2010, the Guardian launched self-improvement and even foraging!” she said. that it licenses to 25 publisher clients, according its Masterclass series. “As long as the subjects align with our key verti- to Purch CRO Mike Kisseberth. Digiday T“We boast a diverse programme of courses cals – for example, arts and culture – we would across a variety of disciplines, including journal- consider it a good fit.”

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PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL Dozens DEVELOPMENT The Guardian’s Masterclasses offers a diverse The Guardian Masterclasses programme programme of dozens of courses every month “is aimed at anyone interested in personal or across a variety of disciplines, including professional development, be that refining your INVESTOR journalism, creative writing, photography and skills, focusing your ambition, networking with design, film and digital media, music and cultural like-minded individuals, or simply broadening appreciation, social media and data visualisation, your mind and gaining inspiration.” The Guardian business skills and wellbeing.

EDUCATING AROUND ISSUES The New York Times’ conferences aim to “bring BUSINESS $7,344 readers closer to our journalism through more than 100 in-person events around the world." , At each of these events, celebrated speakers -$31 398 engage with award-winning journalists to Cabin rates range from $7,344 to $31,398 (per address the wide range of most pressing topics person!) for the Forbes Cruises for Investors, not in current news. bizzabo.com including another $540 per person for port fees. Forbes MODEL AN EVENING’S EDUCATION The NYT's “Conversations” event series is a “I think big media companies that are looking for paths 12 collection of smaller events that tackle specific forward are wise to participate, even if modestly, in the Crain's New York Business brings the New York issues for an entire evening. For example, startup world. The visibility and signals the market sends can business community together with political and Smarter Living and The Digital Future are two be immensely valuable in thinking through approaches that elected officials 12 times a year for Business subjects explored. Conversations takes place might benefit a larger group.” Breakfast Forums about key topics, changes and in multiple cities around the world on a regular — Marcus Brauchli, co-founder and managing partner of North insights that affect the economy. basis. bizzabo.com Base Media, a media investment firm

BIG PICTURE EDUCATION eing an investor, like being variety of industries. Usually, however, the 5 an IT provider, is not for investments are made with an eye either toward Since launching in 2015, Crain's Leadership The Economist offers a series of educational the feint of heart or those gaining a foothold in a new area of media or Academy is part-time and presented over five events around themes: Friday sessions. Crain's Academy provides l Global Treasury Leaders Summit with thin wallets. in a promising industry related to the media powerful and experiential professional l Climate Risk Summit Most media companies’ company’s expertise. development programming, including personal l Open Source Data Collection resources are either insuf- But for those who do invest, the results can development, professional growth, business and l War on Cancer Europe ficient to be making big be both financially lucrative and immensely leadership best practices, thought leadership l General Counsel investments or are tied beneficial for both the media mission and the and civic outreach customised for every stage of l Sustainability Summit up in reinvesting in the business mission of the company. Investing your career path. Crain’s l Future of Business company itself. provides perhaps a potential new source of rev- l Western Balkans Summit But some of the legacy enue and almost certainly unique insights into l Sports Business Summit media companies still new technologies, new markets, and new (and l Global Illicit Trade have the wherewithal to potentially competitive) businesses. l Humans 2.0 make substantial invest- That said, they can also tank, resulting in ments in a wide variety the loss of all or most of the money invested. B of companies in a wide Proceed with caution.

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l Aver Inc.: A health information technology company. Columbus, Ohio. l SparkCognition: An artificial intelligence KEY NUMBERS technology startup. Austin, Texas l Zendrive: Zendrive leverages mobile sensor data to provide actionable insights that improve safety for passengers and drivers. San Francisco, California THE l The Plum Guide: A marketplace of the world's best holiday homes. London, England 120 l FreightWaves: A global freight forecasting Hearst Ventures has made 120 investments platform. Chattanooga, Tennessee since It started investing in1995. Its most recent investment at press time (late Feb. 2020) was on Feb. 5, 2020, when Maven Machines raised $7M. Hearst Ventures made 10 investments in 2019 BERTELSMANN and three so far in 2020. Examples below in the NOSTALGIA A selection of investments in 2018-2019 Nuggets section. Crunchbase Crunchbase: l Dashbot: A bot analytics platform that enables developers to increase engagement, acquisition, and retention through actionable data. San Francisco, California l Scroll: Creating a sustainable experience that 37 puts amazing content in front of engaged users Bertelsmann has made 37 investments since without all the noise. New York, New York BUSINESS it started investing in 1999. Its most recent l Licious: An online meat and seafood ordering investment as of press time was on Oct. 11, 2019, startup that follows an end-to-end business. when Club Factory (a cross-border e-commerce Bengaluru, Karnataka, India corporation) raised $100M. Bertelsmann made l InvolveSoft: An Instagram-like interface three investments in 2018, two in 2019, and one to communicate with workforces and collect so far in 2020. Crunchbase AI-driven intelligence from sales and customer conversations. Santa Monica, California MODEL

“You’re monetizing it [your archives] from the advertising side and the consumer AXEL SPRINGER side. You have the long tail of people buying it as a single copy. We also push it out to 41 A selection of investments in 2018-2019 Axel Springer has made 41 investments since subscribers. And advertisers love them — they can own it entirely.” Crunchbase: it started investing in 2008. Its most recent — New Yorker Publisher Lisa Hughes speaking to Digiday l OZY Media: A premium media and investment was on Nov. 1, 2019, when OZY Media entertainment for curious people — across TV, raised $35M. It made six investments in 2018, events, podcasts and news. Mountain View, and nine in 2019. Examples below. Crunchbase California ublishers are sitting on a In The New York Times’ Innovation report, l Fineway: An advanced SaaS platform to plan gold mine. one of the big missed opportunities called out and book the perfect trip. Munich, Bayern, Germany Your archives. was the use of its archived content, wrote Lucia l Anzu.io: An in-game advertising platform that Don’t get too excited: Moses of Digiday. “It’s one of the big advantages brings real-world brand ads to video gaming and Revenue from selling legacy publishers have over digital upstarts: esports. Yafo, Tel Aviv, Israel archived materials is not access to years of high-quality content — l Wunderflats: An online platform that enables going to replace lost print content that can be resurfaced or repackaged users to find and rent furnished apartments. advertising income or and sold to both readers and advertisers. Berlin, Berlin, Germany compete with revenue “The New Yorker has long repurposed its KEY INSIGHTS l DigitalCounsels: A platform that allows legal service providers to digitize their business model. from events. archives as print anthologies on topics ranging Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland But your archives are from cats to food,” wrote Moses. “[It has l PurpleBricks: An online real estate agent assets that you have also taken the] coffee-table book approach HEARST VENTURES that helps its clients to sell, buy, and let their already paid for, so aside digital. Since 2011, it’s published eight single- INVESTMENTS properties. Solihull, Solihull, United Kingdom from handling, it’s clear topic e-anthologies, drawing from already A selection of investments in 2019-2020 l Tokabot: An engagement platform for fans in profit. published material. Readers have downloaded Crunchbase: the sports and entertainment domain. Chatbot @ The biggest market them hundreds of thousands of times. Some l Maven Machines: A leader in mobile-cloud user side — and a marketing platform @ business is old photos and collections of previously are single-copy purchases of $2.99 each and technology for transportation safety, operations, side. Kfar Saba, HaMerkaz, Israel published material in themed print and e-book up; the rest were downloaded as part of a and compliance. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania collections. subscription.” l Insurify: The most comprehensive insurance P quotes comparison platform in America. Cambridge, Massachusetts

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PRINT & E-BOOK ANTHOLOGIES KEY NUMBERS The New Yorker repurposes its archives as print anthologies on topics ranging from cats to food. They also convert those coffee-table books to digital single-topic e-anthologies. Readers have downloaded more than a million copies, some paid ($2.99 and up) and some as part of a $0.15-$4 subscription offer. Digiday According to data from his own work at Gado Images, Co-Founder Thomas Smith found that a professionally digitised and managed historical archive can generate between $0.15 and $4.00 per image, per year in sustainable revenue for its ARCHIVAL ISSUE SALES owner. Gado’s Smith For The Economist, as much as 20% of its digital single copy sales have been archival issues. Digiday 50%-100% ‘Archive’ articles marked as ‘Premium’ can drive ALL ACCESS DRIVES 50–100% more conversions than Archive articles SUBSCRIPTIONS alone, especially when the call-to-action involves “Harvard Business Review’s content archive, “getting access to our Premium and Archive which goes back more than a quarter century articles.” Jamatto and has more than 4,000 articles, is incredibly valuable to our audience… [We] decided to include the archive in our ‘All Access’ subscription and it proved to be a wise choice. ‘All Access’ quickly became our most popular 75% subscription offer and it’s an important factor in You can turn your archive management and why people renew.” — Harvard Business Review sales over to a third party. But the downside with Senior VP Sarah McConville speaking to Folio. professional licensing companies such as Getty Images or Alamy is that they take a percentage of your image sales, sometimes up to 75%. Gado’s Smith OUTSOURCE ARCHIVE SALES & FULFILMENT “In my experience, the much higher exposure and per-sale revenue from working with a professional image licensing company more than 3.5% outweighs the cost of commissions. Add in the Across Gado’s experience, they have seen that staff time required to do image sales in-house, 100% of a typical archive’s revenue comes from and working with a professional licensing partner 3.5% of their images. Gado’s Smith makes even more sense for many organizations.” Gado Images Co-Founder and CEO Thomas Smith writing on Medium

HIRE EXPERTISE “Working with an experienced archiving partner is vital, as a partner with industry experience KEY INSIGHTS can often predict which of your materials will be most valuable before you begin your digitisation/ annotation projects, enabling you to digitise and ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS store only those items most likely to sell.” Gado’s The New York Times’ Cooking and Crossword Smith verticals leverage their new and previously published food and puzzle material to sell to a combined one million subscribers who pay $1.25 per week (Cooking) and $0.81/week. Crossword PRINT& OFFBEAT

OUR ANNUAL DOSE OF HUMAN GENIUS AND IMAGINATION FROM A SPEAKEASY AND A CASINO TO DIY SANITARY PADS, PAGES BUILT OF SAND AND CLOTH, FLOWER SEEDS ON BILLBOARDS, “AUDIO” PRINT ADS, AND MUCH MORE INNOVATION INNOVATION Print & IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 190 Offbeat 2021 2021 191

ver the course of 2020, the world “NO OTHER FOOD exploded with human DELIVERY SERVICE CAN behaviour that could cause MATCH THE TAILORED you to question mankind’s NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE basic intelligence, AND RESTAURANT- never mind our creativity. QUALITY DISHES. WE On the other hand, we also witnessed KNOW THE MEN’S countless selfless acts of kindness HEALTH AUDIENCE and compassion and service and VALUES BOTH.” imagination that reinforced our belief in Toby Wiseman Men's Health mankind. Editor-in-Chief But despite the often soul-crushing cir- cumstancesO confronting us this year, we in the media industry aredid doingsome amazinglysome amazingly fun, fun,creative, creative, clever, clever, caring caring things things to delight to delight and andserve serve our audiences.our audiences. 3. AD ADVERT YOU COULD READ Almost a third of our off-beat “winners” did steadily increased its their work in pursuit of the betterment of the 1. A “SPEAKEASY” IN inventory to keep up with demand. Her- ONLY FROM SIX FEET AWAY world, a first in the 12 years we’ve been produc- THE BACK ROOMS OF bie’s now offers wine tastings and does catering ing this chapter of FIPP’s Media Innovations for town events. “I’m thinking that if things get book. A NEWSPAPER OFFICE bad and they start shutting newspapers down, we On a late spring day in 2020, the front page of the Here’s a preview of the provocative, inspir- can move the liquor out front and put the newspa- newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was a complete, ing, fun, creative, mind-boggling innovations to “If you’ve ever needed a stiff drink after reading per out back,” Hora told the World-Herald. undreadble blur. come in this chapter: the news, a rural U.S. newspaper publisher has Until you stepped back. Six feet back. a solution for you,” declared the Omaha World- It was an eye-catching print ad tied to the news 1 A “speakeasy” in the back rooms Herald early in 2021. 2. A NEWSPAPER’S OWN “CASINO” that the government would be relaxing some of a newspaper In the backrooms of the Stapleton, Nebraska COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The ad’s mes- 2 A “casino” at a newspaper Enterprise, owner Marcia Hora has opened a sage was: “Keeping it safe. From a distance.” 3 An advert you could onlysee only see from liquor store, a stylish place to obtain wines and Wags have been saying being in the media busi- “Instead of just telling or teaching people how six feet away spirits at a newspaper that serves three of the ness is a “real gamble” ever since Canada’s biggest to act, we wanted to let them experience it,” Joni 4 AnA publication publication in in India India made made of of cloth cloth state’s least-populated counties. newspaper publisher, Torstar, announced in March Furstenborg, creative director at TBWA\Helsinki, It’s called “Herbie’s Speakeasy” because Hora 2021 that it was launching an online gaming app. told Ad Age. “We believe that by doing this we 5 A magazine’s gourmet fitness food delivery system is a big fan of the University of Nebraska mascot “We believe Torstar will provide a unique and will leave a stronger imprint and more people will Herbie Husker, and because you have to walk responsible gaming brand that creates new jobs, remember our important message.” 6 A make-your-own sanitary pad ad through the newspaper office and utter the words, offers growth for the Ontario economy and gener- The ad’s creators admitted, probably with a 7 A 4G speed test in print 7 A 4G speed test in print “Where’s the liquor store?” to gain admittance, ates new tax revenue to help support important knowing grin, that Finns generally don’t need 8 Flower seeds #1 (in a magazine page) Hora told the World-Herald. programmes in our province,” Torstar executive encouragement when it comes to social distance. 9 Flower seeds #2 (in a billboard) Two backrooms that used to house hulking Corey Goodman said in a statement. And, oh yeah, Finns are known for standing about six feet apart 10 Coca-Cola’s “audio” ads in print printing presses and paper cutters were cleaned also generate some serious cash for Torstar. anyway, even when waiting at bus shelters (and 11 Soundproof posters up, spruced up and fitted with attractive copper- Through its upcoming app, the company, which even if it’s raining or snowing). pipe racks to hold bottles of wine, according to the owns 72 papers nationwide, said it hopes to cap- “Unusual times bring their own challenges 12 Sand cover #1 World-Herald. The walls feature historic Stapleton ture a portion of the US$395 million that Ontario to what and how brands should communicate,” 13 Sand cover #2 13 Sand cover #2 photographs, as well as Husker memorabilia. residents spend on online gambling each year — a Tuomas Ahola, communications and marketing 14 A 3D colouring book Hora said she has been “overwhelmed” by the market widely expected to increase in the coming director and one of the partners in the project, 15 The new car smell advert response. The Speakeasy sold $2,200 of product years as new entrants are granted permission told Ad Age. “As a responsible company, we saw 16 A customisable cook book during an open house in November 2020, and has from the province to operate online. this as an opportunity to communicate about a INNOVATION Print & Offbeat IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 192 2021 193

subject that is close to our business in an insight- in vegan diets over ful way.” the last year, this plan I WANTED TO CREATE This was not Helsingin Sanomat’s first high- helps to construct a “ profile effort — in 2018, the paper placed ads plant-based diet that [ ] about freedom of the press along the routes used will allow progress in AN AD THAT WAS by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as they the gym and also remain travelled to their Helsinki summit. tasty STRIKING AND l BALANCED: This mixes strong, lean and green STOPPED PEOPLE, 4. A CLOTH NEWSPAPER meals throughout the week FRONT PAGE to fuel everyday performance BUT RAISED THE “We believe that no other food QUESTION WITHOUT delivery service can match the com- The Indian newspaper Dainik Bhaskar published bination of tailored nutritional science BEING AGGRESSIVE.” the front page of a 204-page anniversary edition and restaurant-quality dishes,” said of newspaper in cloth. The early 2021 edition Toby Wiseman, Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Celia Hodson Hey Girls UK founder marked the paper’s 15 years in the city of Bhil- Health, a division of Hearst UK. “We know wara, the “Textile City of India”. the Men’s Health audience values both.” This unique edition was published with the aim of delivering a collectable edition to the readers. Over the years, the city of Bhilwara has emerged as India’s largest fabric manufacturer, 6. A MAKE-YOUR-OWN producing 50% of the total polyester fabric and SANITARY PAD AD suitings manufactured in India. 7. A 4G SPEED TEST IN PRINT way so far to showcase the potential of the new network to consumers who will like- 5. A MAGAZINE’S OWN GOURMET Three years ago, we highlighted the Ikea print ly use it for games, apps and other trivial stuff.” advert that some considered cringeworthy and Traditional media (aka Players could win a new Telia 4G connection. FITNESS FOOD DELIVERY SYSTEM others saw as pure genius: If a woman urinated “print”) does not lend on the ad, it would indicate if she was pregnant itself to interactive mar- In late summer 2020, Men’s Health, the UK’s and, if she was, her pee also revealed a substan- keting. Or does it? best-selling men’s magazine, partnered with fit- tial discount on a baby crib! Finnish mobile opera- 8. FLOWER SEEDS IN A PRINT AD #1 ness food specialist MunchFit to launch “Fuel” – a This year, we found yet another female- tor Telia was the first gourmet meal delivery service tailored by leading targeted ad some people once again considered in the country to offer nutritionists to assist readers with a wide range of cringeworthy and others genius, but for differ- 4G, the world’s fastest This year, we had TWO ad campaigns that gave body goals. ent reasons. mobile connection. To promote its 4G service, consumers free flower seeds. Fuel is designed to boost healthy-eating, To highlight what they called the “period the company wanted to use the country’s very The first, in April in Swedish magazines, was specifically around fitness and well-being, and poverty”crisis, the social enterprise Hey Girls strong traditional print media, but it wanted to an advert for a flower pot and was entitled This rotates 180 recipes that feed into four different UK ran a two-page ad in newspapers across do it in a nontraditional way. Ad Will Grow on You. meal plans based on consumer ambitions. the UK featuring a cut-out outline of a sanitary 4G is all about speed, so Telia wanted to find And indeed it would. The average price per meal ranges between towel entitled Make Your Own Sanitary Pad. On a way to memorably convey that speed in a Printed on easily biodegradable seed-paper, roughly $11 and $14, which depends on the length the reverse side of that page, Hey Girls ran the print ad. What would be more memorable than the page was embedded with seeds for flowers of a subscription (a 1-week trial, or a 4-, 8-, or explainer: “One in ten girls in the UK can’t afford an interactive, multiplayer reaction-speed game including snapdragons, catchflies, and daisies. 12-weeks subscription) and also on how many sanitary products. Every month, they’re forced that pitted two friends against one another? “Just plant this ad in a pot, put it in a sunny meals per day and how many days per week are to use loo rolls, socks, or even newspapers. Help The print ad became a video game when read- corner and don’t forget to water it,” the ad read. desired. The delivery service operates twice a us end period poverty. For every Hey Girls box of ers took a picture of the ad with their mobile “Maybe talk to the pot every now and then. It’s week and is available nationwide across the UK. pads you buy, we will give a free box to a girl who phone, opened the Telia app, and placed the no harder than that to give your home a little The Fuel menu plans incorporate the following needs it.” phone on the ad. The phone’s screen became the love this spring.” meal options built around different health goals: “I’m not a campaigning person who takes game board. Players would put their fingers on to the street with my placard,” Hey Girls UK the print ad and when the phone screen changed l STRONG: For building muscle mass and is founder Celia Hodson told CampaignLive.com. colours, the challenge was to be the first to tap the based on providing more calories, protein “It’s phenomenal if you are, but that isn’t me screen. 9. FLOWER SEEDS IN A PRINT AD #2 and carbs and it’s not the way I created Hey Girls. I wanted The ad was “one step ahead of many other in- l LEAN: For losing weight yet also stoking a to create [an ad] that was striking and stopped teractive print ads out there,” according to Lift person’s metabolism with protein people, but raised the question without being Magazine. “Speed is THE key point of difference Four months later, Herbal Essences seriously l GREEN: Catering for the 300% increase aggressive.” of 4G networks, and this is the most enjoyable upped the ante for a free flower seeds campaign INNOVATION INNOVATION Print & Offbeat IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 194 2021 2021 195

“WITH 17.2% OF BUTTERFLY SPECIES ENDANGERED IN THE UK, HERBAL ESSENCES AND KEW GARDENS ARE STEPPING UP TO HELP COMBAT THE DEPLETING POPULATION.” — a Tweet by the campaign creative agency, Mr. President.

“THE CAMPAIGN STARTS VISUALLY, BUT IT’S COMPLETED IN PEOPLE’S BRAINS WHEN THEY PRODUCE THE EXPECTED SOUND IN THEIR OWN HEADS.” Will Burns CEO, ideasicle.com iconic images of the 10. COCA-COLA’S “AUDIO” Coke experience: a series via print media: of large, close-up photographs of iconic Full-sized outdoor street-level ADS IN PRINT Coca-Cola rituals or moments (uncapping the billboards around London! Each billboard was bottle, bubbles fizzing in a glass with the soda, festooned with 3,000 detachable paper “leaves” Can a print ad be heard? pulling the tab to open the can). Each advert In fact, I’m hankering for filled with wildflower seeds. The ad encouraged Of course not, unless… included very small text — it’s only supposed a Coke right now after writing that last passers-by to grab a leaf, take it home, and plant …unless you take advantage of a phenom- to be a hint, remember — that challenged the sentence! it. In addition to the “fun” aspect of the ad, there enon called Synesthesia. viewer to play the sound in their head (“Try not “But only after this kind of visceral familiar- was a serious environmental purpose behind it. “Synesthesia is when two different senses to hear this!”). ity with the ‘Coke experience’ can we be teased “Just like bees, butterflies are major pollina- cross in our brains, producing the impression “An idea like this couldn’t work with a new in the way this campaign is teasing us,” wrote tors, controlling the population of a variety of people are hearing something even though brand,” wrote ideasicle.com CEO Will Burns in Burns. “Only after lifetimes of experience plants and insects,” according to a Tweet by the they’re stimulated via another sense, their vi- Forbes. “A new brand doesn’t have the conscious with this brand and this brand’s product can campaign creative agency, Mr. President. “With sion,” wrote DAVID Agency Executive Creative and unconscious familiarity and affinity locked we be triggered merely by the suggestion of a 17.2% of butterfly species endangered in the UK, Directors Juan Peña and Ricardo Casal. “The up in our collective mental vaults. But Coke does. sound. Not a real sound, but the suggestion of Herbal Essences and Kew Gardens are stepping Coca-Cola campaign uses its instantly recog- We’ve all enjoyed a Coke at some point, right? a sound.” up to help combat the depleting population.” nisable product and iconic rituals to trick the We’ve all experienced the advertising, the red “The campaign starts visually, but it’s com- The various seeds in the leaves create wildflower brain into automatically associating an image and white branding, the script logo, the packag- pleted in people’s brains when they produce the habitats in which butterflies flourish. with a specific sound, filling in the silence with ing, the bottle caps, the wavy-shaped bottles, expected sound in their own heads,” wrote Casal The text on the back of each leaf, branded with the expected sound. It is, in essence, an auditory the brown colour of the liquid, the bubbles, the and Peña. “Coca-Cola is turning people’s heads Herbal Essences and the Royal Botanic Kew Gar- illusion.” lip-smacking refreshing taste of a giant swig. into radios to emit the sounds from within. dens logo, declared people can “unleash Mama How did it work? And along the way we’ve all experienced the cor- These imaginary auditory triggers make us want Nature’s secrets” by planting the seeds at home. The print/outdoor campaign in Europe used responding sounds of the ‘Coke experience’.” the real thing.” INNOVATION Print & Offbeat IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT 196 2021 197

11. SOUNDPROOF POSTERS Richards, Zakk Wylde, and Brazilian guitarist “ Kiko Loureiro. THE SEA DOES OK, technically, this is not a print innovation. The campaign was waged NOT SPEAK. SO, I It’s an innovation by a print and digital publi- almost exclusively where its cation that is just really, really cool. And a great target audience hangs out: WILL SPEAK IN ITS way to raise the brand’s awareness among the Instagram. Musicians were toughest demographic for legacy media brands: invited to post videos of their PLACE. CURRENTLY, young people. best pieces with the hashtag Rolling Stone in Brazil has been migrating #SoundproofPoster. The cam- THE LIVES OF MANY from its traditional print format to print and paign spread organically thanks digital while expanding its scope and target to the efforts of people posting CREATURES IN THE audience. To increase engagement and increase and tagging their friends’ bands. its follower base, it came up with the idea of a The winners won a set of the four SEA ARE BEING contest for young musicians and their friends. posters. What do young musicians really like and TAKEN. THE CAUSE need: Cool posters and soundproofing for their practice spaces (often their bedrooms, so this IS PLASTIC.” contest appealed to parents and neighbours as 12. SAND COVER #1 Tokyo Shimbun Editorial well!). Rolling Stone combined the two: Cool post- ers that doubled as soundproofing. Working Like the flower seed ads, this is another with Y&R Brazil, it created four posters case of two media companies having the made entirely of acoustic foam coated same unusual creative idea a few months with fireproof resin and fibre- apart. glass. The posters featured And, like the soundproof posters, nei- four guitar legends: ther of these is technically a print innova- Jimi Hendrix, tion. Both of these companies created their Keith “print” page in sand — very large stretches of sand (1,750 square metres in this case and 600 square metres in the next case). YOUNG MUSICIANS REALLY On May 30, Zero Waste Day in Japan, the newspaper Tokyo Shimbun created its LIKE AND NEED COOL POSTERS editorial page calling for action against AND SOUND-PROOFING FOR ocean pollution by carving the words and images into the sands of Iioka Beach THEIR PRACTICE SPACES. in the Chiba prefecture. The head- ROLLING STONE BRAZIL line, Plastics Floating in Our Seas, a large image of a sea turtle, and COMBINED THE TWO. hundreds of Japanese charac- ters were etched into the sand and photographed from above to create the page that appeared in print. It took sand sculp- ture artist Toshihiko Hosaka and a team of local residents and students INNOVATION INNOVATION Print & Offbeat IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 198 2021 2021 199

“WE SCULPT LETTERS, FRAMES, AND EARTH PARTS USING SHOVELS, FORKS, AND RAKES USED FOR GARDENING.” Toshihiko Hosaka Artist

IN 2019, DISNEY CREATED AN AR APP THAT TRACKS AND CAPTURES A CHILD’S COLOURING STROKES IN REAL TIME VIA A MOBILE DEVICE’S CAMERA, WHICH THEN MAPS THE IMAGE ONTO THE COLOURING BOOK PAGE.

a good another direction). hard look at what “We sculpt letters, frames, and earth parts It started is happening in the ocean. We using shovels, forks, and rakes used for gar- back in 2015 when Crayola became need to think about things we have been ignor- dening,” said Hosaka in a TIME story about the first company to create an app that would 11 days to ing as a result of prioritising economic growth, the cover. “It was necessary to always moisten bring colouring book images to life in 3D (drag- complete the “page”. everyday convenience, and such.” because if the ground was dry it did not form. ons chasing them around the room or models Here is an excerpt from the edito- It is a huge work. I carved it a little and shot it walking down the runway) via augmented real- rial: “The sea does not speak. So, I will speak in with a drone to adjust the balance and depth. A ity — check out the QR code on this page to see its place. Currently, the lives of many creatures dust spray is sprayed thinly on the finished part. it in action. But that was only AFTER the child in the sea are being taken. The cause is plas- 13. SAND COVER #2 This spray is used for road construction. This had finished colouring. tic. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, styrofoam… will withstand some rain and dryness.” In 2019, Disney created an AR app that tracks 8 million tons of plastic used in everyday life and captures a child’s colouring strokes in real are dumped in places like rivers and the ocean Just three months later, Hosaka was at it again time via a mobile device’s camera, which then every year, and remain floating as garbage. By and once more in Iioka, but this time he was cre- maps the image onto the swallowing or being entangled in plastic gar- ating the cover for the TIME magazine Climate 14. A 3D COLOURING BOOK colouring book page (use bage, about 700 species of animals including Change Edition. the QR code on this page sea turtles, seabirds, seals, and fish are harmed This 600-square-metre “cover” took Hosaka to see how it works). In and killed. and a seven-person team 14 days, including We admit that this is not a print innovation many this case, it’s a cartoon “We Japanese are also largely responsible. several days when the temperatures hit almost (any?) of you will be rolling out any time soon, elephant, but it could Japan produces the second most garbage per 36 degrees Celsius and Typhoon Krosa threat- but it does get you thinking about the future pos- also be a model with a person. In order to rectify this, we have to take ened to wash their work away (it veered off in sibilities for print and digital integration. new dress, a tank in a INNOVATION INNOVATION Print & Offbeat IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 200 2021 2021 201

er attention than regular ads. Liberty Mutual wanted to jog readers’ fond memories of when they buy a new car… and have to consider new auto insurance. “If you’re thinking about a new car, think about Liberty Mutual,” read the ad. So, while it’s not exactly new, the Lib- “WE ARE ALWAYS LED BY WHAT OUR AUDIENCE erty Mutual ad does raise the question of how CRAVE SO TO GIVE THEM A BOOK THEY CAN else might scent be used COMPLETELY OWN, INCLUDING THE PROCESS OF in ads and in stories: Why shouldn’t a camping outfit CREATION, IS EXTREMELY REWARDING” infuse the smell of a campfire Mark Rogers BuzzFeed Europe GM and pine trees into an ad for tents and sleeping bags? Or a book store infuse the smell of a new book? Or a coffee shop infuse the in- battle, a Star Wars toxicating smell of newly ground coffee beans? scene, etc. At the end of 2019, the Or a recipe for BBQ in a food magazine use the app was still in development, so don’t go looking smell of mesquite coals and BBQ sauce? Or a to get it for your child or grandchild quite yet. gardening magazine infuse the smell of various roses in a feature about rose gardens?

15. THE NEW CAR SMELL ADVERT 16. A CUSTOMISABLE COOKBOOK

This is going from the sublime to the ridiculous. But who doesn’t love the smell of a new car, When you have an adoring audience of 325 mil- right? lion, you’d be an idiot to not try to take advan- Not unlike the Coca-Cola ad utilising the tage of their affection for your brand and your sense of sound in a print ad, Liberty Mutual content with branded products, especially when Insurance Company used the sense of smell in your niche is cooking. its new print ad campaign. Meet BuzzFeed’s 100% customisable cook- Full disclosure here: Guess what? Liberty Mu- book! tual isn’t the first company to use the new-car In late 2019, BuzzFeed announced the launch fragrance in a print ad. As a matter of fact, way of My Tasty Cookbook, first in English and then back in 1987, Rolls-Royce was the first car com- in German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. pany to embed a new-car smell into a print ad. For $36, consumers can select their favourite And, yes, we admit that smell has been used Tasty recipes as well as a personalised cover. in print magazines forever, almost entirely by “We are always led by what our audience fragrance companies (there were those pop- crave so to give them a book they can com- corn-scented ads in Australian newspapers). pletely own, including the process of creation, In a 2011 GfK MRI Starch Advertising Research is extremely rewarding,” BuzzFeed Europe GM study of 6,514 magazines over a period of four Mark Rogers told The Drum. “Hacche produces months, researchers found only 49 scented page beautiful, high-quality books and this product ads, mostly for cosmetics, household cleaners, is the next step of our international rollout of personal hygiene, and medicines. They also found licensed products, which bring us a deeper con- that scented ads do, indeed, garner more consum- nection to Tasty fans.” INNOVATION INNOVATION Innovation IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 202 2021 2021 203

e are a global consultancy firm 1ST PHASE with a difference. We focus exclusively on the publishing THE PROBLEM business — both editorial and 1 Audit management. And our focus is 2 Diagnosis helping our clients innovate and embrace new digital platforms, 3 Action plan GOOD and find bold new strategies as well as new revenue streams. 2ND PHASE We invite you to be part of the digital revolution and benefit THE SOLUTION from INNOVATION’s knowledge 4 Brainstorming and hands-on expertise of more 5 Market research than two decades advising some 6 Content model JOURNALISM of the best-known media brands 7 Design model in the world. 8 Business model HOW WE WORK 9 Multimedia model We believe that change is not 10 Prototypes imposed but is negotiated and 11 Editorial & graphic agreed upon. We take into consideration all scenarios, opinions — style books IS GOOD and only after thorough analysis, evaluation, and testing we present WE HELP MEDIA COMPANIES our final recommendations and action plans. 12 Newsroom INNOVATE, EMBRACE NEW DIGITAL One way to visualise our process is to think of it as a three-step ef- management model W 13 Working space fort: audit, diagnostic and implementation. We lead in-house teams to PLATFORMS, DEVELOP BOLD NEW be at the heart of innovation in their firms and deliver on a new prod- redesign uct, content or strategy. Although all projects are made-to-measure, 14 Training & STRATEGIES, AND CREATE the phases of any change process are always similar. implementation BUSINESS 15 New Product launch NEW REVENUE STREAMS EDITORIAL SERVICES Our clients call us when they face pressing issues ranging from edito- rial re-organisation to a need for re-invention of their products, or the 3RD PHASE development and execution of new editorial or commercial strategies. THE IMPLEMENTATION They approach us for objective, honest, analytical, smart and experi- 16 Evaluation enced advice. 17 Audience research MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY SERVICES 18 Corrections We believe that media companies should become new Information 19 Training Engines™, and transform by shifting from readers to audiences and 20 Results: increased from audiences to communities. audience, increased Our clients talk to us when they need to make decisions that will advertising have lasting consequences for their teams, operations, revenues and brands. They approach us when they need fresh global and experi- enced thinking.

MAGAZINES We believe, however, the genre must be re-invented to sur- vive and thrive. We have developed ground-breaking new concepts, and formats with demonstrable success. We re-organise news operations to adapt a matrix based on audiences rather than products.

Juan Señor President [email protected] Marta Torres Partner [email protected] www.innovation.media INNOVATION INNOVATION FIPP IN MEDIA IN MEDIA WORLD REPORT WORLD REPORT 204 2021 2020-21 205 EMPOWERING MEMBERS TO BUILD MARKET-LEADING INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSES

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