Articles by: "Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN"

Embedding Technology in All Aspects of Your Content Strategy

August 4, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

It could be my bias, but I’m hard pressed to picture a content strategy that isn’t a digital content strategy. Even organizations that deliver via multiple channels (yes, even print-centric ones) must weave tech into their business plans and way of working. Yet there are still far too many organizations limping along on cumbersome content management systems or kluging together a patchwork of fixes to address emerging distribution channels and evolving marketer expectations.

As a long-time tech journalist, I admit that I look with envy at some of the pure-play digital media companies and their emphasis on smartly integrating technology across all aspects of their business. Consider Vox Media, which takes an approach to technology that is journalism-centric. Wait, no, digital journalism-centric. As Ezra Klein said when leaving the venerable Washington Post to join Vox, today’s journalists are “held back” by systems created to deliver print products. And I’m sure there are many who would echo the sentiment with regards to other systems designed for analog channels that have been adapted to accommodate digital.

Given that many organizations are still reliant on the bulk of their revenue coming from non-digital content, it isn’t surprising that their tech strategy follows suit. Yet the increasing emphasis on digital-first-strategy isn’t limited to journalists longing for tools that will allow them to quickly deliver data-driven stories optimized across multiple channels. Marketers are seeking data-driven solutions optimized across multiple channels as well. Clearly, developing tech strategies that align with these expectations is a must-have. Easier said than done.

But there are those who see technological disruption as an opportunity for innovation. At our new Content All Stars event, Jason Silva–who may be best known as host of National Geographic’s Brain Games (though he is gaining international notoriety as a futurist and digital philosopher)–is looking forward to exploring the technological forces that have blown up the media and marketing landscape and created an infinite opportunity for new ideas to be built up from the rubble.

The Weather Company is certainly no stranger to new ideas either. The company leverages data to drive content and marketing experiences in ways few others have yet envisioned, much less delivered. At Content All Stars, Vikram Somaya, GM of WeatherFX, will take the stage with Bob Ivins of Mindshare, who has the distinction of being the first-ever Chief Data Officer at a media agency. These two will discuss their partnership in exploring the frontier of how data can deliver real-time insights that create bottom-line value.

We’ll also hear from three of the disruptive thinkers on the Vox Media team–co-founder Melissa Bell, Chairman and CEO Jim Bankoff, and VP of Editorial Lockhart Steel (who joined the company after Vox Media acquired his Curbed LLC). They will discuss the company’s distinct approach to integrating technology into every aspect of its business, starting at the core with the creation of content through content management, delivery and monetization.

Join us at Content All Stars to gain insight into how technology can transform your media and marketing efforts and how you can transform the way you think about, develop and implement technology to power-up your content strategy.

Marketing | Research

Creating a Successful Content Marketing Strategy

July 28, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revenue

Q&A: Beth Lawrence, EVP Digital Sales, Scripps Networks Interactive, on Video Ad Innovation

July 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Q: To drive success in video advertising, what are the most important things to consider?

A: A successful video business can be driven from two metrics: The first is that quality content matters. High quality production delivered in a well-lit environment is what marketers are looking for.

The second is scale. When clients look to extend TV reach, it’s important that enough users can engage with the message. It’s one of the reasons Scripps Networks Interactive launched a premium lifestyle video portal and distributed network last year called uLive. Comprised of both full-episode play and short-form programming from the Scripps Networks library along with original video, it’s a way to distribute our content—coupled with the ad message—so the viewer can “discover” vs. being sent to a particular destination only.

Q: Describe a video advertising campaign that you think is particularly innovative or effective:

A: I really like what we did with the video content we created for Buitoni for Food Network Star. This content included the on-air in-show integration of Buitoni and the custom on-air short form that ran as Buitoni’s TV commercial, as well as its digital pre-roll and VOD offering. Additionally, it contains an excerpt from the Star Salvation webisode series with Robert Irvine that ran on FoodNetwork.com, Food Network VOD and on Food Network’s YouTube channel. Star Salvation offers contestants the chance to “come back to life” after earlier elimination from Food Network Star on TV. I like this example because it is fun, it’s engaging and it provides a web-only solution for these previously eliminated contestants to jump back into the Food Network Star mix, integrated seamlessly with the sponsor’s brand.

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

A: Consumers are demanding great quality video on any device at any time of day. So for Scripps Networks, that’s a beautiful thing and we love the audience wherever we find them. Come on, you can never get enough of HGTV’s Property Brothers! As an industry, we need to be able to answer reach and other needs that arise so that video buying can be seamless like it is in the television business.

Also, I think we’re ripe for ad product innovation in video. We shouldn’t just assume that standard TV ads must travel to digital video and that’s the end of the conversation. With social media tie-ins like Twitter Amplify and second screen solutions that drive the viewer deeper into the content online from TV, the sight, sound and motion experience only gets better.

Beth Lawrence serves as executive vice president of digital sales for Scripps Networks Interactive. In this role, she is responsible for growing revenue streams for Scripps’ portfolio of lifestyle media brands – HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country – and their respective websites, as well as uLive, Scripps’ premium lifestyle video portal and distribution network. Lawrence also guides the company’s ad sales efforts relating to its mobile, broadband and video-on-demand offerings. In a stellar career with notable media companies including The Weather Channel, Yahoo! and DoubleClick, Beth has proven to be an outstanding leader with strong industry relationships.

Note: This interview is part of our “Three on Three” series in which we ask three executives the same three questions to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Aaron Broder, CEO & Co-Founder Evolve Media, on Video Ad Innovation

Innovation | Marketing

Content All Stars: Making the Most of the Media/Marketer Partnership

July 17, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The most successful brands and media companies have one big thing in common: They know their customers and treasure the on-going relationship they have with them. They also both understand the power of content to connect with customers and offer them genuine value by engaging their passions, interests and concerns. Without doubt, the best content experiences arise when media and marketing teams work together to share knowledge about their audiences, insights about what’s worked and what hasn’t and are clear about goals and what’s achievable.

Recognizing the power of media and marketing teams is what we’re doing at our first ever Content All Stars event, which will be held in NYC’s Conrad Hotel September 18th. We are bringing together the best and the brightest from brands such as Red Bull, IBM and Goldman Sachs who will join media brands that include ESPN, Comedy Central, Vox Meda and The New York Times to explore this dynamic relationship by highlighting campaigns and partnerships that have pushed creativity and technologies, showcase novel perspectives from people outside our industry and tackle some current issues around trust and transparency that our industry is grappling with. Some of what we’ll cover:

Content and Customer Conversations

One-way messaging is so last-century. Today, content is a conversation with consumers and has the power to create meaningful and lasting connections. At Content All Stars, you’ll hear from Ann Rubin, VP of Branded Content and Global Creative, about how IBM transformed its ad campaigns into a collaboration with customers and truly transformed its marketing.

Data Drives Insights and Action

Data: Everybody’s doing it. But there are few who can elegantly illustrate how first-party data can actually move product off the shelves. Content All Stars features two of the smartest people in data—Vikram Somaya, GM of Weather FX and Bib Ivins, Chief Data officer of Mindshare—who will discuss their collaboration on turning customer insights into tangible marketing success.

Engaging Audiences: Essential, but not Easy

Attracting audiences is a challenge that media companies have faced since the Gutenberg press. Now that the digital media world is moving past a pure numbers game and wants not only audiences at scale, but truly-engaged audiences, it has never been more important. At Content All Stars, Bloomberg, ESPN and Refinery29 will reveal how they are not only attracting audiences, but interacting with them to create valuable audience-engagement.

Social Strategies that Deliver

Social Media has just got to be more than a mad scramble for friends and followers. At Content All Stars we’ll hear from Allison Kingsley, the VP of Digital Development at Comedy Central about how she takes a strategically social approach. And Channel Flip Media’s Managing Director Clare Tavernier will discuss how she factors social into her engagement strategy to drive quantifiable results.

… And we aren’t done lining up speakers yet. If you have a suggestion, email Michelle Manafy. Learn more about our keynotes or request an invitation. Check back for program updates.

We look forward to seeing you at Content All Stars!

Innovation | Marketing

Meet the OPA Content All Stars Keynotes: Soledad O’Brien, Jason Silva & Sarah Lewis

July 10, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

It is an exciting time here at the Online Publishers Association. Under the leadership of our new CEO, Jason Kint, we’re feeling renewed energy and enthusiasm for the digital media industry and the power of compelling content experiences. We are so happy to have an opportunity to celebrate the powerful collaboration between savvy marketers and trusted media brands at our new Content All Stars event September 18th at the Conrad Hotel in NYC.

We’ll deliver an all-star lineup of speakers to energize and engage attendees with their stories about the power of content to create trusted relationships with audiences, drive consumers to action and communicate what’s personal about brands. Read on to hear about three keynote speakers who are guaranteed to deliver insight and inspiration:

Soledad O’Brien was recently described as “a one-woman media storm,” O’Brien is an award-winning journalist, documentarian, news anchor, and producer. In June 2013 she launched Starfish Media Group, a multiplatform media production and distribution company dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering stories that take a challenging look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity, through personal stories. O’Brien’s critically-acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and its follow-up, Latino in America, are among CNN’s most successful domestic and international franchises and she continues to produce Black in America for CNN. In addition, O’Brien is a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and a Special Correspondent for Al Jazeera America Tonight. She is co-founder of the O’Brien Raymond Starfish Foundation, which focuses on providing disadvantaged women with a higher education.

Watch Soledad O’Brien on the Daily Show with John Stewart

Jason Silva has been called an “Idea DJ” and a poet—“a revitalizer and remixer of optimism, and above all, a curator: of ideas, of inspiration, and of awe.” His non-commercial series of short videos, aptly named ‘shots of philosophical espresso,’ explore the co-evolution of humans and technology and have gone viral with more than nine million views and “play like movie trailers for ideas,” according to The Atlantic. Silva is the Emmy-nominated host of National Geographic Channel’s #1 rated series, Brain Games and the creator of the web series “Shots of Awe,” micro-documentaries exploring creativity, innovation, technology, futurism, metaphysics, existentialism and the human condition.

Watch Jason Silva’s TEDGlobal talk on Radical Openness

Sarah Lewis is being hailed as a rising intellectual star and her book, The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, has been widely praised by a who’s who of creative thinkers. Lewis appeared on Oprah’s “Power List,” served on President Obama’s Arts Policy Committee, was profiled as a “Brainiac Rising” in Vogue, was recently featured in Elle on “How to Fail Artfully” and is a faculty member at Yale’s School of Art. She has held positions at the Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, and her essays have been published in Artforum and The Smithsonian. According to Lewis: “The creative process is actually how we fashion our lives and follow other pursuits. Failure is not something that might be helpful; it actually is the process.”

Watch Sarah Lewis’ TED talk on Embracing the Near Win

If you’ve participated in an OPA event before, you know what to expect: A room filled with the brightest and most creative minds in digital media and marketing enjoying a day filled with conversations, presentations and debate about the tools and tactics that will drive the continued growth and success of the digital content industry. If this is your first opportunity to join an OPA event, request an invite now. Space is limited.

Innovation

Collab/Space New York Tackles Real World Challenges to Foster Industry-wide Collaboration

July 10, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Collaboration is the key to the future of digital media and it is essential for survival, according to Mark Glaser, Executive Editor of PBS MediaShift and host of the brand’s new series of Collab/Space events. This week, PBS and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute held Collab/Space New York at the Ford Foundation. While the day featured a few traditional presentations, the majority of the format took an innovative problem-solving approach that focused on building actual collaboration within the media industry rather than simply highlighting examples of innovation.

Collab/Space New York kicked off with some ice breaking exercises to set an off-beat and interactive tone for the day, followed by a talk by Atlantic Media VP and GM Kimberly Lau who offered candid insights into how she is trying to increase the pace innovation. While she pointed to Quartz as “a great example of building something from scratch and giving the team the resources they need…without a legacy business to reinvent,” her focus has been on increasing innovation from within that “legacy business.” Though she said that priorities come from the top, Lau emphasized the effectiveness of fostering greater collaboration between editorial and development sides of the business.

This set the tone nicely for a series of five minute presentations from a range of organizations who had an innovative product, development or initiative underway that they wanted to take to the next level. Among the many mini-presentations:

NPR Producer, blogs and social media, Wright Bryan discussed the challenges expanding the functionality and adoption of its analytics dashboard.
New York Times Data Scientist Mike Dewar showcased the work it the R&D Labs team is doing with its Streamtools toolkit for dealing with live streaming data that isn’t yet capturing the imagination of a wide range of staff so that it can be fully leveraged..
Quartz reporter David Yanofsky showed off his Open Source Chartbuilder tool, which he would like to see broader market adoption and mobile-centric development. .
Newsroom Development Editor David Biderman from The Wall Street Journal (which was celebrating its 125th anniversary) discussed its progress in creating a fast and easy-to-use Web CMS interface that it hopes will find adoption among the multitude of parent News Corp.’s sites..
Daily News’ Managing Director Cyna Alderman looked at the challenges faced as her organization launches an ambitious project to support media startups—not just financially, but by bringing them into the newsroom to closely collaborate on innovation. .
Vox Media Designer Scott Kellum looked at the company’s Cardstacks, which underpin its explanatory journalism efforts and expressed the need to improve their discoverability, shareability and scope.

While it included an excellent presentation from News Corp.’s VP of Product Kareem Amin on how he “questioned everything” (and circumvented a fair amount as well) to kick start innovation, the afternoon was primarily devoted to breakout groups that worked on honing their collaboration skills before setting to work tackling the challenges and objectives of the morning’s presenters. As Daily News’ Alderman tweeted, the biggest takeaway was “strengthen your projects through collaboration.” That theme was not only apparent in the enthusiasm the breakout groups exhibited in helping solve the presented problems, but also in the over-arching goal of the day: to strengthen the digital media industry through collaboration among organizations and the passionate people working in them.

Photo credit: Anika Anand

Research

Mobile Moves Digital Spending, eMarketer Reports

July 3, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revenue

EatingWell at the Heart of New CDC Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Resource Center

June 27, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Meredith has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to enhance its Million Hearts initiative with a new Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Resource Center. The CDC launched the initiative in 2011 with the goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Its primary objectives are to improve treatment and care and to empower Americans to make healthy choices such as avoiding tobacco and reducing sodium and trans fat consumption. EatingWell worked with the CDC to develop family-friendly meal plans that emphasis on managing sodium intake.

While the site already featured tools to help consumers assess their heart attack and stroke risk, much of the site has been targeted at healthcare providers. With the addition of the Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Resource Center, the site will be “more appealing and approachable for consumers,” said Larry Sommers, GM, Digital Media & Business Development, EatingWell Magazine. “Our mission is to inspire people to eat healthy every day, which we support through magazines, books and websites of course. But the credibility and reach of the CDC is amazing and we are in a position to help them with their mission. When it comes to food, we know something about delicious and easy, but also about health,” Sommers added.

Central to the offering is a collection of heart healthy recipes, complemented by meal plans and inspiring articles and slideshows—all “powered by EatingWell.” Particularly compelling is the Advanced Recipe Search tool, which allows users to search by course, type of dish, cooking time and more—with user-friendly parameters that include “quick,” “kid-friendly” and “vegetarian.”

“We wanted to create something that was fun, engaging, visual and that simplifies things. We tried to create a tool that makes healthy choices and recipes as fun as for shopping for shoes on Zappos.” In addition to providing 750 lower-sodium recipes to search from, the Resource Center also provides 28-day prescriptive meal plans to lose weight. All of the recipes featured in the Resource Center include nutritional facts, use everyday ingredients found at local supermarkets and have been tested by EatingWell. Recipes will be added over time, including seasonal options.

For Meredith, “this is a strong integrated play,” says Sommers. “It leverages our content assets to reach a wider audience, but one that aligns with our goals of supporting the health and wellness space.” He says that Meredith is “proud to partner with the CDC. They are the real deal. Partnering with them is a great validation of the quality of content we publish.”

Marketing | Revenue

Q&A: Mark Howard, CRO Forbes Media, on Creating Native Advertising Content

June 25, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Mark Howard, CRO Forbes Media on Creating Native Advertising Content.

Q: Describe the importance of quality content in the Native Advertising value proposition:

A: As with editorial content, quality brand content is key for an advertiser to remain relevant and achieve credibility and impact. Some typical hallmarks of quality are, of course, accuracy, craftsmanship and usefulness to the audience. But it’s important to note that those characteristics can mean different things in different contexts. That’s why contextual relevance is also critical to a quality experience. What may work contextually in one environment, site, social media network or native ad placement may feel out of place−or not resonate as well−with the audience in another.

At Forbes, we review each potential partner’s content plan to determine whether that content would be relevant for the Forbes business journalism audience. We have guidelines for the nature of the content on our site. The content itself is not a place for marketers to promote products or services but rather a forum to provide domain expertise and insights and authentically engage with the Forbes.com audience. Members of our team work closely with our digital partners to share their years of expertise in the digital content landscape, and we share those lessons and collaborate with marketers to help them achieve success.

Q: Describe the way in which your organization handles the creation of Native Advertising content:

A: Forbes gives marketers a voice as experts in their fields to share their thought leadership and storytelling on Forbes.com and in Forbes magazine. Marketers have direct publishing access to Forbes.com. We first launched BrandVoice (then called AdVoice) in 2010, which emerged from a visionary philosophy that perceived the web and burgeoning social networks as great equalizer and merit-based information sharing systems. A variety of voices–whether it’s the voice of journalists, audience members or marketers–now has a chance to be heard. The audience “votes” through engagement.

In 2013, Forbes BrandVoice articles garnered more than 11 million page views. Partners have also seen benefits from their BrandVoice campaigns beyond article engagement. For example, a contributor from one of our partners received an invitation to advise government officials on her area of expertise–cloud computing−based on the exposure and credibility she earned via the Forbes BrandVoice platform.
Q: What types of marketing initiatives lend themselves best to leveraging Native Advertising and how can they be designed to better deliver on their objectives?

A: Brand content should serve the audience first. It should be useful to the audience in some way, it should be aligned with the marketer’s identity, and it should also make sense contextually within the environment where it’s being featured natively. Forbes readers expect authentic business thought leadership and storytelling aligned with a marketer’s expertise and ethos. On another site, the audience may expect, for example, entertainment or life science information.

Three pieces of advice for marketers for brand content programs:

Commit to and resource brand content as a permanent initiative for your brand, with an ever-growing body of work. This is especially key as social and smartphone usage continues to rise. Content commands attention on the smaller screens and on social media.
Think and act like a publisher, information provider, journalist, storyteller and/or entertainer. If you don’t know how, hire or work with people who do.
Consider your brand content program one important piece of your overall brand marketing and advertising strategy that aims to broaden reach, drive awareness and trust, and increase exposure. A great brand content program works in concert with—but is itself different—than other types of advertising and marketing within your brand universe.

And some advice for publishers would be:

First and foremost, be transparent and provide clear disclosure about the source of the content.
Make your brand content programs truly native and contextually relevant to the spirit and goals of your environment, avoiding commoditized native advertising shortcuts that aren’t truly native, aren’t contextually relevant and aren’t useful to the audience.
Teach your partners to become great publishers. Guide them strategically. Share metrics openly.

Mark Howard is Chief Revenue Officer at Forbes Media. In this role, he is responsible for the U.S. and European digital and print sales organization, marketing and advertising solutions. Previously, he was SVP of Digital Advertising Strategy. Howard also held the position of SVP and VP of Digital Advertising Sales for Forbes Media, overseeing the global sales team in its online sales efforts as well leading the Western Region team in its integrated sales efforts. Howard joined Forbes Media as a Regional Sales Manager in 2002. During his time at Forbes, he has also served as West Coast Digital Sales Director and Western Region Director of Integrated Sales. Prior to joining Forbes Media, Howard held sales positions at Inc. and Fast Company magazines, as well as E-Trade Financial. He began his career as a media planner at Anderson & Lembke.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Mike Kisseberth, Chief Revenue Officer of Purch, on Creating Native Advertising Content
Q&A: Edward Menicheschi, VP & publisher of Vanity Fair, on Creating Native Advertising Content

Innovation

Healthy Insights: WebMD Healthy Target App Combines Content and Data for Popular Fitness Wearables

June 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

WebMD is bringing insights to wearables with the launch of WebMD Healthy Target. Available within WebMD’s flagship mobile app for iPhone, Healthy Target is designed translate step, sleep, weight and blood glucose data from multiple well-known device manufacturers—including Entra, Fitbit, UP by Jawbone and Withings—into actionable insights.

WebMD director of mobile product development David Ziegler cites the increasing popularity of wearables as one factor in the decision to target this market. However he emphasizes that the move originated from a desire to better serve WebMD’s core audience “with a health improvement and behavior-change program.” While wearables are adept at tracking a range of user activities and behaviors, interpreting the data had been left to the users. With Healthy Target, WebMD helps users set achievable goals and pairs them with content-based insights the help them achieve those goals.

“We went into this knowing that a lot of activity trackers end up in users’ sock drawers. To date the devices only deliver the numbers; we believe that by providing contextual WebMD information and insights we can help users understand the data and learn new habits that will improve their health” says Ziegler. “And we are finding that device makers are also excited about this tool because it will keep people using their devices longer.”

The app starts off by letting users set one of six goals: 1) lose weight 2) eat healthier 3) be more active 4) control blood sugar 5) sleep better 6) feel better. Once goals are selected, Healthy Target recommends three habits that can help users reach them.

It then supports the formation of these new health habits not only by tracking and reporting on users’ progress, but also by suggesting content that helps them succeed. For example, if your goal is to sleep better, but your tracker finds you didn’t sleep well last night, the system will offer physician-reviewed suggestions to help and motivate you, or an article on what causes fatigue or a list of the effects of poor sleep.

One of Ziegler’s favorite features of WebMD Healthy Target is the way in which it provides weekly reviews that not only provide insights into users’ progress, but provides encouraging insights to help them improve and stay motivated. “For example, if you didn’t do your habit, we ask why: Were you stressed? Did you forget? Then Healthy Target generates a reading list to help you overcome those obstacles.”

For medical concerns such as diabetes, the tracker not only provides ongoing informational support, but calls-to-action if necessary. “Everything we do is physician- reviewed and for Healthy Target, we worked closely with doctors who are experts in diabetes to develop intelligence on the back end. If your levels are high or low, the tracker interrupts with a big alert on things you should do immediately.”

While the first wave of biometrics stores data in silos, WebMD wants to unify that information in one place so that users can easily gain usable insights from the behaviors they may be tracking on various devices including fitness trackers, wireless glucometers and scales. Now that the devices are beginning to mature and the data automatically updates, Ziegler believes that the time is right to combine personal, tracked data with trusted health content to help users live a healthier life.

“We want to be the central location for your personal data. People will have multiple biometric data points, but they trust WebMD to bring it to one central location.” This data, combined with physician-reviewed, contextually-relevant content and motivational tips, will support WebMD’s goal of supporting users’ in developing healthy habits that last.

Marketing | Revenue

Q&A: Edward Menicheschi, VP & Publisher of Vanity Fair, on Creating Native Advertising Content

June 17, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Edward Menicheschi, VP & publisher of Vanity Fair, on Creating a Native Advertising Content.

Q: Describe the importance of quality content in the Native Advertising value proposition:

A: Quality is everything in generating content for our audience and Native is no exception. Part of the filter that our in house agency, VF Agenda, applies is: does this have a rational reason to be within our brand? Will our audience find value in all of this? Does it propel the storytelling process around the subject matter?

Q: Describe the way in which your organization handles the creation of Native Advertising content:

A: We receive multiple requests on a monthly basis for Native Advertising content creation. As a company, we made a decision to enter this space last year. We pass on a fair number of requests if we feel we don’t have something great to offer the consumer or something that makes sense within our brand voice. An example of something that worked particularly well was the Hennessy Native content program we produced last December. The “Hennessy Original Film” about car racing felt like a natural fit for our readers.

Q: What types of marketing initiatives lend themselves best to leveraging Native Advertising and how can they be designed to better deliver on their objectives?

A: We always think of story line first in considering how Native Advertising can support a brand’s marketing initiative. Is there something new to discuss, is there context that works beyond a traditional ad message that leads to discovery? Is there relevant subject matter that will lead an audience to want to find out more? Those are the benchmarks that we think marketers should be asking themselves beyond the traditional KPI’s.

Don’t enter the space for the sake of saying you’re in it. Really think through the implications for your brand. Transparency is paramount in communicating that Native Advertising is sponsored content. The consumer is way too plugged in to assume that you can blur the lines and they won’t know. Be up front. Tell a great story. Set the bar high. And use great content creators who know how to land a message with the consumer.

Edward Menicheschi has been VP and publisher of Vanity Fair since August 2006. He previously was president of WWD Media Worldwide. He first joined Condé Nast in 1986, working at GQ. He also served as executive editor of Vogue for two years before being named associate publisher in 1994. Menicheschi also was the president of IAM.COM, a talent-search website.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Mike Kisseberth, Chief Revenue Officer of Purch, on Creating Native Advertising Content

Innovation

For World Cup 2014, ESPN’s Goal is to Give Fans a Winning Multiplatform Experience

June 13, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The buzz around the 2014 World Cup is palpable. And this year, more people can watch it more places than ever before thanks, at least in part, to ESPN’s massive multiplatform push. According to Patrick Stiegman, VP and Editorial Director of ESPN Digital and Print Media, “Strategically, we don’t separate digital from print and broadcast. All parts must be moving together nicely as we produce this incredible event.”

ESPN has a team of 15 people on the ground in Brazil providing coverage that is being leveraged across all of its platforms. The work they do will be used for breaking news, analysis, digital features and shorts, and stories for broadcast and print. “All of our reporters are thinking multiplatform at all times,” says Stiegman. “At the World Cup, they are ESPN reporters, not specific to a delivery platform.” For example, Michael Davies and Roger Bennett, who are well known for their popular Men in Blazers podcasts on Grantland, are contributing daily blog posts to ESPN FC. In turn, segments of broadcast video commentary are available on the website and in ESPN’s apps.

To flesh out this multiplatform approach, ESPN has made significant investments in its digital delivery that will enable viewers to watch all 64 matches live online via an embedded WatchESPN video player on its responsive ESPN FC website, which it relaunched along with the ESPN FC app, earlier this month. Stiegman says that the updated ESPN FC app will be a “game changing service for fans. It will be a mobile home for anyone who wants to follow the ins and outs of the World Cup.”

A “huge step in ESPN’s digital strategy is personalization,” according to Stiegman. “Increasingly, we see the drive toward personalization. In more than a third of our visits, fans spend time in clubhouses and take a team-specific approach. They want the higher level stuff, but also want to follow their teams in depth.” To that end, the ESPN FC app starts with IP-based geolocation, and then prompts users to set which edition they want. Options include regional or specific team-centric coverage as well as language options that include Spanish and Portuguese. All matches will be available online in Portuguese via ESPN Deportes as well.

Another significant piece of the company’s strategy that has allowed ESPN to provide such extensive digital availability of this year’s World Cup is the company’s work over the past several years to improve authentication, particularly ease of use. “With WatchESPN, we’ve been working hard for some time to make it as easy as possible for fans to authenticate as cable subscribers.” ESPN currently has digital authentication deals with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Dish.

“We really are focused on allowing viewers to access ESPN on the best screen available at any given moment. Maybe that’s mobile on a plane. Or maybe, like it is at my house, you’ll be watching on a tablet while your daughter watches Disney on your 60-inch TV.” While the goal with authentication has been to make signing in as easy as possible, increasing the breadth and depth of offerings via as wide a range of platforms as possible “is all about giving viewers a clear return on investment for taking the time to do so.”