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

Can brand content help solve a murder?

March 30, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Sponsored content is not a new thing; paid advertorials have been around for more than a century. But there’s no denying that branded content has become a significant part of the marketing mix and media revenue generation in recent years. Certainly, the deftness with which deep contextual connections can be made in digital has been a driver of demand. Even more interesting is that this desire for context is also driving experimentation and creativity when it comes to branded content storytelling.

Guardian Labs US, the branded content studio of Guardian News and Media, recently launched a brand journalism campaign for Amazon’s Bosch series that colors way outside the lines of the traditional advertorial template. With a nod to the popular cold-case crime genre (notably the stunningly successful podcast series, Serial), the branded content team at Guardian Labs created the series How to Solve a Murder.

Branded content strategist Jill Hilbrenner says that—sponsored or not—this is the type of story The Guardian likes to tell. She cites its coverage of The Grim Sleeper case—which also examined a cold case from the 1980s. “Something we often hear at Guardian Labs is that consumers are looking for authenticity of content and storytelling.” So, when she created How to Solve a Murder (with the financial support of Amazon), she sought to deliver compelling journalism that aligns with The Guardian’s editorial standards.

According to Rachael Post, director of branded content at Guardian Labs, Amazon came to them with clear conceptual guidelines that relate to the premise of its Bosch series, which is about an LAPD homicide detective: They wanted the story to be based upon a cold case that involved Los Angeles or Las Vegas and included a detective. Then they set the Guardian Labs team loose to uncover and deliver a compelling tale.

The series—clearly labeled “Paid for by Bosch-Amazon”—explores the murder of teenaged Kari Lenander through the lens of a LAPD detective who spent years searching for her killer. According to Veronika Cernadas, who handles media and public affairs, The Guardian “is very serious about wanting to be transparent because we stand for open, transparent journalism.” This applies to all aspects of the company’s endeavors. So while How to Solve a Murder was written with a high degree of editorial autonomy, clear labeling was essential.

Hilbrenner points out there are likely to be those who are skeptical of any content that is sponsored, though she is confident that, given the quality of reporting and storytelling, readers will come away satisfied. In fact, she says that reaction to the series thus far has been highly positive, with significant discussion on social media around the forensic techniques used in the investigation, crowdsourcing of clues and tweets by author Michael Connelly, who wrote the books on which the Bosch series is based.

“We were pleased that we were trusted to do what we do best: Tell stories worth telling,” says Hilbrenner. She also says that it is possible that this model of sponsorship could afford coverage opportunities for stories that might not otherwise receive attention.” As Post points out, “we live in a very reactive news climate and investigative doesn’t always get the attention it needs even on the news side.”

While The Guardian Labs may be testing out a means of sponsoring stories worth telling, Post says that they are definitely focused on helping brands tell good stories that align with their marketing objectives “but push the envelope a little bit.”

Industry-Research

Navigating mobile hurdles in 7 charts

March 8, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The case for mobile has been made. But it comes as no surprise to anyone developing content for mobile, creating mobile experiences, and developing monetization strategies that there are many issues that need to be address to pave the way for success.

Finding your audience

Mobile is certainly a given in any content delivery plan. However, there are demographic segments that must be prioritized in terms of mobile development.

Deciding which platforms to prioritize in terms of app development can’t be based solely upon gross popularity. Certain platforms attract specific demographic segments and verticals experience distinctly different levels of conversion success depending upon platform.

The State of App Marketing – H2 2015, AppsFlyer

Monetizing mobile

The average monthly per-app revenue is in the range of $5k to $11k depending on the platform. Windows Phone is the highest money-maker at $11.4k per month per app. Those that develop for the Apple iOS make an average of about $8.1k per month per app. For Android, the average revenue is $4.9k per month per app.

It is interesting to note that, since Windows has only a niche audience, the app store is not as fragmented as the Android and iOS counterparts. Thus app discoverability is much easier and the competition among apps is less. Thus developers on the Windows App Store seem to enjoy the highest monthly revenue.

State of Mobile App Developers 2016, InMobi

Making ads work

Regardless of platform, the majority of app revenue is generated through advertising. Unfortunately, the ad experience on mobile has not been one users have reacted to favorably. Thus, it is important to be aware of what mobile content consumers don’t like about mobile ad experiences in order to address these issues. Significantly, these opinions vary based upon types of mobile users.

As important as it is to understand what annoys consumers in terms of mobile advertising, it is also useful to know how mobile content consumers react to a variety of formats and factors in order to create effective ad experiences.

Consumer Intelligence Series Mobile advertising: What do US consumers want? PwC

And, of course, once ad experiences are optimized for consumers on mobile, marketers have made it clear that it essential that the effectiveness of these campaigns be accurately measured.

Innovation

Inside AccuWeather’s hyper-local, global weather outlook

February 24, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Weather: The universal conversation starter. Weather may well top the list of daily content go-to’s worldwide. Perhaps because it has global and local implications. In fact, what could be more hyper-local? Deciding whether to plant the tulips or to send the kids to the park this weekend? Figuring out if your Monday work outfit requires you to rock the rain boots or the Manolos? Yet as any content provider knows, the demands of local content are complex.

Steve Smith, president of digital media for AccuWeather knows the challenges presented by the company’s continued global expansion: AccuWeather has a global audience of 1.5 billion and two thirds of them are outside the U.S. “While a lot of people talk about ‘going global’, we’ve been living it,” says Smith.

Weather information and its related news, editorial and video has to be localized. And to do so, AccuWeather often partners with local media companies to incorporate their content into its product and also to understand the needs and expectations of customers in a given area.

But localization goes well beyond content according to Smith. Delivery, UI and UX all need to be customized for specific audiences as well. For example, in much of Europe, weather content is map-based and employs what would be a dizzying array of icons and symbols to audiences elsewhere. Whereas in Japan, weather animations are extremely popular.

While the company does market research and user surveys to understand specific markets, Smith says that AccuWeather’s longstanding partnerships with global companies like Samsung, LG and Sony have been extremely helpful in enhancing their learning. Samsung, for example, has many country-specific offices that Smith and his team visit to show them products and concepts and solicit their feedback. “Use the partnerships you have,” Smith advises. Though he also feels that “the digital toolkit available today makes it much easier to test products across audiences.”

The company’s global strategy is not entirely focused on meeting the needs of its diverse audience while they are at home, of course. Smith says that consumers also have an expectation for a personalized experience wherever they are. “In many ways, language and location are big indicators of intent,” says Smith. And AccuWeather looks at these factors to determine whether, for example, your phone is German so that your information is presented in the metric system no matter where you are traveling. There are also subtle language distinctions that contribute to this experience. If you are American, the day might be “partly sunny,” but if you are British that same day will have “cloudy spells” instead.

“We’re living in an age where we all have supercomputers in our pockets equipped with high-powered GPS,” says Smith. As a result, customer expectations are growing more intense. Typing a location, he says, will soon be a thing of the past. Even the notion of location being city-based is also fading. AccuWeather already offers weather on a neighborhood basis in many cities. In New York City, for example, Manhattan isn’t nearly specific enough; the app knows if you are in Chelsea or the Upper West Side. The company is rolling out this level of specificity worldwide on a city-by-city basis and in 100 languages. The investment is a sound one, says Smith. “We have found that if we don’t get the location right, consumers don’t trust anything we tell them.”

Given how personal weather is—no matter where you live—Smith sees a time in the near future when your trusted weather ally has access to your calendar and sends you useful information before you ask. And then, you won’t even need to consider whether or not to pack that umbrella.

Innovation

NewsON: delivering local news anywhere, anytime

February 19, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

A fortuitous result of the ever-proliferating sources for news has been that Americans are consuming more of it than they have in a long time. And the majority of Americans—nine out of ten—follow news about their local area very closely or somewhat closely. However, the proportion of Americans who get news from traditional media platforms—television, radio and print—has been stable or declining in the last few years (though for local news, television still holds its own).

Along with a glut of “news” content we’re also seeing content consumption habits evolve: more and more people consume news on mobile—which is not simply a result of the popularity of mobile devices, but reflective of consumers’ anytime, on-demand expectations. This proliferation of news sources and changing consumption patterns has created issues for content companies and consumers alike. Certainly, it increases competition. But it also causes quality issues, as it can be difficult to find trusted and reliable information, particularly for an audience unlikely to sit down to watch the evening news every night at six.

However, broadcast media veterans are not standing idly by. NewsON—launched by ABC Owned Television Station Group, Cox Media Group, Hearst Television, Media General, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., and Raycom Media (with Sinclair Broadcast Group joining as a partner)—was founded to provide local news to mobile consumers nationwide. As CEO Louis Gump put it, “In an age where fragmentation is common, we believe creating something that makes it easy for viewers to find trusted news brings great consumer benefit.”

The NewsON app provides access to live and on-demand local newscasts and local news clips. The free, ad-supported app features flexible navigation that encourages discovery, offering instant access to broadcast-quality video. It also enables people to search by market via an interactive map and for curated content that links coverage of breaking news events from multiple stations. NewsON is available for Apple iPhone and iPad, Android phone and tablet, and on the Roku platform.

While many of the broadcasters with whom NewsON works have individual apps and make much of their content available digitally, Gump points out that the app has the advantage of offering information from multiple sources within a given local market, which allows consumers to dig in on topics of interest. It also allows people anywhere to find locally-produced video on a given topic, which is likely to offer insights and depth not available from national sources. As examples, Gump sites the New Hampshire Presidential primary and weather events such as the January 2016 blizzard that affected several east coast states, with distinct coverage being offered in local markets.

For the broadcasters that work with NewsON—120 stations in 92 markets, covering 76% of the U.S. population—Gump says NewsON delivers expanded audience reach across all demographics. While Gump would not comment on specific financial terms, he says “the economics at NewsON are weighted heavily in favor of the stations.”

A third benefit, which Gump describes as “kind of extra credit,” is shared learning. “Any TV station group that doesn’t have a strong digital offering and isn’t investing in innovation probably has some big problems,” he said, also pointing out that NewsON provides additional opportunities for experimentation and shared learning among participants. He’s seen confirmation that there’s an increasing desire to time-shift news viewing, but also sees behaviors that debunk the popular notion that people only want to watch short-form video.

NewsON, says Gump, was founded on three main principles: “Do the right thing; serve our customers; and move forward.” As he points out, people are looking for content that meets their needs, on their terms and it is essential to focus on those needs and expectations—with a consistent future-focus. And to that end, he says we can expect to see more partnerships this year, with the goal of increasing local content offerings in existing markets and adding new markets to the mix, as well as significant product updates and evolved advertising capabilities.

Innovation

Content syndication the latest target in The Washington Post’s news-business revamp

January 18, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The momentum at the post-Bezos Washington Post shows no signs of slowing, starting with a focus on readers that is fueled by a complete technological transformation. From building Arc, a proprietary content management system, to hiring a slew of engineers and embedding them in every area of the business—today’s Washington Post has made its global ambitions clear. The company has just launched an all-new news service and syndication site that is reflective of its focus on internal innovation and ever-widening business plans.

The new news service and syndicate delivery site provides streamlined access to content from The Post, Bloomberg News and Japan News for use in subscribers’ digital publications. Like all things Washington Post these days, the new site emphasizes user experience, and focuses on speed and ease of use to allow clients to quickly identify content of interest and incorporate it into their sites.

Syndication is among the many elements of the newspaper business that are ripe for reinvention according to Alan Shearer, editorial director for The Washington Post News Service and Syndicate. “For many decades, we had a curated news service that was very successful. We sold mainly to newspapers on a subscription basis—but, as you can imagine, that business started to decline.”

Shearer says that the newly-revamped news service and syndication site was not prompted as much by the decline in subscriptions as by the increased opportunity offered by the digital content marketplace. The Washington Post has a much broader range of potential customers than in years past. “We went from a market limited to newsprint publications to an almost unlimited market all over the world.” While their current customer base is dominated by newspapers and new sites, Shearer says they are already starting to see a change, with more interest coming from digital-only niche sites and foreign organizations seeking larger licensing deals.

From the subscriber point of view, the new site offers more granular content and image search. According to Shearer site speed is the number one priority—too many categories can slow site performance. Clients can expect fast access to three times as much news and multimedia content. The next step, says Shearer, is ecommerce which will not only allow clients to more easily track use and pay bills, but also enable anyone, anywhere to buy and use Washington Post content: “the micropayment dream.”

He emphasizes that the newly revamped news and syndication site is indicative of The Washington Post’s broader philosophical approach to technology and business. “We see this as an ecosystem that is going to be continually improved through user suggestions. We have a saying now: If you have to have a meeting or committee to study something, it is already too late. Do it, if it doesn’t work, do something else.”

Innovation

With Lifestyle Studios launch, Scripps makes its multi-platform plans clear

December 15, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Well known for its stable of popular lifestyle television media channels such as HGTV, Food Network, and Travel Channel, Scripps Network Interactive has been hard at work bolstering its digital presence with ongoing investments in its menu of original programming for Ulive. Now, after what Scripps Lifestyle Studios SVP and GM Vikki Neil describes as a year of intensive reorganization, resourcing and future-centric thinking, the company has debuted Scripps Lifestyle Studios, a new business division designed to drive digital content innovation and advertising solutions.

The full-service editorial unit will spearhead the development of compelling lifestyle experiences across multiple platforms including social media, apps, websites and third-party digital media outlets. According to Neil, television programming is about creating content for a 24-hour day, usually for lean-back experiences. Scripps Lifestyle Studios will do that while also creating content suited for social channels and for audience’s lean-in needs, such as how to make a birthday cake or a holiday cocktail. The formation of the new division “not only increases our capabilities, but emphasizes our dedication to creating the right content for the right platform, delivered at the right time,” says Neil. The goal is to create relevant, shareable content that instantly connects with digital-first consumers.

Upcoming launches from Scripps Lifestyle Studios will feature both linear and digital talent across multiple platforms and include HGTV Happy’s short videos on simple ways to brighten lives; a Facebook Live day-long cookie party; an Alton Brown takeover of the Snapchat channel, with a behind-the-scenes look at his favorite eats; and revealing sabotage secrets from hit Food Network show Cutthroat Kitchen.

With the new division comes “deeper integration of advertisers into storytelling.” As Neil points out, Scripps Networks Interactive has created branded content for many years. However, she says the formation of the new division comes with a philosophical shift: “We are asking our editorial team to think differently. I truly believe that if you do it right, the advertiser enhances the audience experience. What we’ve learned through experimentation is your structure doesn’t need to be church and state; our entire staff can be thinking about when, where and how to best bring a product in.”

It is significant to note that within Scripps Lifestyle Studios, the editorial side has the lead on branded content and product integrations. Neil says that advertisers trust its editors to know their audiences and best create content that will resonate with them.

In fact, Neil believes that Scripps’ editorial strength will be key driver of its digital success. “We hire very creative people across the board, but interestingly most of them are millennials and a huge percentage are women.” The result is that Scripps Lifestyle Studios is creatively fueled by its target audience. She says you can “feel the vibe when you walk our floors…these people are here because they are passionate about food, travel, home.” And this, combined with elements such as The Food Network Test Kitchen—an important hub of the new division—brings with it credibility and trust.

Neil says the formation of Scripps Lifestyle Studios makes it clear that “digital isn’t a side business;” it’s an expression of Scripps’ plan to build a brand that extends well beyond T.V.

Innovation | Revenue

Customer-first strategy reflects—and builds—the power of the brand

December 2, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Revenue diversification has long been a focus of media organizations but lately, the rise of ad blocking has underscored its importance. All trusted media brands have built enduring relationships with their customers—audiences and advertisers alike—however, developing new revenue streams is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Publishers contemplating new sources of revenue must carefully consider options that deepen those customer relationships or fill their new or nascent needs while also protecting the power of their brand.

With that in mind, Digital Content Next added a new members-only event to it mix: Power of the Brand, held December 1st at Conde Nast’s new home at One World Trade. The event featured a wide range of non-advertising-based revenue opportunities being explored by media companies. On the Media co-host Bob Garfield—who admittedly spends much of his time chronicling the failure of media to effectively monetize digital—kicked off the day by outlining the dominate revenue strategies that publishers are using today.

Phil Terry, CEO of Collaborative Gain, Inc. set the tone for the day with the revelation that most consumer and product experiences are mediocre because the vast majority of them are created without actually including the consumer in the creative process. In part, he says this is due to “the arrogance of past success,” which can create dangerous product development blind spots. Instead, Terry says that those leading innovation strategy—be it the C-suite or product managers—need to get out and see how customers are actually using their products. This allows them to identify pain points and genuine opportunities.

Paying For It
Garfield came back to the stage to interview with Denise Warren, President-Digital & CEO, East Coast Publishing for Tribune Publishing, about one of the toughest revenue streams: subscription models. Warren, who hails from The New York Times (which recently reached the 1 million digital subscriber mark) joined Tribune publishing in May and has already announced plans to change the way it charges for online content in 2016. The Company will be shifting to the metered model, which Warren said allows customers to decide what sorts of stories are most valuable to them.

However, Warren emphasized that they will also focus on monetizing their most differentiated content—which for many Tribune publications is local investigative journalism. The big challenge in moving customers from free to fee is helping them recognize the value proposition which Warren said requires that they understand the audience. “Then we have to help them understand that we have what satisfies them and scratches their itch.”

Bring the Brand to Life
Certainly, this understanding (and subsequent customer satisfaction) is unique to each brand. NPR listeners become super-fans of on-air personalities and, according to Executive Director of Marketing and Branding Alan Feldenkris, NPR is increasingly exploring ways to “monetize that fandom” through live events. Success at NPR starts with brand love and affinity and, Feldenkris said, live events deepen their customer relationships while providing the potential to develop new revenue opportunities.

Fans of Refinery29 rely on the brand to offer stylish, creative and accessible fashion inspiration. CRO Melissa Goidel said it is essential for Refinery29 to remain true to its audience above all. So when they were thinking about New York’s Fashion Week—one of the most exclusive events in the world—they took a different approach and decided to throw a giant party that everyone could attend. The resulting interactive fashion and art event, 29 Rooms, attracted 6,000 live attendees and reached 1 in 6 Instagram users worldwide. While the event had sponsors, the company viewed it primarily as a way to extend audience engagement into the real world. They recently produced a similar event celebrating #MinnieStyle, demonstrating the ability to monetize that engagement.

Few brands garner as much fan engagement as Time, Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition but, according to Ian Orefice, Time Inc’s Head of Programming, until recently they had “given away” one of the most exciting aspects of the issue: the cover reveal, unveiling it on popular television shows. Orefice said they had an “ah ha moment” this year and created a sponsored original video in which model Hanna Davis learns she’s that she’s made the cover. He said that Time Inc. is now “trying to act more like a TV production company and think about windowing,” so that it takes strategic approach to video that allows the company to make the most of its assets monetizing them through licensing and other partnerships.

Learn as You Go
For Rodale, its assets include a wealth of health and wellness lifestyle brands, which the company leverages through print and digital subscriptions, utility apps, ecommerce and books. The company recognizes that its customer relationships revolve around the deep subject matter expertise of its writers and editors and is currently beta-testing a new way to offer that expertise to those who want to dig into a subject and learn more: Rodale U. Offering courses on topics from running a marathon to clean eating, Diego Sanchez, Executive Director, Digital Business Development says that, based upon internal marketing alone, Rodale has already driven more than a million people into the platform with a paid conversion rate of over 1%. And just this week, Rodale U debuted its first sponsored course.

Clearly, each of these brands is driven to drive revenue beyond traditional advertising opportunities. But they are driving safely. Throughout the day, the recurring theme was deep customer understanding and creating value for these customers in order to build new roads that lead to engagement and revenue.

Innovation

Harvard Business Publishing reimagines its archive as the LeadingEdge learning platform

November 17, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The Harvard Business Publishing archive has long offered a wealth of information to organizations that wanted to develop internal training programs or offer content to support the ongoing education of staff. However, this deep well of content was ripe for the functional overhaul that took place over the past year: an “archive reboot” that recently launched as a platform, LeadingEdge.

Rob McKinney, director of product management at Harvard Business School Publishing says they set out to “reimagine the archive as a mobile-first experience and make it really easy to access and use the best of Harvard content.” They started off by talking to their learning group customers to see what features and functionality they would find most useful. These customers fall into three groups: curriculum designers, group managers, and individuals within organizations that license the platform.

It is interesting to note that when McKinney’s team showed wire frames of the first version of LeadingEdge to users, they provided positive and constructive feedback but overwhelmingly said they didn’t think they’d use it on mobile. However, by the final iteration, these testers had swung to the other extreme, saying that they frequently found themselves wanting to use the product when they were away from the office.

This is reflective not only of today’s employees’ constantly-connected work life, but also of the expectation for informal, flexible learning opportunities. While organizations centrally deploy LeadingEdge, and many develop their own programs using the content, the platform also allows individual learners to access, organize and share content from any device and any location with the same seamless experience.

McKinney says that their mobile-first product development process allowed them to decide what to add in tablet and desktop viewsand to “create an experience that isn’t jarring for the user when they move from one to the other. If you’ve used one format, the interface is consistent and you don’t have to re-learn how to use it in other formats.”

LeadingEdge content includes Harvard Business Review (HBR) articles, case studies and commentaries, newsletters, videos, book chapters, as well as Harvard Business School (HBS) case studies. HBR editors will also preview content that is slated to appear in the magazine prior to publication. What this means, according to McKinney, is that LeadingEdge can be leveraged for formal learning or informal continuous learning. “When we reimagined our archive, we wanted to make a single place where you could search across all of this information and have a lot of options that suit your intentions or your available time—from a two-minute video, a lesson with a Harvard ManageMentor, or longer articles or case studies.”

Given the depth and breadth of content, made functional with an array of tools such as robust search and filtering, a “my library tool,” the ability to easily share individual assets or a collection, and callouts for newly-added content, McKinney believes that LeadingEdge provides curriculum managers with an easier way to access the appropriate HBR and HBS content to support their learning objectives. It also allows them to more easily make this content available to teams and individual leaders so that they can use the information “in their moment of need, or to make sure their knowledge is current when they find some time between meetings.” He points to the large body of research on intrinsic motivation, which he says is largely driven by the ability to make one’s own choices. “We are trying to get at that,” says McKinney, “this tool gives people a lot of power to choose the content they want to engage with to support their need to effectively coach their teams and achieve stated goals, but also to spark new ideas.”

Perspectives | Revenue

Personal Data NYC panelists dig in on ad blocking

November 16, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

An Ad blocker is a blunt instrument. They treat all ads the same, regardless of quality, source or context. Arguably, the notion of defining “acceptable ads” could be equally blunt in its application, given the likelihood that such an approach will fail to account for the context in which ads run or how such an acceptable ad system is itself funded. The reality is that the issue of ad blocking is nuanced, as demonstrated by the range of views expressed on a diverse panel on ad blocking hosted by Personal Data NYC (PDNYC) November 11.

Frederic Montagnon, CEO of Secret Media, expressed frustration commenting that “Ad blocking is black and white and it is not fair that this is the way it works because there are those investing money in doing things the right way.” On the other hand, author and journalist Doc Searls pointed out that ad blocking is an unsurprising response by consumers to the ways in which ad tech has influenced the course of online advertising. And Digital Content Next CEO Jason Kint said, “It’s accepted that there’s a problem, and it’s serious.” However, it was clear from the discussion that not everyone is in agreement on how best to address it.

Panelists included Montagnon, founder of Secret Media, technology that helps publishers create advertising that circumvents ad blockers; Jim Hirschfeld, SVP of Sales & GM Americas at PageFair, a company which provides both analytics to allow sites to measure how many visitors block ads as well as an advertising system that displays ad-block friendly ads to ad blockers; and Brendan Riordan-Butterworth, director of technical standards at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which recently put forth its LEAN standards (Light, Encrypted, Ad Choice Supported, Non-Invasive Ads).

In the years that he’s been tracking the growth of ad blocking, Riordan-Butterworth said he’s seen things shift from an idealistic phase to one “where the capitalists are running the show.” In particular, he points to “intermediaries who have inserted themselves in between the audience and the publishers—and then ask them for money,” which he likened to highway robbery.

Hirshfield pointed out that publishers have to monetize their audiences in some way and said he doesn’t hold out much hope for the efforts publishers have made to appeal to their readers to turn off blockers or pay “because ad block installations are orders of magnitude higher than their conversion rates.” Kint, who made it clear that he is concerned about solutions that may trigger a “tech arms race” said he’s seen DCN members testing a range of approaches, but emphasized that any solution needs to focus on the consumers “who are sending a clear signal that there’s an issue with online advertising.”

Searls pointed out that one of the issues consumers have is with unbridled tracking — citing the unexpected veracity of a recent Onion article, “Woman Stalked Across 8 Websites By Obsessed Shoe Advertisement.” However, he emphasized the relative youth of the internet and his belief that with continued experimentation, the industry can find effective answers. He was not alone in expressing the view that there needs to be a movement away from the type of digital advertising that relies upon tracking for targeting towards one that is includes more evocative brand advertising (think classic Madison Avenue campaigns). “The notion of the right ad for the right ad for the right person at the right time is absurd because most of us aren’t buying things all the time,” he said. “But brand advertising sends an economic signal. When I watch the ball game, I’m not going to buy a truck. But GM knows it’s worth showing me the ad.”

Kint pointed out that to date, “TV has been the only great medium for brand advertising because of its scale. If digital can figure that out, and deliver great ad content that changes minds and effects emotions at scale, that will mean something.” And he reinforced that this is an issue that can’t be addressed by assigning blame. Rather, it is one that requires all affected parties—brand marketers, advertising agencies and media companies—to apply innovation and creativity to creating solutions that support the industry and satisfy consumers’ expectations.

Advertising | Perspectives | Revenue

Time well spent? Inside the FT’s time-based ads sales effort

November 11, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

When it comes to finite resources, perhaps none is so keenly felt as the limited number of hours in the day. And, as more content creators vie for this precious time—across a proliferation of delivery platforms and devices—creators of digital content have steadily seen their online objectives reduced to a frantic race for audience numbers, pageviews and click-throughs. Some leaders in the industry, however, are looking to change the conversation to one where time spent is the metric that matters.

Last fall, the Financial Times began testing ad sales based upon a new cost-per-hour (CPH) metric. Its initial foray went well and in May of this year they announced the official launch of a new time-based measurement system. The FT’s US Commercial Director, Brendan Spain, says the decision to initiate a new method for transacting ad value based upon time was prompted by an increasing sense among marketers that they their digital ad investments might not be as valuable as once thought, given revelations of high bot traffic and ad-viewability limitations.

“We decided that, given our audience, as well as the registration and subscription information we have behind our readership, that we had an opportunity to go the other way to create a very transparent product that marketers could be confident in,” says Spain. Now, a year after this idea was conceived, Spain believes that the need for better metrics is at least as great—if not greater—than it was then.

In part, the need stems from new concerns over agency rebates, which have increased the demand for transparency into the ad-buying landscape. However, Spain says that he’s also seeing an increased desire for brand dollars to be allocated to digital, which requires publishers to deliver more substantive KPIs, beyond the click. Spain notes that “There’s no KPI-uplift for clicking” while CPH measurement, on the other hand, “offers recognition that there are marketers are doing something besides trying to sell a pizza, that there are other KPIs that need to be looked at.”

That said, despite a desire for something better, there’s still a hill to climb in terms of getting any new metric to gain wide acceptance. “There’s not a line for CPH on agency spreadsheets and let’s face it, those spreadsheets are a window into the minds in the middle- and back-office,” Spain says, emphasizing the need for education on both the client and agency sides.

There is also a question of standardizing the time-based metric in order for it to scale. The Economist recently rolled out its own take on selling time-based advertising. Unlike the FT, The Economist opted to cap its attention measurement at 30 seconds. The Wall Street Journal has also reportedly explored a time-based approach that would be based upon incremental blocks of time. Differing models can create confusion in the marketplace, though Spain points out that it is still early days and the FT is among an increasing number of publishers testing out what makes the most sense. The important thing, he says, is that “the vast majority of premium publishers agree that time is transactable.”

To date, the FT has worked with 15 brands on 19 campaigns. Eight percent of their digital inventory is being served through CPH, a number Spain says adds up to a not-insignificant amount of incremental revenue on the FT’s P&L. The positive impact also affects its advertisers who are seeing 10% more active time in view than if they purchased CPM campaign. They are also currently in the process of surveying all of its clients who have tested CPH buying so far to better evaluate and document its effectiveness. “Everything we’re doing is evidence based,” says Spain. “It is really important that we’re not just putting a finger in the air.”

Despite its promise, time-based sales are not right for every campaign. As Spain points out, CPH works best to achieve objectives such as ad recall, brand awareness and recognition, and purchase consideration. He also doesn’t foresee the FT moving entirely away from CPM-based sales, though he points out they’ve never been a CPC environment. By Q1, his goal is for all of the FT’s top clients to be aware of CPH and see its value based upon evidence-based case studies.

There are metrics that can be very easily manipulated, says Spain. “You can buy likes, retweets, followers—all that takes is a five minute Google search to figure out how.” What needs to be emphasized, however, is that there are things you can’t buy. “You can’t add another hour to a CEOs day to read a publication. We need to un-muddy the waters. One of the ways to do that is to focus on metrics that are a lot harder to fudge.”

As he considers the bigger digital advertising picture, Spain has high hopes: He believes that an attention-based approach can bring more brand ad dollars to quality partners; increase marketer confidence that their ads are being seen and are engaging consumers; give publishers a means to value attention at a scaled level rather than a flat rate; and maybe even drive some of the bad inventory out of consideration or drive it out of the market altogether.

Innovation

What does its new engineering blog say about The Washington Post?

November 4, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The Washington Post isn’t just investing in innovation, it’s investing in the media innovation ecosystem with the launch of a new engineering blog that provides an inside look at the media company’s development challenges, strategy and tactics. Washington Post Chief Architect, Greg Franczyk, says that his team is tackling problems faced by others in digital media and the new blog offers a place to openly share “what we are doing to solve these problems, so that others can use our ideas, but also give us feedback to improve what we’re doing.”

The fact that this is an engineering blog is in itself significant. Over the course of his four-year tenure, Franczyk has seen a dramatic change in the company’s approach to technology. “When I started in 2011, we didn’t have an engineering department; we were really an IT department. In an IT culture, you work with vendors; you call the support line. In an Engineering culture, you build things and solve problems.”

Franczyk says The Washington Post had a good focus on technology under former CEO Donald Graham, however “Post-Bezos, technology became front and center,” and the transformation has been great. Their “scrappy” engineering team has adopted a move fast, fail fast ethos in which they are constantly trying to solve newsroom challenges and problems faced by product teams. “Because we are doing so many things, trying so many things, and moving so quickly, we can offer insights that will be applicable to others out there.”

While the blog will focus on tactics, it will also touch upon the strategic thinking behind the tactics. Franczyk believes that “your culture is your strategy,” an ethos that comes through on the blog driven by The Washington Post’s experimental, innovative culture. “It would be nice to say one thing happened that made us successful. But ultimately, it is a tapestry.” He credits the organization’s drive to reach new digital audiences and increase its production and distribution of original content as essential elements to its overall plan for success—pointing to its record-setting traffic month in September. Though “all these things have a multiplying effect, you couldn’t reach these kinds of audiences without strong digital capabilities.”

Overall, Franczyk believes the tech story needs to be better integrated into of the bigger story of the landscape of industry solutions. “The whole industry is on the verge of a revolution,” he says. And while “working in a silo is okay for some things, others require industry-wide change.” With the new blog, he and his team are optimistic that they can help drive industry solutions, but also fuel the culture of innovation and experimentation that is driving The Washington Post.

Innovation

Edmunds TV makes its OTT debut on Apple TV

November 2, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

When the latest Apple TV went on sale last week, it was well received by reviewers and almost as quickly decried for its potential to disrupt the television ecosystem. While OTT has certainly had an impact on the cable TV business, Apple’s latest foray has the potential to make apps the new must-see TV channel.

Apps have opened the door for an increasing number of independent content plays, from the un-bundling of cable to pure play and native digital entrants into the market. Edmunds.com – which has long made content central to its car-shopping experience – is among those making its set top box debut on Apple TV

Yes, Edmunds TV will deliver their web experience to your television. But even more importantly, according to Stephen Gandee, VP of Product and Design at Edmunds.com, it offers the ability to deliver content that parallels the consumer’s cross-device path to purchase. Given how effective apps are as a component of the ecommerce journey, the app-ification of television could provide the optimal intersection of content and commerce.

It’s no coincidence that Edumunds.com chose iOS for its OTT move. The company carefully monitors how its audience behaves across different platforms and when analyzing these behaviors, they noticed an interesting difference between Android and iOS car shoppers: While users of both mobile operating systems favor the Toyota brand, iOS users skew to premium brands overall—favoring BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Needless to say, this affluent (or aspirational) iOS mobile user is likely to be a fan off Apple TV as well.

At launch, Edmunds TV will leverage the video assets in which the company has already made a significant investment. The company currently boasts a six-person video team, producing reviews as well as information on specific issues to car buyers—such as whether to buy or lease—as well as helpful information like how to jump start a car.

Gandee believes that television provides a way to better serve particular points of the automotive research cycle. “When people are crunching the numbers or reading safety articles, they’ll be in lean-in mode, probably on desktop or mobile. But when it’s after eight, the kids are in bed and you’re relaxing with a glass of wine, we can provide a lean back experience on Apple TV.” Cars, as Gandee points out, have an emotional component that is well suited to video and more leisurely content experiences: Are you a four-wheel drive person with a snowboard, or all about the latest car technology? And he can see ample opportunities to offer video experiences that will appeal because a “car speaks about who you are and what you are about.”

While Edmunds TV does not include manufacturer videos at launch, Gandee says that the company is in talks with automakers and others about the possibility of presenting OEM content—clearly marked as such—on their channel. They made this decision after reviewing consumer research showing that car shoppers visit Edmunds.com as well as manufacturer and dealer sites to seek a wide range of information. Overall, the focus will be “to stay true to car shopping, which is really our purpose. We’re not trying to be an entertainment brand. We do think that shopping for a car can be entertaining, but that’s not the main point.”

Gandee notes it’s important to innovate and be where the customer wants to be—both of which can be seen in the company’s Apple TV initiative. However, he believes that this means developing a deeper understanding of how they behave across delivery channels. In fact, he says that Edumunds.com sees this latest move onto Apple TV as one more step toward an over-arching goal, which “leverages people’s multichannel behavior so that we can be there from web, to app, to TV and really personalize and optimize the experience.”