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

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.”

Perspectives | 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.

Perspectives | 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.”

Research | Video

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

June 12, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perspectives

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

June 9, 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 Mike Kisseberth, Chief Revenue Officer of Purch, on Creating a Native Advertising Content.

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

A: Quality is of the utmost importance when it comes to native. Consumers are smart and discerning. They will quickly disregard content if it isn’t providing value or enhancing their overall experience. Quality content, regardless of the source, also ensures publication integrity long-term. Without that, you’re not a credible venue for any type of promotion.

That’s why our editorial leadership is deeply involved with decisions regarding programs that could be considered native. When content creation is a part of the project, they will provide high-level direction to assure the approach will resonate with the audience. Since page design plays a huge factor in whether that content achieves the engagement the marketer is striving for, our editors will also work with our design and analytics teams to make sure the data says we got the experience right.

Finally, of course, is our passionate community of over 78 million readers worldwide. They keep us honest and let us know what they like or don’t like. They’re our best assets for quality control.

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

A: We’ve been hosting native campaigns, advertorials, and other forms of custom content, for years.

We have a very rich tool set to achieve a wide variety of objectives – from the beginning of the sales cycle to the final design. As a publisher that works in both programmatic and highly-customized campaigns, our direct sales team plays a tremendous role in providing potential buyers and clients with the deep contextual grounding and insight that is needed to develop and execute a standout, impactful campaign right from the start. They are backed by a product marketing team that has built out a proprietary content discovery platform that works across all of our sites and our partner sites. That team also project manages the programs from start to finish to assure flawless execution.

If content creation is part of the project, we call upon our editorial leadership for direction and thought leadership. We develop the content with a team of subject matter experts outside of the editorial team. All content requires the approval of our editorial leadership.

Recently we have become most excited by the mix of Brand Impact and Direct Response Performance that we have been able to achieve by optimizing page design of our own in-market content. In some cases, this can include wiping all the ads off the page to focus the audience’s attention on the action the marketer is striving for, even if that is just deeper consideration of the content. We have seen performance for many of these pages out stripe that of any marketing tactic our customers engage.

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: It really depends upon the marketer and the media property that will host the content. Brand themes, thought leadership, even demand generation can be accomplished by a Native Advertising effort. The most important thing to consider is how you can serve the target audience first with the content you are delivering. If you can deliver value to the audience and your marketing objectives, then you can achieve performance that is hard to match through most any other marketing effort. Marketers and publishers who are considering sponsored content as part of their overall marketing mix need to get the order right though, serve the audience first with content that will be of genuine interest.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Mike oversees Purch’s (formerly called TechMedia Network) multiple advertising revenue streams. Most recently, Mike was the President and CEO of International Data Groups (IDG) Consumer & SMB division, where he led the growth of PC World and Macworld, evolving both to digital media and more than doubling the audience size. He also launched a new brand, TechHive, built a marketing services business “Content Works” and dramatically expanded IDG’s mobile and paid product offerings. Prior to IDG, Mike held high level positions at CNET Networks, Inc serving as SVP/Corporate Sales and Operations, where he led sales efforts and played an active role in implementing business strategies for every brand under the CNET Networks umbrella.

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: Edward Menicheschi, VP & publisher of Vanity Fair, on Creating Native Advertising Content

Innovation

Condé Nast Traveler’s New Gold List App Focuses on Social Life and Good Taste

June 6, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This week, Condé Nast Traveler launched its new Gold List app, available for iOS and Android, to leverage the usefulness and popularity of its listings of hotels, resorts, restaurants and hotel bars as well as to maximize the social influence of this type of content. According to Creative Services Director Dana Devito, “social is a very big part of our editorial play online and off.”
The app, says Devito, “is a true extension of our brand, not just a guide.” In particular, she cites Condé Nast Traveler’s Tastemakers—something the publication recently introduced as it shifts from its focus on travel to a broader lifestyle perspective. Tastemakers are those the publication deems influential in a wide range of areas, who offer up their distinct view on the most interesting places, things to do, and much more. The app specifically leverages the social footprint of these tastemakers because, as Devito puts it, “the biggest form of ad delivery is word of mouth.” Within the app, each Very Important Tastemaker (including stylist Ann Caruso, gallery owner Blair Voltz Clark, and hotelier Jeff Klien) has their own “VIT” page which highlights their picks (look for more emphasis on these tastemakers in the publication’s website relaunch, coming in August).

The emphasis on social can be seen everywhere in the app but the social strategy is not solely focused on external channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. They’ve included their own Pinterest-like virtual bookmarking tool which allows users to cut and paste photos and videos to populate their own public or private social stream, which Devito calls “our own Condé Nast Traveler inspiration board. ”Social integration was a key element of The Gold List app, says Devito, “because it creates a two-way platform. We’re not just pushing out information; we want to hear from our users too.”

At launch, the Gold List app includes more than 600 hotels and resorts and 300-plus restaurants and hotel bars, searchable by country, region and city. The top-ranked hotels and resorts were reader-selected in Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Reader’s Choice Survey. The app emphasizes Devito, “delivers on our twin promises of inspiration and service” with its “Stream” function, which provides a running visual archive of anything that users have shared or saved in the app. “The beautiful part of this app,” says Devito, “is that, sure, it is a resource to plan your next trip. But it is also a great tool to find a restaurant or bar at home or whatever city you find yourself in.”

Innovation

Discovery Digital Networks Partners with Magisto to Become Part of People’s Video Memories

June 2, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Everyone wants to be in the video business these days—and for good reason. The audience for digital video is expected to climb from 190.6 million this year to 204.6 million in 2017, with almost 117 million watching on mobile devices. For Discovery Digital Networks, its 30-year legacy of creating compelling video gives it a solid lead. The trick, of course, is to maximize those assets.

According to Jim Louderback, GM of Discovery Digital Networks, the company is always exploring new ways to leverage its digital video. The latest example can be seen in its partnership with cloud-based mobile platform Magisto, which allows users to mash-up Discovery Digital Networks’ video content with their own.

Magisto employs Artificial Intelligence-driven technology that analyzes and automatically edits and produces raw video and photos to recreate life experiences and personal memories for their network of 35 million users. This collaboration lets consumers tell their own stories mashed up with Discovery Digital Networks’ content, enhancing their storytelling and inserting the brand into consumers’ personal stories.

As Louderback sees it, “video is a natural communication medium for anyone under the age of 25. I don’t think it will ever replace text, but it is taking on an important role for many media consumers.” Unfortunately, many who get into the game view it through the traditional broadcast lens. “Which is exactly the wrong thing to do. You have to think about it being more of a conversational medium.” And when he says conversation, he means an interaction, not an “old media megaphone” model.

Discovery Digital Networks began its relationship with Magisto earlier this year with a single travel theme that proved wildly popular: In two months, users created 800,000 Discovery Digital branded travel movies which received more than 5 million views. Now the two have launched the “Wild Nature” custom Magisto theme, which will incorporate footage of 3D life-like dinosaurs and sloths from Discovery Digital Network’s upcoming Sloth Week. Louderback is looking forward to “the summer of sloth,” when Magisto users mash-up of videos of lazy summer days and Sloth Week footage.

Beyond entertainment and engagement, the opportunity, says Lauderback, is to become integrated into the most intimate and important pieces of people’s lives. “Think about it: They are creating the story of a graduation, a child’s birthday, or the biggest fish they caught and now they can layer in our video to tell these stories in an even more meaningful, dramatic way. You have these incredible moments in your lives and Discovery is woven into them.”

Having joined the company through its acquisition of Revision 3, where he was CEO, Lauderback describes Discovery Digital Networks as “very forward-thinking…we try things and sometimes we fail, but we always learn.” With the Magisto partnership, he sees the possibility of new monetization opportunities for the company’s valuable video assets. “These experiments are important.”

Innovation | Video

Scripps Networks Interactive Continues ulive Momentum with Three New Shows

May 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This week, Scripps Networks Interactive’s online lifestyle channel ulive announced the launch of three new series, marking the continued expansion of the digital network’s original programming. Lisa Choi Owens, COO of ulive says the channel “has not only seen growth in the network and publisher partners, we’ve seen tremendous growth in our programming, with well over 100 original series, many returning from last year,” including the two it renewed this week, EstheKitchen and Sick Kitchens with Nadia G.

Owens was instrumental in the launch of ulive last October when she and Jeff Meyer, now the President of ulive, realized that they had significantly more demand than supply for Scripps’ video inventory, which boasts popular brands such as HGTV, DIY Network and the Food Network. As Owens says, “It is also hard to see hockey stick growth from established websites.” The two recognized they were “sitting on a demo where a lot of content was not available in the market.” ulive was launched to fill that gap, as well as to expand Scripps’ existing lifestyle dominion from food, home and travel to include “all those things the average female viewer is interested in” including wellness, exercise, pets, parenting and more.

The ulive network has been particularly successful with the 25-39 female demographic, which Owens describes as “both fortuitous and planned, given that this is a desirable demographic for us, but also that this type of content will naturally resonate with that audience.”

“This audience goes online to be informed, entertained, and inspired,” says Lauren McGrath, Development Coordinator at ulive, who cites recent research undertaken by ulive and POPSUGAR as confirmation. She and Owens agree that the new shows in the lineup fit the bill perfectly:

In Dear Buddha, comedian Carey Reilly explores non-traditional roads to wellness, like sound therapy, equine therapy and reiki;
5 Minute Relaxation Anywhere features fitness guru Natasha Lloyd as she helps viewers chillax, as the title promises, anywhere, anytime;
In Fit Nonstop, SoulCycle instructor and YouTuber Kym Perfetto shows viewers how to adopt her no-BS approach to fitness, no gym required.

McGrath says that “last year’s 5-minute Workout Anywhere with Craig Ramsay was a huge success,” which she attributes to the optimal content, format, and delivery—suited to the audience’s busy lifestyle. The newly announced programming will all be short-form, running three to five minutes per episode. Owens says that ulive’s research clearly shows that “for our categories, short form works best.”

According to McGrath, what also works well for this audience are hosts that both entertain and inform, “Carey perfectly encapsulates our demo. She is a real life mom that brings comedy and entertainment value, but is always striving to learn more and better herself. That authenticity makes her incredibly fun to watch.”

Given its growth trajectory, ulive is in the market to develop new programming. And this week, the company announced a partnership with the New York Television Festival as a development partner. The two have also teamed up, along with fellow Scripps Networks Interactive brand the Travel Channel, to award a digital series to an independent artist participating in this year’s New York Television Festival. Original concepts will be vetted from the NYTVF’s 2014 class of Official Artists who participate in the NYTVF Pitch this fall. “This is a great way to partner and incubate talent,” says McGrath. “We feel that the talent pool of independent artists is incredibly deep and we look at the NYTVF participants as the future of content creators in our industry—including talent, producers and production companies.”

As ulive continues to develop its programming, Owens emphasizes that it isn’t a question of volume. “We’re dedicated to creating very focused content that continues to be useful, but also entertaining and authentic.”