Category results for "Innovation"

Edmunds.com: Content Company or Tech Platform?

August 24, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Can a content company be a tech company? Edmunds.com thinks so.

It is unlikely that most consumers today, steeped in the facility of web-based research, realize that Edmunds.com, Inc. debuted as a paperback newsstand publication in the 1960s. Even then, the company was focused on consolidating automotive specifications to help car shoppers make buying decisions. Thirty years later—after early forays into CD-ROM publishing—the company launched its website, Edmunds.com, embracing the promise of the web to deliver timely content.

Edmunds.com also understood the ways that web technology could be used to drive consumers all the way from consideration to a dealership near them. The trick, according to Edmunds.com President Seth Berkowitz was to develop relationships with all of the players in the value chain, and then figure out the best way to leverage technology to meet the needs of their core customers.

“We’re clear that our customers are U.S. consumers and those are the people we need to satisfy. But we realized early on that the only way to do that was by working with auto retailers and manufacturers.” The most obvious expression of this is in Edmunds.com ability to quickly ingest and display information about vehicles on the market. In order to support the endless need for the most up-to-date information, the company has continuously invested in developing tools that take automotive information—along with expert-created editorial content and buyer opinions—and deliver utility to consumers through tools like True Market Value (TMV), the TMV New Vehicle Calculator, and TMV Used Vehicle Appraiser.

This month, the company launched the Edmunds Express tool that helps dealers validate pricing with shoppers. Designed with direct input from dealers, it fits seamlessly into the sales process and helps them build trust with customers and close deals faster. This move might raise concerns that Edmunds has shifted its allegiances from the consumer to car dealers however Berkowitz says it simply fills a gap between customers’ online research and what they experienced once they got to dealerships. Rather than replacing online research, Berkowitz says Edmunds.com’s new microsites allow dealers to quickly access information on specific vehicles and look at them with customers, all under the halo of the Edumunds.com brand, which was ranked as one of the most trustworthy ratings sites online.

Berkowitz believes that keeping a close eye on the overall car-buying experience and consumers’ evolving expectations, helps Edmunds.com continue to create tech-enabled experiences that serve their needs. At the same time, the company keeps a close eye on technological innovations to stay ahead of the curve perhaps most notably in their “Hackamotive,” an annual event launched three years ago that brings together teams of innovators and entrepreneurs in the technology, automotive, retail, and entertainment industries to compete for cash prizes for creatively re-imagining the future of car shopping.

And the Hackathon opportunity goes beyond a one-time payday: Last year, Edmunds.com launched its Fastlane Accelerator, a three month program where a small group of startups work have the opportunity to work closely with Edmunds.com, tapping into the company’s product development and technology resources. The companies, which are chosen from Hackathon winners, are also provided with mentorship to help them develop a successful strategy and avoid classic pitfalls.

This process has proved fruitful for the participants and Edmunds.com, which made its first-ever acquisition of an inaugural participant in the Fastlane Accelerator, Cardcode SMS, last October. Since then, 4,000 dealerships have signed on to use the mobile service, which allows car shoppers to engage in one-on-one text messaging with dealers. “Carcode is a win/win for both consumers and dealers because it lets them communicate in a mode and a manner people prefer,” said Berkowitz, noting that while the team at Edmunds.com recognized that texting was critical for consumer interaction, he doubts that “given our publisher roots and focus on features and pricing” that they would have developed a platform for it.

The Hackamotive and Fastlane Accelerator programs do more than expose the Edmunds.com team to new creative approaches to problems, they also expose inspire and entrepreneurial spirit across the organization.

Berkowitz says Edmunds.com has evolved over time, “from conceiving of ourselves as publishers to thinking of ourselves as a platform provider for better buying experiences.” And it appears to be working, given that the company is on pace to reach a record 20 million consumers this month. He recognizes that quality content “is the critical thing that people come for now because no amount of technology can replace the classic editorial and consumer opinions and real-world advice.” Edmunds.com believes that to deliver on what these consumers need, it must continue to invest in its technology platform to “harness the incredible power of that content.”

Innovation

New Runner’s World Utility App Shows-Off Rodale’s Invigorated Innovation Strategy

August 17, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Who knows runners better than Runner’s World? In publication since the 60s, the magazine boasts 18 global editions and reaches millions of people worldwide—from beginners to hardcore marathoners. The brand, like many others in the Rodale stable, takes great pride in the sense of community it builds around interests, which in turn feeds its understanding of the content its readers crave. With the debut of Rodale’s first utility app, Runner’s World GO, the company is also betting it knows what its readers need.

In fact, that’s what Rodale’s SVP of Digital Operations and Strategy Beth Buehler believes sets it apart from existing running apps on the market. “We’re able to take our expert editorial content and complement it with useful technology to deliver a running app that people will find really useful.” Rather than simply track performance, Runner’s World GO is built on a foundation of content that supports a runner’s needs, objectives, and overall healthy lifestyle—including pre-and post-run nutrition, recipes, motivation, stretching and more.

The app includes a number of utilities such as run tracking, training plans, a dashboard that provides a view of what the user has planned for the day, and real-time weather updates, powered by AccuWeather. The weather feature also supports a “What to Wear” functionality that helps runners figure out the best gear for that day’s run. Buehler said that identifying the right weather partner was essential for the usefulness of this app because weather is a really critical decision-making data point for runners, not just impacting what they wear but also when and where to run. “AccuWeather has been a terrific partner with great data that we are incorporating into our digital platform and use across a number of brands.”

In fact, that points to a larger strategy of continual building, testing, and iterating. Buehler points to Rodale’s significant investment in unifying its content platform and code base over the past few years, which forms a solid foundation for this strategy. Buehler describes it as an “ideal combination of organic tech and third party tech,” which allows them to be more nimble and plug into third party offerings such as AccuWeather’s.

The Runner’s World Go app is the first in an anticipated series of new utility apps – the next one is planned for year’s end. Buehler says that the team doesn’t want to allow their excitement to dictate the strategy. As with editorial products, customer reaction to the new app will be closely monitored and user feedback will be incorporated into this and future projects.

That said, Beuhler anticipates incorporating features like the ability to tag articles and categories of interest along with other personalization aspects. She says they are also carefully considering how the app might best work with the Apple Watch, though at launch it will integrate with a number of other tracking technologies on the market. The company is also testing a freemium model — free download for much of the feature set — however, it also features a $2.99 monthly subscription that provides additional content and functionality such as training plans and custom workouts. Add-free at launch, the app will eventually include sponsorships based on user data and geo-targeting, as well as video ads.

Describing the Runner’s World audience as very local and very vocal, Buehler emphasizes that they are looking forward to a lot of useful feedback on the app. “Fitness apps, particularly in the running space, are really taking off,” she says. And, given its editorial expertise and engaged reader base, Runner’s World believes it is in a unique position to lead the pack with the right combination of content and utility.

Innovation | Revenue

Bon Appétit and Epicurious Cater to Marketers and Consumers with Buy Ingredients Button

August 5, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

With its unique perspective on food as part of an overall lifestyle – “life through the lens of food,” – it makes sense that the team at Bon Appétit is always on the lookout for innovative ways to cater to its customers’ needs and evolving expectations. Epicurious, its sister site, is no stranger to digital innovation—with its popular app and ever-expanding range of interactive tools and video content. Together, these brands make-up Condé Nast’s Food Innovation Group, which was formed a year ago to offer advertisers both brand equity and scale.

The group’s latest move supports both of these objectives. Visitors to the Bon Appétit and Epicurious sites who find a recipe they’d like to prepare can now hit a “buy ingredients button” that integrates with popular grocery delivery services to simplify their shopping. Condé Nast partnered with Popcart—which works with a number of grocery delivery services such as FreshDirect, Peapod, and Roche Brothers—to automatically generate shopping lists based on a recipe’s ingredient list, and then have them delivered directly to your door.

According to Eric Johnson, Associate Publisher, Bon Appétit & Epicurious, The Food Innovation Group, this solution was an obvious fit for fans of Bon Appétit and Epicurious, who are busy parents and professionals with an increasing expectation for one-click solutions that deliver what they need with a minimum investment of valuable time. “The brands that are gaining the biggest traction in the market are solving for consumer problems,” says Johnson.

This extension of its digital offering was a “no-brainer” from a conceptual standpoint according to Johnson who says that the editorial and business sides of the team all saw the appeal right away. The trick, however, was in finding the best partner that could enable the broadest cross-section of its audience to leverage the shopping tool. At launch, Popcart service is concentrated on the East Coast, Illinois and Wisconsin. However the company is shooting for nationwide reach as more retailers offer delivery services. And, given that the online grocery business is predicted to reach $18 billion in revenue in the next few years, Johnson says that Condé Nast wanted have an early foothold in this market.

While increasing its utility to end users is a focus of the Food Innovation Group, Johnson says this offering also allows the division to create new opportunities for advertisers. In addition to providing highly-relevant advertising placement, the new “buy ingredients” feature offers two marketing opportunities: When a reader adds recipe ingredients to their cart, “First in Cart” partners are made the default brand for a given ingredient. For example, if a recipe calls for mayonnaise, Hellman’s (a launch partner) would be the default choice, though consumers have the ability to edit their cart to eliminate or substitute any ingredients. The second marketing opportunity is “May We Suggest,” which recommends items that would complement a given recipe, such as launch partner Stacy’s Pita Chips to accompany a spicy hummus recipe.

Other than the process of finding the right solution for fulfillment, Johnson says that implementing the “buy ingredients” button was fairly straightforward only taking the tech team about 4-6 weeks to implement on both sites. However the process also involved some editorial mapping to suggest substitutions for products that participating retailers might not stock.

Editorial participation and buy-in will be essential as Johnson emphasizes the need to maintain consumer trust—and reliance on—these Condé Nast food brands. Johnson says that with the positive influence of executive director Eric Gillin, who he describes as the perfect blend of content and technological expertise, the teams at Bon Appétit and Epicurious have been inspired to increase their focus on innovation that serves consumers throughout the entire purchase funnel from exploration and inspiration and how-to all the way to the shopping cart. Next up: pre-built complete holiday meal planning tools, which can scale to number of guests and include the shopping functionality.

And Johnson is looking forward to the continued collaborations from Condé Nast’s Food Innovation Group. “We’re always looking for ways we can engage consumers. Providing a service, solving for a challenge—these things only help reinforce us as a brand you are going to seek out because we are a trusted resource.”

Innovation | Perspectives

The Power of Intent in Next Gen Digital Media

August 3, 2015 DCN

Consumers today have an unprecedented amount of choice — where they get information, where they shop, what device they use. This gives marketers infinite options on the places they can go to target eyeballs, demographics and customers and, paired with advertising technology. And it’s rendering certain publisher brands almost irrelevant.

Never before has it been so important to truly differentiate yourself as a publisher. It’s no secret that many companies’ whose main offering is journalism are struggling to avoid becoming the next Internet failure. Old school publishers’ sustenance was connecting eyeballs to marketers. This is what paid for content. Many “new media” companies are, more or less, still leaning on this value proposition. And despite funding and adoration, just producing traffic isn’t sustainable.

The New Digital Order
To succeed in the new digital world, you need content that’s unique, provides value to consumers, and you need a unique business model. If you’re creating marginally valuable content for readers, you can’t get marketers to pay you because you’re not attracting valuable eyeballs that are meaningfully differentiated, or the audience is easily found in many other places. And if the marketer spend doesn’t cover content costs and at least a portion of general overhead, you cannot be a profitable business.

As the Internet has brought attention to the performance of marketing, both online and offline, marketers look for scale. But they’re increasingly looking for down-funnel reach — targeted audiences to serve ads and promotions to — and they expect results.

There are a few different camps of publisher monetizing strategies arising. One is with the BuzzFeeds of the world : general news and entertainment entities taking the public by storm. They have unique models and content styles that incorporate multiple formats and delivery mechanisms, user generated content, mobile and more to drive down the traditionally heavyweight costs of good content generation—and they attract huge audiences. They monetize those audiences mostly with native ads and with ad inventory that programmatic ad tech vendors use to target users based on their online behavior.

Another camp is with a certain set of publishers, who, rather than continuing the publishing tradition centered on building an audience first and foremost, create direct revenue streams by building platforms that attract and support contextual purchase intent. This group includes Forbes.com, which works with a third party Sharethrough to create Content Cards, a tool that allows publishers to create and sell ads directly to advertisers.

Still, the overwhelming mentality in this industry is “I’m a publisher and I build audience,” and then I’ll sell access to that audience to marketers. But we, as publishers, aren’t limited to that. We can figure out ways of doing things differently and diversifying. If we don’t, we won’t be able to build sustainable and thriving businesses — or, worse, we’ll cease to exist.

A Service-Oriented Approach to Publishing & Brand Development
All the most important web companies are solving a problem. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. At its core, it’s incredibly utilitarian. It does this with its search engine, but also across other mediums — video on YouTube, hot air balloons that provide Internet access to remote areas in Project Loon and via health-tracking contact lenses. At their core, these are all about connecting people to information.

As Jerry Dischler, vice president of product management for AdWords at Google has said, “Our mission has always been to connect people with what they are looking for in the exact moment they are looking. These are moments that matter to consumers, to marketers and to us at Google because they are when decisions are being made and preferences shaped.”

So why don’t more publishers take this approach and focus on the problem they can solve for readers and, then, how they solve it? Rather than being constricted to the old model—“I’m a publisher and I build audience”—modern digital publishing companies have the capability, like Google, to bring content, services and different tools together to solve a single problem. If you’re not doing this to some degree, you’re just old media reformatted.

There is yet another crop of digital publishers emerging who actually are doing this — combining the traditional publishing model with a service-oriented approach. Houzz blends photos, content and connections to actual home professionals to help people redesign homes. Yelp combines user reviews and local advertising to help people find businesses and restaurants. TripAdvisor merges reviews, forums and on-site booking to help people plan travel. At Purch, we do something similar to help people make complex buying decisions, especially technology-related, by connecting product reviews, user recommendations, e-commerce, and mobile-based in-store shopping.

We — and others that focus on solving a specific problem — are in a new category of “publishing,” marrying content, commerce and community, in respective industries, to genuinely hit consumers’ expectations and serve their needs.

The model is no longer primarily about content, but about supporting the entire experience and the job that needs to get done — bringing all of the assets you possibly can to the user’s problem. We, like Google, are utilitarian at our core. We, as a category, are disrupting specific verticals where consumers seek out information to make a decision — whether to buy a new smartphone or to rewire their home to make it ‘smart.’ We’re oriented around a task and recognize that consumers’ expectations have evolved.

Expert editorial content, promotions, user-generated content and reviews, mobile apps, online storefronts, and even ads, all comprise the service-orientated approach to publishing. The big difference is that the service-oriented approach doesn’t just throw ads onto the pages, but instead considers how to bring them into a full-circle environment to service the consumer.

This enables a vibrant publishing model with a diversified revenue stream where advertising is a minority piece of the pie. By extending to offerings beyond content, you’re not just competing for digital advertising dollars, but also lead generation, brand marketing, affiliate and CPA budgets. What’s so compelling about this business model is the notion that we’re reaching consumers when they are making their final decision — it’s a very clear value proposition for a marketer.

And when this model, or better yet consumer environment, is well-designed and constructed around solving a problem — like Houzz, TripAdvisor, and others including Purch, are — all of the activities under the umbrella, including advertising, become helpful, rather than burdensome to consumers. When you get this dynamic working, you’ll see performance that’s off the charts. Service-oriented publishers are able to bring exponential value to marketers and build a healthy business while still serving, and holding above all else, the user.

It’s also worth saying that a service-oriented approach doesn’t necessarily mean that a publisher should abandon all content that doesn’t help someone make a decision. There’s still value in content that generally informs, entertains, and enlightens its audience, but it simply can’t be the cornerstone of this type of business model.

Not Just “New Media” In Name, But in Practice
Publishers used to deliver information consumers were seeking out in a very one-dimensional way, restricting their ability to build great, lasting businesses in today’s multi-channel digital age. But today, look at all of the tools we have to do this. In fact, Google’s ability to meet its mission is largely fueled by the publisher community. It is simply a very convenient mechanism to direct a consumer to what they are looking for when they need it most.

The byproduct of this problem-solving and service-oriented model may still look like digital publishing, but in actuality it uses content, data, advertising technology, tools, services and apps to help consumers make decisions — at scale, in whatever way works for them at a personal level. Like Google, service-oriented publishers can and have found a connective tissue between all these mechanisms. The problem lies at the center and each of these tools and services are attached to it horizontally, allowing us to meet the today’s consumer expectations.

It’s a tumultuous time for publishers, but an exciting one, too, and it’s only the first inning of the game for Purch and our peers. Every additional step toward this model, and expanding it to keep up with what’s to come, creates new, unprecedented ways to create lasting value to consumers, marketers and the industry.

Greg Mason (@gmason @PurchGroup) joined Purch, formerly TechMedia Network, as Chief Executive Officer in 2012, bringing over twenty years of product development and innovation in technology media and digital publishing. Prior to joining Purch, Greg served as Executive Vice President of Consumer Services at WebMD. Prior to WebMD, he spent eleven years with CBS Interactive and CNET Networks where he held a variety of global operational roles, culminating in the leadership of the entire technology and news portfolio. Before his time at CNET, Greg spent a combined eleven years with Ziff Davis and International Data Group (IDG) in various publisher, sales, and sales management roles.

Innovation

Univision Builds a “Billennial” MCN to Make the Most of Social Stars’ Influence

July 31, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

U.S. teens are bigger fans of YouTube stars than they are the best-known celebrities in film, TV and music so it is no surprise that media companies and brands are experimenting with ways to bridge the gap and incorporate these new media phenomena into the mainstream mix. Disney took the acquisition route when it purchased Maker Studios last year, however Univision decided to build its own multi-channel network (MCN) of content creators from platforms such as YouTube and Vine. The new Univision Creator Network is also an effort to build Univision Communications’ connection with bilingual millennials or “billennials.”

There are many roads you can take to reach this demographic, according to Steven Benanav, VP of Content Partnerships and GM of Flama at Univision Communications (UCI). “But working with the digital talent is a very direct path,” he says. “They’ve already got their audience and fan base and they know what these fans love.” Benanav says that he can see why younger audiences are so enamored with digital stars, “Because of the medium they are able to form relationships and connections with their fans that celebrities haven’t been able to do in the past; there are no walls between them.”

The creators that Univision will be working with boast a significant audience: 118 million video views per month for the dozen or so creators signed at launch. And while those numbers say a lot, Benanav got a first-hand view of the passion their audiences feel for them at VidCon, when they announced the launch of the Creator Network. “I can only say that it was what I imagine Beatlemania to have been like. Their fans go crazy for them.”

And even though they all already have great audience reach and connection, Benanav says these successful digital stars are excited about the possibilities offered by partnering with Univision. “For a lot of them, the Univision brand is really powerful; it is a brand they’ve grown up with and they have a sense of pride in being part of the Univision network.”

That brand affinity isn’t the only appeal—there are also the additional resources Univision offers including access to Univision studios in Los Angeles and New York City; access to a massive music library; an ecosystem that will extend the creators’ brand across TV, digital, radio and live events; and, of course, revenue opportunities that will benefit UCI, the creators, and brands alike.

Benanav notes that they see the network as a “sharable backbone” and that any group within Univision—including Flama, Fusion and El Rey now has access to this digital talent to develop new and different products that are authentic for them and their audiences. It also “quickly expands the reach we’re able to deliver to sponsors,” Benanav points out.

UCI advertising partners will have access to the Univision Creator Network to expand their marketing efforts through branded content integrations across the creators’ networks and applicable Univision properties. While there has been a learning curve as UCI’s sales approach increasingly focuses on developing larger packages that leverage the breadth of its network. To that end, The Univision Creator Network has a point person dedicated to supporting the sales and marketing side to educate, inform, and foster growth of the opportunities it presents.

Given that millennials now outnumber baby boomers in the population and that Latinos will account for more than 80% of the growth in the population of 18- to 29-year-olds over the next few years, UCI’s “billennial” focus makes sense. Benanav says that he loves seeing the company go in this new direction. “It is a really exciting, smart and bold move that extends our reach and helps us find a new and bigger audience.”

Innovation

Challenging Problems and Creative Solutions Emerge at Collab/Space New York

July 21, 2015 Theresa Cramer – Independent Journalist

Media Shift’s Collab/Space is a different kind of conference. While a couple of keynote speakers punctuated the day, this event is all about solving problems—and a little bit of improv. The July 15, 2015 Collab/Space New York event—sponsored by the Reynolds Journalism Institute—took place at the Ford Foundation in Manhattan, and focused on “Intrapreneurial Innovation.” People working to get new projects off the ground or effect change at organizations as diverse as Mother Jones, UNHCR, and BBC.com International came out to talk about their projects and get feedback from the industry veterans in the audience. It was clear by the end of the day that media companies of all shapes and sizes are struggling with many of the same problems. In other words, “You’re not alone.”

Cory Haik, executive producer and senior editor, digital news, The Washington Post

Post-Print Strategy
Cory Haik, executive producer and senior editor, digital news, at The Washington Post was the morning keynote, and represented an interesting crossroads in the media industry. The Washington Post—bought by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos about two years ago—is a legacy media organization known for its top-notch journalism. And now it is in the somewhat enviable position of being owned by someone who not only “gets” digital, but is willing to put resources behind it.

Haik was given a relatively straight-forward task: build a tablet app. But she got one other instruction that not many newspapers—forever protective of their legacy models—would have given to a development team. Haik had to build an app that would have readers reaching for the tablet instead of the print product when given a choice.

The app, which comes pre-installed on Amazon’s Fire tablets, but also available for other devices, is free to Fire users for the first six months, meaning The Post app was also responsible for reaching an entirely new audience. Her team started with this idea: “Digital browsing isn’t easy…but it could be.” They worked to figuring out what worked in the print experience—after all Haik says, “From a product perspective, it’s 130 years old, it’s perfected.”—and move it to the tablet.

Browsability became the key to making a better tablet experience, and The Post opted for a two column experience—keeping the interface simple while still allowing users to scroll through the columns to browse content. It also publishes in two editions at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. This keeps the content fresh, while also staying in line with what The Post knows about its app users, which is that they read in the morning and in the evening.

One of the other things that sets The Washington Post app apart is just how much effort goes into it by actual humans. Instead of being driven by feeds, each story is designed by a person, who makes sure each image and video appears in the right place. Haik is happy with how the app has turned out. With a team of 21 people on the editorial side alone, though, the next step is figuring out how to integrate more closely with the production process so that the content is ready to be delivered across platforms without quite so much human intervention.

Problem Solving
With that success story in mind, “intrapreneurs” from eight different companies gave short presentations on the particular challenges of their projects, before attendees broke up into groups to help presenters come up with possible solutions to the problems.

For instance, I participated in the Climate Desk group, which is an off-shoot of Mother Jones and brings together climate change-related journalism from eight partners—including The Guardian, Slate, and The Atlantic—and creates original content. All content is shared among the partners. At the end of Climate Desk editor James West’s presentation three challenges were identified:

providing valued added to it partners beyond content-sharing
using technology to add to its offerings
defining a mission beyond simple content aggregation and creation

There were seven other groups, several of which focused on helping media outlets tackle homepage redesign challenges. While many of the issues at the heart of each presenter’s challenge were universal to all publishers—think engagement, multi-platform implementation, and even simple adoption challenges—each one took its own unique shape. After an hour or so of brainstorming, the groups came back together for another keynote speech from Sree Sreenivasan’s, chief digital officer at the metropolitan Museum of Art, and finally presented the solutions each group had defined.

Whether presenters went home with concrete solutions that they can implement in the weeks and months to come is hard to say. However, it was clear that the creative juices were flowing, and audience participants got as much from helping other publishers tackle their problems as the presenters got from having a free team of industry professionals brainstorm to solve the kinds of challenges that are all to familiar to many of us.

Theresa Cramer is the editor of EContent magazine and Intranets newsletter. She is a 10 year veteran of the publishing industry with a background in both newspaper and book publishing. Follow her on Twitter @Cramerstrasse.

Innovation | Revenue | Video

Passion Play: Lifetime Launches Movie Classics Subscription Service

July 10, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Boasting classics like Sexting in Suburbia, Flowers in the Attic, and Mother May I Sleep With Danger, it is an understatement to say that Lifetime has a passionate fan base. With an increasing number of networks experimenting with standalone digital services, A+E has deliberately taken a different route with the debut of its Lifetime Movie Club subscription video service—one that aims for the heart of their ardent audience.

“We view the Lifetime Movie Club as complementary to our Lifetime channel,” says Evan Silverman, SVP of Digital Media at A+E Networks. While the network has no plans to disrupt its existing relationships with television providers and distributors, Silverman points out that “A+E Networks has been very aggressive in delivering on a lot of different platforms,” which include iOS and Android apps, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire. The network takes pride “in finding new ways to deliver our long form content to audiences.”

With its latest digital move—their first direct-to-consumer subscription service—A+E will offer subscribers access to a rotating library of Lifetime movies without commercial interruptions for $3.99 a month. The app features more than 30 movies about four new titles cycled in on a weekly basis. Silverman says that the decision to cap the number of movies enables A+E to maintain its flexibility in using its library in other environments. In fact, the Lifetime Movie Club idea arose as a way to leverage the depths of the Lifetime movie library.

But that was definitely not the only reason. “When we were thinking about what subscription product to launch we wanted to find a library of content that had a passionate audience,” Silverman says. And the Lifetime audience fit the bill. He describes them as a truly devoted group of fans who will be willing to pay to watch the classics they love. And given that the monthly price is about that of buying a single movie through iTunes, Silverman believes that Lifetime’s loyal fans will ante up for access.

A+E plans to continue to explore a range of models to distribute its content including a recent move to become part of the Dish Sling TV offering and exploration of other subscription products with its networks. “We’re open to models that make financial sense and serve our viewers well,” says Silverman. And while we may see similar offerings that “leverage library content to super-serve fans,” the additions to its digital offerings are intended to complement and round out the company’s range of offerings. “We’re not trying to blow up the television industry.”

Innovation | Video

Meerkat Takes Center Stage in Shark Week’s Social Strategy

July 2, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Given that these days the majority of people prefer to stream television content on their own schedule, producing programming that ranks high in real-time viewership is no small achievement. Certainly, sporting and awards event television retain their real-time charm, but the Discovery Channel is betting on the live-appeal of one of its most popular TV-viewing events: Shark Week.

Over the years, Shark Week has increasingly become “a live viewing event” according Conal Byrne, SVP of Digital Media for Discovery Communication. However this may be as much a reflection of Shark Week’s high levels of social engagement as it is of the network’s on-air programming. Byrne says that Shark Week has evolved from classic prime time fare to the sort of television-inspired social occasion that he likens to Super Bowl parties: “The event of watching the show has become almost as big as the show itself.” Byrne adds that as this social viewing progressed, Discovery began to see an opportunity to create social media experiences that reflect the real-time fan engagement around Shark Week.

To that end, Discovery Channel has announced that it will premier the new embed functionality from Meerkat in conjunction with Shark Week’s return on Sunday, July 5. Discovery Channel will host behind-the-scenes Shark Week content through Meerkat embeds to complement its multiplatform approach. Discovery’s player will live on the network’s recently launched DLive digital destination, which features a roundup of fan-favorite streaming content (in the case of Shark Week, that means a lot of live shark cams.)

Byrne says that Discovery Channel has experimented with real-time social video in the past, citing last year’s premiere of Mythbusters when they took a production team out to the livestream of the hosts watching the premiere from the warehouse where the show is produced.. Byrne described the result as “a very real-time experience: Watch it now or it will be gone.” While he felt that was an effective approach, it was a significant production. So, when they began thinking about a real-time streaming experience for Shark Week fans, he reached out to Meerkat—which they’d worked with in the past for Animal Planet — and learned about their new embed functionality. “It was one of those happy coincidences; they were building exactly what we needed,” said Byrne, and one that would provide ease of production and included social and interactive features that make it not only easier and less expensive, but better optimized to suit the socially-engaged fan base.

Byrne marvels at the exciting pace at which digital media evolves, saying that “between the time we conceived of this idea and set a release date, live social broadcasting emerged and we knew that if we did Shark Week without live social broadcasting, we would be missing something.” Not only will Shark Week viewers be able to dive deeper with special Shark Week content through @SharkWeek on Meerkat and through Meerkat embeds at DLive, Byrne says that shark experts and fans alike can broadcast and be part of the programming.

Among Discovery Channel’s plans for Meerkat are a live feeding from the National Aquarium in Baltimore, a celebration of “Findependance” at San Francisco’s Pier 39 fireworks and “Shark on the Street” Q&As with viewer giveaways. They also have plans for a series of “Finbassador” shark experts – from photographers to educators and conservationists – who will share inside stories on what it’s like to be a part of Shark Week. Byrne is particularly excited about the behind-the-scenes stories from Shark Week saying that “for me, some of the most exciting stuff at Shark Week literally happens behind the cameras. The cinematographers and producers are heroes!” Using Meerkat embed will allow some of these stories to get out of the boardroom and enhance audience’s understanding of what it takes to create Shark Week.

Byrne says that social media has become a critical component of Discovery Channel’s digital strategy over the past several years and that they have experimented with a number of approaches. This has included an emphasis on on-air “social TV,” a curated approach, and a pure volume play in which they tracked mentions and engagements. This year, he says that the social media strategy has been “very curated and intentional,” and part of every production conversation.

Right now, monetizing the Meerkat experience is not something he’s highly focused on. Byrne says that not only does he feel lucky to have the support of Discovery Channel in allowing for constant experimentation, but that pushing to monetize too soon can be detrimental. “When we first roll out a cutting edge idea like this, the primary gauge is whether or not it resonates with the superfans and makes more fans.” While Meerkat does provide ways to integrate sponsors, Byrne says they will focus on the fan experience, collect the data, and then consider how best to monetize. “You can definitely kill a product and its potential if [revenue] is your first priority.” With Shark Week, the focus is squarely on enhancing the real-time fans’ experience and engagement.

Innovation

What to Expect from Everyday Health’s Wildflower Health Partnership

June 10, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

There are few of life’s milestones as exciting—or as nerve-wracking—as pregnancy. Everyday Health has long helped its audience optimize their heath, manage issues, and prepare for pregnancy and parenthood. It is no surprise that among its most popular franchises is What to Expect, which was built upon what many women call “the pregnancy bible,” Heidi Murkoff’s guide for expectant mothers that has spent more than 690 weeks on the New York Times’ Bestseller List.

The company’s latest move leverages the incredible popularity of What to Expect through a strategic partnership with Wildflower Health, which produces mobile health programs that help families tap into the healthcare system and make more informed health decisions. Their partnership and the resulting updated What to Expect app puts important information in the hands of expectant mothers, integrating Wildflower Health’s enterprise mobile application platform, a HIPAA-compliant architecture for both iOS and Android operating systems. Wildflower combines mobile analytics with outcomes from the healthcare system to create a data model for predicting and managing health risks. Its customers include health plans, self-insured employers and Medicaid clients.

When Miki Kapoor joined Everyday Health in September last year as President of the newly-formed Healthcare Solutions division, his goal was to execute Everyday Health’s growth strategy across the broader healthcare landscape, which includes payors, providers, employers and risk-bearing entities in the healthcare ecosystem. He says Wildflower Health stood out as a potential partner because of its digital acumen and the two companies’ shared both product and philosophical goals.

Both reach women in the very early stages of pregnancy, which is essential for affecting healthy pregnancy outcome, as well as for risk-identification for issues such as premature birth. This also helps to solve a challenge for insurers as they often do not have an opportunity to impact women’s pregnancies until claims are processed. As Kapoor points out, about 11% of U.S. babies are born prematurely, and these high risk pregnancies can cost up to 20 times more than full-term births. However he is quick to point out that healthcare costs aren’t the only ones that need to be accounted for. “We can impact healthcare costs, yes. But we can also help make a pretty incredible impact on outcomes for mom and baby,” says Kapoor.

For What to Expect fans, the experience within the app will not markedly change. However it now allows users to provide insurer information and choose whether or not to allow Everyday Health to share their information with that insurer. Kapoor emphasizes that this has been accomplished with customer trust top of mind. “All of this is done in a HIPAA compliant platform…We have built a relationship with consumers and think about how not to breach their trust in every move we make.” As the integration was being developed, Kapoor says that there were a number of points at which they opted to “pull back to stay clear of potential issues of concern.”

Ultimately, though, he feels that this partnership serves Everyday Health’s objectives to grow revenue by expanding its customer base within the digital healthcare industry and improving its relationship with physicians. And even more importantly, he believes that this integration improves the value of the What’s Expecting app for its core audience by helping to prevent pre-term birth through information, education and early risk assessment. The partnership not only helps mothers identify their level of risk, but also provides a great deal of information about programs and services (many of which are free) offered by their healthcare providers. For example, many plans offer on-call nurses who can allay a mother’s fears about a midnight pain or, if necessary, tell her to call her doctor in the morning or to head to the emergency room.

The value of this last feature is one Kapoor, a father of two healthy children, can personally attest to:

“My wife’s water broke early. It was her first pregnancy and she was uncertain how much time she had and put in a call to the doctor immediately. Two hours later, when they spoke, the doctor told her how potentially serious this was, given the early gestation age of the baby, and told her to get to the hospital.” Given that the What to Expect reaches about 75% of pregnant women in the United States, Kapoor thinks that they can make a significant impact in identifying risky pregnancies and helping reduce the number of pre-term births.

“We believe in taking healthcare to the consumer. When they first question a condition, they turn to us. We keep these people at the center.” And with partnerships like this one, Everyday Health builds upon its strategy to generate new revenue opportunities across a broader set of healthcare constituents, while continuing to arm women with the tools and information that lead to healthier pregnancies, babies and, perhaps, even healthcare system.

Innovation

Augmented Reality Takes Weather Channel Talent—and Viewers—Inside a Tornado

June 2, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

It can be more than a little tempting to play with every new “toy” that comes along in the digital media toolbox. But for organizations with successful diversified businesses built on data and accuracy, these experiments need to be carefully considered and intelligently implemented. So when David Clark joined the Weather Company as President of Weather Channel TV two years ago, he took a serious look around and decided it was time to revamp the studios and invest in improving the presentation-layer of the company’s content.

Jeremy Jones, the Company’s director of television products, says that as part of Clark’s mandate the team explored a variety of graphics they could incorporate into weather coverage and also set out to fundamentally re-imagine the weather map. “We’ve relied on the green screen for years now and we wanted to get our people out of the map and move away from boxes in boxes.”

Jones says they took a good look at the technological offerings on the market and saw that augmented Reality (AR) offered a way to “create immersive graphics that brought the weather inside our beautiful new studios…and put people inside the weather.” And while this implementation of AR is first and foremost about immersive storytelling, Jones says that the company also wanted to use technology that its audiences were interested in and to “bring them the kind of experiences that keep them glued to a two hour movie.”

Social media reactions to the Tornado Week debut of the new AR broadcasting technology demonstrated that the audience was not only impressed but intrigued, with many taking guesses at how the in-studio tornado had been generated. It was clear that, as Jones had hoped, the audience of self-proclaimed weather geeks was also interested in the technology behind the visualization.

Increïble vista en 3D de la formació d’un #tornado! Gran @JimCantore! https://t.co/MKi1jUTXlC

— Mònica Usart (@Monica_Usart) May 22, 2015

While Augmented Reality (AR) has been used in sports broadcasting for several years, it has not seen widespread use in television and certainly not for the graphical representations deployed by The Weather Channel. The presentation they are offering rivals that of the best gaming systems or cinematic applications—going beyond informational overlays to truly lifelike 3D representations that are literally at the hands of any given on-air personality.

Jones says that The Weather Channel team—the talent behind the scenes and on-camera—were enthusiastic about using augmented reality, putting extensive time and energy into the development of the presentation as well as to rehearsing its on-air usage. And it was no small feat to incorporate AR into broadcasts: It was a six month undertaking that involved outside experts working with Weather Channel engineers and directors “who had never worked with AR before, but were incredibly excited to have the chance.”

The company opted to start out with explainer videos on seasonal weather trends, starting with Anatomy of a Tornado; Anatomy of a Hurricane will air as hurricane season starts. Then, the goal for the next wave of AR-enhanced content is for it to be centered on real-time weather events and, eventually, how AR can be used to enhance weather-fans’ experience across devices. “The ideas on our white board for how we can use this technology are pretty interesting,” says Jones. But he emphasizes that the company’s entire reputation is built upon data, science and getting things right, which must carry through in this initiative.

As for the debut, Jones points to the conversation between meteorologist Jim Cantore and weather anchor Sam Champion that viewers saw on the live broadcast as an indicator of how excited the team is about adding Augmented Reality to its storytelling palette:

The studio erupts in spontaneous applause from those on and off camera and Cantore reacts to it by saying that being able to show an F5 tornado in this way, inside the Weather Channel Lab, has been one of the most amazing things he’s done in his career. To which Champion replies: “I have never been more proud to be part of The Weather Channel team.”

Industry-Research | Innovation

DCN Members React to the API’s Innovation Report

June 1, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The American Press Institute recently published a “best practices for innovation within news organizations report.” As Craig Silverman notes in his analysis of the findings: innovation is a word bandied about a great deal these days. Yet given the reality of perpetual media/technology disruption, the American Press Institute thought it wise to examine how news organizations foster innovation. And because many of the participating news organizations are those with strong brands and legacy print businesses, the need to innovate—and the challenges that entrenched business models and structures pose—are many.

We reached out to a handful of our member companies to gauge their reaction to the best practices and see if they had any other insights to add.

For the purpose of the American Press Institute study, innovation is defined as

“The process of bringing new practices, culture and products alive within an organization,
to preserve core values but serve them in radically new ways.”

Across the board, the members we heard from agreed that this was a good definition.

Below are a few takeaways from the report, which is well worth a read in its entirety. Mixed in are comments from some DCN member companies on how they reacted to the API’s suggestions for how to implement these best practices:

Best practice: Leaders must set, enforce but also nurture priorities.

Our members agreed that setting priorities, in terms of what to do and what not to do was important. Among the many points of advice given, having leaders model innovative behaviors and embrace transformational leadership were the most effective.

“Leaders also need to set tone and momentum, creating a unified march toward a specific goal.”
–Andrea Spiegel, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Video, Forbes

Best practice: How to create a culture and structure for innovation.

Among those we asked, giving people ownership over their own products was something they also found effective as is creating more job and workplace flexibility. The API advice they selected as most effective was to break down silos and foster collaboration.

“While organizations can embrace a top down approach to innovation, the best ideas are those
that come from the bottom up. Companies need cultures of curiosity yet at the same time
must provide means for ideas to coming from anywhere at any time.”
–Douglas Rozen, Chief Innovation Officer, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing

“Everyone is a leader, whether you run an entire team or a particular function. People make a huge difference:
the type of leaders, their team members and individual leadership styles. You can have all the right plans in
place but if you don’t have the right people to execute on them, you’ll never move forward.”
–Andrea Spiegel, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Video, Forbes

Best practice: How to generate and pursue ideas.

Of the many interesting suggestions in this area of the API report, those we asked believe that creating cross-departmental teams and/or embedding those from different departments into others is among the most effective tips. They also believe that holding regular cross-departmental meetings to increase awareness and foster collaboration are extremely effective.

“It’s vital to behave like both an incumbent and an insurgent, to resist two of the biggest threats an established media company can face: complacency in culture and stagnancy in content. This means serving fans in the moment with live content windows and social alerts; with surprising, engaging and delightful enterprise efforts; with being both RIGHT and FIRST with breaking news and perspective; and with tools and insight that make fans smarter and help them win a wager, win their fantasy league or win the conversation with their friends around the water cooler.”
–Patrick Stiegman, VP / Editorial Director, Digital & Print Media, ESPN

Best practice: How to gather feedback, measure and iterate.

Feedback, measurement and the ability to pivot are certainly all important to the process of innovation. As with the API’s respondents, DCN members interviewed used email, analytics dashboards and regular meetings.

“At Forbes, we believe it’s critical to understand and learn from the data. Data helps inform – not rule – what we do. We share data internally across all of our teams (edit, product, tech and sales),
but also with our contributors through their own personal data dashboards. ”
–Andrea Spiegel, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Video, Forbes

“Beyond innovation, you need ambition, the desire to do something that’s never been done before.
To quote Wayne Gretzky, ‘You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.'”
You have to take your shots, course correct and drive ahead.
–Patrick Stiegman, VP / Editorial Director, Digital & Print Media, ESPN

“Show by example that innovation is not just a buzz word. Demonstrate your commitment
to innovation by following through on an idea, from initial concept to build to launch.
Actions really do speak louder than words, and your team will see what’s possible. ”
–Andrea Spiegel, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Video, Forbes

Innovation | Perspectives

Augmented and Virtual Reality Get Real: A Look at Media Applications Happening Now

May 29, 2015 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are getting a whole lot of press lately. From Google and GoPro partnering on a new filmmaking ecosystem for VR to Apple’s acquisition of Augmented Reality (AR) company Metaio and Oculus’ (Facebook) purchase of AR startup Surreal Vision, it looks like this pair of technologies that enhance (or supplant) what content consumers see are entering primetime. In fact, PatentVue recently reviewed the patent landscape and found more than 2,300 US patents with claims related to AR and head mounted display (HMD) platforms and devices.

Early practical developments for AR have ranged from manufacturing and engineering to retail and medicine. And brands such as Heinekin, Toyota, Dominos and Ford have already embraced AR as a way to advertise, demo products and ease the path to purchase.

Virtual Reality (VR) is also making a big splash with the marketing community, with Forbes calling it “the next big advertising medium,” pointing to the work Hearst-owned Elle Magazine did with denim designer 7 For All Mankind. Spirits brand Patron offers educational seminars and retail consumer VR experiences to provide an immersive look inside the Hacienda Patrol distillery.. And Marvel teamed up with Samsung to promote the latest Avengers movie by giving people a taste of what it is like to be a superhero.

Not surprisingly, media companies are also experimenting with ways in which AR and VR offer new ways to tell stories.

Here are a few recent examples of how media companies are jumping into the VR fray:

Gannet Digital leveraged virtual reality in its coverage of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship. Not only could ski fans read about the events, they could don an Oculus headset and experience heart-pounding runs with some of skiing’s greats.
NBC used VR to give fans the experience of being in the star-studded audience at the Saturday Night Live 40^th Anniversary Special.
Vice Media released a documentary at Sundance “VICE News VR: Millions March” which takes viewers inside the December 13 rally in New York in which 60,000 protesters gathered to demand greater police accountability.
The Weather Channel has just launched live VR weather which ”takes viewers in, and through, the science and wonder of weather.”
At this year’s New Fronts, Conde Nast announced that it has two original virtual reality series in the works.
ABC Family leveraged VR to market its new sci-fi program “Stichers,” by creating a smartphone app that promises fans an immersive experience.
Turner Broadcasting-owned Adult Swim also released an app-based VR experience this month called Virtual Brainload, which boasts a somewhat more psychedelic experience.

Here are some examples of the ways in which media outlets are leveraging AR:

National Geographic was early to experiment with AR—notably with its 2011 shopping mall experience that allowed shoppers to interact with dinosaurs. More recently, National Geographic has begun to leverage AR for educational experiences that enhance explorations of natural places.
Disney also offers an “edutainment” application of AR with its Disneynature Explore app, which offers kids a way to take adventures in their own backyards while learning more about nature along the way.
Disney-owned ESPN had an augmented reality-capable camera in use at this year’s NFL Draft and the company has leveraged AR in its broadcast media for some time.
Conde Nast Traveler uses GPS data location and augmented reality in its iPhone Apps to allow travelers to find things and learn more simply by pointing their phone in a given direction.
Conde Nast is also among several media outlets—including Time Inc., The Wall Street Journal and Warner Brothers Interactive—that are working with Shazam, which can scan physical objects for augmented reality and other enhanced content.

Virtual reality headsets and content will be “the next mega tech theme” and a market worth more than $60 billion in a decade, according to investment bank, Piper Jaffray Cos. And as we increasingly see, mega tech themes quickly become mega media themes, as the two are intertwined in the minds—and devices—of consumers.