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Featured Post | Innovation

How The New York Times’ R&D team enriches narratives

As news consumption evolves, The New York Times’ R&D Lab department is at the forefront of redefining how stories are told. Their goal? To enhance the narrative experience without sacrificing journalistic integrity. 

With a focus on exploring how emerging technologies can be applied in service of journalism, the department is proving that innovation can enrich journalism rather than distract from it. But it’s a fine balance. In a landscape littered with shiny new things, where innovation is often considered a buzzword, the R&D Lab team pioneer new technologies to serve the story.

Scott Lowenstein, director of research and development strategy at The New York Times, oversees the R&D team, leading experimentation with the next generation of storytelling. The R&D group is a mostly technical team that works on applications of emerging technology in the service of journalism, but also for their products and business, he explained.

Over the years, the definition of what qualifies as emerging technology has continuously evolved. The New York Times’ R&D Lab has explored a wide range of technologies since its inception in 2006, focusing on innovative storytelling methods. From a commuter app in 2009 that combined traffic cameras, Google Map data and location-specific content from the Times, to a “magic mirror” that used motion sensing and voice recognition technology in 2011, to wearables in 2014.

From the NYT’s R&D Lab’s experiments in mixed reality journalism.

The launch of virtual reality (VR) in 2016 marked a significant achievement, as the R&D Lab created over 30 immersive films that showcased the narrative potential of VR. The films received high viewer engagement marked by over 1 million downloads of their VR app. In 2017, the team supported newsroom storytelling by integrating emerging technologies like mixed reality and connected home devices, while also improving public figure identification in photos through automation.

By 2019, the R&D lab delved into advanced technologies, such as computer vision to reveal hidden narratives within visual content, photogrammetry to create immersive 3D environments from 2D photos, and spatial computing to explore new storytelling formats in augmented reality. They also worked on enhancing media transmission and natural language processing (NLP) to extract insights from the NYT’s extensive archive, while developing tools to combat misinformation.

In 2021, the team developed the Times’ first AR game and animated sequences for augmented reality, continuing to explore spatial journalism and improve media transmission with 5G technology. By 2022, they emphasized integrating locative data and spatial understanding into journalism, aiming to better reflect and connect with communities, thus enhancing storytelling. 

“Never ending cycle of exciting, interesting problems to tackle”

A lot of the R&D team’s work starts when Times’ staffers come to them with an ambitious project they’d like to do, but don’t know where to start. Lowenstein said the team does their research on technologies, the latest tools in the market, and projects in adjacent industries from architecture to game design.

“We prioritize the ones that feel achievable. We find the technology to match the ambition of the story,” Lowenstein said. “We will oftentimes say, this technology is really cool, but it’s not ready. But, when we do find an idea that works and match it well with the story, then we’ll help that team come up with the first execution.”

And, when the team finds a technology that works, they’ll find ways to make it repeatable, so that future stories within The Times can use it. “We’ll also often open source our work and share it with a broader journalism community to help replicate what we’ve done.”

“Help us do something that we couldn’t do before”

Currently, the R&D Lab focuses on three areas:

  1. media transmission and provenance, which helps readers distinguish credible news from mis- and disinformation;
  2. artificial intelligence (AI), which includes computer vision, which extracts information from visual media; and
  3. spatial journalism in a broad sense, which encompasses things from 3D to mixed reality and virtual reality.

“The mission is to try to use these tools in service of great storytelling and not try to do something gimmicky. Instead, we want do something where this new tool could help us do what we couldn’t do before,” Lowenstein said.

A lot of the projects are seriously ambitious. They’re not only hard to do, but they also require a large team of technologists, editors, and resources. So, the Lab is invested in how to facilitate this process.

“A lot of our ambition is trying to just make that whole process easier for the teams so that they can just say, we want to do this and that they can do it the same day,” Lowenstein said. “Some of it is building software and templates and things that don’t require a super-specialized 3D engineer to build a 3D story. That’s where a lot of our effort goes: finding those repeatable things and creating the tools that allow editors to do that work with less or no help from us.”

Some of Lowenstein’s favorite stories were during the early days of augmented reality. “We built a lot of stories that we published as 2D stories on the web, and then translated specific slices of them into AR, that people could use on their phones. Some of those were very well received and we learned a ton from that experience.”

Balancing innovation and integrity

The New York Times R&D Lab is not interested in employing the latest technology just for the sake of doing it. Technology is a tool in the service of their mission, not an end in itself. “One of the great things about working with our amazing journalists and editors is that their gimmick meter is really strong,” Lowenstein said.

Timeline of innovation at The New York Times’ R&D Lab

2006 – Launch of R&D Lab

  • Foundation: The New York Times R&D Lab was established to innovate and experiment with new technologies and storytelling methods.

2009 – Multimedia Applications

  • Commuter App: An innovative app that combines traffic cameras, Google Maps, and location-specific Times content, enhancing news delivery through geocoded articles and blog posts.

2011 – Interactive Technology

  • Magic Mirror: A data-bearing mirror using motion sensing and voice recognition to deliver on-demand information via the Times’ APIs.

2014 – Semantic Listening

  • New Tools: Developed systems for extracting semantic information and crowdsourcing data on cultural artifacts.

2015 – Wearable Technology

  • Focused on wearables, examining their potential uses in the media landscape.

2016 – Virtual Reality (VR)

  • Created over 30 immersive films.

2017 – Emerging Technologies

  • Shifted focus to support newsroom storytelling by integrating technologies such as mixed reality and connected home devices, while also improving public figure identification in photos through automation.

2019 – Photogrammetry, Spatial

  • Computer Vision: Revealing hidden narratives within visual content.
  • Photogrammetry: Creating immersive 3D environments from 2D photos.
  • Spatial Computing: Exploring new storytelling formats in augmented reality.
  • Media Transmission & NLP: Enhancing photo and video transmission and extracting insights from the NYT’s extensive archive.
  • Misinformation Tools: Supporting informed news consumption.

2021 – Augmented Reality

  • Developed the Times’ first AR game and animated sequences for augmented reality, while continuing to explore spatial journalism and improving media transmission with 5G technology.

2022 – Spatial Journalism

  • Emphasized integrating locative data and spatial understanding into journalism to better reflect and connect with communities, thereby enhancing storytelling.

Technology evolves rapidly, and having a solid understanding of emerging tech applications is incredibly valuable. The R&D team began exploring large language models back in 2019. Now that these models are widely adopted, they have a significant advantage in knowing how to apply them responsibly.

From the NYT R&D Labs’ work on media transmission and provenance.

Lowenstein emphasized the importance of transparency in their work. “We’re always going to tell our readers when and how we’re using these emerging technologies,” he said. “I view it as a duty to our readers to explain how we’re using these technologies. And in that process of explanation, that is the process of balancing storytelling and integrity in action.”

Those principles show up in reader-facing ways. This is evident on their website, where stories include methodologies, labels, and sometimes tutorials or explanatory text. Those principles also show up in industry-facing ways. The R&D Lab shares their work as much as they can on their website, and through open source libraries for others in media.

“I think that’s one of the great benefits of having this kind of open source mentality is that we can see, we put our stuff out there and we can see how the community is using it,” Lowenstein said.

A lot of people are using the photogrammetry, the spatial journalism and 3D storytelling, using the libraries and contributing to them, he explained. “It’s super gratifying to see this little community built up around some of the photogrammetry, the spatial journalism. It’s awesome to see how people have taken that work and evolved it and made it their own.”

From the NYT’s R&D Lab’s experiments in spatial journalism.

Technology should be in service of the story

As technology and journalism continue to evolve, other organizations can glean valuable insights from The New York Times R&D Lab’s approach to experimenting with emerging technologies. For one, Lowenstein emphasizes that technology should be in service of the story. “That’s first and foremost. We don’t do it for the sake of doing it. The story should come first and you should really look through if the ambition of the story warrants it.”

Embracing experimentation is equally vital, and even though trial may lead to error, each misstep could lead to unexpected insights. “We often try things that don’t work the first time or the fifth time, and then you find the perfect fit,” Lowenstein said.

Lowenstein suggested keeping a record of what you’ve tried and what you’ve learned along the way. He says that oftentimes, things will pop up you didn’t know would be useful in the future. Keeping records allows you to adapt to new possibilities.

Finally, the director suggested that it is important for media companies to have principles about how they use technology responsibly and in service of their work. It helps guide decision making.

By establishing clear principles for the responsible application of emerging tech, organizations can carve out a focused space to innovate while delivering quality journalism that resonates with audiences. Ultimately, it’s this blend of technology, experimentation, and integrity that will empower the industry to navigate into the future.

“In some ways, having those clear principles about when and how you use technology is a great creative constraint. It allows you to define the parameters of how you want to use the technology in service of quality journalism. And, working within those boundaries from the beginning makes it achievable and makes the space of things that you could do smaller so that you can actually focus on the right stuff,” Lowenstein said.

The opener art comes from The R&D Lab's work with LiDAR and Drone Automation for Detailed Photogrammetry

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Featured Post | Innovation

Explore newsroom innovation with USA Today and Axios

DCN’s editorial director Michelle Manafy interviews Nicole Carroll, the Editor-in-chief of USA Today and Aja Whitaker-Moore the Executive Editor of Axios on Newsroom innovation: What’s the future of storytelling at the Collision conference, which was held in Toronto, Canada June 22-24, 2022.

[Full transcript below.]

WATCH/LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Michelle Manafy

I’m back! But I’m in good company. I’ve got some terrific speakers here joining me to talk about newsroom innovation. If we could, I feel like the topic is just huge. If maybe you’d like to kick us off with what the heck does it even mean?

Nicole Carroll

You know, I think innovation now, in the olden days, it was always tech and what’s the next product? And what’s the next thing? And I think now honestly, it’s about engagement is like how do we truly authentically engage with our audiences. And that could be tech that could be in person storytelling, that could be, you know, lots of different ways. I also think innovation always is just about to keep moving forward, you know, every generation of journalists is going to do it a little bit differently. And I think we’ve got to find our way. So, I think about innovation, not just in a technology sense, but literally everything we do in hiring, and how do we fund our journalism? How do we connect with our audiences? We’ve got to keep moving forward.

Michelle Manafy

Aja, anything you want to add to that?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

No, I mean, I think you’ve covered a lot of it. And from the actors perspective, you know, we’re a startup. And so everything that we do is kind of innovative, in our opinion. And we were born of, you know, we thought a problem, which was, there’s too much information, and people don’t know how to keep up with it, they don’t know how to access it. And, you know, we think that our promise is innovative in the sense that we came up with a new format, came up with a new delivery mechanism, and are coming up with new ways to reach an audience on an everyday basis. So that’s our version of innovative, I think.

Michelle Manafy

So let’s go back to Axios then for a second. How do product and editorial work together in your organization, and how do you drive innovation in that relationship?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Yeah, I mean, pretty closely, because, you know, like I said, you know, we are focused on smart brevity and packaging things in a way that people want to digest them. And that means that we’re mobile first. And that means that everything we do has to be looked at from a product perspective, how are we delivering lists in a mobile friendly format? How is our app working? How are we delivering products to people, you know, in the way that they want them. So we work really closely together with a product team that I think understands journalism and understands news in a way that is really important.

Michelle Manafy

I mean: easy for you to say, “built from the ground up.” But let’s talk about USA Today. Like, is there a tight integration of product and editorial, editorial, huge,

Nicole Carroll

we’re, you know, we’re one of the OG startups, but we were actually smart, brevity 40 years ago, and we’re pretty, you know, made fun of because of that. So I’m you know, I’m glad to see the world has, you know, come around to that you can get good information in smaller amounts of words or video. So I, I’m really proud of the work we’ve done. But yes, we are really tight with our product teams, the fact that we just want to call with them this morning. You know, we’re constantly looking at not here’s what we should do. But what is the outcome you’re looking for? And then working together? How do we get to that outcome? We try not to go into it with the solution you go into it with what’s the outcome you’re looking for, and what do we need to bring to that equation?

Michelle Manafy

So one of the things you touched on in like your “what is innovation” was: staffing, diversity, leadership, those those issues… Can you tell me a little bit — let’s start with USA Today — about how you’re approaching leadership and recruiting with an eye to fostering innovation to fueling it.

Nicole Carroll

It’s never been more important to recruiting and what we’re doing right now. And I don’t know if how many of you are in the industry. But there’s the great journalism shuffle going on right now. I mean, everybody is moving somewhere else. Right now, there’s a real fight for talent and leadership. And I think people want to be part of authentic companies, who are really trying to again, I always say our job is to spread truth, you know, to engage with our audiences. And so showing a path having mentorship programs showing an opportunity for leadership, showing industry leadership is really important to creating the culture that will keep people in our organization. We’ve made the pledge at Guenette, that we want our newsrooms to reflect our communities by 2025. And we measure ourselves every year against that benchmark around racial diversity. I measure it every quarter at USA Today and report that to the staff. I think it’s really important we hold a mirror up to ourselves and be really honest about how we’re doing.

Michelle Manafy

How about Axios? What what what is the approach? How are you thinking about like, what is this newsroom? What is the staffing what does the leadership mean, to our ability to be innovative?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Yeah, I mean, I think we we agree at that at the start the diversity of our newsroom should reflect the diversity of our audience. And that will then you know, result in diversity of coverage and that’s really what we’re striving towards. You know, our founders are committed to that goal as well. You know, in the fall, we’re releasing a smart brevity book. And they dedicated the proceeds the advance from that book to fund a fellowship program that we’re really proud of where we’re focusing on hiring from diverse communities in underrepresented backgrounds, to mentor them into Axios. And focusing on developing a beat developing the next generation of leaders that we think is, you know, missing from journalism right now. And it’s something that is a part of, you know, our newsroom recruiting our newsroom leadership. Axios is led by two women of color. And myself, and our editor in chief, Sara Gu. And it’s something that we you know, walk, talk, live, breathe and think, is the future of innovation at our company and everywhere, so we’re really focused on it.

Michelle Manafy

Alright, so let’s shift gears a little bit. We there’s been a kerfluffle, of late around the social presence of journalists online, rather spectacular, blow up, in fact, quite visibly on social media. For for Axios, let’s start there. How are you balancing the desire for reporters to have a social presence to leverage that social presence? With your standards?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Yeah, and when I think we’re, we’re not like, any, you know, we’re similar to every other media organization out there, that’s figuring out, you know, how to balance that, but we’ve been really proud of our track record so far, you know, in the past five years, you know, we we’ve really just said to our staff, we trust you. You arer adults. Represent yourselves represent Axios the way that you, you know, would expect to in public. And that’s actually what’s happened. So I think we are, you know, proud of how we’ve done it so far. And we’ll continue to act accordingly on social platforms, and still be able to share our journalism with the world engage with people in a responsible way. And I think we’re all doing that.

Nicole Carroll

I know that at USA Today, the social presence is a big part of the work. So how are you setting your standards and communicating to your staff that this is important? But you still have to represent our brand.

Right? I mean, we know that, you know, our integrity and our fairness. And all of that is just the bedrock of what we are. And so we want to make sure that we represent our way ourselves that way. On social, we tell people, we want you to bring your authentic selves, we want you to bring your lived experiences. But obviously, we can’t slip into advocacy. And I say this all the time: The power you have as journalists, to choose stories to tell stories to spread stories, is so much more power than you’re going to have in that tweet. And so you know, again: Bring your true selves, bring your authentic selves, but but let’s not tip into advocacy that could harm the integrity of our brand.

Michelle Manafy

So I think another issue digitally in particular is the 24 hour news cycle, right? We’re all facing this kind of pressure to constantly be online, constantly be informing our our consumers. But how are you balancing the 24 hour news cycle with your again, with your standards and your goal to provide actual, trustworthy news?

Nicole Carroll

Well, we’re really lucky and that we’re spread across the country from, you know, Washington all the way to LA. And then we also have a London bureau. So, we really are on 24/7, which, which makes things a little bit easier. But you know, I tell people 100 times out of 100, I’d rather be second than wrong. 100 times out of 100. So if you’re ever in doubt, don’t do it. Double check it triple check it, I’m going to be fine. If we’re last as long as we’re right.

Michelle Manafy

I see a lot of scoops and exclusives at Axios. So how about you? Is there a difference there? Is there pressure?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Yeah, Imean, I think that our philosophy is a little bit different. We’re not there to deliver you every piece of news. We’re there to deliver you what you need to know, and the things that are important. And so I think that our model is a little bit different in that we package our version of the 24 news cycle into a newsletter suite. So if you’re getting Mike Allen’s AM, and PM and Finish Line newsletters, that’s what we call our daily essentials. And he’s set a really diverse kind of breakfast table for you in the morning. Happy Hour, four in the evening. And he’s telling you the stories that you need to know and so we’re curating that and packaging that I think in a different way than you know, a news wire or or a news organization that’s giving you breaking news 24/7.

Michelle Manafy

It’s interesting. We used to call those “newspapers” where we curated what you need to know i the course of a day. I do think it’s interesting. The last panel was very much touching on this deluge; this fire hose, and how we can discern. And of course you know, I advocate for trustworthy sources like y’all.

Nicole Carroll

 Yeah, absolutely.

Michelle Manafy

All right. So, innovation in delivery and formats. I know you specifically mentioned Axios being mobile first. And I think that’s for a little while there that was almost a cliche industry. But I think it’s, it’s a given, is it not? Are you thinking a lot about innovating in terms of say, Tik Tok? Let’s just throw out like, are you looking at new formats?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Tick Tok? Not so much. Not yet. I mean, we have experimented, I think on all the platforms, you know, we do Twitter spaces, we do curated videos on You know, on Instagram, I think Tik Tok is an amazing platform. And a lot of I think publishers have figured out a great way to do it. But I think it actually is we, you know, right now, you know, we really are interested in podcasts, we’ve found a way to tell long form stories in smart brevity, through audio, which, you know, is is challenging, but we’ve done it with our How it Happened podcast series. It’s got, you know, 3 million downloads, and it’s really resonating with the audience. And we also have, you know, a daily podcast that we think is, you know, really innovative and how we’re telling stories in, you know, 10 minutes a day, and our audience is telling us, you know, they can’t get enough of it. So, I think that’s definitely interesting to us. You know, we just hired our first SEO editor and we’re really focused on you know, packaging our stories for social and, you know, making sure we’re we’re meeting people where they are.

Michelle Manafy

I know that social audio has been really good for you guys too. How about USA Today. What do you do?

Nicole Carroll

Well, it’s funny: I was just checking or TikTok I think we’re just checking to see how many followers I think we’re over a million somebody check me so we’re over a million and when we you know, I love it. My son’s 16 He gets all his news on Tik Tok. So whenever we show up in his feed, he’s really proud. He’s like, there’s my mom. So I mean, we’re gonna be in the spaces where people are, we’re doing Twitter Spaces, we were on Clubhouse, we were doing all the things. Really, it’s because we just want people to know that we’re there with the information they need, again, whether it’s Instagram, or Tik Tok, or a newsletter, or a podcast. And it just helps the overall reach and hopefully, you know, to your point about trust and media, if they see us enough, if they see that we’re right enough, if they see that we’re responsible enough, I want to develop that trust. And so I think it’s not just about the audience. It’s about developing that relationship and trust and like, Oh, I’ve seen you three or four times now. You know, I I know your real I know, you’re a trustworthy news source. And that’s really important to me.

Michelle Manafy

Yeah and that’s interesting, because you both mentioned, you know, being where they are.

Nicole Carroll

Yeah.

Michelle Manafy

 But then your values like perpetuated values and your ethos there to build that trusted relationship.

Nicole Carroll

Well, it’s funny when the last join some of the January 6, and we made some decisions about, you know, we didn’t errors, certain of Donald Trump’s speeches, because I did, they were misinformation, and we chose not to air them live. We would go back and we would package them so we could fact check them before we did it. I actually went on Tik Tok. And I told people why we were doing that. And I did a video like: Hey, here’s we may be hearing about this. And this is why we’re doing that we think it’s important to fact check before we put information out there. So it was kind of fun to be able to talk directly to that audience

Michelle Manafy

Addressing that that demand for immediacy. Head on,

Nicole Carroll

Right, exactly.

Michelle Manafy

We want it now. But here’s why we’re not.

Why don’t you tell me each of you just very quickly, a project or product that you’ve done recently that you feel is particularly innovative?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Sure. I mean, I think Axios local is probably our biggest project of the year. And, you know, talking about rebuilding trust, we want to meet people in their communities, and talk to them about the economic situation where they live, the lifestyle opportunities, where they live, also, the political landscapes where they live. So we’ve stood up in 17 cities, and we’re going to be in, I think, another 25 by the end of this year. So, we’re really proud of that expansion and trying to recapture some of what’s been lost in the local news landscape. And, you know, it’s really resonating with audiences, we’ve had over a million subscribers in those local markets, generated, you know, 5 million in revenue last year from loca. And so we think that’s, you know, a really big part of the future of Axios. And hopefully the future of restoring trust and journalism in America.

Michelle Manafy

No small feat.

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Yeah, just a little, just a little project.

Michelle Manafy

Just a Tuesday. How about at USA Today?

Nicole Carroll

Sure. Well, I really hope you guys will check out some of the AR we’ve been doing. And again, this leans more into the tech, but it’s really cool tech. So you can we did a series this past year on 1961 and the importance of what happened in 1961, around voting rights to what’s happening today. And our AR team built this amazing experience where you could actually ride the bus as it was being attacked by rioters and you can hear the story and you can you can you can hear we brought in historical video and audio. And you really feel like you can see the flames around you and you are really immersed in that experience. So, you know, again, we’re trying to bring the truth to people and help them understand news that empathy that you get from immersive storytelling is really important. Not just reading it; you’re experiencing it. So really proud of some of the work we’ve done on AR.

Michelle Manafy

That’s a great example. Just before we’re done here: How about something that you think that everyone is talking about in media right now, that maybe is hype or that maybe you’re a little skeptical about?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Just in general?

Michelle Manafy

In the digital media industry. Hype cycle?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

I don’t know,

Michelle Manafy

Alright, we can do NFTs? [laughter]

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Well, we do have a newsletter that covers crypto and I think we do talk about that, you know, quite a bit. And NFTs have their place in the crypto world.

Unknown Speaker  15:48 

Oh ho ho. No, it doesn’t have to be NF T’s. Metaverse can do another one. You guys bullish?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

I mean, I think the Metaverse is interesting. If you think about it from the standpoint of like, we’re just building it now. You know, we don’t actually know what it’s going to be.

Michelle Manafy

Is it going to be the Facebook-averse. Is that? Or is it going to be an open platform?

Aja Whitaker-Moore

I guess it depends on who you ask.

Michelle Manafy

We’re not going to ask Mark. Apparently, he didn’t want to talk to us about this.

Nicole Carroll

Which is weird. So weird. I mean, I think we just have to keep moving forward. Like I said at the beginning in all these spaces, and here’s the cool thing, we get to invent them, right? We get to say what they’re gonna be. So that’s awesome. We’re like, you know, I know, there’s a lot of stress in media right now. But I’m really excited about where we’re at right now in media, we’re, we get to invent the future. And that’s pretty cool.

Michelle Manafy

All right. The very last thing: leadership, like if you are looking out into the industry, and you want to just impart one piece of wisdom about leading an innovative team, no pressure. Aja: pressure.

Aja Whitaker-Moore

I mean, I think it’s really just about having a culture of activation and being able to experiment with an idea and nurture it from experiment, you know, to fruition. I think we do that, you know, every day at Axios. And really, every day in media. Every day, we’re writing a story. It’s like, you know, where’s this going to take us at? Where’s this gonna go? And just continuing, you know, to do that?

Michelle Manafy

I love that.

Nicole Carroll

Yeah. I think it’s all about the people. No matter what you do, you’ve got to create the culture. You’ve got to believe in people you’ve got to have, I think I call realistic optimism. We are in a tough world. But you realistically have to think “we can do these things.” And you have to impart that to people. You have to have a culture of “yes, let’s try it.” What can you do? What can you do in a month? What can you do in two months? We have to keep moving forward.

Michelle Manafy

Love it. Well, thank you both. I sincerely appreciate this. It was a great conversation and went to fast.

Aja Whitaker-Moore

Thank you.

Nicole Carroll

Thank you.

Innovation

Why mistaking invention for innovation could be hurting your business

Innovation has long been the buzzword of the digital era. It has been called “the mantra of business leaders” and “the most important and overused word in America.” According to a McKinsey study, 84% of executives say that innovation is important to their growth strategy.

In one sense, this is a good thing. As The Atlantic put it, “In the 17th century, ‘innovators’ didn’t get accolades. They got their ears cut off.” Modern society’s embrace of innovation has enabled a technology explosion that has taken us from the telegraph to the iPhone, carriages, to self-driving cars.

Defining innovation

However, in another sense, the overuse of the word has led to a blurred understanding of what innovation actually is. Many consider it synonymous with invention. In reality, it’s not. How your company defines innovation can determine its prospects and success. And interchanging the two ideas can mortally undermine your company’s outlook.

We come by the confusion honestly. Trusted sources such as Merriam-Webster give a convoluted and misleading explanation of the difference. Merriam-Webster defines invention as the creation of a device or process that previously didn’t exist, and defines innovation as “a change made to an existing product, idea or field. One might say that the first telephone was an invention, and the first smartphone an innovation.”

The essence of innovation

This definition misses the point in a fundamental way. The critical difference between invention and innovation is value creation. Innovation is something new or something old applied in a new way that creates new value. This is well-illustrated by the phrase, “an innovative solution.” Invention is something new that could create value, but doesn’t have to.

Another way to look at this is that innovation usually starts with solving a need (and therefore contributing to value creation). However, invention starts with solving a technical challenge (that doesn’t necessarily create value if there is no demand for the solution).

Problem solving

A classic example of this difference is the Rube Goldberg Machine, named for the cartoonist who frequently drew devices that performed simple tasks in convoluted ways. The term has come to refer to an overly complicated and usually useless contraption. It has all the markings of a clever invention, but it hardly adds value greater than the cost or complexity of alternatives. It’s not innovation.

An example of innovation is the automobile. The invention was the combustion engine. But the combustion engine was not a car and a car is not a combustion engine. The car was a new way to solve the problem of transportation that leveraged a new invention (here: the combustion engine) to power a buggy.

Another way to think of innovation that it is the application of invention to a real world problem that customers will pay for. By this definition, if customers don’t see enough value to pay for it, then it’s not innovation. An automobile is valuable enough to pay for. A combustion engine is not.

Costly confusion

When you mistake invention for innovation, you could end up wasting your most precious resources – time, money and thought capital.

Consider blockchain and the Internet of Things. Both are fascinating new technologies. And, by exploring them, we can come up with innovative ideas to apply them. But they don’t, by themselves, generate value. Starting with a unique technology and then directing your best and brightest – your “thought capital” – to “do something” with that technology is a misguided business strategy.

You don’t want to explore new technologies without first having a clear understanding of how they will add value to your firm’s business outcomes and how it can create value for your current and future customers. In short, you should be working backward from the value to the technology, not the other way around. Not every company needs a “cool mobile app” or a “blockchain strategy” because not every company will actually benefit from having them.

Using this misguided approach drains thought capital and pulls your most talented and creative teams away from improving existing product portfolios. It also distracts leaders, who may be charmed by a new technology and may not be focusing on whether the business really needs a blockchain strategy at all.

Tinkering

So if “innovation labs” aren’t the best way to explore new technologies, what should organizations do? How do they go about creating new products? When craftspeople are left to their own devices and want to explore a new tool, framework, capability or technology, they embark on something I call “tinkering”. They read about it, play with it and may build a “hello world” application – something that allows them to get a feel for the new tool. They develop a sense of the technology’s potential uses and shortcomings. 

Companies can encourage tinkering in a number of ways by making it part of their individual development plans, asking individuals to keep a list of things they are interested in exploring next, setting aside time each week to tinker, and giving them cloud environments to play in. Teams that tinker will share their findings and excite other technologists about the possibilities. It also infuses the culture on the ground with a sense of support for recommending fresh approaches.

Tinkering gives the craftsperson just enough information to decide if he or she thinks it has the potential to solve the issues of the organization, or whether it might have relevant potential future uses. Tinkering + Real World Business Opportunities = The Best Chance for Innovation.

Supporting tinkering in your organization is cheaper and far more likely to lead to a breakthrough in value creation than directing all your resources – not just your money but your thought capital – toward “finding something to do” with a new technology. And that is what innovation is really about.

Innovation

USA TODAY’S Maribel Perez Wadsworth talks growth, innovation and taking on the industry’s biggest threat

USA TODAY recently named Maribel Perez Wadsworth as its publisher, the second woman to hold the title. Wadsworth, a Cuban-American, is the first person of color to serve as publisher. She adds this title to her current role as President of USA TODAY NETWORK, which she has held since November 2017. Maribel oversees the company’s consumer business. She formerly served as the company’s Chief Transformation Officer (2016) and Chief Strategy Officer (2015).

Here she discusses her new role, her strategy for growth and innovation at USA TODAY, and the biggest threat to the success of our industry.

How will your new role allow you to better lead the media brands at Gannett?

MPW: I’m excited to lead USA TODAY as publisher, cementing the important relationship that exists between our flagship national brand and our 109 local news brands. As president of the USA TODAY Network, I’m responsible for content, strategy and operations for all our media brands. This allows us to truly take a holistic approach to how we best serve our audiences and our communities. It also enables us to identify and scale new ideas and best practices. In addition, as we continue to expand our portfolio of niche brands, such as our recent majority investment in Grateful Ventures, we are well-positioned to comprehensively serve the news and information needs of our audiences with high quality content and experiences.

You’ve made a recent round of hires. Tell me about the type of talent you’ve added and what you are looking for to succeed in the news business today: 

MPW: I’m proud of the team we are building at USA TODAY. First, because we have such a strong base of talent to start. My first move was to name Nicole Carroll as editor in chief. Nicole is an ideal partner — an exceptionally talented, award-winning journalist and a highly competitive individual with great ambition for our journalism. We’ve also just added Jeff Taylor, formerly VP of News at the Indianapolis Star, as Executive Editor. And we’re realigning and adding resources around two key areas — investigative and enterprise coverage and digital storytelling. So, you’ll be seeing those teams expand and our hiring focus will be there. But in a nutshell, what I’m looking for in talent is people of diverse backgrounds with an inherent passion for doing good and winning at it. Skills can be taught or bought. The culture we’re building, that’s what’s special.

Tell me about your philosophy on creating the best news experiences for readers: 

MPW: We have to be focused on relevance, distinction and quality. That means we have to deeply understand who we serve — what do they need, what are they interested in, what do they most deeply care about. It means we have to be keenly attuned to who we are — what are our strengths, what do we do better than anybody else. And it means we have to make choices. If we are to consistently deliver on the excellence our customers deserve, we must choose where to focus and prioritize so we can truly do fewer things better.

What are the most important investments that news media organizations need to make to continue to meet the needs of today’s readers?

MPW: Our most important investment is in our people. We must ensure we are hiring great journalists and supporting their development. It is also critically important to build a culture of experimentation to continue to push the boundaries of digital storytelling.

At the USA TODAY NETWORK, that experimentation has focused on a few key areas — virtual reality and 360-degree video, including from an expanding drone journalism program; voice and audio more broadly as we more and more develop content for listeners; and augmented reality. Take a look at our augmented reality app 321 Launch, built in partnership between USA TODAY and Florida Today ‘s expert space coverage. The app allows you to track a live rocket launch in AR from any flat surface as a hologram shows you what the rocket is doing in real-time. There is also a launch simulation you can do any time and learn from our space experts as they guide you through rocket assembly, blast off and re-entry. It’s very cool and I hope you’ll check it out.

What is the biggest threat or challenge for the news business today and what advice do you have for publishers seeking to address it? 

MPW: The biggest challenge our industry faces today comes from the rapid rise of unregulated megaplatforms such as Facebook and Google. And not just from the obvious place of taking digital, especially mobile, advertising spend. These platforms are also in no small way responsible for an assault on truth and trust. Their algorithms naturally optimize their business results but do little to help consumers discern between quality, premium journalism, and fake content from questionable sources. In our business, we must focus on being customer-led not platform-driven. Our business cannot be dependent on the whims of a third-party platform’s strategy. As many have seen, chasing the algorithm can lead to dramatically inconsistent and potentially perilous results. Instead, our focus must be on building a strong, direct relationship with our audiences and that starts with quality and trust.

Industry-Research | Innovation

Local TV news looks to digital for innovation

When one thinks of local news, the immediate distribution points that come to mind are local TV, local newspapers and local radio. According to the Knight Foundation’s new research, Local TV News and the New Media Landscape, Local TV news is the most profitable one. Local newspapers are on shaky ground, continually losing circulation (and advertising dollars) and local radio is holding its own. However, it is significant to note that local TV news stations are looking to digital for innovative ways to tell their stories and to attract new audiences.

The Knight Foundation cites findings from the Radio Television Digital News Association Annual Survey that 65% of station innovations are focused on digital platforms. The other innovative areas include technical (17%), alternative approaches to newscast presentations (14%) and new organizational structures (4%). Clearly, local TV news is building a digital presence.

Online Innovation

An important strategy for local TV news is the digital first approach. Many local stations are broadcasting their content, especially bigger projects, first on digital platforms before on air. This type of strategy shifts focus on audiences and where they want to access their content.

Further, more than three-quarters (78%) of TV news directors report putting new and important content online now. Their strategies include:

  • Moving newscasts online: More newscasts available online or conducting live events online.
  • Web-only content: Local TV news stations are also creating content specifically designed for web and mobile platforms.
  • Leveraging digital to improve storytelling: Stations are experimenting with user generated content for new POVs and storytelling opportunities.
  • Developing new properties for younger audiences: Stations are also developing digital assets to target younger adult,

Social Media Strategy

In terms of attracting a younger audience, 55% of local TV news stations are emphasizing social media. Fifteen percent are pushing specific social platforms or features (e.g. Facebook Live, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and others). Additional efforts also include content creation on digital social platforms targeted toward millennials.

Knight’s social media analyses indicates digital strategies are paying off for many stations in terms of reach and audience engagement. Further, in a content analysis of more than 1,100 posts (on human interests, entertainment, politics, public policy, etc.) for four stations with the highest engagement levels shows increases when social media components are added.

Efforts on social media are paying off and ratings are highest on local news stations when there’s activity on social media. This suggests that the content on social media is additive and not necessarily replacing the local station as an access point of information. Still, local news stations need to find a balance in using social media to find audiences and deliver news.

Advertising | Perspectives

The Big 10: Media executives call out the industry’s biggest challenges

While it is appealing to start off a New Year with rosy predictions, it is also important to take a clear-eyed look at the road (and roadblocks) ahead. We asked a few of our members what they see as the biggest challenges the digital media industry faces today.

Here’s what leaders at ten diverse media companies see as the biggest challenge in the year to come:

———-

Scott Bailey, President, TEN Automotive Division
@TENenthusiast

Monetizing scaled social audiences and the content made for these channels is a challenge. We see the benefit of being a first mover and building a large social audience. That said, the benefit today lies heavily in the marketing value it provides in driving traffic to our sites and leveraging it to convert fans into paying customers through subscription offerings like Motor Trend OnDemand. We are able to monetize through advertising, but the nature of the monetization on social is more challenging to do at scale, as it requires a more custom approach compared to more traditional, turnkey placements/buys.

Jordan Bitterman, Chief Marketing Officer, The Weather Company, an IBM Business
@JordanBitterman @weathercompany

Our industry must build a parallel world adjacent to the current one dominated by Google and Facebook. This new world must be scaled, intelligent and open. Currently, 85 cents of every new dollar are going to the two biggest players because they have been solving for scaled and intelligent – and have done a great job doing so. But, an open garden is increasingly becoming a requirement for sophisticated advertisers who want partners who are flexible on data and transparent on pricing and performance.

Jim Brady CEO & Founder, Spirited Media
@jimbrady @spiritedmediaco

It’s hard to pick a “biggest” challenge, as there as so many. But, to me, refining user experience remains a crucial one. There are still way too many sites alienating readers for a quick buck by hammering them with pop-ups, unnecessary slideshows, pagination, interstitials and more. Yes, we need to make money. But gouging readers to the point where we drive them away is an abysmal long-term audience strategy. Treat your audience like you don’t care about them, and they will surely return the favor.”

Steven Smith, President of Digital Media, AccuWeather
@accuweather

In 2017, we continue to hurtle toward a ubiquitous global user audience, accessing data from every imaginable kind of device with a greater focus on personalization, localization, service and mobility. Content providers are going to have to step up to meet the needs of an audience that wants fast, relevant, and localized—and provided consistently regardless of device, from smartphones to connected refrigerators. That makes strong partnerships with vendors a necessity, from Cloud storage providers for scaling data to meet demand demands to robust content management solutions to help port news from format to format and device to device. And of course, the audience will continue to demand content that is more timely and relevant than ever.

Joy Jones, Vice President, Global Products, Associated Press
@AssociatedPress

The biggest challenge we face is building diverse streams of revenue that support innovative storytelling. In 2017, digital media companies must bridge the current divide between creating compelling stories that attract interest and attention, and the opportunities for monetization that are increasingly concentrated on just a few of the largest platforms. The industry is not going to be successful if there’s too much focus on trendy stories that spin up on a one-off basis or so-called native ad content that lacks authenticity. We need immersive and captivating high-quality content that engages diverse audiences and creates a wide fan base across emerging media platforms. That diversification of revenue will be critical to building and maintaining a sustainable engine for digital media innovation.

John Kosner, EVP, Digital & Print Media, ESPN
@JKosner @ESPN

Establishing timely and trusted cross-media measurement is an enormous challenge — but a critically important one. People consume media on an ever-growing number of platforms and devices and we must establish accurate ways to measure the total audience we reach and their engagement with content. That means having clear, trusted standards and metrics — which measure across TV, apps, web, OTT and more — and do so both in- and out-of-home. The connection people have with digitally-delivered content and advertising continues to grow enormously. But so does fake content and ad fraud. Trusted and transparently-measured environments will become ever-more valuable.

Beth Lawrence, EVP of Digital Ad Sales, Scripps Networks Interactive
@ScrippsNet

A big challenge in digital in 2017 will be the ability for clients and consumers to separate the wheat from the chaff. We all know digital is here to stay and continues to be a more important revenue driver every year. But the quality of digital content has been under the radar, and in the final analysis, marketers care what brands they associate with. Period. Content matters; quality content rules. It will be a year of cleaning up, properly measuring and delivering great results in digital.

Matt Minoff, SVP, Digital Platforms and Strategy, Meredith Corporation
@mattminoff @MeredithCorp

The biggest challenge will continue to be capturing consumer attention as existing platforms grow and new platforms emerge.

Vikki Neil, SVP/GM of Scripps Lifestyle Studios
@ScrippsNet

In digital, you must stay open to all ideas that come your way, but disciplined enough to say no to many. You must move quickly and not wait for perfection, but perfect what you do daily. There’s not time to develop a long-range plan like a traditional media business offers. From my seat, the biggest challenge is a combination of making the right bets, and moving as fast as humanly possible to understand the space before your competitors, so that you can build the best offering for consumers and advertisers. It’s impossible to be everywhere across all opportunities, so choose wisely, go quickly and iterate daily.

Alex Skatell, Founder and President, Independent Journal Review
@AlexSkatell @TheIJR

The biggest challenge for media is building community. The strategies that have propelled many digital media companies into large audiences are largely commoditized, so you need to figure out how to connect your content and communities together in a deeper and unique way.

Brendan Spain, VP, Advertising – Americas, Financial Times
@spanishbrendan @FT

The biggest challenge for digital media in 2017 will be for quality publishers to cut through the noise – of ad fraud, fake news, and non-human traffic – to command fair market pricing for their trusted brands and influential audiences. Evaluating and leveraging these trusted environments will continue to be both important and difficult as the market weighs chasing scale and audience against quality and transparency.

Domenic Venuto, General Manager, Consumer Division, The Weather Company, an IBM Business
@dvenuto @weathercompany

As we look at the 2017 media landscape, there is potential for a massive upheaval on multiple fronts with the forecasted political uncertainty. The industry is resilient and adaptable, and we must remain focused on building great products for fans. And perhaps anxiety is unwarranted.

Industry-Research | Innovation

Study finds legacy newsrooms embrace innovation, but not cultural change

As media entrepreneurs continue to develop new ways to tell stories, communicate information and engage the public, it’s worth considering what the future might look like for such innovations. Will they remain part of an exciting, but narrow, subculture of early adopters? Or will they be implemented more broadly across the industry? And if the goal is the latter, what can reform-minded leaders do to improve the chances that innovation will be embraced — rather than rejected — by their particular newsrooms?

I discussed these questions with Brian Ekdale, assistant professor at the University of Iowa, whose recent article in Journalism and Mass Communication offers a fascinating glimpse into the experience of a mid-sized Midwestern newspaper (which is left unnamed, per academic protocol).

“There’s a lot of discussion about change in the news industry, but what’s really going on is a series of different changes.” – Brian Ekdale
In the study, Ekdale and his co-authors find that the newspaper’s reporters have mostly embraced technological innovations. For example, 97 percent of respondents said they enjoy learning new technologies, 87 percent agreed that a “digital-first” news strategy is the right way to go, and 80 percent agreed that social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are important tools in their work.

But the study also found that journalists responded less favorably to relational changes, such as increased collaboration with community members, and even more tepidly to cultural changes that challenge perceptions of “what journalism is and how it is — or ought to be — done.”

“There’s a lot of discussion about change in the news industry,
but what’s really going on is a series of different changes,” Ekdale said.
“We were trying to parse out some of those differences.”

Reporters embrace technology, but point to time crunch
The acceptance of technological innovation, especially of a digital-first news strategy, marks a big milestone for the legacy media. During early newsroom convergence efforts, digital-first publishing had been “derided as ‘scooping ourselves,’” according the study. But that attitude appears to be dissipating. As one reporter wrote in their response: “‘If you’re clinging to your print work schedule and not blogging, why do you have a job here?’”

Another respondent, described as a “veteran reporter,” put it this way: “The old idea that you held onto [news] until it landed on somebody’s doorstep in the morning doesn’t work anymore.”

But even as journalists embrace new technologies and digital-era platforms, they’re also expressing concern about how these innovations fit into their daily routines. According to the study, only 40 percent of respondents agreed that they have time to keep up with the new social media options, and less than half agreed that the company has given them the training to keep up with new social media options.

“There’s certainly an openness to the technological change,” Ekdale said, “but the realistic response is that it’s more work. And more work is stressful, particularly for those who didn’t grow up with these technologies or tools.”

Mixed views on ‘collaboration’ with community
In the study, questions about “relational” changes in journalism revealed that most reporters welcome public input, even as they balk at the idea of co-production and so-called “citizen journalism.”

Ekdale and his co-authors found that nearly 83 percent of respondents believe that social media helps them get important information to and from the community, and about 75 percent agree that members of the community should have input into coverage decisions.

However, this support for collaboration breaks down when it comes to forms of deeper engagement, such as user-generated content. Only 14 percent of respondents, for example, agree that members of the community should be part of the news team.

As one respondent wrote: “I think the whole focus on bringing people from the community and assuming they can do journalism is not well regarded among the reporting ranks. It’s one thing to have sources and people that you get feedback from, but just because you’re a teacher doesn’t mean you can be an education reporter necessarily.”

This response and others perhaps reflect a narrow view of how co-production can work in the newsroom. For example, projects like WBEZ’s “Curious City” and The Guardian’s “The Counted” have built citizen reporting into the newsgathering process without relinquishing editorial control — a hybrid approach that once-skeptical journalists might support.

But this study indicates that user-generated content, as a concept, faces resistance from journalists who doubt its value and quality.

“There was an attitude that ‘Sure, we can have people write some stories about what’s happening in their community,’” Ekdale said. “But the journalists wanted to relegate that to the softer side of news. There was still a lack of trust for allowing community members to tackle civic issues or breaking news, which journalists didn’t think that community members would have the training or skill set or fairness to take on.”

With poor communication, cultural change can fall flat
In addition to encouraging technological and relational changes, the newspaper’s CEO also attempted to spark a cultural shift — one in which journalists would come to see themselves as facilitators of civic engagement and community engagement, rather than strictly as transmitters of daily news.

But while most of the newsroom appeared willing to embrace these principles in theory (67 percent of respondents agreed that a journalist’s job includes fostering community engagement in civic matters), Ekdale says that interviews revealed deep concern and confusion about how to implement the principles in practice.

“People talked about how the CEO would operate at 10,000 feet,” Ekdale said. “The vision statement, to a certain extent, was very idealistic, and people didn’t really know what it meant.”

The broader cultural changes also faced resistance from journalists who held a more traditional view of their role in the community. As one interviewee explained her perspective: “As a journalist, you are supposed to stand back and report on what’s happening, not create it.”

For newsroom leaders looking to improve their success in culture-building, Ekdale offered two insights from his team’s research: It’s important to communicate clear expectations to the newsroom, and it’s critical to create an environment where experimentation and risk-taking are encouraged.

“Sometimes people in the C-suite communicate in a language that makes sense to them, but it doesn’t necessarily make sense to the on-the-ground workers,” Ekdale said. “And for journalists who are working in an increasingly precarious industry, the risks are pretty high if they feel like they’re going to go out on a limb. The journalists [in this study] didn’t necessarily feel they had the freedom to fail.”

Ben DeJarnette is the associate editor at MediaShift. He is also a freelance contributor for Pacific Standard, InvestigateWest, Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Oregon Quarterly and others. He’s on Twitter @BenDJduck.

mediashift logo squareThis was originally posted on MediaShift, the premier destination for insight and analysis at the intersection of media and technology. Follow MediaShift on Twitter @mediashiftorg, or check them out on Facebook and subscribe to their email newsletters.

Industry-Research

INMA surfaces media innovation processes

The International News Media Association (INMA) has released a report highlighting 17 media companies implementing innovation processes to transform their corporate cultures for better outcomes in the Digital Age. Inspired by the road map created at Stanford University’s d.school, How Media Companies Embrace the Process of Innovation aims to surface the best examples of outcome-based design thinking.

The INMA report looks at media company innovation in three ways, providing multiple case studies and specific insights in each area:

1. Innovation as a seedling for ideas. Case Study Subjects/Key Takeaway include:

• The Dallas Morning News/Organic Growth Strategy Leads to Launch of 6 Revenue-Generating Initiatives
• The Economist/Editorial-led Development Team Changes Innovation Internally
• Gannett/Innovation Grants Give Employees: Space for New Product Incubation
• La Presse/Lab Days Allow Digital Team to Innovate for a Day

2. Connecting your brand to innovation. Case Study Subjects/Key Takeaway include:

• Chicago Tribune/ Blue Sky Innovation Programme Engages Local Thought Leaders
• The Irish Times/Start-Up Incubator Fusion Responds to Advertiser Needs
• Sanoma Oyj/ Innovation Begins With an Entrepreneurial Spirit in the SanomaLab

3. Innovation as a cultural accelerator. Case Study Subjects/Key Takeaway include:

• El Colombiano/ ECOlab Innovation Laboratory Reinvents Company from Web Site to Company Culture
• Die Welt/ From “Print-Only” to “Digital-to-Print”
• Expressen/ Social Media Desk Creates Viral Journalism for a Younger Audience
• Fairfax Media/ “Evolving Our Workplace” Brings Innovation to the Workplace Structure
• Independent News & Media/ Legacy Company Comes “Home,” Achieves 4 Transformation Goals
• MittMedia/ FutureWorks Initiative Accelerates Innovation Through Shared Leadership
• Storyful/ Social News Agency Builds on the Tools News Corp’s Buyout Offers
• The Times of India/ Times of Innovation Programme Seeks, Values Disruption

TimesofIndiaInnovationStructure

Innovation

Edmunds.com: Content Company or Tech Platform?

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.

hack_2015_11Berkowitz 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 | Research

Takeaway from Edelman’s 2015 Trust Barometer

Mike Casey, US Head of Strategic Planning at Edelman presented insights from the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer as part of a sponsored breakfast at the ANA Brand Masters Conference last week.

“Building trust is essential to successfully bringing new products and services to market, and building trust in new business innovations requires that companies demonstrate clear personal and societal benefits, behave with integrity and engage with customers and stakeholders throughout the process.”

Key takeaways include:

  • Search engines are the most trusted form of media for millennials for breaking news.
  • Trust in the technology sector overall and cloud computing in particular is down.
  • Engagement is a multiplier, transparency and third-party validation is integral to innovation.  Trusted innovation = [discovery + benefit + integrity] Engagement.
  • Brand sustainability and be good do good will win.
  • Trust comes alive through great ideas and activations.
  • Brands that don’t contribute to greater good lose trust .

TrustFormula In the age of innovation, it is more important than ever to focus on the greater good.  Businesses must bring an agility and nimbleness with a multi-stakeholder and global view for discovery that offers a personal and societal benefit. They must embody attributes that build trust in any company, which is accomplished chiefly by having ethical business practices, managing risk, treating employees well and operating responsibly as a good corporate citizen. This will lead to trusted innovation–the kind of innovation that has the best odds of success.

Innovation | Perspectives | Revenue

The Big Four: Challenges We Must Face as an Industry

I could not be more thrilled at the enthusiasm for great content across the media industry— whether in the advertising, press, investment or journalism communities. That enthusiasm was never more apparent than at the 13th Annual Digital Content Next Summit last week, which gathered senior executives from across our membership to explore opportunities and innovation. We also came together to tackle challenges. And, in my opening remarks for the Summit, I captured four common themes that challenge content companies as they strive to reach their full potential in the digital transformation:

1. Pressures on display advertising.
The flat to declining ad prices, which have resulted from abundant supply, have triggered a downward spiral that can only be slowed by the quality dimension. The transition to viewability will help, but the viewability conversation is mired in a malaise of too many inconsistent ad solutions and buyers taking advantage of the transition.

Fraud in the digital display chain is also massive problem: It tops the list of marketer concerns. And let’s not forget about the shift to mobile, which continues to accelerate. This shift is a good thing because it provides opportunities for personalized, useful content experiences. But we need to keep in mind that ad pricing on mobile is 30% of that on tablets and desktop.

The result, which I wrote about in The Trust Principle, is a marketplace that is mostly bought and sold on direct response without value for environments and brands. Google, Facebook and countless intermediaries have swallowed up the roughly 65% growth in digital advertising that has taken place in the past three years, while content companies’ revenues have remained flat overall.

2. The Attention Economy.
It’s in full swing. We now have the opportunity to consume media 24/7 on countless devices, unleashing significant opportunities for content companies.

Here’s the rub: Anyone can be a media company. Individuals now compete with century-old institutions. Non-profits go head to head with for-profits. The competition is fierce whether the company is pre-revenue, or raking in billions.

I would argue the goal of capturing a consumer with 30 minutes of entertainment once a week is dead. Capturing 30 minutes each more morning with a newspaper is dead. Now we’re all trying to get a consumer to come by for a few minutes each day. We must provide a service to them—whether it is entertaining or informing and make sure to use their time well.

3. Business model innovation.
The days of brainstorming non-advertising revenues as an opportunity are gone. It’s now a requirement to innovate your business model. Companies can’t simply compete by attracting mass audiences and serving ads against them. Being a great media brand is not enough. Today, organizations of any size or longevity need to think like start-ups and continuously experiment and innovate.

Yes, brands must own the relationship with individuals and monetize that relationship through advertising, but also in countless other ways to bring value back to their business—by delivering value to their user.

4. Protect our art.
Data is all the rage, but it is art that defines us. Whether it be the journalism and free speech we fight so hard to protect, or copyright and content piracy, this so-called “content” is precious stuff. It is why consumers rely on us, and trust us and it is how we get to know them in the process. So yes, protecting our first party data (which comes out of customer relationships, as well as those with marketers) is also essential. But we build our businesses on this art and we need to protect it to make sure we can continue to fund and pay for it in the future.

Big challenges: Hell yes. But we are facing them as an industry, together.

Hit me up on Twitter (@jason_kint) if you want to dive deeper into any of these challenges or if there are others that you think we need to focus on.

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