RETHINKING PUBLISHING IN THE

CONTENT MARKETING ERA

M a t t h e w B u c k l a n d | C r e a t i ve S p a r k | ww w. c r e a t i ve s p a r k . c o . z a

E d g a r s C l u b A d ve r t i s e r s ’ S u m m i t

2 0 1 5 | J o h a n n e s b u r g

TM

SRC: http://blog.amandarose.co.uk

SRC: KPCB Internet Trends 2013, Mary Meeker

SRC: AP via @NBCNews

SAD DADS @ 1D

SRC: The Spin, Angelina Castillo

The digital/internet era caused massive disruption & change in just about every

industry. Here are a few...

Banking & financial services: Bitcoin, Google Wallet, ApplePay

Banking & financial services: Peer-2-Peer lending, cutting out the banks, Wonga, Snapscan, Friendsurance

SRC: teeveetee.blogspot.com

Travel & hospitality: Uber

SRC:Uber website

Travel & hospitality: airbnb

SRC: Airbnb website

Telco: whatsapp. Death of SMS greatly understated. Now, death of “calls”?

Medical:behavioural analytics platform that turns smartphone data into health insights

Self diagnosis: Philips vital signs camera (available on app store)

...disruption also in education, retail, government, consumer electronics. In the media & marketing world we have seen unprecedented disruption too...

MEDIA

CHOICE

Mainstream media consisted of a few choices in TV, radio and newspapers. Then came the internet...

Massive digital fragmentation: many options, competition for our time & competition for media businesses

BUSINESS MODEL

Competition for both revenue & reader attention. Media & advertisers need to figure out a new paradigm: platforms, ad formats, content types, distribution & business models

Internet instigated a dramatic fall in

the economics of media. It’s now

cheaper, faster, quicker to produce

& distribute media allowing non-

media companies, bloggers, one-

man shows to get in on the media

game. Therefore all companies are

media companies = massive

competition for eyeballs & revenue

MODELS

SRC: WEF

Corporate websites often bigger

than media sites. Given rise to

industries like “SEO”, “Content

marketing”. New paradigm to

understand new landscape

MODELS

• Superdistribution: the forwarding of media through social networks

means a tiny publication with an important article can reach huge

audiences quickly & at no additional cost*

• Presence of networked video cameras in people’s pockets

increasingly means reporting comes from readers*

• Print felt disruption first... now TV (internet TV in fast bandwidth

era) & Radio (podcasting) beginning their disruption cycles

• New platforms mean new rules (tablets, watches & all digital

devices)

DIGITAL MEDIA DISRUPTION

* Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present: COLUMBIA JOURNALISM SCHOOL

...in the home

...in shops

TV, Parrot here

Here already...

Very muchhere!!

SRC: Apple

SRC: Nieman Lab @ www.niemanlab.org

Everywhere... looming media battle to disseminate content to and monetise

just about any surface...

...even solar-powered LED roads??

elitedaily.com

• Soaring user numbers, but revenues struggling: 10c per print user, vs 1c per digital user

• Paid content online is NOT WORKING, except in limited cases where financial data or B2B research data sold

• Fierce (and unfair - tax) battle for digital advertising pie from Google (R1,5bn) & Facebook (local office)

• Goog, FB dominate online advertising. Why? Reach, scale & ease of placement; better targeting & engagement; better ad formats & placement; CPC/shared risk model

DIGITAL PUBLISHING 2015

• Niche publications that serve rich advertising ecosystems with loyal communities will continue to thrive

• We are seeing rise of new, lean media companies that are able to run profitably & extract value (Open source tech, crowd-contributor model, new ways of working)

• Publisher-led premium advertising networks “Pangea Alliance” feeding of programmatic trends

• Goog part of solution via Dig News Initiative• But digital publications in general still searching for optimal

revenue models

DIGITAL PUBLISHING 2015

• “Light bulb moment”: Stop seeing ourselves as Online Publishing but as a Content Distribution Network

• Secret behind any site is the web of business deals, distribution decisions behind it that sees its content activated and monetised on new platforms

• Successful digital operation sees website/CMS at the centre, distributing content & brand to a variety of platforms

RISE OF THE

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

NETWORK

WEBSITE/

CMSAPPS & OTHER

DEVICES

PRINT

EVENTING

SOCIAL

MEDIA

VIDEO/TV

AUDIO/RADIO

THE CONTENT

DISTRIBUTION

NETWORKAlso known as “Hub &

Spoke”. CMS distributes

content to other platforms

& social media. Create

content once and

publish everywhere

SYNDICATION

EMAIL

Interesting challenge for advertisers and publishers is how we link content and advertising across multiple devices (the network)

The less friction we create between devices for users, the more they’re going to default to your brand, your content, because it’s an easy and beautiful experience that doesn’t demand their time and effort

Publishers & advertisers who do that really smartly are going to be the ones with high engagement

MULTI-DEVICE MINDSET

SRC: Niemanlab.org, http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/03/the-next-stage-in-the-battle-for-our-attention-our-wrists

WEBSITE/

CMSAPPS & OTHER

DEVICES

PRINT

EVENTING

SOCIAL

MEDIA

VIDEO/TV

AUDIO/RADIO

THE CONTENT

DISTRIBUTION

NETWORKAlso known as “Hub &

Spoke”. CMS distributes

content to other platforms

& social media. Create

content once and

publish everywhere

SYNDICATION

EMAIL

• Print is many a digital philosophers’ punching bag

• Print will not die, but will shrink, niche• Like theatre became smaller & premium• High barriers to entry (cost) ironically make

medium better businesses• Print publications “dedicated devices” –

more effective at getting your attention• Digital overload & too many choices in a

busy world: Print able cut through noise • A good option for niches with loyal

communities

“ATTENTION”

Fire vs electric heaterPrint vs online‘Common sense’ that one would replace the other“Easier, cleaner, faster” vs “dirty & old”But each has different feel & function

ANALOGY

• Well, many hardcore, new-economy digital businesses

• Net-a-porter, AirBNB (Pineapple), Uber (for drivers), Politico, Allrecipes, Ars Technica, Pando

• Locally: ITWEB (for the last 15 years)

WHO IS DOING IT?

WE ARE

DOING IT!

#platforms #contact

#expansionWITH THANKS

TO JOHN BROWN

• Last 10 years has seen a search for new revenue models

• Banner ads alone are not enough

• Banner ads predate social media & search era: not

shareable, searchable, emotionally engaging or

‘interruptible’

• (Users don’t mind interruptions if advertising relevant &

useful – Google showed us this, as well as niches)

• Harder to ‘distribute’ banners to broader internet in a

medium that is all about distribution & sharing

NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

• Paradoxically banner CPMs dropping as sites get bigger (supply & demand)

• We need to get creative: advertising types, placements, creative, platforms

• New product innovation: Programmatic, native advertising, sponsored content, advertiser partnerships, full page tablet & smartphone ads

NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

Display (mobile)

Seamless,centralised adserver integration & reporting across the “content network”

- Native advertising is part of a site’s core newstream, therefore plugs into its existing distribution network (RSS feeds, social media, email, apps, syndication etc)

- Is also part of search ecosystem- Is ‘interruptive’- Is shareable- Can live “forever”- Encourages user engagement (commenting)- Publishers therefore can charge higher CPMs

NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

- Native advertising is a form of advertorial (2.0) or content marketing for the search & social era

- We differentiate between “sponsored content” and “native advertising”

- Ethics are key: commercial vs editorial to be clearly delineated to maintain credibility

- New ethical dilemmas arise: show sponsored during share etc?

NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

Glimpse of content & news in the future. Hint: it will not be on

your phone or in a browser

OUT THERE

IT WILL BE

SRC: Fast Company

Will media publish traffic & weather info on their websites

...or the roads?

THANK YOU

TWITTER: @matthewbuckland

EMAIL: matthew@creativespark.co.za