1

Brand Equity in a Fragmented Media LandscapeGoli Sheikholeslami April 29, 2010

2

What is Brand Equity?

Added value for consumers of news from

…versus news from any other source

Background: Consumers’ choice for media channels have mushroomed….

• Growth of cable television and the Internet has fragmented traditional media

• 92% of Americans use multiple platforms to get news on a typical day

– Only 7% typically get their daily news from a single media platform3

• The Internet has become a mainstream medium

– Projections indicate there will be more than 220 million internet users in the United States by the end of this year1

• 67 million US adults accessed the internet via a mobile browser last December

– This December, 84 million are expected to do so2

1eMarketer, February 2010 2eMarketer, November 2009 3Pew Research Study; Understanding the Participatory News Consumer; 2010

The “Old” World Order for The Washington Post

4

Few news competitors:

• Four television networks• Local-interest magazines• Niche local newspapers• Radio stations

Market: The Washington DMAPlatform: The Washington Post newspaper The Washington Post’s

world-class journalism and connecting of the

community was our “added value” for consumers.

The “New” World Order: Consistent mission, more access points

5

The “New” World Order: More Consumer Choice in Media Vehicles

6

Market: The worldPlatform: ALL!!

7

1. Act Early

What Have We Done to Stay Competitive?

2. Take Advantage of New Storytelling Tools

3. Utilize New Methods of Audience Acquisition

4. Take our Content Directly to Audiences: Where They Want It, When They Want It

Act Early: Protect Stakeholders

8

Advertisers

Community

Readers

Journalists

Our 1995 Home Page

9

1999

10

2005

11

2010

12

New Storytelling Tools

13

New Storytelling Tools

14

New Storytelling Tools

15

Acquiring New Audiences: Three Sources of Traffic

16

The Loyalists(Typed/Bookmarked)

Partnerships(Website Referral)

Natural Search(SEO Optimization)

New Methods to Acquire Audience

Network News: Easily share wp.com content with your Facebook friends

17

Bringing Our Content to Users: Where they want it, when they want it

18

Our New Platforms

19

• More than one million mobile users point their devices to Washington Post Digital each month

Lessons Learned

• Recognizing the need for continuous innovation

20

Content Multi-format Publishing User Engagement

• Embracing the opportunity rather than the threat• Understanding that the job only begins with publication

• In other words, recognizing that we still had to do everything we did before WHILE doing all the new stuff

21

Questions?