Why Next Level Publishing Isn’t Really Publishing At All

Rethinking the business of digital content

About Me• Founder at Made From Media

• Publisher / content strategy consultancy

• Previously Head of Digital Marketing at Bauer Media – FHM / Grazia

@mrjamescarson

Key Report

http://www.slideshare.net/mrjamescarson/the-new-york-times-nyt-innovation-report-abridged-version

Experience in a Publisher

• They had lots of brand strength

• They had lots of journalists

• They had an audience of 20m a month

• They had loads of ideas

• They made lots of money

What’s Wrong With That?

Major Issue: Long Term Decline

• Publishing companies rely on print to generate profit

• The print market was declining rapidly (over 20% YoY in some markets)

No Surprises…

Challenges in Dealing With the Decline

http://digiday.com/publishers/6-reasons-uk-magazines-arent-thriving-online/

And some solutions…

Problem #1: The Innovator’s Dilemma Magazine sales are declining while digital is not making up for the gap = revenue protection.

‘Destroy Your Own Business’

Solution#1:

?????

Problem #2 StructureStructuring of a print focused media business fundamentally different to a digitally focused media business.

Media Company

It doesn’t work well in search

Solution #2: The One Website Theory

Commissioning Editor Journalist Subeditor

Problem #3: Skills & Retention

• Print journalism relies on a focused skillset that uses experts to create original content

• Print conventions fundamentally different to online conventions

• Good people in digital were regularly ‘promoted’ into print!

Designer Editor Printer

Solution #3: Multimedia Skills

• Writing

• Headline writing

• HTML

• Image editing

• Content Management System

• Promoting your own story

• Social media

• Video skills

• Growth hacking / product marketing?

Who Needs Written Words Anyway?

Problem #4: Technology• Legacy of companies having different content management

systems for different brands

• Tech changes extraordinarily expensive due to using third parties

http://digiday.com/publishers/hearsts-troy-young-modern-publisher-needs-platform

Solution #4: Platform Based Technology

Problem #5: Distribution Networks

‘The realities of a cluttered Internet and distracted mobile world now require us to make even more of an effort to get our journalism to readers. Perhaps because the path forward is not clear and requires very different skills, we are putting less effort into reaching readers’ digital doorsteps than we ever did in reaching their physical doorsteps.’

P.24 of The New York Times Innovation Report

An over reliance on the pull of brands…

Solution #5: Social Distribution Networks

Creating Content Bespoke for Social Platforms

We see the social networks almost like the new cable networks and we’re the new MTV or CNN making content for these networks.

The way you make content changes depending on the distribution.

We are continually trying to learn how to make content that is native to these platforms, people think BuzzFeed does native advertising for BuzzFeed, we actually do native advertising for other social platforms.

http://a16z.com/2014/09/18/a16z-podcast-for-buzzfeed-sharing-is-the-metric-that-matters/

The Role of Video

Effect on Advertising and Revenue

Trend away from display / banner to:

• Sponsored content• Video

• Events• Ecommerce

Converged Future

Established Publishers

PublishingStartups

Social Platforms

Technology Content Distribution

Content Creators

TVMarketing Services

Specialism

Broadcasters Agencies

New media paradigm