BtoB Media Business - October 2008 - (Page 6)

Upfront ■ Digital Directions Day Richard: Media opportunities still there in the ‘four forces’ BY ELLIS BOOKER While the percentage of their revenue coming from print continues to shrink, media companies can grow by taking advantage of “four forces” in the marketplace, said Chuck Richard, VP-lead analyst at Outsell Inc., who delivered the keynote address at Media Business’ Digital Directions Day. Noting the aggregate decline in the share of print revenue—from more than 55% in 2003 to an expected 29% in 2011— Richard said media companies can still achieve growth by capitalizing on what he called “four forces”: Mar- Chuck Richard, VP-lead analyst, keting services for Outsell Inc. advertisers, such as Web site design campaign management and lead scoring; the continuing interest in cross-media products, including offline products; profitable new audience development through analytics and application programming interfaces (APIs); and paid content, which he called “a huge, parallel business opportunity” to today’s largely advertiser-supported model. On the last point, Richard made it clear he wasn’t only speaking about an incremental boost in paid subscriptions, which have crept up as a revenue source from 21.7% of total revenue in 2003 to 23.5% today. Instead, he emphasized how research and data services are important to small and large companies alike. One of Richard’s more interesting observations concerned audience development opportunities for media companies. Traditional b-to-b trade publishers, living in the world of 40,000 or 60,000 controlled-circulation audiences, are “surrounded by much larger, concentric rings” of potential audiences, he said. One efficient way to reach these untapped audiences is through technology, specifically self-service APIs that automate the syndication of content to other media outlets, he said. ‘Media Business’ Digital Directions Day attracted 180 attendees. Advertisers want integrated campaigns, collaboration BY CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD What should media companies do to develop successful online advertising programs for their clients? The answer, delivered by a panel of marketing and agency executives at Media Business’ Digital Directions Day last month in New York, was consistent: Collaborate with your clients, provide a healthy mix of creative options and offer campaigns instead of merely space. “I’m all for paying for value-add, but the point is we need to think as creatively about the media mix as we do about the content,” said John Osborn, president-CEO of BBDO New York. Here, the creative input comes from the publisher as much as the agency, he said. Jen Walsh, global director-digital media at General Electric Co., agreed, adding, “When media companies come to us with vanilla proposals, I know I can get the price down by 40%. And we might actually go in that direction, but we prefer greater dialogue.” Publisher-client communication is key in pinpointing problems as well as possible solutions, the panelists agreed. A failed advertising effort may have several causes, including poorly considered media buys, ineffective audiences or the client’s product, message or creative. “We need that two-way conversation in order to tweak things to get better results,” said Eduardo Conrado, VP-global business and technology marketing and communications at Motorola Inc. The panelists were unanimous in highlighting the growing importance of search, video content and social media sites—and in particular how these can be leveraged to reach target audiences. “White papers and case studies are important, but we’re now also using video case studies,” Conrado said. “We’re creating the case studies and flipping them to video.” Conrado said the engagement factor is much higher, with viewers willing to watch several videos in a row and often downloading many hours of content. Videos are often shared with colleagues, making for potent viral marketing opportunities. Unexpected search results also can turn up opportunities for both publishers and advertisers. Walsh, for example, noted that an analysis of search habits revealed a strong interest in GE’s green practices. “We have a ways to go here, but now we’re training marketers at GE to have a better understanding of search, especially when it comes to lead generation., Walsh said. Digital Directions Day, held Sept. 16 at the Hilton New York, attracted 180 publishing professionals. The marketers session was moderated by Ellis Booker, editor of BtoB and Media Business. 6 | Media Business | October 2008 | mediabusinessonline.com http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - October 2008

BtoB Media Business - October 2008
Contents
Upfront
Cover Story
Webinars
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Online
Events
Circulation
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - October 2008