Social Media Week #2 – Digital Journalism for Pay

Toronto – Canada

The one thing that is news, but you mind not find in a newspaper, is the fact that “the news” is going digital. This has wreaked havoc on the paper based business model of journalism. Papers are finding it hard to stay relevant, keep costs low, attract advertisers, retain staff or pay them at reasonable levels. These were some of the issues participants at Social Media Week’s Digital Journalism for Pay were trying to solve. The aim of the night was to discuss alternative business models to print and how a journalist can make money considering their is less money available.

This just in, I might get paid soon.

The panelists for the night were Wilf Dinnick of OpenFile, Toronto writer and novelist Bert Archer of Younge Street Media, and Navneet Alang of the Toronto Standard. With the help of moderator Nate Hendley these three tackled the topic of how to provide the news in the digital era and still make money doing it.

First Wilf Dinnick hit the stage and introduced his new hyper-local news site OpenFile. The idea behind open file is that the news is local and suggested by website followers. There is a chief editor for each locale and they decide and allocate resources according to the reader’s desire. Wilf mentioned that OpenFile’s most popular stories are the ones from professional journalists that are paid at competitive rates. He explained that paying journalists a reasonable rate is an important element of providing news in the digital era. He also elaborated on funding models not reliant on advertising, he stated that OpenFile currently is funded by an investor but also concentrates on strategic partnerships with Universities and national news providers such as the CBC and Global. Although OpenFile still gets revenue from advertisers, Wilf should be commended for his approach to offering an alternative news source and his ability to attract funding from different sources.

Secondly Bert Archer explained the alternative funding model of his employer, Younge Street Media. It is an interesting approach where advertising is not considered an essential component of funding. Instead the company seeks to attract “silent investors” who underwrite a particular issue or topic they are interested in. An issue is not commenced until full funding is received after which the editorial staff directs the writers on what to write about and what to avoid. To maintain integrity the underwriters are not mentioned the articles and they do not advertise. This seemed like a viable alternative to advertising, since as Bert mentioned during his talk, online advertising can be fickle and withdrawn swiftly if advertisers are not satisfied with their results.

Navneet Alang focused more on the elements of what makes a successful writer online. He mentioned that generally there are three types of online writing: light quick, opinion and research based, and long form journalism. These are the types of articles he identified as important for a news site to maintain engaged readership.

The three speakers were incredibly well spoken and did a great job of conveying their enthusiasm for the future of digital journalism. For me the most important take away from that night was what Wilf Dinnick explained as a “Journalism business model problem, not a journalism problem.” According to the panelists within 5-10 years a viable business model will emerge, but no one has figured it out yet. This is an exciting opportunity in an industry that has been struggling for some time. Big news to still to come!

Social Media Week – Monetizing Digital Content

Toronto – Canada

The winter blues in Canada can hit home pretty hard, but this winter has thankfully been quite mild, and in addition to the mild weather Torontonians have been able to enjoy Toronto Adweek swiftly followed by Toronto Social Media Week. Due to school and work commitments I was only able to attend two events, but I managed to keep a common thread throughout: how to make money publishing digital content.

Don't be anti-social, it's Social Media Week!

The first event was graciously hosted by Agility Inc., yes free Steam Whistles and tasty hors d’oeuvres for all those that attended. Andre Gaulin was the night’s moderator, and got the conversational juices flowing. The topic of the night was Monetizing Digital Content for Online Publishing. The panel consisted of Beth Young of Corus entertainment , Laura Baxter of UXD, Ryan Keaveney of RKP Publishing, and Lucia Mancuso of The Blog Studio.

As a combo the panel was well versed in digital marketing. They unanimously agreed that clients are shifting their marketing budget to the online sphere, and as a result present challenges and opportunities. It means that publishers (even bloggers) with space and a big enough following on their websites might eventually have the opportunity to host advertisement on their sites. Yet the challenge faced for some digital providers is convincing clients to go digital with their advertisements. According to the panel, established clients that are accustomed to print advertising are often reluctant to make the switch due to their skepticism about the ROI. However, despite the hesitation there is a general push from clients to go digital, and after seeing their ads up and running they become quite fond of the control and the ability to customize and adjust adspace as needed.

Going back to the theme of monetizing digital content; the panel discussed that it depended on whose content it is. As a blogger you can monetize by having ads and directly related content. The panel commented that, if you are a brand you will find that having an online presence consistent with your other media platforms will help your brand image and indirectly lead to ROI. Ryan Keaveney discussed how his companies print magazines use their online presence to drive viewers to purchase print subscriptions, which has turned out be a successful strategy.

I know you want to tweet about my beard.

Throughout the discussions the panelists frequently reverted to advertising as the most popular form of driving online revenue. This wasn’t quite the breakthrough we were looking for, but they did elaborate on some alternatives. Laura Baxter mentioned that certain associations provide exclusive digital content for members as an incentive to join. For example a “Dentist’s Association” would post exclusive content online for its members, thereby driving membership and providing ROI on the digital content. Conversely RKP’s digital strategy is to have an image consistent with its print publications, but also to encourage vistors to their website to purchase print subscriptions. Besides advertising these were the two alternatives the panel offered for achieving ROI on digital content.

All in all the night was a success and Agility Inc. were great hosts. We will all be looking forward to attending their event next year!

Toronto Adweek – An Ad is Not Just An Ad

Toronto – Canada

By the time this post hits the web Toronto Adweek will be all wrapped up in a little bow. For those who missed it, you will have to wait until next year. By all accounts it was a great success, Google, Yahoo, Astral Media, Facebook, and many others hit the town to pitch in on the new trends shaping the advertising playground. I was fortunate to catch the tail-end of the week with a presentation by Yahoo!, aptly titled An Ad is Not Just An Ad. The speakers included Bryan Segal from Comscore, and Yahoo! shape shifters Nick Drew and Tony Marlow.

An advertisement for Adweek, funny how these things happen innnit?

To get the morning started (yes it was an early 9AM start), Bryan Segal warmed up the crowd by speaking about how a consumer’s perception of ads in a digital environment is affected by the placement and surrounding environment of the ad. Bryan spoke about how the internet ad sphere was- at its outset- was primarily a “direct response” medium that provided little opportunity for brand building, in Bryan’s words “Online Ads did not match the quality of the medium”. According to Bryan this is changing, ad format, quality, content, and layout are improving to provide better prospects for brand building and engagement. Apparently from 2008-2009 there has been a 10% decrease in the amount of advertising clutter on websites. Great! Advertisers get better space, and consumers get better ads.

Nick Drew came on stage as the second speaker of the morning, he was discussing the similarities between print and online ads. Drew’s goal was to compare how the three most important elements of print ads: size, richness, and environment; translate into the digital world. It turns out that, similar to print, the effectiveness of a digital ad is largely dependent on the ad’s size, richness and surrounding environment. Drew elaborated on the size issue by explaining that the bigger the digital ad, the more likely the viewer will be to recall the brand, however the likelihood that a viewer will remember the brand increases if the media is “richer”. Drew explained that ads which incorporate “rich media” such as, video or flash, elicit a greater response, but if these ads use flash and are bigger in size…they are better. Drew rounded his discussion off by saying that even though you may have the right media and size, you must also present your ad in the right environment. The surrounding environment affects the consumers perception of your ad, so the environment must also be an important consideration in strategy formulation. So yes, size is important, but the motion in the ocean still matters.

Do you get the fact that it's Adweek yet?

The final speaker was Tony Marlow, director of strategic insights at Yahoo! His research was grounded in a neuroscience study conducted by Innerscope research. The research involving neuroscience was done in a similar vein to that of Martin Lindstrom. Marlow’s presentation was predicated on the fact that 95% of our decisions are made at an unconscious level, and his research focused on how our mind reacted to various stimulus that affects buying behaviour. The study focused on tracking study participants’ reactions to ads that were relevant on a personal level, but were placed in the right context. According to the research, ads with personal and contextual relevance significantly increased the reaction from participants. This is an important consideration because online advertising enables companies to pick their ad placement more so then other medias. Furthermore, because the context has been thoroughly customized an ad’s message can change because the stage has already been set for the product. Thanks to Yahoo’s research there are now scientific metrics to back up many of our assumptions on internet advertising.

All in all, the talk was great in factually supporting many of the assumptions we have on internet advertising. Now that these metrics are established it will be easier for advertisers to create internet ads that are engaging, have impact, and are influential.

Help!! Advertising Stole My Baby! Secret Truths From the King of Branding

Toronto – Ontario

Never did I think that someone deserved or could have the title: “King of Branding”. Yet yesterday I was summoned to a performance from the royal court of advertising at Koerner Hall, where Martin Lindstrom, Time Magazine’s 2009 Most Influential Person of the Year, was giving a speech regarding his new book Brandwashed. Martin came to Toronto to lay down the law on the advertising/marketing world, whats wrong with it, whats good about it, what works, what doesn’t, and most importantly provide insight into his own personal research about Brands and their affect on our lives. I will share with you some of these insights because they are honestly too good to enjoy on your own.

Do not do unto others as Jobs would do unto Microsoft

Firstly, a little background on Mr. Lindstrom would be in order. He is a self admitted Lego maniac who was one of few children actually employed by Lego to advertise their brand to other children. After Lego he spent 30 years in the advertising world building up some of the most prominent brands you see today. Nowadays Lindstrom has made the change from influencing consumers to being a consumer advocate. As admitted in his speech he did some bad in the marketing world (didn’t explain what) but now he is using his powers for good.

Lindstrom predicated his speech on the basis that although we believe ourselves to be rational, throughout our daily lives we make irrational decisions sometimes in response to advertising stimulus or preconceptions that we have as a result of advertising. Being a curious guy Lindstrom decided that talking to us regular folks would not give him the answers he needed, instead he turned to science to solve some of the “irrational” decisions that consumers make. In fact he turned to modern MRI technology to scan the brain patterns of consumers as they react to various ads.

His most interesting project was mapping the similarities between peoples interaction with brands vs that of religion. His research was backed up by two years of traveling around the world researching major religions and brands, along with quantitative data from MRI scans. The results helped him to create a matrix based on the four elements of: Ritual, Sense of Belonging, Story Telling, and Clear Vision, there are sub headings for each element to create a total of 10 tenets to follow. Essentially if a company can “tick” all 10 boxes they have earned themselves a license to print money.

Lindstrom then discussed some effective forms of advertising. Despite the latest craze over social media Lindstrom pointed out that word of mouth is still the most effective in influencing consumer behavior. He suggested that in the future it will not be uncommon for companies to use “seeders” or undercover brand ambassadors to promote products to friends and families. He said its already happening, remember the I-Phone that was forgotten at a bar before its launch? Or even how Lindstrom himself was employed by Lego? There is even a movie about it called The Joneses an idea that Lindstrom replicated in real life called The Morgansons.

If you blink -Lindstrom will sell you this book.

He also dropped some serious branding knowledge about an idea he coined, “the smashable”. “WTF is that you ask?”, a smashable is a part of your product, that when separated from the whole product is still recognizable as an intrinsic part of the main product. Think for example, Apple head phones, or McDonald’s Golden Arches. He said the smashables are some of the most important elements of brand building and recognition.

Lindstrom’s talk was engaging and very powerful, but it was also worrying. He touched on a Filipino chocolate company that targeted pregnant woman with coffee flavoured candy. These children showed a preference for chocolate by the age of 2, the youngest ever documented. This is a target market that cannot even breathe on its own yet.

The use of statistics was common throughout Lindstrom’s speech, the accuracy of his research was not discussed so one cannot help but take it at face value. It clearly shows a worrying trend where science has begun to track and influence consumer behavior to a degree not yet been seen. However, lets not forget that advertising has become a tough game, companies cannot reach the average consumer as before and the consumer is more empowered and informed. So while the companies are getting smarter the consumer is not making it easy.

Lindstrom based many of his conclusions on scientific research that he conducted, but I can’t help and remember that at the beginning of his speech he mentioned, “On average companies now spend about 7 billion a year on R&D, and despite this 9 of 10 products fail.” Now that he did all his research will it be worth the money?

Lets Get Digital – The Canadian Marketing Association’s Digital Conference

Toronto – Ontario

The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) hosted an insightful conference at the Sheraton Hotel yesterday. The conference was focused on how digital technology can provide solutions and help businesses adapt to ever changing consumer behaviour. There were speakers from: Comedy Central , Rogers Sportsnet, Ipsos Reid, The Globe and Mail, Zoomer Media, Google, Microsoft, Ariad Communications and many many others. Needless to say, with so many speaks from such reputable companies the problem was not finding actionable insights but remembering them all!

If you are just seeing this you just missed Digital Day on November 7, hosted by the Canadian Marketing Association

The day started off with half open eye balls, staring sleepily into coffee cups, but the pace quickly picked up with the first panel discussion. The speakers were Marc Dinsdale, Senior VP of Rogers Digital Media Sports, Walter Levitt, Executive VP of marketing at Comedy Central and Chris Taylor, an Entertainment Lawyer at Taylor Mitsopulos Klein Oballa and owner of the record company Last Gang Entertainment.

Levitt and Dinsdale explained how they are connected to: twitter, facebook, television, radio, and print media to reach their target audience. Comedy Central and Rogers Sportsnet are unique in their approach to social media, because unlike other companies – they use it well. Their audience is well connected and passionate about the content that these two provide, at one point Levitt explained that Comedy Central has amassed a monstrous 32 million Facebook likes. Despite the effective use of social media Dinsdale and Levitt are clearly concerned about the threat that the internet poses to TV. This is where Chris Taylor chimed in, he explained that although record companies have become less profitable due to the internet, they still make money by diversifying the products they offer, dabbling in new media, and offering different price points for their products. So while he isn’t making the same money he would have made 15 years ago, he is still making money. This might be a valuable lesson for the TV execs but probably not one they want to go home with.

Next up was Steve Levy of Ipsos Reid – the market research firm. Levy was presenting the results of his market research into the use of digital technology by marketers and advertisers. His results revealed that marketers and agencies alike are moving away from traditional media outlets such as: print, radio and TV and shifting to mobile, internet and out of home digital. While the shift to newer digital media is important, he stated that the majority of spending is still allocated to traditional forms of media. Levy also pointed out that agencies are currently behind but very closely shadowing what in-house marketers are doing in terms of media focus. What seemed to resonate most with the audience and other speakers was his comment that many companies feel like they need to use social media, but in fact have no idea what they are doing. It seems as though companies are aware of these wonderful tools but not quite sure how to incorporate them into an effective long term strategy.

Steve Levy dropped some serious knowledge on the crowd at Digital Day.

A great panel followed Steve Levy’s talk and it consisted of Angela Scardillo, VP of marketing for Best Buy, Erin Green, Director of Marketing for Dealuxe.ca and Lisa Bradner of Geomomentum. The panel discussed how retail shopping and digital shopping is effected by the new “informed” and “connected”customer. Scardillo mentioned that the more educated the consumer, the less physical visits a store can expect. While this could lead one to the conclusion that staff should be cut, Scardillo mentioned that the quality of staff is an important element of differentiation and can add value to the in store experience. The panel reached a great conclusion regarding the use of social media, they stated that social media connects like minded people into a type of community, and if businesses want to connect with these people they must recognize the community aspect – rather than use those tools for selfish promotion. Having a presence is good, being pushy is bad.

These three talks were the highlight of the day for me, however there were many other great speakers, and informed conference participants. With the conference’s strong focus on how businesses are currently using and could be using digital technology I noticed that three themes were echoed throughout the day:

1. For social media – know your target audience, there might be some great technology out there but if your audience doesn’t want it – you don’t need it
2. Many companies are using technology as a short term tactic, but few have it fleshed out into a long term strategy
3. Those who do not accept technology will be left behind.

It seems like companies are getting more connected to reach you, do you know of any companies that you think are doing it right?

CN Rail and the Economy – And Who Said Logisitics was Boring?

Toronto – Canada

In this age of globalization where goods are shipped internationally to various markets it makes sense that trade will be a reliable indicator of domestic and international economic performance. Certain commodities such as steel if imported in large quantities to a certain country suggest a construction boom, but what about other indicators such as logistics? In a candid video interview Howard Green of BNN discusses with Claude Mongeau the CEO of CN Rail how CN Rail’s business reflects the performance of the Canadian and global economy. Find the link to that interview here.

CN Rail does not just ship goods, it is a shipper of the economy, and Claude Mongeau reveals that to run a railway you need to know whats going on and where it’s happening. In the interview Mongeau speaks in a calculated and deliberate manner about: how today’s economic worries are different from 2008, how the movement of goods is reflecting the source of economic activity and CN Rail’s growing market share.

Thankfully, Mongeau responds to Green’s question about how today’s economic woes compare to those of 2008 with some appeasing facts. Firstly, he mentions that CN is experiencing steady shipping in heavy industrial goods, which means that there have been no major fluctuations in the market so far. Mongeau also discusses how in 2008 inventory was piling up due to a lack of demand, but presently that is not the case as companies are keeping a consistent, “tight” level of inventory. This means that companies have either streamlined inventory warehousing or that there is indeed a consistent demand.

There is a remarkable part in this interview where Mongeau discusses the proportion of shipments that are Asia bound. He mentions that about 31% of CN’s business is exports to Asia and that it is the fastest growing segment of CN’s business. Mongeau goes on to qualify why he believes this export growth will be sustained, stating that demand in China for raw materials is based on domestic needs rather than for export based manufacturing. This means that demand for Canadian raw materials will not be affected if China exports less globally since the goods are for domestic consumption. The growth of Canadian exports is an important indicator as it shows the shift of Canadian trade to emerging markets and the growing viability of Canada as a trading partner with those countries. This trend has also been corroborated by Export Development Canada (EDC) which has been promoting Canadian companies to do business abroad.

Most importantly, the rise in exports has played well into CN’s hands, however there are other factors that have helped to boost the company into an enviable position such as fuel prices and network integration. Currently, rising fuel prices and congestion have made rail a more cost effective mode of transportation. Besides saving on fuel CN has managed to add more value to their network through intermodal transportation, meaning that shipments are no longer bottle-necked in ports and freight yards, thereby reducing shipping times.

All in all, this interview was very insightful as to how logistics can be a barometer for economic performance. Mongeau shows that he has a good grip on the interconnectedness of politics and economics and how his company can add value to its customers. So next time you are stuck watching a CN train go past you might think that a longer wait is not such a bad thing after all.

Howard Breen – Personal Branding Advice From a CEO

Toronto – Canada

As a student you spend your academic career hitting the books and crunching  numbers, if you ever get some some spare time you might even start to think about the job you want after school.   That is why when the program coordinator at Humber College said that Howard Breen, former CEO of MacLaren McCann, was coming to have a very personal pow-wow many business students eyes lit up.

Howard Breen’s intro was lengthier than your average college professor, in fact he was credited with running numerous advertising agencies in North America-including MacLaren McCann in our fair city of Toronto, Ontario.  His experience in business ranges over 30 years, and is one of the sources for his refreshing and introspective insights for freshman business students and  veteran business men.

My top pick, Howard Breen's second book "The Toothpick Factory"

The class was meant to motivate students to step out of their shells and go the extra mile to achieve their career goals.  Howard Breen’s main messages were how to achieve effective personal branding and how to navigate the generational minefield.

Working in the Ad business for 30 years no doubt had an effect on Breen’s philosophy of personal branding, which he sees as an individuals quest to build  an authentic reputation that fits personal life goals. The idea of the “personal brand” is a fancy way of describing how the world perceives you and how it is possible to promote yourself in a way that is in-line with your “brand” or reputation.

To draw a more distinct parallel Breen discussed some of the most recognizable brands in our world right now; Tim Hortons, Coca Cola and especially Apple. He discussed how successful branding is hard work, if you have an unknown product, for example your resume, how do you make make people take notice? For Breen it is simple, you take the same approach any marketer would. Market Research.  You need to know what your product is, and who you are selling it to. You must know the companies you are targeting and how to position yourself into a product or “brand” that they need.  This involves constant innovation and research to stay current.  Once you are hired in the industry and have some “market share” it is up to you to maintain your personal brand in a way that has a respectable reputation and stays in demand.

Classic baby boomer stance Howard Breen - en vogue, photo from the back cover of "The Toothpick Factory"

Another key part of his speech was for younger students of the Millenial Generation and others to be aware of the “generation gap”.  Simply said by Breen himself- Baby Boomers (Breen) are CEOs of big companies, they have different values then younger generations, they communicate differently and are very old school (my words-not his).   Younger generations are not aware of how to work with this model, and need to learn how to communicate with their older cohorts   This information is self evident to anyone that has ever met a baby boomer, but the message was for young’uns to be aware of these discrepancies and it would help move their career forward and make their company better.

All in all, Breen was a great speaker with an endearing propensity for self-deprecation- besides his obvious success.  To ever hear a CEO speak is a great opportunity, this was an eye opening experience, delivered in a genuine charismatic fashion.  He told it straight how it is, there are not many opportunities out there but there are many for those that know how to look – and hey, I even got a free book!