A session with a big UK publisher last week helped them reach at least one major decision – we need a strategy..
What’s interesting is that, by giving them a proper understanding of how the digital market works, the full potential of the threat – and opportunity – presents itself. So far, they have been lulled into a false sense of security by growing digital revenues, but the vast bulk of digital growth is not coming to them but online specialists and, as that trend increases, print-owned online brands will fade away completely except by some lucky accident.
Once all that is explained, there’s a big sense in the room of ‘right, that’s how it is, sooooo… what now?’.
A big part of answering that question is to develop an approach that identifies the ‘kids that can go to university’, i.e. the brands a publisher owns that are worth investing in from a digital point of view. It’s a tiered system where you might say: ‘right, these new launches get proper investment and their own technical teams’ because they could tap into areas where proper digital revenues are available (vertical markets like finance, for example, where interaction through online ads can be valued) and likely to grow.
The second tier might be strong print brands that operate in areas that already make cash online and are thus worthy of a decent site (e.g. automotive sites).
Last is the brands in markets where there is no sizeable market for digital cash at the moment, but which are loved by their readers (and their journos). Give those editors ready and supported access to a blogging platform (it might just be WordPress) and let them get on with it. It supports the reader relationship, helps them get promoted (thus supporting the print product) and gives the journalists a digital platform to get their teeth into. If a revenue stream reveals itself in the meantime (which might be revealed by the blog itself), then a case can be made for futher investment.
Next they have to develop a thorough and rational process, which is both well understood but flexible, for identifying which property is in which tier. Add in proper time and investment for innovating new products, services and revenue streams and there’s a strategic model for publishers.
What’s a worry is that, for the bulk of UK print publishers, there is still a fundamental lack of understanding around the size and shape of the threat of digital media, let alone a solid strategy in place. The genuine digital successes like Google, MS and Yahoo face maturity issues of their own – and continued evolution into channels like mobile is changing the game. So what hope is there for those still jumping on the bandwagon? Time is genuinely running out for them to save their businesses.
Filed under: Publishing
