Rethinking Publishing in the Content Marketing Era 2015, by Matthew Buckland, MD of Creative Spark.

1. RETHINKING PUBLISHING IN THE
CONTENT MARKETING ERA
Matthew Buckland | Creative Spark | www.creati vespark.co.za
Edgars’s Club Advertising Summit
2015 | Johannesburg

3. TM

7. The digital/internet era caused massive
disruption & change in just about every
industry. Here are a few...

8. Banking & financial services: Bitcoin, Google
Wallet, ApplePay

9. Banking & financial services: Peer-2-Peer
lending, cutting out the banks, Wonga,
Snaplify, Friendsurance
Credit: teeveetee.blogspot.com

10. Travel & hospitality: Uber

11. Travel & hospitality: airbnb

12. Telco: whatsapp. Death of SMS greatly
understated. Now, death of “calls”?

13. Medical: mines data from millions of
studies to make assessing medical
experts and treatments easier

14. Medical:behavioural analytics platform
that turns smartphone data into health
insights

15. Self diagnosis: Philips vital signs camera
(available on app store)

16. ...disruption also in
education, retail,
government,
consumer
electronics. In the
media & marketing
world we have seen
unprecedented
disruption too...
MEDIA

17. CHOICE
Mainstream media
consisted of a few
choices in TV, radio
and newspapers.
Then came the
internet...

18. Massive digital fragmentation: many
options, competition for our time &
competition for media businesses

20. BUSINESS MODEL
Competition for both revenue &
reader attention. Media &
advertisers need to figure out a
new paradigm: platforms, ad
formats, content types, distribution
& business models

21. Internet instigated a dramatic fall in
the economics of media. It’s now
cheaper, faster, quicker to produce
& distribute media allowing non-
media companies, bloggers, one-
man shows to get in on the media
game. Therefore all companies are
media companies = massive
competition for eyeballs & revenue
MODELS

22. • Superdistribution: the forwarding of media through social
networks means a tiny publication with an important article
can reach huge audiences quickly & at no additional cost*
• Presence of networked video cameras in people’s pockets
increasingly means reporting comes from readers*
• Print felt disruption first... now TV (internet TV in fast
bandwidth era) & Radio (podcasting) beginning their
disruption cycles
• New platforms mean new rules (tablets & all digital devices)
DIGITAL MEDIA DISRUPTION
* Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present: COLUMBIA JOURNALISM SCHOOL

23. ...in the home

24. ...in shops

25. TV, Parrot here
Here already...

26. Everywhere... looming media battle to
disseminate content to and monetise
just about any surface...

27. ...even solar-powered
LED roads??
elitedaily.com

28. • Soaring user numbers, but revenues struggling: 10c
per print user, vs 1c per digital user
• Paid content online is NOT WORKING, except in limited
cases where financial data or B2B research data sold
• Fierce (and unfair - tax) battle for digital advertising
pie from Google (R1,5bn) & Facebook (local office)
• Advertising flocking to these new businesses. Why?
Reach, scale & ease of placement; better targeting &
engagement; better ad formats & placement;
CPC/shared risk model
DIGITAL PUBLISHING 2015

29. • Niche publications that serve rich advertising
ecosystems will continue to thrive
• We are seeing rise of new, lean media companies that
are able to run profitably & extract value (Open source
tech, crowd-contributor model, new ways of working)
• But digital publications in general still searching for
optimal revenue models
DIGITAL PUBLISHING 2015

31. • “Light bulb moment”: Stop seeing ourselves as Online
Publishing but as a Content Distribution Network
• Secret behind any site is the web of business deals,
distribution decisions behind it that sees its content
activated and monetised on new platforms
• Successful digital operation sees website/CMS at the
centre, distributing content & brand to a variety of platforms
RISE OF THE
CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
NETWORK

32. WEBSITE/
CMS
APPS & OTHER
DEVICES
PRINT
EVENTING
SOCIAL
MEDIA
VIDEO/TV
AUDIO/RADIO
THE CONTENT
DISTRIBUTION
NETWORK
Also known as “Hub &
Spoke”. CMS distributes
content to other platforms
& social media. Create
content once and
publish everywhere
SYNDICATION
EMAIL

33. • Print is many a digital philosophers’
punching bag
• Print will not die, but will shrink, niche
• Like theatre became smaller & premium
• High barriers to entry (cost) ironically make
medium better businesses
• Print publications “dedicated devices” –
more effective at getting your attention
• Digital overload & too many choices in a
busy world: Print able cut through noise
• A good option for niches with loyal
communities
“ATTENTION”

34. Fire vs electric heater
Print vs online
‘Common sense’ that one
would replace the other
“Easier, cleaner, faster”
vs “dirty & old”
But each has different feel
& function
ANALOGY

35. • Well, many hardcore, new-
economy digital businesses
• Net-a-porter, AirBNB (Pineapple),
Uber (for drivers), Politico,
Allrecipes, Ars Technica, Pando
• Locally: ITWEB (for the last 15
years)
WHO IS DOING IT?

36. WE ARE
DOING IT!
#platforms #contact
#expansion
WITH THANKS
TO JOHN BROWN

37. • Last 10 years has seen a search for new revenue models
• Banner ads alone are not cutting it
• Banner ads an outdated model: a pre-social media & pre-
search invention: not shareable, searchable, emotionally
engaging or ‘interruptible’
• (Users don’t mind interruptions if advertising relevant &
useful)
• Harder to ‘distribute’ banners to broader internet in a
medium that is all about distribution & sharing
NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

38. • Paradoxically banner CPMs dropping as sites get
bigger (supply & demand)
• We need to get creative: advertising types,
placements, creative, platforms
• New product innovation: Programmatic, native
advertising, sponsored content, advertiser
partnerships, full page tablet & smartphone ads
NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

40. Display (mobile)

44. - Native advertising is part of a site’s core newstream,
therefore plugs into its existing distribution network (RSS
feeds, social media, email, apps, syndication etc)
- Is also part of search ecosystem
- Is ‘interruptive’
- Is shareable
- Can live “forever”
- Encourages user engagement (commenting)
- Publishers therefore can charge higher CPMs
NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

46. - Native advertising is a form of advertorial (2.0) or
content marketing for the search & social era
- We differentiate between “sponsored content” and
“native advertising”
- Ethics are key: commercial vs editorial to be clearly
delineated to maintain credibility
- New ethical dilemmas arise: show sponsored during
share etc?
NEW ADVERTISING MODELS

47. Glimpse of content & news in
the future. Hint: it will not be on
your phone or in a browser

48. OUT THERE
IT WILL BE

51. Will media publish traffic &
weather info on their websites
...or the roads?

53. THANK YOU
TWITTER: @matthewbuckland
EMAIL: matthew@creativespark.co.za