2. Brain behind the Feed- Jonah Peretti
➢ MIT graduate Web Developer
➢ Nike began it all
➢ Origin of The Huffington Post
➢ Founded the Reblogger
➢ Ambi dexterous Peretti
➢ Acquisition of Aol-HP in Feb
2011 for $315M
➢ Deviced ‘Social sharing concept’
➢ Believed in ‘trending news’ &
recrafted the idea into a logo
3. Personal Brand Perception:
➢ Lightweight journalism
➢ Casual entertainment catering
to broad audiences
➢ TIMEPASS
➢ Not trustworthy, No credibility
➢ Redefined online video content
➢ Omnipresent in social media
➢ Image-heavy, text-light
➢ Content marketing, not strategy
Fig. Comscore report on millennial app usage survey in 2015
5. The Buzz Word - Shareable & Viral Content
Sharing > Searching Competing, growing & mutually
binding
Culture of serious
journalism with time
and reflection
Content marketing Vs.
Content creation
Dependent on
Periscope, Vine for
viral video sharing
6. A sneak peek into the B/S
➢ A successful decade of spreading online
virality - BUZZFEED LABS 2006
➢ 7 billion unique visitors p.m
➢ Current market value: $1.25B in revenue
➢ Tripled revenues from 2012 to 2013
➢ Doubled investment in editorial content
($11 million in 2014)
➢ 2015 - Revenue loss of $480 million
➢ 2016- Cut projections in half
8. The Advent of Native Advertising
➢ Highly profitable revenue model
➢ Inspires sharing, clickability
➢ No blatant product promotions
➢ Goal: Non-branded Content marketing
➢ Illusion as Innovation
➢ Boosted great brand identification
in the competitive landscape
➢ Buzzfeed Creative: Custom brands
video, list-style ad content
similar to editorial content
9. Data and Metrics
THE POUND PROJECT
➢ Multiple social media channel tracking-
“The Propagation graph”
➢ Future content predictions
➢ Gain target audience insights
HIVE
➢ Track editorial ideas across platforms
➢ Every unique content embedded into a
central database with unique ID
➢ Connects common thread stories across
disparate social media channels
10. M&A Spree:
➢ Late 2011: Social game Star.Me
➢ Sep 2012: King Fish labs
➢ End 2012: Facebook dating app Yoke
➢ Apr 2014: Art blogazine Hyperallergic
➢ Apr 14: Disney’s bid for acquisition
➢ Late 2014: Torando Labs
➢ Feb 2015: Cloud sharing platform
GoPop
11. A peek inside- Board of Money Directors
➢ Key existing investors: RRE,
SoftBank, Hearst, Lerer ventures
➢ New: Michael & Kass Lazerow
➢ Backlash with Union square ventures
➢ Partnership with Venture Capitalists
➢ NBC Universal - $200 million;
Frank Cooper Next CCO and CMO
➢ Peretti’s worth: $1 billion
➢ Tensions between President/COO Jon
Steinberg and Peretti
12. What makes Buzzfeed?
➢ Buzzfeed Brews: Newsmaker speaker series
➢ Global news team, own video production
studio, sophisticated data operations,
in-house creative ad agency
➢ Top industry partners: GE, Virgin mobile
➢ Culture that embraces change
➢ Devoted to data-driven metrics
➢ Media Buying
➢ 24/7 closed-loop feedback
13. Glitches & Stitches - Overview of Challenges
➢ 2012: Sued for IP, Plagiarism by
viral political editor Benny Johnson
➢ Disturbing, offensive, religiously
violating content display
➢ More than 75% referral traffic from
off-platform distribution strategy
➢ Dependence on social media channels
for ad revenue
➢ Increase in mobile ad sharing:
Prevent ad-blocking, cookie bots,
pop-up display banner ads
➢ More quantity than quality
➢ Irrelevant lists, quizzes deviating
from central subject of search
14. Fro Animated GIFs to Quality Journalism
➢ Buzzfeed of immense value to the
media & news world
➢ Ranks No.1 in Fast Company’s
Most Innovative companies list
➢ Close in line: Gawker, The
Onion, Upworthy, Vice, Vox
➢ Competitive advantage: Balance
of art, science, and good
judgement;
Differentiation
15. BUZZ SWOT
S w
O T
1. Personalized content
delivery
2. Robust data measurement
3. Viral and shareable
user-generated content
4. Unique technology
supporting content virality
1. Transition from pure
entertainment content to
quality journalism.
2. Leverage tech advancements
like AR, VR, 360 videos
3. Increase sponsored content
programs with top brands to
gain traction and profits
1. High dependance on
Facebook/Twitter to promote,
distribute, share content
2. Tensions among top
executives
3. Absence of Professional and
experienced journalists
1. Increasing competition by
new media entrants
2. Changing views and tastes
of millennials
3. Varying perceptions and
acceptance levels by
global audiences
4. Socio-economic trends
16. Porter’s Five Forces
Existing competitive rivalry
Customers’ Bargaining Power
- High power because of low
switching costs
- Increased reliance on
digitization/online media
- Availability of alternative
entertainment sources
Suppliers’ Bargaining Power
- Decreasing levels of power for
suppliers in media industries
- Increasing number of content
providers
- Difficulty in gaining brand loyalty
and credibility with audience
Threat of Substitutes
- Emergence of better
established and
credible digital sources/
traditional platforms
- High penetration of
Immersive video content
Threat of new Entrants
- Steeper learning curve because
of maturing markets
- Difficult access to powerful
distribution channels
- High initial capital requirements
- Maturing markets for
CNN, BBC
-Vice Video content
- Highly
Fragmented
industry
(media)
17. The Brand Quotient
➢ Sustainable strategic positioning: Focus,
segmented access, good variety
➢ Concrete operational effectiveness with
competitive convergence
➢ Unique marketing activities, content
strategies aligned with goals
➢ Better competitive performance in cost
effective way
➢ Porter: Emerging business - Proprietary
technology/data, receptive to changing
socio-economic/cultural trends,
opportunity for constant creative
manifestation, small and significant
mergers to amplify systems
High
High
Low
Low
Productivity frontier
Relative cost position
Customervaluedelivered
Fig. Graph showing operational effectiveness vs.
strategic market positioning
18. Let’s talk Brand Equity
BRAND AWARENESS
● Marketing promotions seen as
investments to improve ad recall
● Aligned past performance to upscale
future growth strategies
● Increasing levels of consumer
knowledge
PERCEIVED QUALITY
● More emphasis on quantity than
authentic quality
● Non-appealing to certain local
cultures, demographics
● Low value perceptions,
credibility, lack of originality
BRAND ASSOCIATION BRAND LOYALTY
● Creative, popular and
influential new media player
● Customer captivity with the
millennial generation
● Inconsistent global brand
favorability among disparate
target groups
● Attractive brand logo image,
Immersive & highly engaging News and
Entertainment content
● Popularity owing to social media
distribution, key acquisitions
● Enough fluidity to adapt to new
contexts,audiences, situations
19. The Wheel of Competitive Strategy
A
Target Market
A
Product line
B
Distribution
C
Purchasing
A
Research & Devp
Sales B
Labour
B
A
Marketing
Manufacturing C
Finance & Control
A-
GOAL: To be
a popular
global news &
Entertainment
Media hub
20. Strategic Brand Analysis
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
● Less focus on enhancing
customer value &
experience
● Shifts in consumer
relationships
● Targeted, Personalized
audience segmentation
and unmet needs of
millennials
COMPETITION ANALYSIS
● Performing similar
activities in a
different manner
● Foresight in issue
identification and
crisis management
● Great market
positioning, brand
identification
SELF ANALYSIS
● Self-reinforcing
closed loop software
systems
● Distinct culture,
corporate DNA &
values
● Non-credible,
post-mortem news of
minimum value
● Identifying right
inflection points,
people, technology
● Forge cutting-edge
unique data security
● Lot of scope in the
current market
growth stage
21. The Trajectory Ahead
➢ Dual Focal points: Real-time news
reporting, Investigative journalism
➢ Compete with traditional news brands
➢ Beyond mere user-generated content,
Improve the search tool mechanism
➢ Media destination among youth, not
just habitual browse
➢ Develop deeper understanding -
Investment in Data/Insights
➢ Bank on the Business Model: Cooper
➢ IPO, Bulletproof businesses expansion
Social traffic: 5X Search traffic
SO is the new SEO
23. The Fortune Teller
➢ How strong a brand identity is inherent within Buzzfeed? In spite of
possessing prominent competitive advantages, have they established
authenticity, credibility and trust factor with the audience?
➢ How successful will Buzzfeed’s venture into the commercial TV business be?
Will online video streaming/ television network too be a part of its future
trajectory?
➢ Till how long & to what extent will it
depend on referral traffic from other
social media channels, esp native ads?
➢ Will it move beyond user-generated
content and produce cutting-edge quality
news over time? How fast will this
transition occur? Will it do good?
➢ Will Buzzfeed only target millennials or
create original quality content suitable
for different demographic audiences?
24. The Brand Report Card: A-
POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
● Brand stays consistently relevant
across all communication channels,
networks
● Well positioned with great
productivity
● Brand managers understand what the
brand means to their consumers
● Brand backed up with good support
systems
● Fully exploits repoirtre of
marketing activities to build equity
● Equity looks at more positive assets
NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES:
● Irregular pricing structure, Low
value perception by consumers
● Less sustainable and
non-strategic content marketing
activities
● Limited and fragmented brand
portfolio and hierarchy
● Irregular monitoring of brand
equity sources and assessment of
brand audits
25. It’s not going to be about the future of Buzzfeed.
THE FUTURE IS BUZZFEED.
