Publishers face an unprecedented array of choices and pressures as they look for their investments in digital businesses to translate into meaningful profits. In the midst of continuing change in the sector, the most successful leaders will apply new thinking to both the pursuit of revenue and cost management. “2011 and Beyond” will discuss five key methods of aligning product and revenue strategies against the backdrop of ever-increasing pressure to manage expenses. Geoff Reiss, Digital Media Thought Leader

1. The
Next
Big
Thing
and
what
Publishers
can
do
about
it
Geoff
Reiss
Chicago
10.14.10

2. Market
AssumpDons
 AdverDsing
revenue
is
poised
to
grow
dramaDcally.
Piper
Jaffrey
has
spending
growing
from
$8B
in
2009
to
nearly
$15B
in
2010
 Available
inventory
will
sDll
grow
at
a
faster
rate
than
new
dollars
enter
the
market
place
as
the
full
effect
of
social
media
plaNorms
are
felt.

3. Market
AssumpDons
 The
buying
process
will
change
radically.
 Buys
will
be
increasingly
driven
by
targeDng
key
audience
and
behavioral
characterisDcs
and
not
purely
on
the
basis
of
site
virtues.
 The
inventory
mix
will
change
–
straight
display
will
lose
a
third
of
its
share
while
video
may
triple
in
the
next
5
years

4. Market
AssumpDons
 “Average”
CPM
will
become
a
misnomer;
the
delta
will
widen
between
the
two
classes
of
ads
appearing
on
sites
based
on
source
of
sales
–
directly
sold
v.
network
fills

5. Publisher
AssumpDons
 Expense
and
investment
faDgue
is
seUng
in
 Rapid
emergence
of
mulDple
plaNorms
is
scary
 Publishers
are
sDll
oriented
to
quanDtaDve
goals
that
may
no
longer
be
as
relevant
as
they
once
were

6. What’s
a
Publisher
to
do?
 Declare
what
arena
you’re
playing
in
 There
will
be
two
predominant
approaches
available
to
publishers:

The
numbers
game
 PosiDon
as
a
premium
verDcal
brand

7. Publisher
Strategies
 The
numbers
game
works
one
of
two
ways
 Go
mass
 Go
cheap
The
most
disrupDve
brands
do
both

8. Mass
strategies
 The
emergence
of
Twi]er
and
FB
will
raise
the
bar
as
to
what
levels
of
traffic
consDtute
real
mass
–
Wal
Mart
goes
digital
–
leaving
<10
players
who
can
play
the
mass
game
 Cheap
content/traffic
producDon
offers
some
refuge
but
is
difficult
to
scale
for
all
but
a
few
players.

9. Publisher
Strategies
 The
Premium/VerDcal
path
 Two
approaches
 Ad
driven
 Consumer
driven
 There
are
some
qualifiers
 Need
a
leadership
posiDon
in
a
well
defined
category.
 Need
to
be
either
essenDal
or
loved
–
or
both

10. Achieving
Premium
Status
 Established
paths
thus
far
include
plaNorm
diversificaDon
and
premium
Ders
 On
the
sales
side
premium
relaDonships
can
be
achieved
by
 DemonstraDng
superlaDve
demos
 Offering
adverDsers
highly
differenDated
products
 Offering
deep
levels
of
integraDon
that
go
beyond
pure
display
and
include
relaDonship
markeDng

11. What’s
a
publisher
to
do?
 Most
of
all
publishers
need
to
think
very
differently
 New
core
competencies
must
be
developed
 Become
audience
and
outcome
driven
 Create
leverage
in
the
marketplace
–
close
the
informaDon
gap
 Move
out
of
purely
subjecDve
means
of
page
display
and
assembly
 Create
plaNorms
that
reflect
buying
criteria

12. What’s
a
publisher
to
do?
 Commit
to
being
product
driven
 What
does
that
mean?
 AnalyDcs
and
performance
 IdenDty
 Marketable
 Repeatable/create
scale
 Why
is
it
essenDal?
 Premium
posiDoning
depends
on
it
 Why
is
it
so
hard
to
do?

13. Diversify
DistribuDon
 Rapid
emergence
of
new
plaNorms
introduces
both
opportunity
and
expense
to
publishers.
A
product-­‐driven
brand
with
meaningful
scale
will
be
able
to
cut
Dme
and
expense
to
market
when
considering
new
plaNorms

14. What’s
a
Publisher
to
do?
 A]ack
costs
 Tech
PlaNorm
 Impact
on
hosDng
 Impact
on
cost
of
iteraDons
 Ability
to
make
traffic
contribuDon
 Content
costs
 Volume
of
content
 Cost
of
producDon
 Value
of
content

15. Where
does
this
leave
us?
 Changes
in
the
ad
market
will
leave
many
publishers
in
an
untenable
“middle
posiDon”
 Increased
pressure
on
expense
management
 Few
publishers
will
be
able
to
cover
the
table
with
bets
 ConDnued
opportunity
for
brands
who
are
category
leaders