Back to basics

Later today, The Rebooting and WordPress VIP are kicking off the Media Product Forum, an event that brings together product leaders at leading publishers. We’ll have podcasts from the sessions that include: 

• Marissa Zanetti-Crume, global head of product at Bloomberg Media
• Adam McClean, chief product officer at Dotdash Meredith
• Sam Winkelman, svp of product at The Daily Beast
• Bridget Williams, chief commercial officer at Hearst Newspapers
• Renn Turiano, svp and head of product at Gannett
• Millie Tran, chief digital content officer at the Council on Foreign Relations
• Brian Alvey, CTO at WordPress VIP

In conjunction with the event, we are releasing the State of Product at Publishers research project, where we surveyed and interviewed publishing leaders to understand what they’re prioritizing, what they’re shipping, and what their challenges are. Thanks to WordPress VIP for its support. I have spent a lot of time in my life in a WordPress CMS, so it’s a treat to have them as a partner.

Back to basics

Much is made of the external environment facing publishers, but the future direction of the industry will be determined just as much internally. The publishers that get to the other side will undoubtedly prove themselves adaptable and resilient organizations.

That’s why I find the product function at publishers critical. In its ideal form, it serves as the connective tissue that tethers disparate groups that often have overlapping and even conflicting goals. In its less ideal form, it’s where factions jockey for influence and impossible compromises are made that create confusing products. In the end, the fate of publishers will mostly come down to whether they create products people need and value.

“We're sitting across all of the businesses within media and thinking critically about how well we understand who our audience is,” said Marissa Zanetti-Crume, global head of product at Bloomberg Media. “How do we make our news truly relevant and timely? We talk directly with subscribers about that. It’s what inspires the design and product work we do.”

The Rebooting partnered with WordPress VIP on a research project to understand the state of product development at publishers. We surveyed 52 product executives at publishers and gathered insights from product leaders like Marissa Zanetti-Crume, global head of product at Bloomberg Media, Angus Macauley, COO at Stat, Windsor Western, president of Her Campus and Brian Alvey, CTO at WordPress VIP (who built the first CMS I used at the late, great Silicon Alley Reporter).

Our report found that back-to-basics ethos that skips flash in favor of what one product leader called “smaller wins throughout the year.” That prioritizes blocking and tackling like website performance and data management. 

The biggest challenge to overcome, according to respondents: lack of investment, difficulty attracting tech talent and, most glaringly, a lack of alignment of business goals. As one respondent put it: “There’s a general misunderstanding of the importance of product.” 

Other findings:

• The site remains the locus of product initiatives
• Publishers feel unprepared for the impact of AI (and unsure what it will be)
• Product leaders mostly see the need to improve the function

Thanks to WordPress VIP for its support in this research, and David Kaplan for his editorial collaboration in producing the report.

The end of the “eyeballs game”

The publishing business is moving is from what you know to who you know. Publishers need to deeply understand their audiences, whether they have subscriptions or advertising models, or some mix. That’s mostly because the value of “surface area” is plummeting. Instead, publishers need to think of surface mass in the form of audience segments.

In a discussion held in Cannes, I sat down with Jason White, chief product and technology officer at The Arena Group, and Johanna Bergqvist, general manager of the managers at The Rebooting partner EX.CO. A part of the conversation that resonated was how White has zeroed in on revenue per session as what he calls the “God metric” that prioritizes session depth over raw page views. This is a recognition that traditionally digital media publishers have focused on eyeballs without understanding the intrinsic value of user engagement.

"The days of not knowing the value of your audience and your content are kind of gone,” Jason said. “Marketers forever have had CRM experts; they know their audiences, they know the value of their users, the value of their products, their margins, etc. We've played an eyeball game for the past 30 years in digital media."

The benefits:

• Organizational alignment. As highlighted in The Rebooting and WordPress VIP’s recent research, internal misalignment bedevils publishers. Different groups pursue different goals. The horror show of many webpages is a sign of internal misalignment and “shipping the org chart.”
• True personalization. There’s no personalization without understanding the person. RPS allows The Arena Group to figure out not just how best to serve visitors – “Is this a younger audience that wants to consume video?” Johanna said. “Let’s take them down more of a video path." – but how best to make money from them. Publishing is increasingly a game of finding the high value audiences within a mass of impressions.
• Resource allocation. The more-with-less era is a reality. It requires making hard choices about where to spend and where to cut. Having alignment on a KPI makes these choices somewhat easier, if no less painful.

Check out the full conversation on Apple | Spotify | other podcast platforms

How to win in the Information Space

The Information Space is a chaotic, inchoate mass with endless nodes that compete ruthlessly for attention and influence. This is a sharp elbowed environment that is closer to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome to the genteel world of analog media with its scarcity and protections.

The no-holds-barred Information Space has winners and losers. Formerly anonymous individuals like Hailey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah Girl, suddenly become sensations, often to fade back in anonymity in favor of the new Main Character. Corporate interests imitate news. Meanwhile, the conspiracy theories (or alternative narratives, if we must) become a potent tool. It’s no mistake that powerful people like Elon Musk flirt with these narratives. They work. And sometimes, they’re true.

This week on People vs Algorithms, Troy, Alex and I dig into how to win in the Information Space. Mainstream corporate traditional media is often at a disadvantage in the Information Space because it plays by different rule, set in a bygone era of far less competition. Better to learn the rules.

• Attention is the starting point. Without attention, you have no shot. So you have to do what it takes to get that attention, even if it’s unbecoming. No time for squeamishness.
• Authenticity beats packaged. The premium generated by packaging and gloss has faded. Instead, the market is rewarding those who can present as authentic. The worst is to be a phony.
• Relentlessness is leverage. Politicians understand that effort compounds over time. Algorithmic distribution creates incentives for people to feed the content slot machines over and over again.
• Find an enemy. Or as they like to say in politics, draw a contrast with your opponent. But whatever you do, have someone you’re fighting. Better yet is if it is a faceless institution like The Media.
• Shamelessness is a moat. Outrage is the oxygen of the Information Space. It rewards characters, especially antagonists. Die a hero or live on as a villain.

Listen to PvA on Apple | Spotify | other podcast platforms

Partner with The Rebooting

We have planned a new slate of private dinners to discuss topics like AI's impact on traffic patterns and subscription strategies, a second edition of The New Growth Agenda, an event focused on building a sustainable news ecosystem, co-branded research reports and online forums, as well as newsletter and podcast sponsorships.

To discuss sponsorship opportunities that connect our partners with decisionmakers at leading and emerging media companies, send me an email: bmorrissey@therebooting.com.