Complex's content and shopping formula

I’d planned an election-themed issue, then I decided to skip it. I’m going to have more thoughts on what comes next for the news business on Thursday. Instead, a much-needed break from politics:

• Complex’s next chapter. Complex is a digital media survivor. Its president, Moksha Fitzgibbons, joined PvA to talk about its new iteration as a content-to-shopping brand.
• AI is coming to the newsroom. AI offers an opportunity for news publishers to do more with less. I’m digging into the details on Nov. 12 with Nota CEO and former LA Times exec Josh Brandau.(In partnership with Nota)
• Personalization and subscriptions. Direct reader revenue strategies are getting more sophisticated. Zuora’s Jonathan Harris and I will dig into what AI-driven personalization can and won’t do to drive sustainable subscriptions growth. (In partnership with Zuora)
• ICYMI: We held the post-cookie playbook online forum last week. Check out replay to understand how the smart application audience data is central to sustainable publishing business models. (In partnership with BlueConic)

AI-driven video recommendations

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Complex’s next chapter

Complex is a digital media survivor. It has lived many lives, including as a magazine, a dot-com, an ad network, Go90 (RIP) provider, YouTube showrunner, events organizer, hot sauce merchant, neglected BuzzFeed brand, and now in its latest iteration as a commerce engine. 

Now, the youth culture brand is betting on combining its reach and engagement with the live shopping, vowel-challenged platform of NTWRK, which bought Complex for $108 million in February. Moksha Fitzgibbons, part of the original Complex team, joined this week’s edition of People vs Algorithms, to discuss the essential question: Can Complex remain as relevant in a media world remade?

 Some of the topics we covered:

• Complex's business model transformation: Complex withered under BuzzFeed. Combined with NTWRK's live shopping business, Complex is now shifting from a primarily advertising-based model to a three-pronged revenue strategy: marketplace commerce, media/sponsorship, and events.
• Commerce as the North Star: Through partnership with NTWRK-backer Universal Music Group, Complex is launching "Complex Shops,” featuring exclusive merchandise from major artists.
• Content evolution: Moving away from expensive, premium long-form content toward more efficient production methods, with increased focus on vertical video and social platform distribution rather than traditional website traffic.
• Focusing on platform engagement: Complex maintains strong youth engagement, particularly on Instagram where they get up to 200,000 likes per post.
• Events success: Complex stands out as one of few media brands able to successfully sell tickets for large-scale events, with Travis Scott serving as creative director for their Vegas edition of ComplexCon.

My takeaway: Being nostalgic in media is a good way to go out of business.You have to keep adapting to the market and build new skills. The biggest challenge of these changes often turns out to be internal. It’s one thing to say commerce is your North Star, it’s another to reorient the infrastructure and people to execute on the new approach.

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AI in the newsroom

The discussion around AI and the news business typically focuses on the downsides and fear. But AI offers publishers the ability to streamline their processes in order to devote resources to differentiated and impactful journalism.

In an online forum we are holding on Nov. 12 at noonET, I’ll be joined by Nota CEO Josh Brandau to discuss how publishers can use AI to focus more resources on reporting. Josh was formerly CRO at the Los Angeles Times, so he’s very familiar with the challenges publishers face in a more-with-less era..

We’ll cover: 

• How to streamline operations while enhancing the reader experience
• Focusing resources on impactful journalism
• How publishers are negotiating with AI companies for payments – and what it means for those who aren’t the biggest players

If you can’t make the session, you’ll be sent a replay link afterwards.

Thanks to Nota for sponsoring the discussion

What's next in subscriptions

Subscriptions has often adopted a blunt approach to subscriptions that rarely convert more than a small sliver of their audiences. With the advent of artificial intelligence, publishers now have the tools to customize their approach to audience segments to unlock the full value of their audiences. The next stage of direct revenue will revolve around a deep understanding of individuals to drive conversion and retention 

In a TRB online forum on Nov 18 at noonET, I will be joined by Zuora senior director of product Jonathan Harris to discuss:

• The evolution of paywalls to be more flexible
• Using customer data to create targeted subscription offers that drive acquisition and retention.
• Volume-based approaches vs LTV approaches
• Bundling strategies.
• Using predictive analytics to retain subscribers.
• Going beyond hard paywalls, meters and freemium approaches

If you can’t make the session, you’ll be sent a replay link afterwards.

Thanks to Zuora for sponsoring the discussion

The first-party data cover charge

At last week’s TRB Online Forum, I was joined by BlueConic’s Patrick Crane and Actable’s Craig Schinn to discuss how publishers can take control of their first-party data. Some highlights from the online forum:

• The value-exchange imperative. Publishers need to focus on creating clear value exchanges with their audiences. Reg walls are not enough.
• New sources of audience data. Interactive tools like quizzes and polls are good sources of volunteered audience information. 
• The incremental approach. Quick wins are important but need to be tied to a larger strategic vision Success requires roughly 20% technology deployment and 80% internal process management
• The "cover charge" reality. While there are new technologies replacing third-party cookies, they all require a foundation of first-party data. Publishers must build their own repository of emails and PII to effectively use these new tools.

My takeaway: There's no shortcut around building direct relationships with audiences. There is often a temptation to to assign too much credit and blame to particular technologies, when internal process management is responsible for 80% of the result.

Thanks to BlueConic for sponsoring the discussion

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