L.A. conference delegates relate conference presentations to challenges back home
09 May 2012 · by Earl J. WilkinsonSome 25 delegates to the INMA World Congress in Los Angeles May 6-8 share their thoughts on the conference sessions and how they relate back to the challenges at their companies.
Click here to view the one- to two-minute videos.
...[more]Video captures emotion, celebrations of INMA Awards dinner
09 May 2012 · by Western iMediaWhether you missed some of the action or just want to relive spectacular moments from the 2012 INMA Awards Dinner, you'll enjoy this highlights video.
Be sure to check out all the other video from the 2012 World Congress coverage as well.
Photos from INMA Awards dinner showcases evening of celebration
09 May 2012 · by Dawn McMullanThe 2012 INMA Awards Dinner was a fabulous occasion. Check out these photos. See you next year!
30 of world's top newsmedia marketing campaigns honoured with INMA Awards
08 May 2012 · by Laura Ryan
Thirty (30) first-place winners in the INMA Awards 2012 competition are unveiled at the association’s World Congress in Los Angeles. The New York Times wins “Best in Show,” followed by Expressen and Correio da Bahia. New Zealand Herald and Diário de Notícias win three awards each.
Click here for the complete list of winners.
...[more]Wilkinson closes conference by asking, “What’s next?”
08 May 2012 · by Western iMedia
An Encyclopedia Britannica salesperson came to Earl Wilkinson’s home nearly 40 years ago, wanting to sell the family of the future executive director and CEO of INMA books for an “astronomical rate.”
That set and all the others Encyclopedia Britannica has published since 1768 are now collectors’ items. The company announced in April it will stop printing hard copies of the world’s longest-running encyclopedia.
“For some reason, as I close this conference, this story rings very vivid,” Wilkinson said.
After 25 presentations over three days, Wilkinson finished off the 82nd INMA World Congress — themed “New Oxygen, New Growth” — on Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t just want to close this conference,” Wilkinson said. “I’d like to close an era.”
Like Encyclopedia Britannica had to do, Wilkinson spent his 40-minute presentation asking “What’s next?” from INMA delegates in attendance at the J.W. Marriott/L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
Media outlets around the world have come to similar points over the last year and a half, Wilkinson said, knowing they have to go digital but unsure how to monetise online publishing.
He urged newspapers to move away from an “organising model” — aggregation, one deadline a day, and light expertise on a large number of subjects — in favour of a more niche operation.
“At the end of the day — today — Encyclopedia Britannica is more profitable but an infinitely smaller business,” Wilkinson said. “That’s not a bad landing, but I’d suggest we could do better.”
Wilkinson’s message wasn’t necessarily aimed at The New York Times and Los Angeles Times companies of the media world, but rather the publications that can be unique to a market. Other metro dailies need a new brand — a brand that revolves around convenience, relevance, consumption choice, and empowerment, he said.
“I don’t believe we can be great at dozens of stories … most of us are not in that league,” Wilkinson said. “We’ve got to pick and prioritise in the digital age with what we want to do.”
...[more]Gannett redesigns business model to maximise efficiency
08 May 2012 · by Brie Logsdon
Gannett is the largest newspaper group in the United States, yet two years ago, the company decided it was not the world-class media player it wanted to — and could — be.
That bit of honest self-evaluation launched the company on an improvement programme that Vice President/Advertising Leslie Giallombardo outlined to INMA on Tuesday.
“If we really want to stand out for our customers and be valid and vital, we need that competitive differentiation,” she said.
What Gannett needed was a strong competitive advantage.
Historically, Gannett focused on sales month to month. Now the company is moving to long-term sales, focusing on quarterly, which Giallombardo said is best for customers. Employees needed to be more consultative and sell solutions that get results, she added.
...[more]Chisholm cites need for print-digital linkage to save newspapers
08 May 2012 · by Western iMedia
Jim Chisholm likes the old-fashioned feel of thumbing through a printed newspaper.
And despite the trend to digital everything, the European-based consultant and analyst urged participants in the 82nd INMA World Congress not to give up on the printed medium. Rather, he said, they need to do a better job capitalising on print’s position in the media value chain.
“I think we’ve forgotten what brands are,” he told the Los Angeles audience.
Print is going to fund the industry into the future, but there also needs to be a linkage between print and digital media, he said. Both can be successful if media outlets figure out how to best use both platforms to market each other.
...[more]Panel featuring Tumblr, YouTube employees pushes engagement
08 May 2012 · by Western iMedia
A three-person panel spoke Tuesday at the INMA World Congress about the next generation for social media engagement and news publishers.
Convergence, influence, and conscience: These are the three key words Claire Hawley, director of audience acquisition at the Los Angeles Times digital edition, wanted delegates at the 82nd INMA World Congress to take with them after her presentation on Tuesday. In particular, Hawley discussed how the L.A. Times is launching social media advertising packages and exploring how advertisements can reach their audience.
A Times’ Web site registration feature allows users to connect to Facebook and Twitter. And by adding a “like” button on the top of their masthead, the Times staff also tripled the number of “likes” their Web site had on Facebook.
“With small modifications you can get a lot more audience,” Hawley said.
The Times, which Hawley said is aiming for an aged 18-34 target audience, is looking at convergence through Google’s Search Plus Your World, which takes into account a user’s network and information when finding search results.
Hawley also emphasised influence, which the newspaper gains by interacting with users. She compared posts on two Times Facebook pages — the main news page, which had a number of “likes” and comments, and then an automated sports feed with little reader feedback.
“You’d think that’d be a no brainer, but we’re still seeing a lot of companies using auto feeds,” she said. “In the long run, this can only hurt you.”
The Times found that 91% of journalists on Twitter retweet or interact with their followers, Hawley said, and that those feeds were most popular at their respective papers.
The last trend Hawley spoke about was conscience. Based on poll results collected by the Times, 47% of respondents said they shared links because they felt it would help others.
“Users are going beyond having a conversation,” Hawley said. “They’re using social media as a catalyst for change. Social media is touching more and more points of our lives.”
...[more]INMA “ThoughtBite” videos capture ideas, inspiration
08 May 2012 · by Dawn McMullan
INMA — as an organisation and during our annual World Congress in particular — is all about generating ideas.
The 300+ participants in the hall in Los Angeles and the 30,000+ following the sessions online are always on the lookout for fresh thoughts that will inspire a different approach, a fresh product, a more successful strategy, or a realignment of priorities.
The World Congress media team has tapped into the experts and participants assembled in Los Angeles to capture some of their best ideas and inspirations through a series of quick-view videos. We call them INMA ThoughtBites.
You can view the INMA ThoughtBites via in a special playlist interface embedded at inma.org/videos. Or go directly to the INMA Channel on YouTube at http://bit.ly/ThoughtBiteVideos. Watch the entire collection or choose one of the individual videos scrolling below.
Find inspiration here.
...[more]
Panelists say different paywall models all profitable
08 May 2012 · by Western iMedia
A four-panelist presentation Tuesday at the 82nd INMA World Congress gave publishers from around the world a chance to discuss digital subscription strategies back to back.
- Jerry Harris, managing director of group newspapers and design products at News Limited, controls more than 140 newspapers in Australia. His company uses what he calls a “freemium” model, meaning a certain percentage of content is in front of the paywall. Editors decide which stories stay free and have the ability to change an article’s status when they feel it’s needed.
The newspapers may offer more free content when traffic to their sites is slow; it did not want to become subscriber-only media to keep their casual readers, Harris said. - Paul Smurl, vice president/paid products of The New York Times, said readers were clear in wanting notice of what would change when the newspaper decided to establish a paywall for content.
The New York Times has always allowed open access to its homepage. But when a paywall went up last year, non-subscribers were limited to reading 20 articles a month so as to not lose casual readers.
Despite “blistering criticism” from media pundits, Smurl said, the paywall proved successful. The free reads limit was lowered in April to 10 articles as The New York Times cited more than 450,000 digital subscribers.
