The INMA 2012 World Congress in Los Angeles began with a potpourri of success stories from global media companies: rapid-fire ideas to grow audience, advertising, and brand.

Eleven speakers — given seven minutes for their presentation and seven minutes for Q-and-A — got the Congress off to a fast-and-furious, thought-provoking start:

• Johan Othelius, DN’s marketing and sales director, presented the process and success of re-envisioning Dagens Nyheter, a national newspaper in Sweden. 


• Pablo Bianco, marketing manager of La Voz del Interior, spoke about what happened when Argentinian newspaper La Voz del Interior realised top competitors were taking information it gathered about the Argentinian election. The solution? Working together. 


• Paulo Mira, president and CEO of PHD Mobi, reminded us that the creators of the Angry Birds app tried 53 times before their product was successful. 


• Amy Leyh, director of digital circulation marketing for Dow Jones & Co., explained the best way to adapt a business model is to listen to your audience. 


• Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, head of marketing for Controlinveste, explained the concept of MediaLab, a facility that lets young readers participate in journalism by using new technologies. 


• Alvin Lim, manager for online marketing at Singapore Press Holdings, said there’s a way to generate revenue through social media that most companies haven’t figured out.


• Tom Culligan, chief revenue and marketing officer for The Washington Times, spoke about creating a global media company from a one-market newspaper. 


• Kjersti Løken Stavrum, chief features editor of Norway’s Aftenposten, spoke about capturing an audience that’s been around for just a fraction of that time. 


• Pit Gottschalk, director of content management at Germany’s Axel Springer, discussed untapped value in related material that’s already finished and just sitting in a media company’s content management system. 


• Jose Papa Neto, corporate strategy executive director for Estado ESPN, spoke about his company’s new coverage model that integrates the newsroom with journalists with diverse skills. 


• Kirk MacDonald, executive vice president of sales for Digital First Media, focused on digital advertising in the news industry. 

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