HONG KONG (22 July 2021) – The role of data in the digital and cultural transformation of news media companies emerged as the dominant theme of last week’s inaugural Asia/Pacific News Media Summit by the International News Media Association (INMA).

Some 635 delegates from 35 countries participated in the INMA Asia/Pacific virtual event, which brought together the professionals from the leading media companies in East Asia and the South Pacific.

Key takeaways included:

• Data fueling digital advertising and transformation: Adopting a first-party data strategy is imperative for the emerging digital advertising environment and for digital transformation. KG Media in Indonesia, South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, Asahi Shimbun in Japan, and News Corp Australia are the standard-bearers for this in Asia/Pacific. 
• Subscriptions taking off: Data is accelerating the business model shift to direct-to-consumer as subscriptions are beginning to take off in the Asia/Pacific region. Nikkei in Japan and Sin Chew in Malaysia are examples of this – one early in their journey, the other far into the journey. 
• Redefining and amplifying existing businesses: Data also is enabling media companies to redefine and amplify advertising businesses (notably content marketing) and audience targeting as seen on the INMA agenda with Singapore Press Holdings and South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo. 
• The rise of product: Product is on the rise as an ethos to solve core cultural challenges of media companies as Nine in Australia illustrated with their product/editorial partnership focus. Product emerged at key points in the INMA agenda throughout the Summit. 

Meanwhile, INMA contributed to the Summit global learnings in transformation, subscriptions, and product from its news industry-leading initiatives.

Supported by the Google News Initiative and iZooto, the July 15-16 Summit marked INMA’s first Asia/Pacific venture, and association executives say planning is already under way for a 2022 follow-up event based on the popularity of last week’s inaugural event. Early evaluations suggest this was one of the highest-rated INMA events of the year.

“What INMA brings to Asia/Pacific media companies is a unique look at best practices around the business of journalism,” said Madhavi Sekhri, producer of the Asia/Pacific News Media Summit. “Feedback from participants in last week’s Summit emphasised the strength of programming and the focus on the business side of the news industry. Financial freedom, sustainability, and growth are key themes in the INMA community. INMA is the news industry leader worldwide on digital subscriptions, smart data, and product, and that leadership was on full display during our APAC Summit.”

Registrants received access to the livestream, along with all recordings and presentations associated with the Summit.

Coverage of the INMA Asia/Pacific News Media Summit may be found at INMA.org.

The International News Media Association (INMA) is a global community of market-leading news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue in a multi-platform environment. The INMA community consists of more than 18,000 members at 900+ media companies in 77 countries. In its 91st year, INMA is the news media industry’s foremost ideas-sharing network with members connected via conferences, reports, Webinars, virtual meetings, and an unparalleled archive of best practices. INMA leads the news industry with its initiatives dedicated to better understanding digital subscriptions, smart data, product, advertising, and the emerging relationship with the Big Tech platforms.