Fernando Samaniego - International New Media Consulting

Newspapers and TVs Could Learn from the Music and Movie Industries (and Part 2)

On free content

 There is a similarity between the music industry and newspapers in regard to their content. Songs in their basic form are considered by many individuals as free merchandise, the purpose of which is to attract attention to the artist. This belief is reinforced by the artists themselves, by those who are generally less traditional and more innovative in their approach. Take Lil Wayne, ho received the Grammy’s Best Rap Album, for example.  He built his fan base by freely giving hours and hours of his music away.  The surprise is that, in spite of that, his ‘Tha Carter III’ album was the top-selling album of 2008.  In this case, giving away content and being the top seller were not alternative strategies.  I am sure his success will inspire others.

Similarly, I believe newspapers will have to attract their readers/users by giving away ‘good’ content while charging for other content that the audience perceives both costs the company and is useful for their lives or their small businesses.  Basic news (at least the commodity part of it) will remain free despite all the buzz, while special reports and differential content/services will follow a different track.  Fighting the perception of the users is always a risky mission.   After all, as Tony Wadsworth, former head of EMI for a decade, says ‘The development of technology has meant music” (you can substitute by ‘news’)  “is consumed in more places in more ways than ever before – that is a great thing...; the future business model of this industry might not be based on transactional music sales for much longer. In the space of a year, the proportion of income derived from other sources – live gigs, merchandising, advertising, digital licensing, broadcast – has grown from 11.4% of total revenues in 2007 to 18% in 2008”.  To continue with the parallelism, newspapers may have to obtain new sources of income by fulfilling new tasks in their communities.

Cherry Picking

Another similarity between music and news lies in the fact that in the past you had to purchase the whole product even if you just wanted a single song in the CD or just the classifieds section of the newspaper.  In the digital world you can choose to acquire a single song and not pay for the unsolicited merchandise.  One study says that iTunes-like platforms have cost the music industry more than piracy!  We may not like it, we can even say that the user is losing the opportunity to discover unexpected jewels in the package…but the fact is that unbundling is the increasingly preferred option and fighting it is useless.  As music is consumed digitally, mixed bundles may be losing their appeal.

Likewise, newspapers may end up charging for specific pieces of content when it’s clearly justified in the eyes of the user.  Deciding when to charge or not requires a lot of trial and error as well as sufficient internal expertise in analyzing that information.

“Publishers for the most part have already begun preparing as if this process [unbundling] is irreversible. They are implementing new ways to replace revenues that are lost when customers no longer buy the whole ‘package’. This new repackaging can take many forms. Subscriptions to popular online journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, increasingly offer unique features, including email alerts, user communities, access to unique data sets, and multimedia content designed to make the value proposition of buying the “whole package” greater than the sum of the parts.” Nothing to add.

Conclusion

The music industry has taken too long to learn new tricks and has lost big revenues in the process.  Newspapers can learn from the ability of the most adapted labels how to diversify revenues, to relate differently with their environment and how to reach audiences less with recorded content and more with live gigs. Faced with a transformation of this magnitude, change has to affect all and every single area of the company (yes, even accounting) and the profile of the professionals has to evolve.  Changes should not be done in one day, but on the other hand, wasting time with excuses is not an option.  As I said in a previous blog, save money in legacy activities and invest in exploring new avenues of income.

From the movie studios, newspapers and conventional TV channels should imitate their ability to move (relatively) fast while not discarding any possible way of reaching clients.  After all, all legacy content industries share the same basic challenges and the logic of any responses to them.  

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego

Newspapers and TVs Could Learn from the Music and Movie Industries (Part 1)

One decade at a time

One could argue that the perfect storm now affecting the Media and Entertainment industries started around 1982, when the first music CD was sold.  But it was in 1985 that CD began to gain popularity in the larger popular and rock music markets (Dire Straits’ album Brothers in Arms was the first one to sell a million copies).  At that moment, consumer content became digital. Later on, the compressing capabilities of MP3 and the extension of the internet greatly facilitated file sharing.  

As I wrote in a previous post, it was some 10 years later that another digital birth took place that would soon affect the placid businesses of established newspapers.  It was Craigslist and its ability to volatize classifieds’ revenue. Lastly, 10 years later, a pre Google YouTube was launched and the lives of incumbent TV channels first, and the film industry later, began simmering.  For the last 20-30 years, usually during the middle of each new decade, a new phenomenon has been born, destined to uproot the functioning of complete industries. As a matter of curiosity, does anybody have an idea of what 2015 may bring to us?

First the music industry, then newspapers and magazines, and then finally TVs and movies, they all are struggling to cope with the radical changes.  The slowest one to react was the music industry, perhaps because it was the first casualty (forgive me for using the incumbent’s terminology, not the customers’) and there were no examples of how deep, and redefining for the whole industry, the changes brought about by the new digital innovations would be.  That the music industry has lost a full decade is evident since its response to these digital challenges has coincided in time with the newspapers’.  TV and film industries, casualties of the third wave, may be reacting a little faster.

The Film Industry, the Last to Feel the Pinch

From observing the film industry, newspapers can learn the determination to reach audiences however the consumer wants it, in almost any possible format...  Even though things are just starting, we can legally get films online, - rented, purchased or free with advertising, - via multiple devices.  Hundreds of web sites offer movies (Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, Babelgum, Joost, The Auteurs…and long etc).  Other established players in the digital arena have also become digital retailers: Xbox Live and PlayStation Store, Amazon Video on Demand...etc.  You can even watch a movie on your smart phone.  Of course, you can still buy or rent DVDs and watch films thanks to the growing VOD offer of cable and digital platform operators.  Lastly, you can enjoy a film in the most traditional outlet of the business, movie theaters.   

Digital delivery has been growing SO FAST that film studios have identified 250 digital formats. Yes, two hundred and fifty! And now they are trying to reduce costs by agreeing on an interoperable digital master format (IMF) which will also help promote their digital business.  Are studios moving fast enough?  Perhaps the answer is no, but in any case they are moving faster than the music industry and newspapers did.  Now, in how many formats are papers reaching their readers and delivering their content?  Are they expanding their new media reach at a proper speed?  Whatever the answer, newsrooms have to develop their own open technical architecture and be ready to deliver in more vehicles (unfortunately, sales departments are frequently the laggards and end up delaying the whole experiment, but this is another topic).

Lessons from the music industry

On one hand, any internet novice can download songs and bypass the incumbents’ structure to collect royalties. To add insult to injury, the record industry has had to face the stampede of brand-name artists moving away from them (remember Madonna leaving the Warner for Live Nation, a live-events and concert promotion company?) Many others have followed.  In their quest for a proper set of business answers, labels are gathering experience with paid downloads, ad-supported streaming, subscription services, ad-supported and ad-integrated P2P download services…etc. But perhaps most relevant is the music industry’s fierce determination to redefine its role and its artists while at the same time creating links with audiences.

In the past, the record industry was strategically placed in between audiences and artists and supposedly had the talent and experience to decide in the name of the audience which songs/artists had the quality to be recorded.  That paradigm has changed.  Many artists are flying solo.  Instead of focusing on getting the attention of the labels’ execs in order to be chosen to record songs and sell CDs, artists are now getting more focused on getting the attention of their potential fans in order to be able to sell tickets to their shows, to license songs…etc.   Multiple companies and web sites have started to “provide online music business lessons, exclusive video interviews and advice, career and business planning tools and thousands of hand-picked resources designed to help you achieve success in the new music industry” (about us, Music Power Network).

Closer to the audience

The incumbents have understood that revenue from recorded music will continue decreasing and that their activity cannot be limited to seeking out the best singers and bands to sign. Instead, they have to learn new skills, such as mentoring artists to develop their performing style, and hone their public skills to better connect with their potential audiences.  They are becoming business advisors, career planners as well as permanent managers of organized tours and all kinds of live performances, which represent the fastest growing source of income in the industry.

The exhibitionist and theatrical Lady Gaga has learned to be closer to her fan base and be coherent in all her public appearances. Her dominance in the charts has proven her right.  When she received five Grammy Nominations she did not thank anyone other than her “Little Monsters”, aka her fan base. On the scenario, as in any digital format, she has established a solid link with her audience.  To them, she offered her own DNA (some follicles) in her GaGa Fame Monster Bundle, as well as a collectible puzzle, pullout posters, a paper doll collection and a personal note for USD115.

Other artists are finding their own unorthodox methods of reaching audiences’ attention and pockets.

Newspapers need to address new ways of getting to their audiences and interacting with them. From the early formula of posting a comment to a piece of news, to the way the most advanced players are trying to harness the traffic and commercial potential of local bloggers, there is an array of possibilities.

As I have written before, the main strategic areas in a newspaper or a TV are brand/image and content.  From each one of those two areas they have to persevere in reading the consumer’s interest.  The old journalism days of waiting for agencies’ content is (partially) over.  Now, the journalist’s network, his/her roots in the community and ability to scan what the community is interested in, are required skills to add value and differentiate the final product from other local players. Following readers’ interest, via marketing tools, as well as discovering what interests them via social web sites, is a new skill media companies have to turn into a habit.  (End of Part 1)

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego

Newspapers and Televisions should go the Low Cost Way

One shouldn’t deceive oneself into thinking that we are simply in the middle of a crisis caused by the irrational behavior of our financial institutions since there may be other causes. Even though Asia has been bringing costs down for decades, many countries and industries have ignored the potential threat of these lower costs and have chose instead to maintain their cost structures.  The generalizations of internet and broadband have extended the competitiveness of the new players (“the world is flat,” according to Thomas Friedman).  Not to be mistaken, this financial crisis is a cause as well as a catalyst of the current turmoil brought about by this ‘Asian price’ and this new local and world competition facilitated by broadband.  

Many companies have understood this new scenario.  Airlines, for one, may offer extremely low ticket prices and absolutely no-frills, but at the same time they may charge for extras like food and drink, seat allocation, baggage...etc. The increasing penetration of low cost and no-frills products and services has carved a position in the mind of consumers and now marketers know very well that people frequently trade up and trade down; they can go for rock bottom prices (below the consumer’s standard of income and living) in order to afford small luxuries, which may appear beyond their reach. By shopping in discount supermarkets, a couple may afford a long haul vacation, no frills, in their dream destination. 

One cannot downplay the significant effect that these economic and societal changes are having on our audiences (readers, spectators, users).  The bad news is that they now expect basic merchandise to be free, but at the same time they are learning to pay, albeit minimally, for new content. Changes like these have permanent effects in our businesses.

Many newspapers and TV stations are taking too long to adapt their legacy cost structure to the new reality and to get rid of the unnecessary dead weight and the internal obstacles which prevent them from making their companies more nimble.  The basic operation has to be a very lean one, enough to put forward the basic offer to the audience. Too many examples are showing us that if that effort is not made constantly and in an orderly way it will have to be done traumatically.  Media incumbents should save lots of money on the repetitive tasks of their current operation in order to achieve three basic purposes: 

First, to maintain profitability and operations while the company moves forward.  Second, these legacy media need those savings to project themselves into the future, in order to explore and develop new media opportunities to further increase their reach.  Lastly, parts of those savings have to be addressed at investing in those activities which create brand and differentiate them from the rest.  I am referring to investigative journalism, special reports, event creation, exploiting local databases…etc.  That is, developing their own content which equals the frills the airlines are able to charge and which makes the difference for audiences and advertisers.  It also may open new avenues of profitability. After all, is there anything as vital for a medium as (differential) content and marketing (brand)?

There is no way to cross successfully into the future if cost cutting in legacy activities is not an active policy implemented constantly by newspapers and television companies.   Proper cost cutting is not a reactive decision; it’s a fundamental part of our future building strategy.  Do not be apologetic about it. (Just don’t cut corners in brand image and differential content creation).

Newspapers and TV stations are taking a long time to adapt to this new situation, as if time wasn’t an issue.”

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego.

Newspapers's Potential in Local Database Management (and 2)

Following Rob Curley’s Trail

When offering communities results based on databases from the local market, I have always thought Rob Curley has led the way and has often been imitated by others.  The following examples, taken from newspapers where he has worked, may have not been developed by him or his team directly, but I’m sure his vision has had a strong influence.

While working in Kansas for the Lawrence Journal he developed the Kusports site and reinforced the use of statistics as content but also as a complement to regular information. He always found the right way to place unexpected data in the middle of information, be it driving tickets, weather…etc.  And the audience rewarded him with a big increase in traffic, and revenues. No local database was foreign to him: births, weddings, deaths, schedules of anything…etc.  Sports and Arts and Entertainment info was always stored as elements of an ever growing local database to be permanently reused.  Even though some years went by, the Ljworld.com site still retains some of that philosophy.

Later in Naples, Florida Rob addressed a more mature and affluent audience in the site Naplesnews by offering any info relevant to a community frequently interested in the weather and the water (Naples is on the West Florida coast): rainfall, air and water temperature, tides…etc.  Current as well as historical data were offered directly by the site or by linking to the sources.  Presented in a user friendly way, boating, golfing, fishing or just walking became a little easier. Naplesnews received an Eppy Award for Best Internet News Service in 2006.  In that same year his new vision on covering high school sports in Bonitanews received a NAA Digital Edge award for "Most Innovative Multimedia Storytelling". 

From Naples, Rob moved to a much larger organization, The Washington Post, and left two years later probably “because I wasn't the best fit with the organization”.  I am sure his vision on local matters had an influence beyond the specific projects he managed.  

The national and international roles of the Post may hide to many its local flavor.  On one hand there is the local section of the paper which includes a plethora of information and some resources such as dog parks, farmers market… as well as links to full-fledged projects like the Going Out Guide which features an Events Calendar in which all the information, including text for reviews, has been databased for easier repurposing.  
On the other hand, the Local Explorer is more than just a map. It also includes facts and figures, local news, classifieds and upcoming events that will help take the user further inside the community. In fact it’s one of those blueprint projects one should follow when dealing with local communities. A complete array of information is arranged in four categories (Places in the Area, Recent Home Sales, Schools, Crime) welcomes the users upon giving their exact location.  As a complementary new way of exploiting its arsenal of data the Post has created products like this which organize business information in many different ways (e.g. revenues by sector, largest employers, new companies…frequently mapped for easier usability).  

I guess the Post wants to take a definitive step in the local-hyperlocal direction and in spite of all the difficulties for a newspaper of its category, we may see new developments happening.  Perhaps the final result will/should include more user participation.  For comparative purposes I recommend the Cincinavigator by Cincinnati.com.  

Databases, geocoded information, all enhanced with content from the editor and from the users seems to be the four legged formula some editors are finding appropriate to address their local challenges.  I foresee that we will see more sophisticated developments within this same content architecture.

EveryBlock.com, Yelp, Google (yes, always Google)

“In dense, bustling cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, the number of daily media reports, government proceedings and local Internet conversations is staggering. Every day, a wealth of local information is created — officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs — but who has time to sort through all of that?”  This is the spirit of local database management, and that sentence doesn’t belong to me but to EveryBlock, that aims at solving that problem.  “We aim to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. We’re a geographic filter — a 'news feed' for your neighborhood, or, yes, even your block”.

I should add that they are only a team of six people working from Chicago led by Adrian Holovaty, a journalist and Web developer who worked previously as editor of editorial innovations at the Post and developed chicagocrime.org.  Given the small size of the team and the tremendous task of covering 15 cities, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the info is a little “dry” or lacks the relevancy that a newspaper could add.  But it’s a matter of time before the project gets sufficient funds (MSNBC has bought EveryBlock and additional funding and resources will be provided). Lastly, I find useful their definition of local data: “Civic information — building permits, crimes, restaurant inspections and more; News articles and blog entries — major newspapers, community weeklies, TV and radio news stations, local specialty publications and local blogs; Fun from across the Web — local photos posted to the Flickr photo-sharing site, user reviews of local businesses on Yelp, lost and found postings from Craigslist and more”.

The more a database is complemented and enhanced by users the better it is.  In the case of Yelp (a contraction of Yellow Pages) the extensive database has been supposedly fully created by the users, which makes it a different animal to the former examples.  What is relevant, though, is that that a business supported exclusively by local advertising was recently the acquisition object of Google at a price north of half a billion dollars.  The local editors can breathe at ease because Yelp has rejected the offer, but the sole idea of giant Google having access to the local markets with a local platform like Yelp seems scary to me. By the way, The Weekly Yelp is available in 28 cities with the latest business openings & other happenings and constitutes a first (minor) step to creating a media on local events.

As a summary, in their alternatives for growth the most advanced local editors are learning to use databases to uncover local stories, to enhance news, to relate to their users, to attract new audiences and, not least, to have access to new sources of revenues.

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego.

Newspapers’ Potential in Local Database Management (Part 1)

This post highlights the importance that managing data has for newspapers, and local broadcasters, as they struggle to extend their roots in the community.  As local media need to maintain digital growth they will have to go beyond news delivery into satisfying further needs of the markets they serve if they want to reach new sources of traffic and revenues. In an environment more story-oriented and not so comfortable with computers, company execs need to plan on mastering the skills to extract useful content from information hidden in local databases.

Importance of managing data among top internet players

While newspaper editors and televisions rely basically on developing or acquiring good content, the Top Ten websites in the world have reached their position mostly by organizing data, i.e. other people’s work.  Google, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger.com are websites which organize extremely well third parties’ content.  Yahoo! (which appears twice in the list with its Japanese URL) receives big traffic from its search, both from email and from the many services it offers (news aggregator, maps, video sharing, social media web sites).  Wikipedia is somehow the exception since it relies on contributions written expressly for the site by its users.  

Two players, Baidu and MSN deserve special attention from the TV/papers viewpoint.  The Chinese Baidu.com started in 2000 as a generic search engine and now is possibly the most comprehensive website in the world.  It includes specialized search capabilities for government sources, postal codes, educational, legal, patent, country statistics, as well as services such as antivirus and safety, maps, dictionary, translation, online community…etc. It also provides links to news sources, a music service with links to top songs for easy downloading, an encyclopedia, an entertainment channel, a finance website in collaboration…etc.  Finally, it even offers online shopping for businesses to sell their products and a TV/movies site to watch and download content. 

Microsoft and its recently redesigned msn.com relies on plenty of links and content from other sources: MSNBC, of course, as well as Hearst, Fox sports, Hulu, PC World…etc, and is learning to open up to social connectivity giants like Twitter or Facebook.  Msn.com does a remarkable job at aggregating content from different sources while pushing its own corporate interests, be it its operating system software, Bing, MSNBC, Xbox360…etc.

One could think that these players are following the steps of the likes of AOL, Terra, Lycos and other horizontal portals but the truth is that these giants (Google, Facebook, Yahoo…) want to retain users longer by offering more services while concentrating less on creating content and more on managing third parties’ content.  My point is that local papers and broadcasters will be forced to master those same skills to extend their local influence.  The sooner they do it and the more holistic their approach, the better.  

Database editors

First they have to fight the widespread belief that because of Google, the researcher is no longer necessary.  In reality, the opposite is true. Because of Google, researchers— a data base editor—will be of critical importance. Randy Covington, Head of IFRA-Newsplex, was talking to me the other day about Hyde Post, the editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website who argues that a successful media website should be built on four pillars: -Speed , -Community, -Visual energy, -Utility.  Utility is an obvious next step for media organizations in their web strategy and refers to a site that wants to be helpful and practical for its audience.  Very often users look for sites in order to obtain information they need on some aspect of their lives,-- for example, how do test scores of their children’s school compare with those elsewhere—and a newspaper or broadcast website would be a logical place to find out.  

As search engines have promised to organize the vast content on the internet, communities need to organize and make sense of the increasing sources of local information, and newspapers are well positioned to do that.  They have local content, local businesses with local advertisers, local journalists and contributors, a local sales force, some local database information…and are in a privileged position to reap the benefits of that local connection. Managing local database content lies in the no man’s land between very large organizations and the small local agents such as bloggers and smaller websites.  One may be unable to have access to many of the databases and/or extract their usefulness while the latter lacks the financial resources, at least for a certain time.  It is easier for newspapers well rooted in their communities and with well connected organizations to have access to official and private databases.  

The Chief Editor and his/her direct team may have to get involved in the first efforts to gain access to that information while the organization learns to do it. To facilitate this first step, the IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors, trains journalists, even beyond the US, in “using spreadsheets and/or databases for better watchdog stories, obtaining data and public records and making sense of them, storyboarding, planning, and managing investigative stories and projects, building an effective intranet of public records to strengthen your newsroom’s reporting on deadline…etc”.  It’s important to have examples to learn the tricks of the new activity.

In a newsroom environment rather experienced at building linear stories and which at the same time is not very computer savvy, getting the skills needed to use data content has to be a planned effort from top execs.  Ideally a couple of journalists with that expertise could be brought on board. Alternatively a programmer can be hired and trained to search database content that could enhance regular newsroom output and be used as a new source of content. Some journals have done it and if the person has an open mind, the result can be enlightening. Diversity is hard to manage but very rewarding.

Examples of database usage

Chicagocrime was one of the best and earliest examples of data gathering and presentation (now it's contained in everyblock, recently acquired by MSNBC). Anybody interested in renting or buying a house, starting a business, choosing a school or just visiting the city, as well as the security officers and local politicians became instant users.  There are many other examples the local  newspaper can provide to answer the questions and needs of its audience.  What new businesses have been started in the city, what new permits have been granted to build houses or buildings in general, what are the latest real estate deals, official house valuations, or general property values, home foreclosures, open houses…are clearly types of content that could attract attention immediately, especially if arranged by neighborhood.  Later, if the newspaper allows free access to the information, local talent will come up with ideas to complement  that information.  By studying the trends, links, deviations from national or international patterns,we may shed light on our community in a unique and exclusive way.  

Let me use a non local example on presenting a piece of news in a different way, starting from pure data.  I refer to the article published by The New York Times on “Jackson’s Billboard Rankings Over Time”, which is just a series of interactive graphs which prove how the King of Pop had really died 20 years ago.

Other cases could attract more consumer attention, but databases are often accessible from the internet but hidden under non intuitive names, or it is hard to make sense out of them, or they are not conceived to be user friendly…etc.  Rankings of hospitals and schools, student examination public records, education levels, driving tickets, air and noise pollution, police activity, accidents, fires, traffic incidences…etc, they all are useful. Lastly, there is the need for databases which do not currently exist but which audiences would appreciate if their newspaper put together.  A map of gas prices in the region (see screen shot from gaspricewatch.com) or a ranking of supermarket prices based on a small basket of products may facilitate the lives of families on a tight budget who undoubtedly will appreciate the help of “their” newspaper (there may be local projects offering that content, often ready to establish an alliance). In these cases the information gathering may be in the form of a wiki, something the younger audience may appreciate. In any case, those price-maps have to be open to permanent inputs from users.

In all the above cases it’s important that the information is geolocated as precisely as possible if it is to unveil relevant information as well as trends and correlations between apparently unrelated series of data.  The community will literally see how their neighborhood follows or deviates from national patterns, or how the official version fits their reality.  Those trends and patterns may be discovered by the newsroom and/or by the users themselves.  (End of Part 1)

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego.

20 consejos para los periódicos en época de crisis (Parte I)

Aunque me suelo centrar en los nuevos medios, últimamente he estado en contacto con varios editores de prensa y me ha parecido oportuno responder a una pregunta varia veces formulada “¿Qué conviene hacer en estos momentos de crisis?” De mis trabajos con la prensa en Europa occidental y del Este, así como con las dos Américas y alguna incursión en el mundo árabe, destilo en este blog 20 recomendaciones especialmente adaptadas al momento presente y que he dividido en dos posts dada su dimensión. No pretenden ser exhaustivas sino que cubren aquellas actuaciones que, en mi opinión, se suelen quedar en el tintero.

Ante una coyuntura económica tan desafiante interesa tener claros algunos conceptos fundamentales para evitar dar manotazos y desperdiciar las oportunidades que toda crisis ofrece. Como concluía en un post anterior, “las crisis tienen una función en la vida de las empresas y los mercados. Está claro que, entre otras cosas, sirven para replantear proyectos, estrategias e importantes reducciones de costes, pero también para poner en marcha tácticas nuevas que nos serán muy útiles una vez el sol vuelva a brillar. Y una crisis es demasiado cara y escasa como para desaprovecharla”.

Consolidación en los directorios locales (iYP)

Hasta hace bien poco el camino más emprendido para acceder a los ingresos por búsqueda local que tanto han estado creciendo durante los últimos años era a través de la generación de iYP (páginas amarillas digitales). Replicar Google era poco menos que imposible, pero liderar un mercado local en iYP parecía más accesible. En los EEUU y otros países desarrollados, editores locales y jugadores provenientes de internet fundaron decenas de competidores locales confiando en que su estrategia sería la adecuada una vez pasados los duros inicios que tiene que soportar cualquier negocio. Si los jugadores tradicionales, los propietarios de las páginas amarillas de toda la vida, confiaban en su capilaridad comercial y en que los clientes que contrataban internet lo hacían a menudo arrastrados por la oferta combinada de papel más internet, los jugadores aspirantes, a menudo editores, confiaban en su capacidad de generar tráfico y en el poder de su marketing y prescripción, seguros, además, de que con tarifas más ajustadas convencerían a un determinado porcentaje de comerciantes de pasarse a sus proyectos.

Vídeo como estrategia local

¿Si es cierto que el consumo de vídeo está creciendo exponencialmente podemos pensar que un jugador local puede posponer su utilización en internet? Veamos los indicadores antes de dar una respuesta categórica.

Es de todos conocido que el tiempo dedicado por el consumidor medio a visionar contenidos de vídeo, tanto profesionales como generados por los usuarios ha aumentado. En Europa el tiempo dedicado al consumo de video se ha incrementado en un 50% en un sólo año. El gigante youtube ha visto incrementar su base de usuarios únicos un 42% en tan sólo ocho meses. Tal ha sido el crecimiento del vídeo que en EEUU durante algunas horas de la mañana ya se ve más vídeo por internet que por TV. Ambos medios muestran una curva de consumo muy similar en el “prime time”, como indica el siguiente gráfico cedido por ComScore.

En lo que también coinciden la TV e internet es en que son precisamente los contenidos profesionales los que generan ingresos, no los de los usuarios.

Recomendaciones para crear webs hiperlocales (Parte III)

Technorati Profile
Como colofón a mis posts anteriores sobre webs hiperlocales de noticias y webs hiperlocales del tipo agregador, ofrezco algunas recomendaciones para las empresas que quieran emprender la generación de webs hiperlocales, basadas en mis experiencias personales y de mi entorno:

1. Así como para los primeros portales de noticias el principal desafío consistió en sortear la maraña organizativa y cultural de la prensa escrita, los proyectos hiperlocales de los medios de comunicación online se encuentran a menudo lastrados por una cultura que no les deja desarrollarse a su propio ritmo. Puesto que el producto y el ritmo es diferente al de los portales de noticias, se les debe permitir adoptar un código interno de funcionamiento aún menos formal que el de una web local.

2. Los portales hiperlocales no deben basarse sólo en noticias, aunque hay ejemplos de lo contrario, a menos que la definición de noticia sea más amplia. Necesitan de una oferta central que les dé cohesión y evite la sensación de magma informe, especialmente hasta alcanzar una masa crítica de usuarios y contenidos. Por expresarlo con un ejemplo, al igual que muchos portales locales han llegado a la conclusión de que son las noticias de última hora las que los vertebra y les permite acceder a contenidos aledaños, los sitios hiperlocales necesitan encontrar uno o más elementos que les den “cuerpo” y entidad suficiente.

Webs hiperlocales: agregadores (Parte II)

Como afirmaba en mi post anterior, las mejores webs hiperlocales serán capaces de crear espacios tan estructurados como el sitio de unas páginas amarillas y tan abiertos y “humanos” como las webs de redes sociales. La combinación perfecta. Algunos jugadores han preferido comenzar por la parte “dura” del proyecto: muchas bases de datos y bien ordenadas, con la esperanza de poder revestirlo más tarde de contenido elaborado ad hoc por los usuarios. No debe sorprender esta estrategia ya que las páginas amarillas (p.ej. superpages.com), algunas webs de cine (que imitan a filmaffinity.com) e incluso muchos sitios de clasificados (que incorporan filosofía de trulia.com) han seguido el mismo camino.
Hilando con el comentario en mi post anterior de que en lo hiperlocal priman los servicios y otros contenidos locales sobre las noticias, destaco un proyecto que puede deparar sorpresas futuras. Everyblock.com aborda lo local llegando casi hasta la manzana del barrio. Sus gestores conocen el entramado local ya que fueron fundadores de chicagocrime.org. El portal se alimenta de numerosísimas bases de datos generadas diariamente por diferentes entidades, que el portal filtra, ordena y presenta al usuario. Entre sus contenidos se destacan la información cívica (de organismos oficiales), las noticias y blogs así como información varia (reseñas…). Parte del secreto de everyblock.com reside en su capacidad de filtrado de la información por códigos geográficos. El sitio todavía está siendo ajustado pero es previsible que en la medida en que los motores internos de búsqueda vayan siendo más finos e intuitivos los resultados ofrecidos sean realmente pertinentes. No obstante, en mi opinión todavía falta un tiempo para ello.

Sitios Hiperlocales: noticias (Parte I)

La carrera por el contenido hiperlocal comenzó hace algún tiempo, pero sigue estando en sus albores. La penetración de internet, la abundancia de blogs y la creciente disponibilidad de contenidos sociales son algunos de los factores bottom-up que están permitiendo la creación de unos contenidos generados por el usuario que le son tan necesarios. También existen factores top-down que favorecen la llegada de lo hiperlocal, como son algunas de las tecnologías y herramientas (p.e. Google Maps). Desde el punto de vista técnico destacan las infinitas posibilidades de los mashups que consisten en la integración de informaciones provenientes de diferentes fuentes en una herramienta o aplicación que aporta un servicio o información no existente en las fuentes de las que se nutre. Son aplicaciones webs realizables por usuarios con escasos conocimientos técnicos. Que en el futuro oiremos hablar más de lo hiperlocal parece seguro a juzgar por los numerosos start-ups que intentan abordar proyectos hiperlocales con el objetivo de satisfacer tanto al anunciante local como al nacional y regional que necesitan mayor segmentación geográfica. Si bien es cierto que los resultados que aportan algunos de esos sitios, especialmente los más avanzados técnicamente, son un tanto ingenuos o a veces irrelevantes, la rápida curva de aprendizaje que están recorriendo augura que estamos ante un fenómeno llamado a ocupar un papel significativamente más relevante en el futuro. Es demasiado pronto para conocer todas las variantes que la tendencia puede generar, pero sin duda contribuirá a conseguir algo que los iYP (internet yellow pages) siempre han deseado: combinar bases de datos “duras” con contenido más atractivo. Los huesos del esqueleto (bases de datos) con los músculos y la piel que le dan su atractivo.

Ingresos locales: promociones online

Article Summary: there is a trend of change from conventional advertising spending to promotional because advertisers consider that traditional formats are losing effectiveness.  Although more frequent in the national arena, local businesses and media are exploring this category which, according to Borrell Associates, will surpass all other advertising categories.

El  objetivo de las inversiones de los anunciantes siempre ha sido, y será, conseguir que su producto llegue a más clientes y a fin de cuentas se venda más.  Frente a la saturación publicitaria percibida, los anunciantes han ido explorando nuevas propuestas, algunas de las cuales se han consolidado.  El ritmo de migración hacia nuevas fórmulas no es constante pero durante los últimos años se ha acelerado debido tanto a las nuevas posibilidades como a la insatisfacción de anunciantes que sienten que pagan demasiado por la publicidad, obtienen resultados escasos y se encuentran alejados de sus clientes.  Sin duda ese sentimiento ha estado siempre presente, pero una mezcla de curiosidad por las posibilidades de las nuevas tecnologías y de recursos escasos en tiempos de estrecheces económicas ha estimulado la innovación.   Según Borrell Associates, la actividad de las promociones online suponía en el mercado norteamericano $ 8billones USA pero se triplicará en 2012 hasta representar 22,8 y sobrepasar a todas las otras categorías de publicidad online, incluyendo banners, búsqueda, vídeo…).  Constituye una de esas actividades en las que los aspirantes a líder local de la publicidad deberían estar dando sus primeros pasos.

Elaboración de noticia local

Article Summary: My client was deciding whether to opt for a single newsroom (convergence) or two.  In my opinion the decision has more to do with newspaper and corporate culture, and size of the journal than with other considerations. I chose an example to illustrate this.

Hace unas semanas estaba reunido con un cliente propietario de varios medios de comunicación regionales y preocupado porque sus sitios de internet no conseguían captar el tráfico suficiente como para soñar que algún día sus ingresos online podrían compensar la pérdida de ingresos tradicionales.  La conversación giró en torno a si una redacción única es mejor que dos redacciones separadas.  Mis experiencias me han enseñado que la respuesta tiene más que ver con los recursos humanos existentes, la cultura de la empresa y la visión del consejero delegado que con verdades absolutas.  Para grandes diarios con recursos humanos ‘poco inquietos’, quizá lo mejor fuese comenzar separadamente y hallar poco a poco puntos en común que vayan haciendo entender a todos que se trata de dos medios diferentes con reglas internas de funcionamiento diferentes, a los que hay que tratar organizativa e informativamente de forma diferente.  Si lo online nace junto al medio tradicional, es muy probable que se pierda demasiado tiempo en desencuentros estériles y que el hijo no acabe de descubrir su propio lenguaje (o tarde demasiado).