Business network concept. Group of businessperson. AI (Artificial Intelligence).

Personalization, in Weather or Paywalls, Is Gaining Even More Steam in Our New Climate

by Media

Personalization, so prevalent in our lives, has come to climate change in the form of a free New York Times newsletter, Your Places: Extreme Weather. “To our knowledge, we weren’t aware of anybody doing it like that—where you could say, ‘Hey, let me know when one of these blobs, basically, is over a city I care about,’” said John Keefe, their editor of weather data.

“Personalization is essential to success, and content must be personalized throughout the entire subscription journey if you want to convert more users into loyal subscribers,” a Piano blog wrote recently. “Show your users that you understand them; that you’re built for them, and that they will always have access to high-quality content by continuing to engage with your publication.”

According to our 2023 B2B Media Benchmark Report on Revenue and Cost Patterns, over a third of the respondents said that new product development would be a top digital revenue growth driver in the next three years. Also in our report—its research was conducted by Readex Research—one quarter of respondents said that paid content online would be a top digital revenue growth driver.

Although the Times isn’t charging—yet—for Your Places: Extreme Weather, its new newsletter about “extreme weather risks in places important to you,” it’s hoping it engages many more potential paid subscribers. “Sign up today and we’ll let you know when forecasters see a risk of tornadoes, hail, high winds or excessive rain,” they tweeted out.

Readers can select up to four places in the continental United States and receive a morning email if there’s a risk of extreme weather in the next three days. “It’s the latest example of the Times’ push into personalized newsletters, and of the Times’ experimentation with and emphasis on weather data,” writes my new favorite media writer, Sophie Culpepper, in NiemanLab.

Although the newsletter is free, all of the links surrounding it will eventually lead readers to a paywall. You’re never quite sure these days when you click on an article if you’re going to be stopped cold, given a hint of the story, told it’s your second of three articles, or that you’ve reached your monthly quota, etc.

“Subscriber-only stories have led far more people to sign up as subscribers than the monthly limits on our other work,” one editor told us. Meter limits have tended to come down over the years, at five articles per month or lower.

Personalized Paywalls

Though not new, flexible or personalized paywalls seem to be gaining popularity. Covering INMA’s Smart Data Workshop in New York last week, Ariane Bernard wrote about Rohit Supekar, senior data scientist at The New York Times. He’s leading their “work in building an algorithm to personalize the amount of free articles a user may receive from the paywall, looking to maximize both the amount of free engagement and paid conversions.”

The model would differentiate among users, depending on where they are in their journey. It also “identifies the causal effect of free allowance.” I watched a great example of this in a Reuters interview last year with Steven Neubauer, managing director of leading Swiss newspaper NZZ.

“Many paywalls today are very static and inflexible,” he said. “[Early on], we had a number of articles you could read before you had to register. And another number of articles you could read per month before having to pay. But then [around 2014] we brought a lot of flexibility into the system.

“When you register with us, you’re going to have a different experience, see a different pay prompt than when I register with us. And we’re using machine learning today to derive different segments and to identify these patterns of preferences. We calculate a propensity score—so a propensity to buy—for each of our 600,000 registered users [or] for each of our leads every day. So the next day we know, what’s your level of engagement. How hot is this lead?

“Based on this information, we either let you surf around a little longer in the standard roll set, or when we think: ‘Okay, this guy is really hot; he’s now ready to buy.’ Then we’re going to show you your individualized pay prompt. We don’t want to interrupt the user experience on our site. We only want to ask you to pay when you’re ready to pay, in the ideal sense.”

You can get more pertinent trends and information in our B2B Media Benchmark Report on Revenue and Cost Patterns here. It’s the only real-time, empirical research being done on B2B media business operations.

Professional business teleworkers connecting online and working from home for their corporate company, remote working and networks concept

‘Remote Flexibility Opens Up the Doors’; Media Leaders Talk About What’s Next

by Media

“People under 30, they have very specific ideas about where they want to work,” Kevin Turpin, president of the National Journal, told us at BIMS, pointing to the challenges of recruitment and retention. Development of skills is crucial. Can that be done remotely? Other media leaders highlight the added diversity that can be achieved with the bigger pool that remote work offers. One thing is for sure: There’s no one right answer.

Dan Fink, managing director of Money-Media, told me at the end of last year that one of the advantages of their commitment to remote work since the pandemic has been an easier path to staff diversity.

“Robust, remote work has given us greater capabilities to recruit and retain diverse people,” Fink said. “If you look at the data and research, very often it is talented, diverse people who don’t have the family wealth to support certain situations that companies have for a long time required.

“And so, we’re still focused first and foremost in hiring the most talented people, but having the ability to be more flexible allows us to hire the most talented people who may not have been able to meet our in-office requirements in the past. From gender to age to ethnicity, across the spectrum there’s a wide range of diverse factors. And the remote flexibility opens up the doors for a lot of people.”

At our BIMS event earlier this year, Elizabeth Green, CEO of Brief Media, a publisher in the veterinary space, spoke how being able to work remotely has given them a great opportunity to hire people beyond their Tulsa environs. I got the same quote from Anne Holland, head of MJBiz, in relation to their Colorado home office after extolling the virtues of people coming to the office just a couple years earlier.

I didn’t get a chance to ask Fink or Green what their offices look like now. There’s a terrific, about-us video that Money-Media has had on their homepage for a while, showing cool brick walls, collaborative meetings and engaging camaraderie. Something has to give in this new equation.

Like the offices-to-condos trend that we’re seeing now and will probably continue to see in the near future, organizations are looking at their spaces with a new lens.

“We keep rethinking, ‘how do we use our physical space? What moments do we need to be together?’” Gemma Postlethwaite, CEO of Arizent, said during our BIMS CEO panel earlier this year. “So we replaced ‘office’ with ‘studio’ as a destination for clients to make meaningful connections. What are those meaningful connections? We’re challenging team leaders on how we are going to develop our talent”—especially when it comes to strategic planning and responding to ChatGPT.

“Let’s get everyone on to talk about it,” she continued. “Hybrid doesn’t work in my opinion; it goes back to that [idea of] second-class citizen,” where there might be advantages for those in the office. ”What are the meaningful ways to bring people together, to create innovation.”

While she’s “amazed by how much culture can be built around Zoom,” like Turpin, Postlethwaite does worry about the learning curves for her younger staff people. “How can they learn about the people they’re working with?”

As I hear from and talk to more and more people in the industry about how we work, the best creation of culture and diversity remains up for grabs. Do we need to see each other multiple times a week? Can Zoom or Teams meet the growing demands that organizations have for meaningful connections?

“We went fully remote during Covid, and we’re not going back,” GovExec CEO Tim Hartman said. “Gemma’s ‘studio’ is a great idea.” Sure enough, when I interviewed one of GovExec’s rising stars, Travis Wolfe—he won one of our 2022 IMPACT awards for the diversity work he’s done there—he said, “My second bedroom is now my office, and I’ve come to love it dearly. I didn’t realize until after we stopped [commuting] how much more I get done. I can never go back to it.”

“We have [staff] in 40 states,” Endeavor Business Media CEO Chris Ferrell said. “We were a third remote before the pandemic, and now we’re 75%. We’re subleasing space and downsizing as leases come up. It’s changed the way I work.” He has two chairs—one gives him access to remote meetings. That’s now the one he sits in most of the day. Being remote “lets me participate in a lot more meetings; we have a Weekly Coffee With Chris for 10 or 12 employees who I usually don’t get to talk to and hear their concerns, what’s going well. We’re not going back.”

“We’re in the office one day a week,” said Tim Andrews, CEO of Advertising Specialty Institute. “I’m more interested right now in how we can better leverage Zoom with our customers? Incorporating it with a customer-service perspective.”

Makes sense.

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SIIA Names Interim President Chris Mohr to Permanent Role

by Press Release

Washington DC. June 7, 2023 — The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) Executive Committee of the Board of Directors announces that interim President, Christopher Mohr, has been named permanent President. Mohr has been in the interim role since July 2022.

“The Board is excited that Chris has accepted this position and looks forward to a long and productive relationship,” said Board Chair Steve Emmert of RELX Inc. “Chris has worked diligently to move the Association forward and has demonstrated outstanding leadership during this time. We are looking forward to continued growth and success under Chris’s guidance.”

“It’s a privilege to have been given this opportunity to lead the incredible team at SIIA,” said Mohr. “It is a very exciting and challenging time in the global business of information and SIIA will continue to work to support our members as the voice for the information industry.”

Mohr joined SIIA in 2015 as Vice President for IP and General Counsel, where he served as the organization’s chief legal officer and front-facing person to Capitol Hill on intellectual property issues. In that role, he has developed policy positions and strategies as well as testifying on SIIA’s behalf before Congress, state legislatures and federal agencies on issues of critical interest to the association and its members. Mohr created and leads SIIA’s Strategic Filing Program, designed to take a long-term approach to the organization’s strategic policy goals in patent, copyright, privacy, tax, patent, and other areas, with particular focus on the federal appellate and Supreme Court docket. In addition to these duties, as chief legal officer, he coordinated closely across SIIA Divisions to provide counsel on governance, transactions, antipiracy, and litigation strategy.

Mohr came to SIIA following eighteen years in private legal practice with the firm Meyer, Klipper & Mohr, PLLC where he represented his clients on a variety of issues including intellectual property, privacy and constitutional rights.

nutrition

‘I’m So Much More Than That’; 3 EXCEL Awards Finalist Videos Show Power of Good Storytelling

by Media

In a survey of marketers last year, 59% said a video strategy would help them improve their results, providing direction and focus. The three finalists in the 2023 EXCEL Awards category for Video – Single Entry (Promotion) are most likely in that 41% minority because these are three superior videos, all using members to tell their moving stories.

“When people ask me what I do,” a woman with a hint of a foreign accent begins, “I tell them: ‘I’m a school nutrition professional.’ Sometimes they’re like, ‘You’re a lunch lady.’ And I want to tell them, ‘I’m so much more than that—feeding thousands of kids day after day takes a lot more than what you may think.’”

So begins this 90-second video from the School Nutrition Association, titled Bring More to the Table, a finalist for the EXCEL Awards in the category of Video – Single Entry (Promotion). The EXCEL Awards Gala takes place the evening of June 27 as part of our AMPLIFY 2023 summit here in Washington, D.C. (Get tickets here.)

The video gets even better as woman number two enters: “You have to be a budget boss, a logistics lion, a menu maverick…” Now the people come in rapid-fire and with flair. “An apple ‘artiste,’ a rigatoni rebel, a wrap wrangler (twirling a make-believe rope), a schedule scout, a supply chain sorcerer, an equipment extraordinaire, a warehouse wizard, a pizza pilot, a culinary composer, a salad bar superstar…” Then all nine, diverse-in-every-way people gather. “We do everything. We feed kids. Become a school nutrition professional.”

I’m in.

In CMI’s 2022 Content Marketing Video & Visual Storytelling Survey, 52% of respondents said that videos ranging from 1-3 minutes long have been most successful for their content marketing. Almost half of respondents say they create videos to raise brand awareness. When planning videos, marketers say their two primary goals are to create a human connection (37%) or inform their audience (37%).

Or, in the case of this video, both. It’s also said that opting for real employees over hired talent or voice actors can go far to connect your audience with people behind your organization.

About 74% think their organization needs to invest more in video. Nearly 70% say they produce their videos in-house, and 55% say they have the proper tools to do this. But 32% say they need to invest more in production equipment and editing tools.

The second finalist in this category is a powerful video from the ALS Association titled Whatever It Takes: Ken Paves’ Story. We see beautiful scenes of Paves as a child with his mother, and then today caring for her and carefully cutting her hair.

“My mom was always there for me and always reminded me and told me that I was enough,” begins beauty expert/hairdresser Paves. “Today it’s just a little different. We received a phone call confirming that my mom had ALS. It felt to me, like a death sentence, so we avoided it. Until now. My mom and I have learned to find happiness in ALS.”

Amazingly, it’s only a minute long. At the end, he says, “The act of finding and recognizing beauty together is still there. Together we can end ALS.” An addendum below the video lets us know that Paves’ mother Helen passed away on May 1 and thanks them “for all they have done to help us raise awareness of ALS in the community.”

The third finalist in this category comes from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association—their 2022 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions Opening Video. This video comes in longer at 4 minutes, but the time is used wisely, highlighting stories of people attending the event.

A woman says she was a doctor for 10 years and hadn’t heard of PH until her daughter was diagnosed with it. “That experience shaped our future.” Another woman pledged to make a coloring book of children doing everyday activities while wearing their oxygen masks. The next shot shows kids drawing in that book. A third woman got into UCLA’s School of Nursing and “at orientation I was on continuous oxygen. I graduated at the top of my class in 2020.” A return attendee said he is “excited for [the] chair yoga” they do. “It overwhelms me what you all do. It literally saved my life.”

A video like this can serve as an incredible marketing tool for future events—this one is held every other year. The PHA 2022 theme was “PHacing the Future Together” and was their first in-person since 2018. “Watch the highlights to experience the fun.” Indeed.

 

Money Media Equity Award 100-149

‘It Makes Us a Better and Stronger Organization’: How Money-Media’s Diversity Work Pays Big Dividends

by AMPLIFY 2023Media

After speaking about how their DEI efforts have transformed the organization both recruiting and retention-wise—efforts that won Money-Media a 2022 SIIA IMPACT Award—Dan Fink, managing director of the Financial Times company, spoke about the difference it also makes in the journalism they do.

“Our submission was based on how we have developed DEI among our staff, but that’s not where it ends for us. Money-Media is trying to be holistically a diverse organization. [Using] diverse sources in our reporting has been a priority. The editorial team has a committee that has worked and continues to work on these issues, supporting journalists’ efforts to build a diverse source network.

“It’s also about how you talk about this topic in your content,” Fink added. “All the companies that we serve are dealing with the same issues. They are trying to diversify their staff. They are trying to recruit and retain diverse employees, and this is a priority for many of the staff in their organizations.”

Money-Media will be sharing their secret diversity sauce in a Main Stage Showcase at our upcoming AMPLIFY 2023 summit in Washington, D.C., June 27-28—titled Measuring IMPACT: How Money-Media Is Moving the Needle on Diversity. Editor-in-Chief Hannah Glover will be headlining that talk. (Check out the full agenda here.)

It has been a six-year journey for Money-Media. Last year they hit a milestone of being over 40% ethnically diverse and almost half female. This commitment to diversity was inspired by strategies adopted from various industries, including insights from a recent workshop on global recruitment trends, where an expert highlighted how the best overseas bookmakers have successfully integrated diverse hiring practices to reach untapped talent pools. To foster this environment, they require elements such as: having at least one woman in every hiring process; being transparent with staff about company diversity metrics; posting openings on job boards that target diverse communities; building consensus among the management team on diversity initiatives; and launching an annual fellowship program for candidates from underrepresented communities.

In a Q&A conducted after winning the IMPACT Award, Fink spoke about the effort needed.

“It’s harder in some ways to diversify your source network because you’re dependent upon outside parties, and they may not always prioritize diversity the way we do. Nonetheless, saying to a PR rep, “I’ve spoken to so and so five times. Is there anybody else I can speak to?” at least gives you a chance that the next person will be diverse.

“I’m not personally a journalist, but our journalists are developing techniques they can use to try and diversify their source networks,” Fink continued. “Networking is another way, just being out there. Especially now, with in-person gatherings having been restarted, it’s easier to network deliberately to develop diverse sources.”

Here’s more from my Q&A with Dan Fink:

RL: How does the work you’ve done on diversity make you a better organization? We see all the numbers and know that it’s the right thing to do. But how do you see it play out?
Dan Fink: It makes us a better and stronger organization on multiple levels. On one level, there’s a huge body of research out there that says, diversity makes companies better because you have more viewpoints, and you appeal to a wider audience. That’s one way we benefit, especially as a news company, when you’re interpreting the events that take place in the world, and you’re reporting on them. On another level, valuing diversity is a societal force that affects an organization’s ability to recruit and retain people. Being a diverse organization makes it easier to recruit all people that value diversity. So, on a tactical level, we are also benefiting in our recruitment and retention of talented staff.

You mentioned a third level?
Yes, the third way [our diversity mission] has helped us is in a culture of responsiveness to staff. We survey our staff every year, and we take it very seriously. We have a very specific process that we use, so that we get a very high response rate and then take specific actions. It  was feedback from this staff survey six years ago that originally prompted our action on DEI. That’s the reason we are ahead of the curve. Being a company that responds to the priorities of its staff also supports a strong culture.

Makes sense. Have there been a couple of champions at Money-Media besides yourself? Or is it really just a total team effort?
It’s really been a team effort. There are certainly champions, but we made so much progress because the original champions turned into a very strong and well-functioning team effort across the board and a shared value across the organization.

How has your new commitment to remote work helped?
Robust, hybrid work models have given offshore gambling platforms like Xem tin thể thao và casino tại Complete Sports greater capabilities to recruit and retain diverse talent. If you look at the data and research, very often it is talented, diverse individuals who don’t have the family wealth to support certain situations that companies have long required. By offering flexible work arrangements, Complete Sports can attract top-tier professionals who are passionate about sports betting and online casino gaming but may not have been able to meet traditional in-office requirements. From gender to age to ethnicity, across the spectrum there’s a wide range of diverse factors contributing to the company’s success. This flexibility not only enhances team diversity but also drives innovation and ensures that the platform remains competitive in the dynamic offshore gambling industry.

I’ve known you for a while, and I know this has always been important for you. But what gave you the push to really move the needle forward?
I would give credit to my staff. The feedback we got on those surveys was eye-opening to me. I was probably a little too idealistic in my mind and just believed the world was maybe functioning better than it was. But the feedback prompted me to take a closer and more deliberate look at the state of affairs, and it opened my eyes to the fact that much more needed to be done. When I started looking at what steps we could take as an organization, I found that there were really a lot of tools we could use to improve our diversity. And I became a champion of it myself. But it was my staff and the feedback that I got on those original surveys that prompted me to recognize that this was a bigger issue than I had understood it to be.

Can you talk briefly about your fellowship program?
We started it two years ago. It’s designed to bring diverse people into our organization and into the business journalism industry. We contacted professors from HBCUs and diverse universities with journalism programs, asked for candidate referrals, and presented to their students about business journalism and the benefits of a career in this field. They had told us that their students – like most people in that age group – have a relatively low interest in business journalism and felt that finance and the other industries we cover don’t seem relatable. They said their students want to cover social issues, sports, entertainment, luxury and culture. So we showed how impactful our work is to the economy and to the world, and to communities of diverse people. We created these two one-year fellowship positions for students right out of college. And we essentially give them the experience they need to be able to be hired in a permanent role here. The goal is that by the end of that year, the fellows will apply for and get a permanent position. But even if it doesn’t work out, they get one year with Money-Media and amazing training.

Sounds terrific. How has it gone so far?
Right now we have our second duo of fellows on staff. The fellowship positions are full-time with salary and benefits. They are one-year positions, and we have an internal program that moves the fellows around, so they work on different publications with different editors. They gain experience doing different types of reporting and develop a variety of skills. With the first two fellows, one moved on, but the other moved into a full-time position and is still with us today.

Thanks Dan. Again congratulations on the IMPACT Award!