The world of print media has changed forever. As devices like smartphones and tablets become more pervasive, so the way that we consume media is changing the economics of the media industry.

  • We access media in many different ways – we are moving away from print towards online: 90% of our daily media interactions are screen based, with only 10% non-screen based (like radio and newspapers)
  • We have a different attitude to paying – we see news as “free”, and we are much more demanding with content we pay for
  • We want our content to be tailored - we are becoming accustomed to seeing personalised content that appeals to our own interests and situation

This move online has created a vicious cycle: cover sales and display advertising spend are falling, so revenues are falling, driving cuts in editorial budgets, making content less compelling, resulting in lower sales. The industry needs to adapt to the multi-channel world, finding new business models allowing growth and prosperity in a digital world – but how?

Democratise your content

We have a more democratic view of the content we consume. We all enjoy reading the news and the editorial that goes with it, but we are no longer happy for this to be a one-way information flow: we want to join the discussion, add our comments, and read the views of others.

Build your community

In a world where news is freely and instantly available, having great content is no longer enough. The future of your business depends on a sustainable relationship with your paying customers – building a community of consumers who return to you, engage with you and who are willing to share their content with you.

Know your customer

A detailed understanding of your customer base is critical when taking decisions about developing new content and services, or generating new products, promotions and pricing; it can also significantly improve your advertising potential.

Create a compelling customer experience

We consume media across multiple formats – Print, TV, online and audio. How we interact is driven by personal choice as well as context (i.e. where we are and what we’re doing). Our consumption across devices may be sequential or simultaneous, with our attention being split between them.

Smartphones are increasingly forming the backbone for this use – they are always with us and can be used almost anywhere.

Build your relationships

Delivering a compelling customer experience across consumers and subscribers needs a comprehensive CRM strategy. It brings together your business processes, your people and your technology solutions to make sure you have a clear view of who your customers are, how you interact with them, and what products and services they wish to buy.

Experiment with new ideas

It is difficult to predict which new ideas will be successful in the digital world, or which is the optimal business model. It is clear though that your business does need to become more agile and responsive to changes in the market and to new customer needs. The winners in this dynamic marketplace will be those that experiment with new ideas in agile ways and can implement the successful ideas rapidly.