NewsCorp
Australia’sstrategy
is togrowprofitable
subscriptionsacross
print and digital.NewsCorpAustralia
spokespersonforitsabilitytotargetconsumers,Lotzsaystraditionalmedia,suchas
newsprint,remainsvaluableforbrandbuilding.
“Publishersshouldberecognisingthattherearedifferentkindsofad
dollarsandstrategicallydothekindofadvertisingthattheycan,andremake
theirbusinessaccordingly,”saysLotz.
“Youhaveadvertiserswhoarewillingtopaymuchlessfordisplayads
onlinethantheywouldhavepaidinprint,andthisisa conditionpub-
lisherscan'tchange.Theadvertisingattentionyougetforanonlinearticle
is justdifferenttowhatwashappeningwitha paper.Thepaperis a good,
it’sanaggregationofa lotofdifferentthings,whereaswhenpeopleclick
ontoanarticle,they'reprobablyreadingonearticle.They'renotreading
a lotofadvertising.”
Recognisingwhatlittleengagementonlineadsoftenattract,advertisers
haveadaptedbyincreasingtheiruseofbrandedcontent.A studylastyear
byWARCandtheMobileMarketingAssociationfoundthatbrandedcontent
hadthemostpotentialforgrowth,with53%ofmarketersplanningtouseit
inthenextfiveyears,comparedto46%whowillbefocusingonmobileweb
displayand42%whosaytheywillusemobile-basedbrandedcontent.
Thedeclineoftraditionaladvertisingandriseofbrandedcontentfor
publishersmeansadvertisingis nowshapingwhatstorieslooklike.It has
become an important revenue stream for publishers, with many now
havingin-housestudiostomeetthe
demand,includingtheGuardian
Labs,VerizonMedia’sRYOTStudio
andBBC’sStoryWorks.
However, Sc hwa r t z Med ia,
publisherofTheSaturdayPaper
andTheMonthly, hasbuckedthis
trendandrejectsallrequestfor
brandedcontent.
“SchwartzMedia’scorepillaris
editorialintegrity,”saysFabien
Beillard, Schwartz Media’s
national sales manager. “We
believetrustiskeytogrowthand
acceptingbrandedcontentwould
berenouncingourcorevalues.”
Despiteknockingbackregular
requestsfrombrands,Schwartz
Mediaincreaseditsadvertising
revenueby17%lastyear.Beillard
saysit’sbeenabletoachievethis
growthduringa difficulttimefor
thewider admarketbyunder-
standingitsaudienceandtargeting
clientsaccordingly.
“Once we explainSchwartz
Media’smodel,mostbrandswillgo
withjusttraditionaladsasthey
understandthequalityoftheaudi-
enceandthehighlytrustedenvi-
ronment,”hesays.
“SchwartzMediarankedasthe
thirdmosttrustedmediaoutletin
AustraliabehindtheABCandSBS
inthe 2019 RoyMorganMedia
TrustSurveywhichmakesusthe
mosttrustednon-broadcastmedia
inthecountryandoneinonly
fouroutletswitha positivemedia
trustrating.”
Thepublisher’srevenueis split
almostevenlybetweenadvertising
andconsumers;with55%coming
fromadvertising and45%from
readers.Thistrendhasbecomethe
newnormforpublishersaround
theworld,whowouldtraditionally
have80%oftheirrevenuecoming
fromadvertisers,withsomenow
evenrelyingmoreonreaderreve-
nuethanadvertisingdollars.
“There'sthisbeautiful thing
with subscriptionswhichisthe
moresubscriptionsyoucansell,the
morecapacityyou'vegottoinvest
injournalism,”saysEisman.
“Thismeansyoucandobetter
journalism,generatemoresubscrip-
tions,andit’sthisbeautifulandvir-
tuouscycle.Themorewesell,the
betterthatworks.Thepast12 months
werecertainlythebestwe've seen in
the last few years.”http://www.adnews.com.au|March 2020 21