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I have an unusual title in the world of traditional media -- chief product officer. It sounds right out of Silicon Valley, but it fits what I do. Success in the news business is no longer possible without a keen understanding of the technology behind the journalism. Everyday, I combine my interest in both to help develop, build, market and sell what we make -- a digital platform, magazines, apps and more. Each has distinct features or functionality, or products within products. More than ever, they're aimed at marketers. BrandVoice, our industry leading native ad program, is one of them, and it commands a lot of my time. Last week, I made 10 sales calls in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Native got all the attention -- with BrandVoice in print on everyone's mind as much as digital.
That marketplace reality, perhaps a surprise to many, makes perfect sense. Magazines never really had an audience problem. Readers love them. They like the ease of use, the concise packaging, the feeling of belonging to a larger community that supports a publication's mission. Magazines certainly have an advertiser problem. Blame the industry itself for that. It failed to come up with exciting new ad products to make ad agencies think twice before chasing digital eyeballs, which are easier to target, track and measure. Perceptions may be changing. WPP's Martin Sorrell, the oracle of advertising if there is one, was recently quoted by The Times of London as saying "maybe they [newspapers and magazines] are more effective than people give them credit [for]."
If so, journalists shouldn't expect the single page, four-color or back-and-white ad to save the day. Many have grudgingly accepted content marketing (the lingo used before native ads) on their Web sites. The Wall Street Journal has a 30-person custom publishing unit, different in my mind than native, but a sizable commitment given the warning by its editor that branded content was a "Faustian pact." The New York Times has similar staffing levels, despite protests from its former editor. Its version of native turned the micro sites of yesteryear into single micro pages -- each out of sync with the site's overall consumer experience. The printed page remains hallowed ground, except for advertorials that are more often than not relegated to back-of-the-book oblivion.
FORBES moved everything forward in print -- literally. Over the last four years, we've run 50 two-column BrandVoice stories, all clearly labeled, in FORBES magazine (that compares with 6,000 BrandVoice posts on Forbes.com). Each print piece was placed alongside appropriate editorial. In January, AT&T produced a BrandVoice cover and two-page story for our 30 Under 30 issue that followed our editorial cover. That same month, Fidelity created a two-page BrandVoice graphic that was promoted on the actual cover as part of an editorial retirement package. In the months ahead other BrandVoice partners will do the same.
As chief product officer, I love taking our message into the marketplace, notching up more that 200 sales calls since rejoining FORBES. A few weeks before heading to California, I visited agencies and clients in Europe, with plans to return in June. I'm no sales guy (too much rejection for me), so I thought I'd ask two of the real deal -- Sherry Phillips and Shauna Haras -- a few questions to better understand the ins and outs of selling BrandVoice in print. Here's an edited version of our email exchange:
With the perceived power of digital metrics, how do buyers qualify a print product or place a value on it?
Sherry: Print metrics have been elusive. Since the launch of BrandVoice, we've been upfront about using third party data like Moat and Simple Reach for digital. Now, we finally have similar tools in print, such as AD Measure (GFK/MRI), which measures ad effectiveness – including audience recall, and most importantly, action taken.
Shauna: Based on my experience in Detroit, MRI is key but print value is also based on internal data created by each agency. That can include over-all audience and growth; a magazine’s CPM history; editorial content, other advertisers that appear in a magazine, focus group data; and readership and advertising effectiveness studies. Agencies will never share the intricacies of their internal metrics, which can make the numbers game challenging for print sellers. Beyond the data, each agency will also place a value on the “idea” for an editorial franchise.
Will marketers and their agencies buy into print ideas if they aren't already in the marketplace?
Sherry: Yes. It depends on how compelling the idea is and if it ties into other platforms. Some of our biggest list issues motivate our partners to advertise. As native advertising continues to generate the excitement, treatments like our first ever BrandVoice cover tied to a conference is what attracted AT&T.
Shauna: I agree with Sherry. In Detroit, print isn’t necessarily the driver for the idea purchased, unless it is tied to a large franchise. If the idea is print-only, it needs to be a unique content option -- a positioning-based idea, or an “ownership” option.
There's a lot of talk about falling digital CPMs and the race to the bottom. Is print pricing going the same way?
Sherry: No, the sustainability of print has surprised us all. Marquis brands understand that a growing audience of our caliber commands a premium. CPM’s are questioned less in print when they are tied to a multi-platform program and when high impact or premium positions are included.
Shauna: In years past, we could always anticipate at least a 2-3% rate increase year over year. FORBES has been lucky to receive a 1–1.5% increase with our agencies in Detroit, when other titles in our category have been asked to decrease their CPMs by as much as 18%. If we do not respond with competitive rates, we won't be allowed into the agency’s evaluation mix.
Complicated stuff, but it's the world we live in. I've always believed the mission of journalism is to inform. In my life as a journalist, that meant finding great stories. In my role today, it means developing products to convey information. The business of journalism, the flip side of the coin, is about coming up with innovative solutions for marketers. That requires new product, too. My job as chief product officer is to focus on both -- and make sure it adds up to a rewarding consumer experience.
