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One big thing Plucky companies are taking on the big guys, with Nativo launching their self serve branded content tool and Polar with Washington Post launching Zeus Prime, enabling buying direct social display from publishers. Both efforts show the commitment but also collaboration to bring new solutions to market. Hats off to all. But the big guys aren’t slowing down either, with Amazon launching sponsored display as… Continue reading
One big thing This week we saw fresh investment in Group Nine and Atlas Obscura, both showing promise that strategic partners see in the space. The common thread between the two companies is a good mix of uncorrelated revenue. Atlas Obscura has branded content, the Airbnb investment will rapidly grow ‘affiliate-like’ revenue and book deals. Group Nine has tv/content deals with The Dodo, Facebook revenue with NowThis and then affiliate with Thrillist. As well as its first book deal with… Continue reading
One big thing I’ve been thinking about Barbell strategy this week. When people invest short term and long term. Or a big consumer media company partners with a tiny company. Or the mix between high and low risk assets. It seems in a digital world, the middle is being squeezed out. If it’s sizable, it becomes a portfolio item in a bigger company. Otherwise its small and niche. As it relates to readers, it seems… Continue reading
For August and September I’m holding “office hours” on Fridays. Simply sign up for a 20 minute slot to have a chat with me about trends, best practices, what we are seeing in the market and even do some trouble shooting. One big thing What does the ViacomCBS deal mean for native & content? You may recall that Viacom’s Advanced Marketing Services (AMS) was expected to double this year. And that… Continue reading
One big thing Subscription is not all that it seems for Tim Ferriss. The popular podcast host (400m+ downloads) last week announced a six month trial of no ads and shifting to a subscription model. Citing that the effort to filter and sign on advertisers was high and that it could be swapped to investing more in the content. A brief week later he changed tacts, his fans said they actually like the ads because… Continue reading
One big thing I spent some time in LA this week, chatting with a cross-section of content creators. The consensus was that Netflix has been a net positive for the ecosystem. One takeaway was how everyone is on the hunt for the next great content idea/series. Where and how can they get an edge on the next cultural moment? The competition and hunt for that (and data) is more fierce than ever. It’s completely analogous to the competition for… Continue reading
Happy Friday! For readers in the US hopefully a quiet Friday ahead (if you’re not already out). One big thing Catching up with colleagues this week there were a few jokes about sketches, that is the crude drawings that form the backbone of bringing a concept to life. They may be crude but effective. Effective communication, this is a literal drawing of what I want. In a multimedia, digital world, the need for effective communication is ever more pressing. Continue reading
One big thing Will everything online move to a pure pay for performance model? It strikes me that as retargeting has taken a hit on publisher revenues it’s been buoyed by affiliate content drives. This precision reduces the take but will keep focus on what actually works. Notable stories this week Mark Zuckerberg penned quite the long piece on privacy. It is worth reading, to get it straight from the source. ^ Unrelated but at… Continue reading
