The Sun Newspaper UK

No more mass media? Who cares when you have mass brand management A view from a content company Martyn U’ren News International News International Hello – no more mass media, in a Darwin type way the future looks likely to be one dominated by increased fragmentation and only the most adaptable will survive. However at News International we feel we have the right approach to ensuring that our mass brand communication does not become extinct. By Mass brand communication we are implying that our content platforms are brands within their own right and their appeal not restricted to the content Mass media implies a very flat approach to communication that is why we feel our challenge is to provide mass brand management both now and in the future. This presentation is designed to provide you with a brief insight into how we are managing the process of providing content in the future 1 "Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry – the editors, the chief executives and, let's face it, the proprietors. A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it.” it.” Rupert Murdoch March 2006 News International To start with a view from above… At News International we are all very aware of a fragmenting market where technology and consumers are demanding content on their own terms. We are not just sitting back and watching this from a far thinking about the good old days, we are immersing ourselves in the technological developments and becoming masters of our own destiny. 2 Where is the power moving towards? 30,000 25,000 20,000 000's 15,000 10,000 5,000 n9 Ju 6 l -9 Ja 6 n9 Ju 7 l -9 Ja 7 n9 Ju 8 l -9 Ja 8 n9 Ju 9 lJ a 99 n0 Ju 0 lJ a 00 n0 Ju 1 lJ a 01 n0 Ju 2 l -0 Ja 2 n0 Ju 3 l -0 Ja 3 n0 Ju 4 l -0 Ja 4 n0 Ju 5 l -0 Ja 5 n06 Ja News International MON - FRI Readership Internet Readership = 6-day, over 12 month period to date shown. Source: NRS Internet usage = Used in last month. Source: BMRB Internet Monitor Probably the most doom mongering chart that is touted around at the moment. Monday to Friday readership has reduced over the past 10 years whilst the internet penetration has grown and now the internet has over taken total reach, but this is not signifying the end just yet of Newspaper companies 3 Advertiser audience 1996 1996 – 20m News International Source TGI 1996 Newspapers AIR And in 1996 before our impending doom the number of people who interacted with a News International brand was 20m 4 Paper and online % Total Occasions 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% Content in the paper during the morning Content on line in Both in the evening afternoon 0.00% News International Source: IPA Touchpoints. The future looks like to be one of coexistence, For example The Times and The Times Online brands are now existing in a state of wedded bliss and the future looks like one of harmony between the two platforms. 3.4 million now use the paper and online to complement each other. TouchPoints data has given our editorial staff the confidence to develop the 2 products side by side without fear of cannibalisation and advertisers the vision that they can use the same media brand to communicate on more than one platform If we were to make assumptions about the readers we would ascertain that the morning favours the printed version to updated with online developments throughout the day 5.0 5.30 am 6 . 0 0 a m to 5 . 2 6 . 3 0 a m to 5 . 9 a 5 7 . 0 0 a m to 6 . 9 a 2 7 . 3 0 a m to 7 . 9 a 00 0 t 8 . 0 a m o 7 .2 a 0 a to 9 a 8 . 3 m 7 .5 9 . 0 0 a m to 8 . 9 a 2 9 0 a m to 8 9 a 1 0 . 3 0 a to .5 9 a .0 0 m 9 .2 1 0 a m to 9 a 9 . 1 1 3 0 a m to 1 .5 9 a .0 0 1 1 0 a m to 1 .2 9 a . 0 1 2 3 0 a m to 1 .5 9 a . 1 1 2 0 0 p m to 1 .2 9 a .3 0 t 1 . o 5 1 .0p m 1 2 9 a to .2 1.30 pm 1 2 9p .5 2 . 0 0 p m to 1 . 9 p 0 t 2 2 . 3 p m o 1 .5 9 p 0 t 3 . 0 p m o 2 .2 9 p t 3.30 pm o 2 . 9 p t 5 4.00 pm o 3 . 9 p t 2 4.30 pm o 3 . 9 p 5 5 . 0 0 p m to 4 . 9 p 0 p to 2 9 p 5 . 3 m 4 .5 0 t 6 . 0 p m o 5 .2 9 p 0 t 6.3 p m o 5 . 9 p 0 t 5 7.0 p m o 6 . 9 p 0 t 2 7.3 pm o 6 . 9 p t 5 8.00 pm o 7 . 9 p t 2 8.30 pm o 7 . 9 p 0 t 5 9 . 0 p m o 8 .2 9 p 0 t 9 pm o 8 9 p 1 0 . 3 0 p to .5 9 p .0 m 9 1 0 0 p m to .2 9 p 9 .3 1 1 0 p m to 1 .5 9 p .0 0 1 1 0 p m to 1 .2 9 .3 t 0 . p 0p o 59 m 11 p to .2 9 11 p .5 9 p AAQO The Times AAQO Times seeking news/sport online 5 The future will be very different 54 50 49 16-34s’ daily media usage 31 30 20 11 6 4 3 News International Listen to radio Use internet Listen to music W atch Read a daytime TV new spaper Read a book Play computer games Read a magazine Play or w atch sport Go out Source: IPA Touchpoints. however we are accepting that the future will be different and that consumers are going be demanding content on a different format to today. Touch Points has helped to identify the challenge that will be facing traditional media in the future. The challenge for a content providing company such as News international is to manage this change and provide a mass audience that connects with a brand on a regular basis every single day 6 Simple Solution? • Lets move our content online • What content do we move online? • Who will be interested? • How can advertisers use this multiplatform audience? • Can we monetise this audience? • Are they interested in community? News International Many people say the solution is simple and has been a route for some papers within Europe, move all of your content online. However this is not as simple as it sounds, What content do we provide –busy people, extremely complicated lives, if we are not providing interesting relevant content then why should they interact with us? who will be interested – brands have stood the test of time but the impact of technology and the multitude of choice is increasing the pressure on existing media brands to be chosen each day how can advertisers use this multiplatform audience – already making inroads into the effectiveness of the multiplatform. how can News in monetise this audience – with no cover price then how are we going to pay for the editorial staff to provide the content. We are embracing user generated content but cannot rely upon this in the future community – its all the rage, how can we infiltrate the news international communities that exist or develop new ones so the answers are not easy – however we do feel as though we have the right process to investigate change and ensure successful mass brand management for the future 7 Successful Brand Management • • • • Audience Brand Platform Content News International Our funnel of process – Audience – we are lucky to have a huge audience that currently interact with our brands every day Brand – extremely important, if you are going to be the gatekeeper to the content you need to make sure you are a brand that understands its key values through the eyes of its consumers. Its also important to know what brand values advertisers can tap into. Platform – consumers what platform do they want to receive the content on and how can we influence the process moving forwards Content – Differing platforms and developing audiences will provide key challenges for the content we produce 8 How? • InFocus – detailed investigation of our brands and content strengths • TouchPoints – the impact of media fragmentation on our key targets • Online Groups – to understand reaction to future developments News International How is the big question InFocus – a 3000 respondent strong bi annual survey that looks into the brand values, product strengths and position within the market place of our products and those of our competitors. From this information we can ascertain our brands strengths, integral in providing the direction for the future of the brands. TouchPoints – As a key investor into the project were extremely interested in the results. The findings have shed new light on our consumers and how they interact with other media and new technology. NGN for example is extremely interested in mobile communications and youth Online Groups – not just to test the functionality but also provides great insight into the real world attitudes to current trends 9 Why? Protection of the brands Vision for the future News International Why 2 main reasons why we are so keen to ensure successful brand management Protection of the products – in a market that is becoming more competitive we need to constantly measure everything form the value of the brand through to the pulling power of our hard hitting columnists Investment into the paper products is strong, full colour newspapers being printed at new prints is a bold move for a company many people seem to want to write of as a decaying industry. Newspapers will still be around in the future. Vision for the future – all of the research we are conducting has one eye on the future, TouchPoints was a great example of our desire to see into the future and understand how consumers are interacting with technologies 10 Brand Sun Newspaper Brand characteristics Good sense of humour I am happy to be seen with it Appeals to both men and women Captures the mood of the nation Is a paper I find very entertaining Is good value for money Is in tune with my life and values SUN PERFORMANCE I can trust the information it provides News International IMPORTANCE TO SUN READERS Source: InFocus 2006 The Sun Brand laid bare Insight into the Sun brand is key to its future and development – therefore we measure all of our brands values on two key axis Importance to the reader – what are the brand qualities is the Sun reader looking for Sun performance – how well does The Sun perform on these key brand attributes? Entertainment, happy to associate and in tune with the readers values are key brand values that should be monitored through the process and are key attributes to take into the future. Here is one of the key areas where mass market brands should take note – everything move we make is under a brand umbrella that is strong and robust 11 Women’s purchase drivers News TV info/listings Real life stories Celeb news/gossip Entertainment Health/fitness/well-being Fashion/beauty Horoscopes Games/puzzles Food & drink Travel/holidays Football Promotions/competitions Homes/property Sex/relationships Other sport Personal Finance Technology Politics News International 67 50 48 46 42 40 35 31 28 26 25 21 19 16 14 12 9 8 7 5 3 3 Base: AA/QO first choice a popular (7418) % extremely/very important in choice of daily newspaper Motoring Pict. attractive women Business Source: InFocus 2006 Key Content purchase drivers for female readers of popular press. Such insights are about protecting current products and monitoring content demands for the future – real life stories, celebrity news, health and fitness, fashion are all highly influential in choice and as you can see news is not the clear number 1 12 Bizarre – working towards the future News International News international is all about actionable insight and for this purpose I would like to draw upon recent developments to our celebrity news coverage A key sub brand within the News Group Media portfolio – Bizarre 13 Audience • 2.1 Million buy The Sun for entertainment content every day • They actively seek content on celebrity gossip • 46k look at the content via Sun Online every day • 437k unique users • Huge opportunity News International Source: InFocus 2006 / Hit Box data for October 2006 InFocus can teach us the exact pull of our entertainment section every day 2.1m buy the Sun for the entertainment content The audience actively seeks content on celebrity news and gossip Those who look online at present total 46,000 every day or 437,000 every month Therefore we have a huge opportunity to use this audience and promote the power of the entire portfolio 14 Platform 50% 45% 40% 35% % o f re a d e rs 45% 38% Bizarre newspaper readers U35 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 8% 7% 1% Newspapers News International Magazines TV Internet Radio Base: Interested in Celebrity / news and gossip Source: InFocus 2006 Currently the audience for Bizarre still wants their daily dose of celebrity news in paper form. The opportunity is there to increase to both paper and online Since we have compiled this research changes have been made to make the editorial make up of the bizarre team Progress has been excellent and monthly page impressions have risen 19% month on month since the integration of the teams Therefore we seem to be proving that a mixture of successful editorial brand and content - key to providing a multi platform audience 15 Content Drives Traffic – Our Best read story ever online + 180,000 copies + 1,100,000 page impressions (Click for video) News International However we have suspected content is key for a while – at News International we have broken some large exclusives and have used the added flexibility that the web offers us a greater opportunity to increase our reach These exclusives provide good increases to the daily sale however also increase the huge amounts of traffic directed online. Other recent examples included the Marines initiation ceremony, Iraq videos and exclusive pictures of Prince Harry behaving well like Prince Harry 16 Content Drives Traffic – Our Best read story ever online + 180,000 copies + 1,100,000 page impressions (Click for video) News International the story has continued online after it seems to have run its course for now in the paper Macca is now a key member of Bizarre Lonely Hearts Club 17 The Future of Mass Brand Communication – Sun Sessions News International The culmination of our multiplatform offering is Sun Sessions … what exactly do we mean? 18 Being Multi Platform The Sun News International Sun Extra Instant Sun What exactly is a Sun session – it’s the interaction between the consumer and one or all of the elements of our multiplatform offering The Sun newspaper – an average pagination of 78 pages giving you the ‘Best of the Sun’ The Sun online, currently 350 pages is ‘More Sun’ or ‘Sun Extra’ The Sun mobile is about ‘Instant Sun’, sometimes just a simple text message, ie. a sports result, a news headline, a bit of gossip, etc How are we performing to date? 19 Every Day 8.4m people have a Sun session in the UK The Sun Newspaper: 8.2 million The Sun.co.uk: 184k Sun Mobile: 3k News International Source TGI.Net Currently across the Sun portfolio 8.4m people every single day have a sun session on one of our profiles, the challenge is now how at News International we can work with agency’s and clients to prove the value of a multilayered connection with The Sun’s audience 20 • • • • • News International Other readers views Sun Journalist Discussions Profiles Personalisation According to numerous trade spokespeople the future is all based around developing communities. The launch of My Sun will provide sun readers the chance to interact with the brand and each other. Online groups of existing Sun Online users have highlighted exactly how we should develop our online community. We are not looking to provide a service for niche audiences but a national social network The main areas that have been focused on are - interaction with other readers, the opportunity to be classed as a Sun journo, to join in discussions, see other readers profiles and personalisation of content. All of our developments are kept within the brand values of The Sun 21 Successful brand extensions News International A mixture of a successful extension and community into the multiplatform world has been the launch of the Sun Bingo online site. Since launch the game has on average 4000 registered users every day who freely communicate to each other. The average player will stay online for over 2 hours. The community aspect of the site is seen as one of the reasons they keep coming back to each individual chat room. Purple and Pink chat rooms With 50,000 registered users, the site is now the leading online bingo game within the world and is an excellent example of moving our paper based audience online still under the Suns brand umbrella 22 Audience in 2006 News International 1996 – Source TGI.Net20m AIR, Website 4 week reach Newspapers 2006 – 20m So where does this multiplatform approach leave the future for news int, well the internet chart makers always site 1996 as the time when the internet started and at this time 20m people in 1996 A few new sections and many web developments later we are still managing to reach the 20m mark. However this is not a time to reflect as we feel we can grow this figure and carry on providing content how and where consumers want it and through brands they can engage with 23 Future challenge for Mass Brand Communication • Delivering the audience in the future • Working with the advertising community News International So the key challenge is actually quite simple – we have to make sure our key trait is still in place and deliver a brand connection with the 20 million people on a regular basis – the challenge for the advertising community is to join us on this journey and work with us to ascertain the benefit of our multiplatform brands and our vast scale Of course there are people who feel they can see into the future and that mass brand communications are not part of it, however don’t just take my word for it… 24 “It is difficult, indeed dangerous, to underestimate the huge changes this revolution will bring or the power of developing technologies….. For instance, we probably haven’t heard the technologies… haven’ name of what will be the world’s largest company in 2020. world’ Indeed that company may not even exist yet– although I hope yet– that it does, and that I know its name!” name!” Rupert Murdoch News International Rupert is again right and we cannot take the future for granted just like you cannot write off the purpose of mass market brand communication. Thank you very much for your time. 25