CNBC Reports: The Future of New Media.

I just finished watching this CNBC report/debate on whether or not newspapers were going to become extinct (while I was exercising my little heart out on a Stairmaster in my building’s fitness room, complete with cable).

In a self promotional cry, Michael Wolff, Vanity Fair columnist and guest anchor on CNBC, seemed to think so. But, as he said, “I am trying to put newspapers out of business.” His site, Newser.com, a news aggregator, is doing well and only online a year, is on board to show a profit.

When quizzed by CNBC news anchor David Faber, “Who will write the news? A world of bloggers who don’t know anything?” (Love it….), Wolff, who knows he still needs the promotion of mainstream media for his new media model, suggested perhaps each journalist/news anchor would become their own newspaper of sorts, individually writing columns with their own followings.

It’s an interesting thought. What say you, New York Times, WSJ, et al?

Some of my own thoughts, observations: Wolff (watch the video) who deems the articles in the Times “incredibly long and incredibly gasey” annoints his site and others like his, “the ones” who will decide what’s newsworthy and what’s authoritative enough to report on, but in a way people have the time to digest.

So, Wolff, what you are saying is that you are creating a “Readers Digest” online of the news? Or a Headline News in print online?

I am not so sure about any of this myself…..both sides, if you watch the video, have their points. What I will say is that newspapers will have to find a way to get better or die. And I do agree that I don’t want to get my news from one source. While I think in some sections the New York Times, as an example, is very good…..and it does have to do with columnists in particular, the news itself is becoming pretty one sided. If the internet has proven anything, it is that consumers of news and information are demanding that the information they are receiving be more democratic…..since the early days of Napster, industry has had to, finally, get on the side of their audience.

So, Nike, you may want to change your “Just Do It” slogan to be “Do. Or Die.” Who isn’t feeling that pinch these days? Newser.com for one, so he says.

Bookmark

The average launch takes 37.5 weeks, (read that in one of my Marketing Daily Briefs). But that didn’t cover what happened in the course of those 37.5 weeks and whether it was a successful launch or not.

It didn’t even define what a successful launch was….which I would need to define in advance of the launch, at its outset, in fact.

Now that new media has taken center stage, it is the much buzzed about method du jour for marketing, a key step to that successful launch. With all of the options available, wonder what will work and wonder what one needs to pass on by?

For many mass retailers these days, private label is the thing. So, where would new media come in on that one for manufacturers? Keeping a brand name alive actually, while private label trys to take the market share.

But taking it a step further, what’s the product? What’s the goal? These are the questions I like to ask and answer before starting the launch. It gives the process a structure and a destination and also an audience.

Once the audience is determined then you can decide what new media can or can not do for your company/product/launch.

Ashton Kutcher’s goal of hitting 1 million followers on twitter before CNN in and of itself was his product launch, and a terrific success at that. But does that make twitter the end all and be all? Lots of people are jumping onto the twitter bandwagon, almost in unison….I’m not an adopter myself, not yet.

It only makes sense to me if there is something very specific I am working on that needs to generate buzz; some may argue that thought. It also helps to be able to speak so people will hear in 140 characters or less so truthfully it has to be connected to something that someone will bother with. I do see twitter as being a very useful way in which to keep up with one’s friends/network. I recall when there was a run on the market for Beanie Babies (in the 90’s)….twitter would have been very useful because when a mom went into a shop and found out there was a brand new shipment she would make that call to her friend who would in turn call someone else and so on. Twitter could have made that all happen so much faster. Now this is a little in jest, given sometimes that new shipment would be sold out in an hour….I mean how much faster do you need for your customer to be unhappy and frustrated that you don’t have the much requested gift for your their child….15 minutes? Just sayin’

Speaking of humor, Ellen Degeneres has used it very successfully in her pet care product launch for Halo keeping her followers all apprised of when she would be on QVC to sell the all natural, made in the USA, cat and dog food. On top of that she has an auction, Whatcha Sellin’ Ellen, of her clothes (worn for very special occasions) on Ebay and that of her friends, i.e., Drew Barrymore’s Oscar del a Renta dress she wore onto Ellen’s show promoting Grey Gardens. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Humane Society.

All of this works, but especially so in tandem with each other. The links connect so well it’s easy to bounce from one medium to the next, staying connected to the brand the whole time (see Ellen.com). And that’s really where the genius lies, in my opinion wrt marketing. Talk about impressions. There are so many touch points in that process for one, its remarkable; I don’t know, maybe we should all get Ellen’s marketing guy/s name. If nothing else, at least take note.

And finally, in my process of working on this piece, I discovered two blogs, A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC and Logic + Emotion getting into this subject even more in depth but at a different angle and with different perceptions on the same topic, now a new marketing buzz term: earned media.

However, the Search Engine guys would, will, and do argue that paid search must be a part of this process and that leads back to the previous paragraph….check out the two blogs, it’ll be worth your while. Trust me.

Bookmark

I am frantically looking for the signs that things are improving, and in that search am finding that things are.

They may be small indications but they are there. Plus, while it’s good that the media is bringing light to bear on how strained American families, and global economies, are (it’s as if they’ve just discovered it….truth be known, this condition has taken time to get to this point. It’s just that massive numbers are now beginning to feel it so the media, lest they become totally outmoded, must be reporting on the realities).

That said, the clock is ticking forward not stuck as it was in 2008. Now we are moving, through mud perhaps, but at least we are moving forward.

The stimulus money in Our Town, St. Louis, hasn’t shown up as yet. Well, it’s here, but now it has to be distributed (that’s the moving through mud part) so the communities aren’t feeling the impact.

These things take time, I presume, but come on. People are still losing their homes, unable to put food on the table, losing health insurance, so what are we waiting for?

Seriously. The notion that millions, in some cases billions, of dollars are just sitting someplace waiting for some government genius to dole it out properly just sends the hebe jeebies up my spine (grammar visitor, feel free to comment on that spelling).

I’ve just spent some time reviewing the SmallBiz April/May 2009 issue stating the best opportunities for entrepreneurs from Obama’s Stimulus Plan and gotta say, there’s not much there. It’s pathetically puny infact, unless the new head of the SBA, Karen Mills, figures out it’s time to actually fund small business rather than train them.

The SBA is upping their guarantee to 90% on loans but who gets those loans, well that’s gonna be interesting. The beauty of this recession and these massive layoffs is that an entire bumper crop of new businesses and methods and technologies are about to spring up but without the proper funding they’ll go nowhere.

And frankly, IMHO, this is what will save this country. With jobs totally disappearing and the state’s only recommendation is to go back to school (who educated us to get to where we are anyway?) for retraining, oy vey, it’s that good ole entreprenurial spirit that will forge us ahead while the big guys continue to duke it out for the lion’s share of the stimulus money.

I say, forge ahead. No time like the present. Just be sure you are picking an industry that will survive well into the 21st century. My take? Same as SmallBiz, Social Entrepreneurs. For a time they may well be the ones who create the most change. You can read more about them @ www.businessweek.com/go/sb/social. Since money is actually becoming available for these ventures, they have the greatest chance of creating the cutting edge business models that the rest of us can look to for the next great thing (not to mention how not to do it).

I confess, the ideas have merit.

Bookmark