digital transformation iapa 1106

PART 1

Social Media Revolution in Bakersfield, California

The Bakersfield Californian

Independently owned for 140 years. 110 years in one family.

The only paper of its size in Bakersfield (60,000 daily circ., 277,000 readers weekly).

Recognized around the world for risk-taking and innovation.

Media Trends & Challenges

1. Media fragmentation: new competition from cell phones, internet, satellite TV & radio

2. More consumer choice & control: wide variety of sources for news and information.

3. Media habits changing: consumers now seek convenience and customized content.

4. Shift from mass to niche: Traditional media cannot effectively be everything to everyone.

Technology has dramatically changed the media landscape.

A shift from mass media to niche strategy

How many still think about “the media”

Dad: newspaper

Kids: TV

Mom: Off the radar

Or put another way ….

People “graze” through the day from different sources. And they increasingly put content back into it.

The actual media landscape

“A Network of Niches”

Since 2004, we’ve used market research to evolve our company from a mass media, print-centric business model to a network of niches.

We’ve leveraged our expertise in local news and unique content to produce targeted digital-print hybrid brands that connect advertisers with their desired niches. 8 different social networking sites. Flagship site Bakersfield.com, plus niche sites for the music,

neighborhoods, Latinos, moms and newcomers. The network now drives over 4 million views / month

Lots of Activity

Activity to date (March 2009): On 8 sites, we have 53,000

user profiles (20% of market) with 3,618 blogs.

Added 100,000 individuals to our audience who we didn’t reach before 2004.

Bakersfield’s population is only 300,000.

How people use our networks

Same tools, different usage

Bakersfield.com: Older users. Very “bloggy,” news and current events are the drivers.

Bakotopia.com: Youth focus. Very social, with lots of profiles, tags and social networking.

BakersfieldVoice.com: Families with kids who post articles and photos.

Bakotopia Web site: High audience engagement, low direct revenue from online ads.

Bakotopia Print editions: Moderate revenue from print ads that appear next to content that users posted online.

Interests help like minds connectFind other fans of ska, running, tattoos in a few clicks.

Friends grow the audience

Blogs bring in content, news, fun

Band radio attracts music fans

On Bakotopia, bands upload streaming music to their profiles.

We approve new tunes, then keep our hands off.

Best stuff shows up on home page, in “Bakotunes” Podcast.

In 2007, we started selling a CD compilation for $5. (Yes that’s right -- we made money on free music).

Listen to Bakotopia Radio

Local Business Directory

Bakersfield’s Inside Guide Provides a page / profile for every local business in

town, and lets consumers rate and review based on their experiences.

It’s a directory, and a social network Consumers can also become a “friend” of the local

business, opening up the possibility of direct marketing to VIP customers.

It is much easier to sell advertising on local business profiles than on personal profiles.

Newsroom revolution In 2008, newsroom refocused to be “web first” for everything.

News department heads, now “team leaders” with groups of reporters, post reporters’ stories to the Web in blogs.

Reporters converse with readers as they blog. The readers help direct focus of the stories.

Night copy editors focus on polishing headlines and other fine-tuning, rather than raw story posting.

Newsroom revolution

Newsroom revolution

Newsroom revolution

Newsroom revolution

Rethinking print

Californian moved to tabloid format in August, 2009.

Top billing for citizen journalism and “social media scrapes” from Facebook, Twitter, Myspace.

Back page features Classifieds as content.

Social Media Scrapes

Classifieds as content

The Online Audience Paradox

Social nets with print components are effective, but only the print side generates significant revenue.

Most revenue comes from print ads in magazines that feature user content.

Online-only brands struggle to make anywhere near as much as those with print.

We began to ask ourselves ...

How could we replicate the success of Bakotopia (online + print) 100 times, or 1,000 times, without 100 or 1,000 more people?

How could we leverage the audience's desire to share content online, and translate that to print as well?

Which leads us to …

PART 2:

Printcasting

What is Printcasting?

Knight News Challenge project that democratizes print publishing process. Objectives:

Let anyone create a printable magazine.

No software or design skills required. Use your own content, or remix content from others.

Make print advertising easy, fun & affordable.

If you can e-mail or post to a blog, you can place ads that appear in printed magazines.

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Make a magazine like this …

… or this …

… or this!

How Printcasting Works

Other ways to look at it

E-mail newsletter tool that bridges to the real worldDelivers content that’s instantly web-friendly & print friendly.Promote on your site with widgets, or print out to distribute at local events to market your site.

An aggregator & curator for your site’s contentMap different topical feeds into various publications.

Self-serve ad tool

Advertisers click a button, fill out a form and enter credit card. Done!Ads start at $10 per edition.Publisher can mark up rate.

Who needs a magazine today?

We (the digerati) say “print is dead.” That may be true of large newspapers, but niche, grass-roots print publishing is here to stay.

At a hyperlocal level – or an event (like this conference) – print is still a convenient way to reach your audience, even if content is online. Look at your printed program.

Printcasting makes that easier and cheaper by tapping into digital content, and making an automatic bridge between atoms and bits.

Where interest is coming from

Bloggers and local thought leaders Get a “smart flyer” to promote their blogs’ content at

coffee shops and meetups.

Community organizations Clubs, schools, neighborhood associations, churches,

and even local libraries.

Local businesses Realtors, financial advisors, home heating companies

already send print newsletters.

Membership organizations Membership organizations have newsrooms and send

magazines now. This offers another way to do that which also works as an e-mail newsletter.

Hyperlocal example: AndynoiseLong-time blogger in Bakersfield who covers local cross-country races.

Has 60,000 photos of H.S. student races, and posts stats online.

Feeds content into magazine that he passes out at the races. Last week, he passed out 500 at an invitational.

Place an ad in his mag, and his kids’ team can get new running shoes.

Andynoise

Andynoise Magazine

Global audience

Publishers come from all over the world 23 countries, and 28 states in U.S.

Print, Online, Mobile, and … ?

Every Printcast has an automatically generated site that’s promoted from the print edition. Looks great on home printer, and … Looks great on an iPhone, and will only

get better. Future: Kindle, ePub, and who knows

what else.

In other words, it’s “Printable-casting”

Print view

Subscribe to get e-mail updates of new editions.Download and print to read on the go.Talking to printer manufacturer about automating printing in the morning.

Web-friendly view

Like an RSS reader view, with content chosen by an editor that can be anyone.

Embeddable widgets

Bakersfield example

All Participants Share Revenue

Every category has a base ad price which publishers can mark up.

Revenue is shared with every participant.

60% to Printcast publishers.

30% to content contributors.Proportionate to content use.

10% to the network.

Printcasting Around the World

Publishers come from all over the world– 23 countries, and 28 states in U.S.

Partnerships

Printcasting started in Bakersfield, but we want it to be used wherever it makes sense.

By December, we want 5 partners in different cities who will use and promote Printcasting in different ways.

First partner: MediaNews Group in Denver.

In discussions with partners in Bay Area, Washington, D.Cc, Chicago and San Diego.

Printasting en Espanol?

We already have users Printcasting from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, and are exploring a “Printcasting en Espanol” offering.

We need a partner in a Spanish speaking country who wants to experiment with Printcasting in this way. Maybe your newspaper?

See it in action

See the screencast video athttp://vimeo.com/6618958

Gracias!Get this presentation online at http://slideshare.net/pachecod

Let me know if you have any questions, thoughts or feedback!

Dan PachecoFounder303.465.5560dan@printcasting.com

Try Printcasting yourself: http://www.printcasting.com