Digital Innovation Series
Innovating in a Rapidly
Changing Landscape
Roundtable Explores
Trends and Challenges
SEEING WHAT ' S POSSIBLE
digital innovation
series digital innovation dig
ital innoThe Digital Innovation Series traces the trends that are
driving the digital-innovation imperative that has led
publishers to scrutinize and update their capabilities.
Digital Innovation Series
Innovating in a Rapidly Changing Landscape: Roundtable Explores Trends and Challenges
F O R E WA R D
Changing audience expectations, entry into new markets, and the need to retain and bolster advertising
revenue are causing media organizations and publishers of both traditional print publications and digitalonly platforms to have to continually innovate and at the same time build strong operational disciplines
that can be scaled to keep up with demand.
Innovation in that quickly evolving and complex landscape requires new approaches to reach and influence
the always-on consumer. Innovation requires taking new and progressive approaches to partnerships,
products, and strategies. It also requires commitment to building engagement through more-extensive
collaborations between creative agencies, media agencies, and technology providers in order to enhance
the consumer experience. How those approaches get adopted and managed will vary significantly
depending on both where an organization is in its development or life cycle and what the organization is
trying to achieve.
With so much in a state of change, the role of digital marketing partners must evolve from being that of
straightforward service providers to being partners that offer insights on key trends, intelligence about
new innovations, and informed guidance on the best ways to navigate the transformations now under
way. During the first quarter of 2015, Theorem held a roundtable discussion in collaboration with the
Interactive Advertising Bureau to begin to uncover the critical enablers—and the major roadblocks—that
could affect the transformation imperative. We analyzed three overarching topics: industry disruption,
organizational change, and ideal partnerships.
The discussion included leaders from across the digital spectrum—from organizations just starting their
digital transition to digital natives that are reinventing the consumer relationship. The conversation was
lively, and the key takeaways were both confirming and in some instances, surprising. The personal
names and company names of individual contributors have been blinded so that participants would have
the freedom to speak with maximum candor, but the themes were clear.
•The marketplace is more digital, more innovative, more fragmented, and yet more
interconnected than ever.
•All organizations are struggling to respond to the shifts in the market and are
seeking ways to organize their needs into a unified technology stack so that
initiatives can be prioritized, streamlined, and measured.
•Today, with dozens of potential intermediaries between advertisers and publishers,
the value chain has morphed into a maze of myriad associations and solutions.
This report summarizes those key takeaways and sets the stage for future discussions. Our hope is that
this roundtable summary helps advance the industry’s understanding of where we’re headed directionally
and helps suggest the potential routes to get there.
Tell us what you think by e-mailing me at jkulkarni@theoreminc.net.
Jay Kulkarni,
Founder and CEO
Theorem www.theoreminc.net
Digital Innovation Series
Media organizations and publishers are struggling to maneuver
through an increasingly complex and rapidly changing landscape.
Disruptive advances are forcing companies to be innovative
and progressive with their business models, to form strategic
partnerships in order to respond to new market opportunities and
pressures, and to assess their own core competencies and what
organizational changes they need to make to remain competitive.
To understand major client pain points and what companies are looking for from their
digital marketing partners, Theorem brought together a broad spectrum of media and
publishing companies—from organizations at the start of the digital journey to digital
natives that are reinventing the consumer relationship—for a roundtable discussion.
The forum, held during the first quarter of 2015, uncovered the enablers and
roadblocks to advancing the business model by focusing on three principal topics:
industry disruption, organizational change, and ideal partnerships. This white paper
explores the major takeaways from the forum.
The Roundtable gathered perspectives
from a broad spectrum of media and
publishing companies.
Some of the standout findings reinforce secondary research, including:
The marketplace is more digital,
more innovative, more fragmented,
and yet more interconnected.
Theorem www.theoreminc.net
Organizations are battling it out to
respond to the market shifts and are
seeking a clear, unified technology
approach to enable campaigns to be
prioritized, organized, and measured
– yet no one team is responsible
for experimentation; no team is
accountable for tracking technologies
and understanding their impact. And
they just don’t have the time to learn.
Digital Innovation Series
Industry Disruption
INDUSTRY
GROWING DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
PROGRAMMATIC
VIEWABILITY
DIGITAL VIDEO
M&A
NATIVE CONTENT
MOBILE
DATA
DISRUPTION
Rapid changes in the digital landscape are having a significant impact on how
agencies and publishers need to operate, innovate, and stay up-to-date with market
trends. Among the issues roundtable participants raised were:
The rate of
technology innovation
increases disruption
and standard
industry measures
remain elusive.
New digital channels are emerging at a rapid rate, requiring organizations
to decide what they should invest in and how these new content distribution
channels should be managed, branded, and monetized. All too often, by the time a
company has adjusted its strategy to a new development, it is replaced or updated.
Companies have to determine which of the many channels make sense based on a
solid business case: do they leverage video and blogs, adopt interactive games, or
deploy programmatic media? Do they use SMS mobile marketing, display media?
Should they deploy OTT (over-the-top content, where media are delivered from
provider to viewer over the Internet independently of the viewer’s ISP), which several
television channels have embraced. The strategic choices are almost limitless and the
more agile competitors will have a clear path for growth and drivers for new revenue.
Programmatic advertising is growing rapidly and is now a major part of
the digital advertising economy. Programmatic can mean new revenue streams for
some and a threat for others. More broadly, there is lack of consensus around what
programmatic means, suggesting a need for internal education around the term, its
capabilities, and in which digital channels programmatic makes most sense—display,
mobile, video, email, etc. Sitting alongside programmatic is the issue of local versus
national campaigns. While local is more complex, it needs to be considered because
the one-size-fits-all messaging often associated with national won’t work with all
brands. Also of top concern is the issue of how sales teams are compensated
and rewarded and how programmatic fits into these packages. Since the lines
between programmatic and traditional demand channels have been erased at some
publishers, some are taking an equal compensation stance, but everyone is evolving
in some way.
The nascent metric of viewability is creating concern. Depending on the
analytics source – for example, Nielsen, comScore, and Moat—measurements as
to what constitutes a viewable ad differ. Pressure from agencies to guarantee 100%
viewability is considered unfeasible, and creates concerns that failure to fulfill agency
demands will result in revenue losses. Metrics about consumers was another hot
topic: how can data around consumer behavior be morphed into ways to market to
consumers? How to assess which campaigns work and which don’t? And how do
you make the most of new platforms to target consumers?
Theorem www.theoreminc.net
Organizational change
T W O
•
T H R E E
Digital Innovation Series
Shifts in the media landscape are leading companies to think about how best to
respond in terms of organizational structure and positioning. Participants discussed
some notable pressures and changes taking place at an enterprise level:
•The coming together of old styles and new styles is a pressing challenge
for many publishers: how do you best combine the strong relationships that
old-school media executives have built with staying on top of rapid digital
developments? And how do you ensure you have the specific expertise needed?
•Compensation is critical to motivating employees and change in compensation
structure is considered necessary. For example, those focused on data and
analytics say this is an area that traditionally has not offered commission, but that
needs to change. In light of the rapidly changing environment, annual performance
reviews are seen as outdated.
•Hiring practices are changing. Companies are not only using LinkedIn to
recruit but also Facebook, particularly when looking for a specific skill set.
COMPENSATION/
PERFORMANCE
Everyone is seeking
Performance
is measured
every quarter,
not every
year
OR
Old-school
order takers
meets nimble
new media
IZATIO
N
AN
G
AL
new ways to help
SHIFTING PARADIGMS
their organization
respond to shifts in
CH
the market.
STAFFING MODELS
Social and digital
profiles can help
uncover new talent
AN GE
CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY
WORK/CULTURE TRAINING
Consumers demand
interconnected,
experience-driven
marketing
Newly automated
workflows and improved
QA are daily drills
•As millennials have joined the workforce, values are changing. Employees
want more frequent reviews in line with rapidly changing goals, they want less
rigid management styles, and they’re seeking performance reviews based on
delivery to project goals not hours on the job.
•The workplace culture is becoming a priority, with younger employees
seeking an interactive experience, a community-based workplace – aka Google –
and the ability to leverage mobile.
•The relationship with the customer is a priority, as is identifying and
targeting the right customer.
Digital Innovation Series
Ideal Partnerships
Given the technology and organizational challenges companies face, their
relationships with partners become all the more important, and what
participants are seeking from partners has changed.
•A top priority across the board is a strategic partner who is accessible,
understands the client’s specific needs, and can adapt their services and
agreements according to the current need.
•Companies want a partner who will help the business tackle challenges as
they arise, who can bring big ideas to the table and not simply respond to an RFP.
•Expertise in data and analytics is vital as it’s an area where most organizations
lack the skill set.
•The best partnership is one that allows companies to respond to the external
and internal challenges and changes they are facing, from delivering the right
message to customers, to data and analytics, to supporting an integrated
experience across platforms.
RISK
Help us control the
revenue stream
COMPENSATION/PERFORMANCE
Performance is measured every
quarter, not every year
Partners that see the
big picture, bring
forward ideas, and
are able to adapt will
rise to the top.
SCALE
Keep us competitive
in this M&A
environment
IDEAL
PARTNERSHIPS
CONTENT
Support Video,
Mobile, Local
experiences
DATA
Bring metrics
to the table
CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY
Find the right customer
INTEGRATION
Connect the platform,
the content, the data,
and the revenue
Responding to Market Challenges
By learning where the greatest pain points lie, Theorem ensures a strategic,
client-focused approach to managing the evolving challenges industry faces.
Service flexibility combines with clear direction on data, analytics, digital
channels and platforms.
Theorem www.theoreminc.net
SEEING WHAT ' S POSSIBLE
973 665 1700 I www.theoreminc.net
26 Main Street, Chatham, New Jersey
Theorem delivers a full range of flexible, tailored solutions to help organizations cost-effectively and efficiently
manage digital marketing initiatives across the entire digital landscape. They enable rapid activation of programs
through a model that leverages domain specialists, digital best practices, and a deep digital track record. Theorem
optimizes digital programs by seeing the full picture—getting clients on the right path and overcoming all
obstacles along the way. For more information, visit us at www.theoreminc.net
© 2015 Theorem, Inc. All rights reserved.