The Complete Community Connection

Steve Buttry, Gazette CommunicationsCarleton UniversityJanuary 18, 2010

steve.buttry@gazcomm.com@stevebuttry on Twitter #CarletonC3

Slideshare.net/stevebuttry

“Publishers can’t stand being the first to do anything innovative. … When confronted with a potentially game-changing idea, the first question publishers always ask is, ‘Who else is doing it?’ That phrase could well stand as the industry’s epitaph.”

“We intend to charge for our news web sites. … to increase our revenues from all our content.”

Newspaper Next

N2 results• New process for innovation• New strategic framework • New metrics• New vision (local information &

connection utility)• Lots of niche products• No fundamental change in newspaper

companies

N2 lessons for C3

• Jobs to be done = opportunities• “Good enough” opens doors to new

avenues of excellence• Potential markets exceed what you can

imagine (or what research can project)• “Beware the sucking sound of the core”

Disruption in telecommunications

Our mobile future – and present 2009 worldwide cell-phone sales: 1 billion More than 100,000 iPhone apps available 2 billion iPhone apps downloaded Droid, Nexus One, BlackBerry, Pre …

Sources: GB Guide blog, Apple, NY Times

Mobile-first strategy• Executives must emphasize mobile

priority• Journalists focus on mobile news & info

delivery & presentation• Tech staff focuses on mobile apps• Sales staff meets business customers’

mobile needs

Mobile-first strategy• Text messages• Email• Applications• Tweets• Easy-to-use mobile web sites• Podcasts• Location-based news & commercial info

C3’s new relationshipsFor the public: We will be their essential connection to community life — news, information, commerce, social life. Like many Internet users turn first to Google, your community should turn first to C3, whatever the need.

C3’s new relationshipsFor businesses: We will be their essential connection to customers, often making the sale and collecting the money.

Our current relationshipwith business customers

• Huge expense line in budget• Lots of inefficiency• Ad rates dropping• Ad revenues dropping• Lots of digital competition

C3’s digital marketplace• Move beyond advertising• Direct sales (tickets, reservations, gift

registries, sports paraphernalia)• Lead generation & targeted ads• Sponsorships, memberships & events• Mobile ads & applications• Handle multiple needs (yes, competing ads)

The new relationshipwith business partners

• Revenue line in budget (maybe still expense line, too)

• Delivering high value, tailored to needs• One-stop shop for connecting with

customers

Community Content• Driving• Home• Conversation• Calendar• Local knowledge

Driving• How often do you buy a car?• How often do you drive, gas up, service

car?• Databases, conversations, services

focused on drivers’ everyday needs• Connect auto services with drivers

(emergency repair services)

Personal content• Births• Youth milestones• School• Graduation• College life• Military service• Weddings• Parenthood

• Divorce• Jobs, pets, holidays,

food, interests, health• Illness• Empty nesters• Retirement• Reunions• Obituaries

Personal news• Big news in small circles• Some we do as formula, some we ignore• Great opportunities• National players are moving fast

Graduation• Many newspapers gather mugs, names

anyway for graduation section• Launch page for each graduate• Senior, family fill in stories, photos, videos• Gift registry• Fill in school, target ads appear• Fill in career, sign up for email, text alerts

Entertainment• Traditional entertainment in digital form• Entertainment news• User-generated entertainment, events• Games

Business services• Direct sales• Local search• Communication & marketing services

Enriched news content• What’s happening now (Twitter,

liveblogging, real-time video, traffic, scanners, live-streaming)

• Community engagement in news, enterprise, sports coverage

• Storytelling (narrative, multimedia)• Aggregation, curation

C3 at Gazette Communications• Reorganized to separate content, product• Developing new processes, tools to

develop content independently from products

• Hoping to launch C3 projects in 2010• Long way to go• Hoping to learn from your efforts

Do we want to be the monks or Gutenberg?