The Complete Community Connection

Steve Buttry, Gazette CommunicationsTexas Christian University

November 18, 2009steve.buttry@gazcomm.com

@stevebuttry on Twitter #TCUC3Slideshare.net/stevebuttry

What are obstacles to innovation at media

organizations?

“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.”

Graphic from The Digital Journalist, “Circling the Drain,” by Mark Loundy

2009: 12.9% of population buys newspaper

Graphic from Reflections of a Newsosaur, Alan Mutter

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

This was crash #2 for me. Maybe I should start taking the bus.

Continental keeping us locked up at the presidents club until they can sort everything out. Won’t even serve us drinks. :(

This change is tectonic, not cyclical

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

Disruption in telecommunications

Our mobile future – and present Projected 2009 worldwide cell-phone sales: 1 billion 7.4 million iPhones sold last quarter (+7%) More than 90,000 iPhone apps available We need to think “mobile first”

Sources: GB Guide blog, Apple

RPV: a company’s DNAValues

Priorities for making decisions

• Cost structure/ business model

• Profit margins

• Size of opportunity

• Types of customers

• Culture

• What’s first?

Resources• People

• Technology

• Products

• Equipment

• Information

• Cash

• Brand

• Distribution

Processes• Production• Hiring & Training• Product development• Manufacturing• Planning & budgeting• Market research• Resource allocation

What you are good at determines what you are bad atSource: Clayton Christensen, Innosight, Newspaper Next

Here comes the bride – w/ jobs to do

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”

Create Once Publish Everywhere• NPR.org• NPR.org Player• NPR News iPhone app• Mobile web site• NPR Addict iPhone app• Public Radio Player• WBUR.org• Minnesota Public Radio• iTunes• NPR on iGoogle

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

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

Remember the bride and her jobs?

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

What is C3’s RPV (DNA)?

ValuesPriorities for making decisions

• Cost structure/ business model

• Profit margins

• Size of opportunity

• Types of customers

• Culture

• What’s first?

Resources• People

• Technology

• Products

• Equipment

• Information

• Cash

• Brand

• Distribution

Processes• Production• Hiring & Training• Product development• Manufacturing• Planning & budgeting• Market research• Resource allocation

When did your organization excel in

the face of huge obstacles?

In innovation as in news …

Don’t let obstacles become excuses

Choose one of these projectsCommunity content: home, conversation,

calendar, knowledgePersonal content: births, youth milestones,

school, college life, military service, parenthood, divorce, jobs, pets, holidays, food, interests, health, empty nest, retirement, reunions, death

Entertainment: fun stuff, entertainment news, user content, games

Business services: local search, communication services

Project ground rules• Develop plan for community media organization• For all technology questions, the answer is “yes”• You can be TV, newspaper, online, legacy or

startup organization• Don’t let considerations of the legacy

organization inhibit your thinking• Presume you can develop the solutions you

envision

Do we want to be the monks or Gutenberg?