Media Growth Summit 24

Earlier this month (February 2024), b2b media executives convened at the Sarasota Westin to share ideas, strategies on ways to solve shared problems (AI, cookieless futures, paywalls, automations, M&A, etc), network, and discuss the state of the industry. If you missed the event, here you'll find a summary of the event and key takeaways.

A.I. pontification is out - use cases are in and so are lawsuits

AI is new, but it's advancing quickly. Where AI lands in the Hype Cycle is up for debate, but the discussion around AI at Media Growth was focused around two topics: How to protect/monetize content and how to apply AI in tactical ways to gain efficiency, increase sales, decrease churn, or gain insights across the enterprise.

Gartner estimates that peak "Inflated Expectations" for Generative AI hit back in August, 2023. Many of the conversations I've had with business leaders have transitioned from "Wow, AI is crazy and amorphous" to "We have an AI task force that's exploring use cases for our departments".

Applications are exploding and folks are beginning to move towards the "Slope of Enlightenment". Just look at Sora.

That said, AI is not all sunshine and rainbows for publishers. There are real risks to real people. Brian Stoller 's keynote outlined the two primary camps publishers fall into when it comes to AI and content by using two industry giants. He posed the question: "Are you more in line with Axel Springer or 纽约时报 ?"

Axel Springer embraced OpenAI with a lucrative licensing deal.

The New York Times is suing OpenAI for allegedly providing responses based on trade marked content.

Both valid approaches. Both with their own set of pros and cons.

Work from home... or... back to office?

During the CEO panel with Hal Cohen, MBA , Daniel Oswald , and Jeff Mancini there were a variety of approaches to how to build culture and increase productivity while balancing the need to attract high tier talent that wants to work from home. All three CEO's have implemented some version of a hybrid model depending on the role and location of the team/employee.

None have gone this far: "Work from home from work"

How to launch a product - as told by Natalie Williams

In an incredible show of transparency, Natalie laid out her product launch roadmap for everyone to review. In media, there are few "secrets". Strategies are almost entirely public - such is the nature of advertising. How successful a brand becomes is highly related to execution. WTWH Media LLC 's secret sauce isn't related to a handful of proprietary strategies, it's dependent on their "Willing(ness) To Work Harder"... WTWH.

Below is an outline Natalie shared with the Mediagrowth attendees. If you want more detail, you'll have to ask her yourself.

Year 1: 3-5k Subscribers

• Hire an experienced writer
• Launch virtual event
• Paid audience acquisition

Year 2: 5-10k Subscribers

• Launch 1 day live event
• Paid and organic audience acquisition
• Augment freelance writers
• Hire dedicates salesperson

Year 3: 10-15k Subscribers

• Better opportunities for salesperson at 10k+
• Re-evaluate content strategy - maybe hire 2nd full time writer
• Build on live events

Sales Strategies for 2024

Media Buyers care about different things today than they did 20 years ago. Bob Silvy originally posed this prompt during one of the sales focused roundtables and there was much debate. In 2024 buyers seem younger, have less time, and are often working remotely... So, how should you engage?

Originally, I wrote a post about this related to "Younger Buyers". As accurately corrected by Scott Jamieson , these recommendations apply to ALL BUYERS.

According to Scott:

"I think buyers of all ages would like these, unless I'm missing a cohort that loves dumb recommendations."

What buyers DON'T like:

?? Media Kit Smorgasbord = "I'm confused"

?? Vanity Metrics = "I don't care"

?? Entertainment with strangers = "I'd rather hang with my kids"

?? Cold Calls = "Just another random number"

What buyers DO like:

?? Learn my why and then align with my priorities and timelines.

?? Sellers who make smart recommendations.

?? Sellers who open the door with value/insights first.

?? Sellers who leave voicemails after cold calls

M&A Landscape

Taking on new debt isn't as cheap as it used to be. Acquisitions are fewer, but we're still seeing activity here. Good deals are still out there, but the strategy and alignment of the brand or audience needs to be a better fit than in previous years. One of the biggest changes we've seen is related to data and how media, info, data, and marketing services can complement each other.

Specifically, you've seen companies like FreightWaves divesting its media arm to focus on its pure play data business SONAR increasing speculation for a potential sale down the road.

Other examples include Informa's combination with TechTarget and Randall Reilly separating its talent acquisition and data business into Randall Reilly and Fusable respectively.

Hope you enjoyed the summary.

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