Five Things: March 25, 2021
Five things for March 25, 2021. That’s it! That’s the excerpt.
On Niche Audiences, Immersive Media, and Publishers’ Myopia
How a publisher defines, segments, and prioritizes its audience impacts every decision it makes about every book it acquires, publishes, and markets. As I noted in the new annual report for the Panorama Project, despite the growth in ebooks and audiobooks over the past decade, there are reportedly fewer people reading books today, and fierce competition for their attention and discretionary spending. In the absence of any major consumer research focusing on how book consumption and purchasing behavior has changed over the past five years, there are many unsupported theories attempting to explain why consumer ebook sales plateaued, and then began a gradual decline. Consumer pricing, library lending, and self-publishing are believed to be among the primary factors, while little consideration has been given to the impact of other forms of digital media that have experienced exponential growth—including film, TV, and gaming.
Publishing Dirt: Prioritizing the White Gaze for Fun & Profit
I don’t usually engage in conversations about individual books as the topic du jour is almost always something I haven’t read yet or have no personal interest in, but the ongoing conversation around American Dirt sucked me in because it was such a glaring symptom of the industry’s underlying illness I’ve raged about many, many, oh so many, times. Against my better judgement, it’s dominated my own Twitter feed for nearly two weeks now, and all indications are it’s going to remain a hot topic for a while longer—for better and worse. Also against my better judgement, I decided to consolidate my thoughts into this unexpectedly long, but hopefully coherent, post. Apologies in advance!
Subaru, Red Bull and Rabbit Holes—How I Got Sucked into Rally
There’s nothing like the buzz of delving into a new passion and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my serendipitous and circuitous journey into the world of rally. I’ve also realized my interest in rally had always been hiding just under the surface, an influence on almost everything I’ve ever found interesting about cars—it just took an unpredictable confluence of events to suck me in.
Facebook Isn’t The Problem, YOU Are
Facebook doesn’t view publishers as valued partners and never has, despite so many helping it grow and engage a worldwide audience, handing over tons of invaluable data along the way, not just from engagement on Facebook itself, but from their own websites too. All for free! Facebook has transformed that invaluable data into billions of dollars of advertising revenue every year while steadily throttling publishers’ ability to reach their own audiences without becoming paid advertisers themselves. It’s an objectively and diabolically brilliant model that I simultaneously admire and despise.
YouTube, Algorithms, and Sponsored Content
As broadcast and cable TV fragmented into hundreds of channels serving various overlapping demographics in search of the occasional mainstream hit, and streaming competitors leveraged nostalgia and cheap licenses to fund their own original mix of niche and mainstream content, YouTube was quietly “democratizing” video content the same way Blogger and WordPress did years ago, to similar effect.
Audience Insights, Content Marketing, Dumb Pipes – FOLIO: Show 2017 Takeaways
I was excited to attend my first FOLIO: Show in ages, and after a slow start that included HTC’S awkward plea for VR content and some uninspired Facebook examples, things picked up with some great presentations from National Geographic, Harvard Business Review, The Foundry, and Revmade. While I didn’t come across anything particularly new, there were some solid takeaways that I found helpful and heartening.
Data-driven Storytelling
Over the years, I’ve worked with salespeople across a variety of industries and the best ones were always those who combined deep knowledge of our markets and products or services (backed by actual data) with an innate ability to identify their client’s or (prospect’s) real needs. They didn’t rely on fancy media kits or elaborate PowerPoint decks, nor discounts or hefty expense accounts—all valid tactical tools to be used, or not, as each situation calls for—and personal relationships were just the icing on the cake they got to have and eat, too because they instinctively grasped Kaushik’s underlying concept: understand a client’s needs and challenges better than they do themselves, and then help them understand how to achieve their goals.
Yahoo Bets Big on GIFs, Porn, and Fickle Teens…
When Google acquired Blogger in 2003, it was a smart move that tied directly to their core ad business, with the visionary bonus of foreseeing the value of user-generated content when it was still scoffed at. Yahoo acquiring Tumblr 10 years later (after badly fumbling GeoCities, del.icio.us, and Flickr, among others) is like the drunk uncle showing up late to a baby shower with a stripper and a trained monkey. Even the “announcement” via GIF feels forced and desperate.
Big Change for GOOD: When Publishing Content Isn’t Enough
A large part of GOOD’s appeal was its unique business model, its compelling mission, and its target audience: “For People Who Give a Damn.” While not replicable in any scalable way, it had a far more noble mission than the mercenary and fickle “connecting advertisers to eyeballs” model of most magazines, and it looks like that mission ultimately forced a complete and radical rethinking of the magazine itself.