The case for cultural relevance

On 2 July 2010 The Times raised a paywall around all digital content. For two weeks, access was free. During this period, it’s reputed 150,000 people said they would pay. Source: http://bit.ly/bCDTeD

On 15 July 2010 the free trial ended. Access to content was set at £1 per day, or £2 per week. To date, gures quoted online estimate that only 10-15% of people have become paid digital subscribers. Source: http://bit.ly/bCDTeD

On 16 July, the Financial Times reported that The Times had lost two-thirds of previous visitors in the weeks since the paywall went up, even though access had been free.

In July 2009, the Times recorded 2.462 million unique visitors.

In July 2009, the Times recorded 2.462 million unique visitors. In July 2010, it received only 1.579 million.

In July 2009, the Times recorded 2.462 million unique visitors. In July 2010, it received only 1.579 million. In August this was down to 1.459 million.

This isn’t surprising: the Times is a generalist publication in a crowded marketplace where other generalist publications, many with arguably better content, allow users free online access.

There is a well-known argument that a generalist news publication must stand out from the crowd with something truly special if it is to attract enough paying customers to survive.

This isn’t the magic bullet.

This isn’t the magic bullet. Cultural relevance is.

People have always shared the news that is relevant to them.

People have always shared the news that is relevant to them. Photo by hdptcar. Creative Commons

People have always shared the news that is relevant to them. Photos by hdptcar and pedrosimoes7. Creative Commons

Leaps in digital technology mean we can share news with more people and from just about anywhere. The conversation around news can be huge and amazing.

Turn it up, and this technology facilitates cultural relevance.

Turn it up, and this technology facilitates cultural relevance. Turn it o and it decimates tra c, page views and pro tability.

RELEVANT, INTERESTING CONTENT + GROWING, ENGAGED AUDIENCE + CONVERSATION = CULTURAL RELEVANCE

Cultural relevance drives page views and pro ts By cutting itself out of the broader conversation, The Times has become less relevant.

Cultural relevance drives page views and pro ts By cutting itself out of the broader conversation, The Times has become less relevant. Its cultural value has depreciated.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, said his goal was not to be the largest-circulation paper in the country, but to be the “thought leader”.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, said his goal was not to be the largest-circulation paper in the country, but to be the “thought leader”. Sulzberger wants The New York Times to be the most relevant publication.

The intricacies of the relationship between cultural relevance and pro tability may not yet be fully understood, but The Times’ paywall experiment proves the connection. A publisher can start to draw a bottom line based on units sold x cost per unit, but that line only dips lower as the conversation dwindles away.

says the Guardian’s Emily Bell: “The paywall may address the issue of newspaper circulation decline, but it does not begin to tackle the far greater challenge of telling e ective stories and creating activities and audiences in a constantly changing digital landscape. To stimulate a market for news, you need an engaged population.”

The challenge for publishers is to make money whilst being culturally relevant. This could mean: use-based charging - a new approach to ads paid-for apps - paid-for premium content content type-based charging

The challenge for publishers is to make money whilst being culturally relevant. This could mean: use-based charging - a new approach to ads paid-for apps - paid-for premium content content type-based charging This de nitely doesn’t mean: unshareable content - a rigid paywall

The Financial Times, a specialist publication as opposed to the generalist The Times, also has a paywall, but charges based on use: the casual user doesn’t pay, while the heavy user does.

Allowing new users to access content without hitting them with charges means the FT’s audience can grow. So, too, can its cultural relevance.

Today’s technologies solve problems created by past technologies and create problems that future technologies will solve.

The race is on to solve the problem of the future of news, and now we know that cultural relevance must be central to the solution.

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The case for cultural relevance

by Made by Many on Sep 29, 2010

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