2. 1 | P a g e
Assessment Coversheet
and Feedback Form
Faculty of Arts Design & Media.
School of Media.
Complete the details marked in the coloured text and leave everything else blank. Where appropriate,copy and
paste your submission after the firstpages as indicated.You are remindedofthe Universityregulations on cheating.
Except where the assessmentis group-based,the final piece of work which is submitted mustbe your own work.
Close similaritybetween submissions is likelyto lead to an investigation for cheating.You m ustsubmita file in an
MSWord or equivalent format as tutors will use MSWord to provide feedback including, where appropriate,
annotations in the text.
Student Name Shana Hinds Reasonable Adjustments
Student Number 15140900
Check this box [x] if the Faculty has
notified you that you are eligible for
a Reasonable Adjustment(including
additional time) in relation to the
marking ofthis assessment.Please
note that action may be taken under
the University’s StudentDisciplinary
Procedure againstanystudent
making a false claim for Reasonable
Adjustments.
Course and Year Global Media Management
Module Code MED7129
Module Title Managing Media Projects
Module Tutor Oliver Williams
Personal Tutor Oliver Williams and Nicolo Gallio
Planning and
organisation
Content &
Structure
Group Work,
Collaboration
TOTAL Feedback Notes
0-25% 0-50% 0-25% 0-100%
3. 2 | P a g e
Introduction
When Jenkins defined participatory culture in 2006 as one where 'fans and other
consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new
content' it was with mere speculation of its growth potential fuelled by increasing
accessibility of digital technologies, and the rise of user-created content. In 2016,
participatory culture is no longer simply a concept, but a way of life, mandatory for
success in the digital age. Companies without Facebook, Twitter and other social
media accounts are left behind.
The digital age and social media have brought about the sharing culture, a hybrid of
participatory culture, which allows for all types of content to be consumed together.
That is, politics, fashion, music, classifieds, job vacancies, comedy, cats, both by
commercial companies and amateur content creators, being shared and consumed
all on the same news feed of a global market segment. By a traditional definition of
globalization- “the process by which the world is becoming increasingly
interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange,"
(Bbc.co.uk, 2016)- this platform should be perfect for traditional mass marketing. On
the contrary, traditional marketing has been almost totally obliterated by
participatory culture because audiences no longer passively consume; they co-
create… for free! Consumers have become aware and avoidant of the hard sell,
hence, the monetization of digital media becomes increasingly difficult with time.
Online consumers are concerned with building communities, entertainment, learning
and building their self-brand and any content outside of their core interests is
displaced. Within this framework, if content isn't shareable it's dead.
4. 3 | P a g e
Website monetization is the method of converting online traffic into funds.
Monetization methods can be categorized as consumer-paid models, funded models
or hybrid model, which use multiple methods simultaneously. Popular monetization
strategies include selling advertising space, crowd funding and pay per click.
However, the ‘monetization landscape’ continually becomes more complex with the
increasing value of free content being offered. There is no generic method of
generating web revenues; models are diverse and must be oriented to the target
audience and their willingness to pay. Brumbizz is targeting the international student
market and hence, their willing and ability to pay for content is generally low. The
following report outlines monetization strategy for Brumbizz.wordpress.com using
the funded model of native advertising. The report also references the
BuzzFeed.com business model as a champion for native advertising.
5. 4 | P a g e
The Buzz
WWW.BUZZFEED.COM
“Content is King, but Distribution is Queen and she wears the pants in this house.”
Jonathan Perelman, VP of Motion Pictures at BuzzFeed.
BuzzFeed is a digital mass media corporation established in New York City, USA.
BuzzFeed was founded by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson in November 2006, as a
circulation laboratory concentrating on tracing ‘viral content. Today, the business
defines itself as a social news and entertainment company for digital technology
providing "the most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment, and
video” (BuzzFeed.com, 2016).
At first, uncritical glance it is taxing to pinpoint exactly how BuzzFeed generates
revenue, one could even miss it completely. However, with 400 plus articles, quizzes
and videos being pumped out a day by a growing staff of content creators and
editors, it is clear on second thought that this company has an efficient engine, and it
must be a big money-maker. Their method is native advertising and their aim is not
to "trick" consumers, but to provide a more palatable and shareable brand
experience.
Native advertising is an online promotional tool used to attract consumers to a brand
without selling them a product/service. Native advertising is innate to the particular
publication or stage it is visible on, imitating the characteristics of the platform or
publication. It appears to be regular, entertaining content but it is actually promoting
6. 5 | P a g e
a brand. Native advertising can take any media form- text, images, search engine ads,
music, video- a continuum from social media content to banner ads to huge
microsites with videos and articles. The disjointed, unpredictable methods are an
essential characteristic. This method has two primary goals;
1. Position the brand in the mind of the consumer.
2. Drive consumers to action/purchase.
Nichols (2014), on BuzzFeed, purports, "The goal, true to social media's overall soft
sell approach, is to simultaneously engage and build brand affinity. While the
advertiser is named alongside the yellow "Promoted by" box, the goal is clearly to
deliver to readers an experience that doesn't feel like advertising."
BuzzFeed is acclaimed for its influential blend of highly-specific, shareable news
articles, quizzes, narratives and their more recent inclusion of video content. The
website’s native advertising content is intended to be shared publically and socially
and adapts to every social media platform- Facebook, snapchat or Twitter native ads
look like regular posts, snaps or tweets correspondingly.
Perelman emphasizes that content should be created for people, not for platforms.
This ideology opposes the 360-degree approach to digital content monetization.
Businesses which engaged this approach promote considering content distribution
decisions in the earliest stages of concept development so as to capitalize on the
value of specific distribution channels. Simplified, it’s like thinking “What content will
be relevant on Twitter this month? I know, I’ll write a long-form article on the
worldwide pencil shortage caused by adult colouring books.” A topic, unmoving as it
may be, currently trending on Twitter. Conversely, BuzzFeed endorses content
created to tap into emotions and target identities and then branding it. Perelman
(2014) summarized the elements of great content as follows:
7. 6 | P a g e
1. Have a heart- positive emotion is key
2. Capture the moment- make relevant content
3. Cute animals deserve respect
4. Humour is inherently social
5. Nostalgia
6. Viewers should have a seamless experience on any device
7. Make content you are proud to share
8. Don’t post embarrassing content- people will not share it
These elements are evident in their daily content with examples including their
infamous “The Try Guys” videos which are highly based on the guy’s personalities
and cover topics such as “We Got Drunk On Different Types of Alcohol to Test
Drinking Myths.” Although this content is targeted at a younger audience and they
are the most likely to share it, anybody at any age can relate to drinking alcohol or
hearing alcohol myths.
Videos play a big role on tapping into emotion. Whether it is a listicle filled with lively
GIFs, or breaking news broadcast with live journalists, visuals and especially videos
make content easier to understand and more emotionally charged. Jonah Peretti
affirms, “Video is a huge, mega-trend, and the fact that it’s being viewed on mobile
at such a high rate and being shared at a high rate aligns all these things together.
Digital, video, mobile and social can all be the exact same thing: someone sharing a
video they love that they viewed on their mobile device.”
The BuzzFeed secret ingredient is sponsored content. They create content for brands
that helps tell their story. Coined social storytelling, the concept is not to sell the
brand at all but to create stories which, aligned with the company’s brand strategy,
8. 7 | P a g e
enforces its value. In example, working with Toyota BuzzFeed produced two listicles
sponsored by the Toyota Prius; “20 coolest hybrid animals” and “20 most scenic
drives in America.” Traditional advertising would say “Buy a Toyota Prius now!”,
native advertising suggests that hybrids are cool and that if you like road trips, gas
efficiency is probably important to you and hybrid cars (like the Toyota Prius) are the
most gas efficient vehicles available on the market.
Perelman asserts, not only is native advertising the best way for attracting viewers
who want to get involved with the content, narrative, or news but also the most
effective way for viewers share content; distribution is queen.
The Bizz
WWW.BRUMBIZZ.WORDPRESS.COM
Brumbizz is an online blogging community for international students in Birmingham,
UK. The website was created by a team of media students- Zhifu Zheng, Vanshika
Kansal and Shana Hinds. The platform, launched in March 2016, provides first-hand
information about living and studying in Birmingham. The blog was inspired by
BuzzFeed’s content production and distribution strategy. That is, Brumbizz aims to
cover all facets of student life from the perspective of international students. News,
entertainment, lifestyle, and academic consumed as one and shared by all. From an
academic aspect, Brumbizz offers vital student-related information including content
like how to contact the international office, referencing guidelines or “Five Things You
9. 8 | P a g e
May Not Know About Moodle.” Another content element Brumbizz focusses on is life
in Birmingham. This content would include topics such as keeping fit abroad, the best
places eat and Birmingham nightlife. When we first came to Birmingham we found
there was a shortage of simple but important information. Brumbizz aims to create an
online community for international students where they can get help, share their own
experiences, learn about new cultures, connect with each other and make
unforgettable memories.
Brumbizz is aware of the need for international students to have their own space
where their voices can be heard, where they feel they belong and where they can
contribute to change in a community greater than themselves. We want to hear their
voices. YouTube is proof of how much liberty society wants to take, with an
estimated 300 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube per minute. People want
to speak; even if they don't have the courage to make a stand in a public forum,
social media is a good indication of the tongues held and the opinions festering in
people’s minds just waiting to spill onto their favourite social media app during
lunch. In the grand scheme, all social platforms are contributing to this mediated
cultural system and facilitating the true democratization of the world. Sharing begins
where consumption ends, an ever-blazing ball of media fire.
International Student Market- Segmentation
Demographic
18-25 years old
Male, Female and Others
Occupation: Students
Geographic
Birmingham, UK
10. 9 | P a g e
Psychographic
Middle class to Upper class
Enjoy socialising, shopping, eating out.
Self-sponsored and a healthy lifestyle is important to them
Experiencers
Education: Under-graduation and Post-graduation.
Behavioural
Lonely but willing to make new friends
Rely on the internet for company
Live in student accommodation
Brumbizz’s main competitive advantage is that we are our own target audience. That
is, the development team of Brumbizz is comprised of international students from
China, India and the Caribbean, representing three of the highest populated
international student markets in the UK. As a part of the target market, the
development team understands the customer needs and hence, are able to provide
the most helpful, accurate and engaging content.
Further, we as content creators, have personally engaged ourselves in and with the
website. The platform is made up of three blogs on one website, each page
representing the blog of an individual content creator. The content in each blog
reflects the personal and cultural identity of the creator. This feature makes the blog
more attractive to visitors in regards to;
1. Relevance- visitors can choose to follow all content or individual bloggers they
relate best to.
2. Convenience- the website is easy to navigate. It has the dynamic of scrolling a
news feed rather than visiting one page at a time which is preferable for digital-
age consumers.
11. 10 | P a g e
Similarly, this can be very attractive to advertisers, whereas not only does the
platform target a niche of students, but it is then segmented further into hyper-
targeted niches which can be categorized by cultural background and personal
interests. In totality, our mission is to be the most familiar and commonly used social
hub for international university students in Birmingham.
Brumbizz Native Advertising Strategies
SPONSORED CONTENT
Presently, Brumbizz’s main revenue source will be sponsored content. The New York
Times’ Brand Voice observed in 2013 that brands used up, on average, 6.7 percent of
their content advertising funds on sponsored content and the trend is increasing.
Sponsored content is attractive to advertisers as a means of constructively prompting
the insight of their brand; establishing enduring relationships and consciousness.
Sponsored content is generally defined as a company paying a content creator to
produce and publish content relevant to their brand. Brumbizz intends to offer
clients the opportunity to sponsor videos, recipes and articles, and other content
produced by us. Our goal is to publish three to five sponsored content per week as
we have a small working force as of now. Business expansion and building clientele
for sponsored content are interdependent; as more businesses become interested,
12. 11 | P a g e
we will be able to fund expansion and offer more advertising opportunities. The
following are the pros and cons of Sponsored data respectively:
FUTURE STRATEGIES
The following are long-term strategies that will not be employed until Brumbizz has a
substantial stake in the international student market share and is operating profitably
with net revenues of at least, £50,000 per annum. This is projected to be the end of
year 2, March 2018.
Brumbizz Spring Break Festival
As students, we found that after the initial festivities of Fresher’s Week and the
occasional student discount at a bar or nightclub, there are no activities directly
catering to students. Brumbizz would like to introduce annual Spring Break Festival
on the last weekend in March during which we will host four events;
1. Brumbizz Barhop (Friday Night)
2. Brumbizz Inter-uni sports (Saturday Afternoon)
3. Brumbizz House Party (Saturday Night)
4. Brumbizz Spring Break- a climactic outdoor concert featuring popular musical
acts (Sunday Afternoon/Night)
Revenue will be generated from ticket sales. Additionally, the festival will provide
several promotional opportunities for sponsors on a mass market scale. Not only will
13. 12 | P a g e
international students be involved, but all students in Birmingham and, eventually,
from various parts of the UK. Sponsorship opportunities for brand exposure include
but are not limited to:
1. Brand exclusivity, e.g. drink sales
2. Bars can bid to be a part of the Barhop schedule
3. Banners at events
4. Paraphernalia giveaways
5. Promotion leading up to the event, e.g. flyers, social media, radio etc
Webisodes
When Brumbizz is well established, we are interested, in taking our video content a
step further with webisodes. “When in Brum” will be a Brumbizz produced reality
series following the lives of three international students living in Birmingham; much
like the current content strategy but on a larger, more dynamic scale. Again we will
apply native advertising to this plan, where local businesses can sponsor episodes in
the series at a price yet to be determined. The webisodes will be available exclusively
on the Brumbizz Youtube channel and will be monetized through the YouTube
platform so as to upsurge this revenue source.
Benefits of Native Advertising
1. Better Targeting: Sponsored content options have the capability to target very
specific market segments.
14. 13 | P a g e
2. Less Interfering: Brands are providing content which aligns with its target
markets’ interests, thus improving their effectiveness.
3. Higher ROI: Sponsored content on social media is vastly more cost advantageous
than traditional advertising, e.g. television and radio media, which have high
costs with plummeting returns.
Limitations of Native Advertising
1. Advertising Stigma: There is no negating that promoters are combatting a
difficult conflict to recover the rapport of the people. As time passes and consumers
become aware of the tactics, native advertising will also decline in effectiveness.
2. Ethical Issues: sponsored content on social media is still a relatively new concept
and in some cases is distorted with no clear call of action. For instance, “promoted”
and “sponsored by” signs can be easily overlooked and are sometimes too small; this
could be considered consumer deception.
SUBSCRIPTION
Another monetisation strategy that we considered is website subscription. In this
consumer-paid model the university is the consumer. In our strategy, universities like
Birmingham City University and Aston University would pay a yearly subscription fee
to provides their student body exclusive access to the Brumbizz website and content.
We anticipated this would be a profitable model because Birmingham has lot of
Universities with a large percentage of International students.
15. 14 | P a g e
Subscribed universities students could use their university login details to access the
site and view content. One of the most common ways to produce leads is to practice
an email subscription by adding new people to the emailing list. An opportunity
would be provided to students to subscribe for updates on one or more blog pages
by entering their email address. This way, Brumbizz would have an instant database
of consumers to attract advertisers. There would be no freemium access to content
or paywall. If a web link is shared by an authorized user to an unauthorized person,
the visitor would be met by a (friendly) login screen and be prompted to login or
register which they can commence without having to route back to the home page.
They just have to confirm they are a university student in the registration process as
it would be made clear that the site and its content is meant for students.
Ultimately, we dropped the idea of subscription. Firstly, the liability is much higher
when the direct customer is the university. That is, in relation to consumer protection,
confidentiality and security. Secondly, Brumbizz would have to make ‘suitable’
content approved by the university which we believe adds to the very problem we
are trying to eliminate. Paramount, is the limitations of reach of the subscription
models. To paraphrase Jonah Peretti, sharing content leads to more visitors, which
means more customers, hence more money. Aside from profits, we believe in our
content and agree that is was meant to be shared; no one wants to experience great
content alone, they want to share it on with their friends on social media. Conversely,
if we engage the subscription model then we are limiting the number of customers
as it could no longer be shared on the social platforms. Also, the profits.
16. 15 | P a g e
Controls
Key performance indicators (KPI) are the metrics used to identify the performance of
an organization and monitor the progress towards achieving business objectives and
goals (Reh, 2016). At the end of each year the KPIs above will be used to compare the
current performance of the website with the projections from the previous year.
Brumbizz’s current business objectives are:
1. Achieve at least 1500 website hits for the quarter, starting June 2016.
2. Earn 5000 likes, followers and subscribers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
respectively by March 2017.
3. Increase awareness of the Brumbizz brand by 150% by March 2017.
4. Acquire 5 permanent content sponsors by June 2017.
5. Achieve net profits of £50,000 by March 2018.
Brumbizz is currently focusing chiefly on brand awareness to gain market share and
build brand value which is crucial to the longevity of a business’ life cycle. Ideally, for
Brumbizz’s native advertising strategy, audience growth is critical to revenue
generation as sponsoring content would only be attractive to advertisers where we can
provide a large enough catchment market. Thus, the visitor KPI is the priority to metric
for the progress of raising brand awareness and developing future marketing
strategies. The current visitor objective is 1500 website per month for the first quarter.
After this period, we expect steady traffic growth, increasing by at least 10%per quarter
thereafter.
Google Analytics has become the most commonly used tool to analyze the
performance of a website – oriented business (Google.com, 2016). In addition to
17. 16 | P a g e
recording the number of hits and visitors per day, per week and per month, Brumbizz
is interested in the age, gender and location of the visitors. Such demographic
information of visitors would help Brumbizz to effectively analyze the audience and
ensure the strategic fit of the business strategy with the target market. For instance, if
over 70% of website visitors view content related to academics only rather than
personal-interest content, the development team could investigate whether that area
needs more development, or if we should allocate more resources to academic-related
content.
Google Analytics separates ‘new visitors’ and ‘returning visitors’. The value of
measuring return visits is to observe which visitors are likely to return, which content
they are consuming and whether it is the same content as before or new content.
Understanding the visiting behaviour willbe extremely helpful and valuable in knowing
which blogs or topics require more resources and which channels/programmes are
most popular, especially for international students in Birmingham. The data from
Google Analytics would assist Brumbizz in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of
content, and hence, redesign and evolve strategies to manage risks and uncertainy.
Also, to attract new visitors and retain loyals.
In addition, the percentage of single page visit is crucial (The Daily Egg, 2013). It is also
called the bounce rate by Google Analytics, which includes the duration of each visit
and the duration spent on each page. Bounce rate is also an indicator of website
crashes and dysfunctionalities.
Apart from the general visiting KPI, Brumbizz is interested in the Traffic Sources of the
website. In other words, where the visitors come from. Google Analytics categorizes
entry sources such as Google keywords search, social media sharing link, affiliate
website link and direct traffic. The analysis of entry points is important for online
businesses to establish the most effective platform for reaching the target audience
18. 17 | P a g e
and keep track of market trends. In turn, brands can increase visibility and overall
awareness. For instance, if over 60% of the visitors are coming from the Facebook
sharing link, Brumbizz could put more effort and more resources into social media
development.
Conclusion
We are confident as the development team that following the above strategy will
amount to profitability for Brumbizz. Emulating BuzzFeed’s funded business model,
Brumbizz’s monetization strategy conforms to the native advertising approach. By
leveraging our connections to a hyper-targeted international student market in
Birmingham, we will attract advertisers to sponsor content on
Brumbizz.wordpress.com, which will then be shared across our online social network.
Ideally, content related to brands rolls out over an extended period of time,
increasing opportunities for deeper and more engaged user experiences and
increased sales (De Rosa and Burgess, 2014). As the business grows, we feel sure
even more opportunities for revenue generation will surface. Brumbizz continues to
focus on producing engaging and relevant content to earn a strong brand identity in
the market.
19. 18 | P a g e
Bibliography
Bbc.co.uk. (2016). BBC - GCSE Bitesize: What is globalisation?. [online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/globalisation/globalisation_re
v1.shtml [Accessed 8 Apr. 2016].
BI Blog | Data Visualization & Analytics Blog | datapine. (2014). Top 5 Google Analytics
KPIs: A Guide to Web Analytics. [online] Available at:
http://www.datapine.com/blog/top-5-google-analytics-kpis/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2016].
BuzzFeed. (2016). About BuzzFeed. [online] Available at:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/about [Accessed 7 Apr. 2016].
Chad, P. (2014). Media buyer’s guide to sponsored content. 1st ed. DigitalRelevance.
De Rosa, M. and Burgess, M. (2014). Monetizing Digital Media: Trends, Key Insights
and Strategies that Work. 1st ed. [ebook] Ontario: Communications MDR.
Available at: http://bellfund.ca/PDFS/FINAL%20Monetization%20report-
%20November%207%202014.pdf [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].
Erin, A. (2014). Pros And Cons Of Sponsored Content Across Social Platforms. [online]
Amsterdamprinting.com. Available at:
20. 19 | P a g e
http://www.amsterdamprinting.com/blog/2014/04/07/pros-and-cons-of-
sponsored-content-across-social-platforms/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2016].
Google.com. (2016). Google Analytics - Mobile, Premium and Free Website Analytics –
Google. [online] Available at: http://www.google.com/analytics/ [Accessed 3 Apr.
2016].
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K. and Robison, A. (2006).
Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture. 1st ed. [ebook] Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Available at:
https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262513623_Con
fronting_the_Challenges.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Mansfield, M. (2015). What is Native Advertising?. [online] Small Business Trends.
Available at: http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/05/what-is-native-advertising.html
[Accessed 4 Apr. 2016].
McCue, M., Saunders, E., Blanda, S., Rao, S., Benton, D. and Saunders, E. (2014).
Jonathan Perelman: Content Is King, But Distribution Is Queen. [online] 99U by
Behance. Available at: http://99u.com/videos/23015/jonathan-perelman-content-is-
king-distribution-is-queen [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016].
Marsh, A. (2016). The rise and rise of branded content – video. [online] the Guardian.
Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-
blog/video/2014/mar/26/rise-branded-content-marketing [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016].
21. 20 | P a g e
Official Wix Blog | Web Design & Small Business Tips to Promote Your Site. (2015). 5
Proven Techniques To Get More Leads On Your Website. [online] Available at:
http://www.wix.com/blog/2015/03/5-proven-techniques-to-get-more-leads-on-
your-website/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2016].
Optimize Smart. (2013). Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - Complete Guide. [online]
Available at: https://www.optimizesmart.com/understanding-key-performance-
indicators-kpis-just-like-that/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2016].
Reh, F. (2016). What You Need to Know About Key Performance Indicators. [online]
About.com Money. Available at:
http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/keyperfindic.htm
[Accessed 3 Apr. 2016].
Smith, C. (2014). 120+ Amazing YouTube Statistics. [online] DMR. Available at:
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/youtube-statistics/ [Accessed 8 Apr.
2016].
Sonderman, J. and Tran, M. (2013). The definition of ‘sponsored content’ - American
Press Institute. [online] American Press Institute. Available at:
https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/white-papers/the-
definition-of-sponsored-content/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2016].
22. 21 | P a g e
The Daily Egg. (2013). Best Website KPI's For Three Different Website Types. [online]
Available at: http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/01/22/best-website-kpi/ [Accessed 3
Apr. 2016].
Work Allocation
Shana Hinds
Native Advertising Strategies
Supporting Literature for Brumbizz model
Introduction & Conclusion
Editing & Formatting of Document
Vanshika Kansal
Choice and discussion on monetization approaches
Discussion of BuzzFeed as model company
Zhifu Zheng
Discussion Brumbizz
Controls/KPIs