How publishers can adapt, thrive, and make money in the age of digital disruption," by Josh Luger. Adaptation from in-person keynote presentation at Mumbrella's Publish 2015 conference in Sydney, Australia on October 21, 2015.

1. How publishers can
adapt, thrive, and make
money in the age of digital
disruption
Josh Luger
October 2015
@joshluger

2. 2010
2012
2013
2015

3. A lot has changed in the past five years
Devices
Discovery
Content
Platforms
6x increase in mobile usage (now 24% of overall time spent);
Mobile devices only ones seeing growth

4. A lot has changed in the past five years
Discovery
Content
Platforms
Devices
Facebook has gone from ~500m MAUs to ~1b DAUs; Multiple platforms that
were new or non-existent now have hundreds of millions of users

5. A lot has changed in the past five years
Content
Platforms
Devices
Discovery
Platforms
Discovery has evolved significantly from early days of bookmarking;
Social has now surpassed search as #1 source of referral traffic

6. A lot has changed in the past five years
Content
Platforms
Devices
Discovery
Platforms
Content
Discovery
New (digital, mobile, social native) content formats have emerged;
Led by 16x increase in mobile video consumption (and listicles)

7. In such a dynamic world, how do you succeed?
Always Be
Optimizing
Look Inward
Monetize
Passionately

8. Look Inward
 WHAT is your mission?
 WHO is your audience?
 WHY do you exist for them?
 HOW do they engage with content?

9. WHAT
WHO
WHY
HOW
Be the dominant political and policy
media company in Washington, D.C.
Political professionals in D.C.
Up-to-the-minute information that helps
them do their jobs better
Win the morning; drive the
conversation throughout the day

10. Win the Morning

11. Drive the Conversation
INSTEAD
OF
THIS…
THIS…

12. WHAT
WHO
WHY
HOW
Give its audience everything it needs to
know to start the day
Millenial(ish) women
Stay informed without having to put in
the time
Email-first product; strong “sassy friend” voice;
loyal community of “Skimmbassadors”

14. WHAT
WHO
WHY
HOW
Tell news and share stories
Mobile and social user
Keep informed across platforms
Short-form videos, all with subtitles

16. WHAT
WHO
WHY
HOW
Tell news and share stories
Mobile and social user
Keep informed across platforms
Short-form videos, all with subtitles

17. Look Inward
 WHAT is your mission?
 WHO is your audience?
 WHY do you exist for them?
 HOW do they engage with content?

18. In such a dynamic world, how do you succeed?
Always Be
Optimizing
Look Inward
Monetize
Passionately
Look Inward

19. Always Be Optimizing
 Innovations must extend to product
and engineering.
 Leverage data and analytics in
everything you do.

20. Packing &
Presentation

21. Page
Design

22. Subscriber
Asks

23. Data Drives
Results

24. Data Drives
Results

25. Page
Customization

26. Off-The-Shelf
Analytical Tools

27. Always Be Optimizing
 Innovations must extend to product
and engineering.
 Leverage data and analytics in
everything you do.

28. In such a dynamic world, how do you succeed?
Always Be
Optimizing
Look Inward
Monetize
Passionately
Look Inward

29. Monetize Passionately
 Look inward… again.
 Respect your audience.
 There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

32. Upworthy – Whirlpool Perceptions Of Care Collaboration

33. Effective Native Advertising is:
 Unique to your brand
 Actually additive to user experience
 Sharable
 Platform agnostic
 High-value for advertiser
 Well-suited for high-touch executions
like video

34. Effective Native Advertising is:
 Unique to your brand
 Actually additive to user experience
 Sharable
 Platform agnostic
 High-value for advertiser
 Well-suited for high-touch executions
like video

35. Effective premium display is:
 More immersive and higher-value than
traditional display
 In-feed; not as interruptive as some
other ad units

36. Subscriptions are still alive!
 Some content may actually be worth
paying for
 Typically built from successful free
products
 Needs to be news (or research or
data) you can actually use

37. Subscriptions are still alive!
 Some content may actually be worth
paying for
 Typically built from successful free
products
 Needs to be news (or research or
data) you can actually use

38. Monetize Passionately
 Look inward… again.
 Respect your audience.
 There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

39. In such a dynamic world, how do you succeed?
Always Be
Optimizing
Look Inward
Monetize
Passionately
Look Inward

40. New headlines are being written in media all the time.

41. New headlines are being written in media all the time.

42. New headlines are being written in media all the time.

43. The time is now.
Always Be
Optimizing
Look Inward
Monetize
Passionately
Look Inward
Go write your own headline.