Local Media Innovation Mission attendees visited with some of the world's most disruptive and forward-thinking technology and media companies. They were on a search for inspiration, new and cutting-edge practices/business models, answers on how to create a culture of innovation and how to fuel growth at their companies. The report yielded 11 top takeaways including some surprising ones such as: Eliminating inter-company email Why you need to 'feed the monster' - Google+ Shareability is the new KPI Integrated sales teams don't work Disrupt yourself Invest in a data manager Visual journalism will help reach younger consumers Native advertising is hot - jump on this bandwagon LinkedIn's new publisher tool & sales navigator product are going to be game-changing And more… Order full report at www.localmedia.org

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Local Media Innovation Mission Takeaways – July 11, 2014
Presented by Nancy Cawley Lane, President, Local Media Association, Brandon Erlacher, Publisher, The
Elkhart Truth & CIO, Federated Media and Chris Jones, Director of Innovation Wire & Publisher
Solutions, Deseret Digital

2. About the Innovation Mission
• A six-day study tour to visit with some of the world’s most
innovative technology and media companies
• 26 senior-level local media executives participated this year
• Searching for new revenue streams, emerging trends,
inspiration and an understanding of how to create a culture of
innovation

3. About the Innovation Mission
• Dates: June 1-6, 2014
• Highlight was a private ‘off-the-record’ meeting with Allen
Blue, co-founder, LinkedIn
• Goal is to provide actionable and disruptive takeaways for the
local media industry
• The 2014 trip yielded 11 top takeaways
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

4. Innovation Mission Visits

5. 11 Takeaways
From the Innovation Mission

6. Cultivate a Culture
Creating a Culture of Innovation Requires Major Changes:
• Open & Transparent Work Space
• Importance of teams/collaboration – no silos

7. INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Cultivate a Culture
• Non-traditional perks
(food, creative days off,
etc.) Fun atmosphere!
• Importance of vision/
mission (posting on the
wall; employees know it
and can recite it)
• It all starts with
leadership; must be visible
& accessible
• Trust & investing in staff

8. Open & Transparent
First step to building innovative culture

9. Share and Share Alike
Shareability is the new KPI
• BuzzFeed is obsessed
with shareability & we
should be as well
• Shares are most
important metric at
BuzzFeed; more than
page views

10. Share and Share Alike
• Solutions like Muck Rack
allow publishers to measure
their shares
• Newsrooms should measure
shares in addition to the other
metrics & understand what
content lends itself to sharing
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

11. Divide & Conquer
Most local media companies in North America rely mainly on integrated sales
teams despite the Borrell research that suggests the opposite is the better strategy.
Those with higher digital advertising percentages know the value of
separate staffs:
• Russmedia: Digital and print reps compete against each other (digital
now accounts for 25% of their total revenue)
• GateHouse/Propel Marketing: 100 FTE's selling digital-only for Propel
• Borrell data backs this up - http://tinyurl.com/BAreps

12. Big Data: Jump on This Bandwagon
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• From LinkedIn: “When it comes to big data, ask the right questions:
Measure the right stuff (even if it’s not big data) and take actions - learn from
them. Don’t start with the measure.”
• People are more apt to like and share stories that have more awe (30%),
more anger (34%) and more anxiety (21%). They are less likely to like/share
stories that convey more sadness (-16%) - LinkedIn

13. Big Data: Jump on This Bandwagon
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• NY Times: launching food and
opinion apps based on their data
analysis; NYT Now - highly successful
'brief version of NYT' reaches previously
untapped audience.
• BuzzFeed employs 10 data analysts;
this helps them sell based on insights
• Many of the IM attendees are hiring
a data manager as a result of attending
the IM – even a part-time position
should produce ROI in a short period of
time.
• LMIA just released a report on Big
Data with a variety of case studies
ranging from The New York Times to
Shaw Suburban Media.

14. Complexity for SMBs =
Opportunity
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Double down on Digital Agency Services
• SMBs are going to get more and more confused
with the new technology and tools entering the
market
• This is great news for local media companies that
have or will launch digital agency services
• Google+ is much more than a social network; it's
an SEO play and is a must for SMBs & local media
companies
• YouTube is second largest search engine in the
world; videos need to be presented there (even if you
are also using other platforms)
• LinkedIn's new Sales Navigator tool is about to
disrupt sales prospecting; 'social selling' is the new
buzzword

15. Complexity for SMBs = Opportunity
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• WordPress platform is perfect for SMBs but they don't have the time or
inclination to build the site or post blogs
• PayPal is about to make the mobile device the wallet of the future; serious
implications for SMBs
• Native is exploding and SMBs don't know where to start
• Mobile is about to explode; 18% of local searches result in a purchase. SMBs
need strong, compelling mobile presence
• Offline shopping is becoming a new trend with eBay leading the way
• "Propel's growth has been extraordinary; we are investing even more" - Kirk
Davis, CEO, GateHouse Media

16. You Have Mail (NOT!)
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Say Goodbye to Email
• O2 – new platform from
WordPress that eliminates
inter-company email
• More than 1/2 of the IM
participants are participating
in a beta test with them
• Helps with efficiency and
creating an open,
transparent culture

17. You Have Mail (NOT!)
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• IM attendee Red Wing Publishing created similar
platform using 'Google Community'
• Interested in participating in the WP beta? Contact
Nancy Lane for details

18. Turning the Tables:
Disrupt Yourself
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
eBay/PayPal - Developing and testing strategies
that will enable consumers to pay for everything
using their phone.

19. Turning the Tables:
Disrupt Yourself
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
LinkedIn – Disrupted Monster.com & others and now
launching “Sales Navigator”

20. Turning the Tables:
Disrupt Yourself
• Russmedia – Two-brand strategy Their free
site VOL.AT and their newspaper replica site
behind a metered pay wall.
• WordPress – o2 product will change the way
people communicate internally.
• GateHouse – New content and design center
plus separate business units.
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

21. Visualize the Possibilities
BuzzFeed – Entire
site based on visual
journalism.
• Pinterest style
designs (including
eBay)
• VOL.AT – larger
visuals
• WSJ – Added a
visual team
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

22. Visualize the Possibilities
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
LinkedIn’s SlideShare –
• Largest community
of presentations on
Web.
• Upload and share
• The secret Sauce is
visual content + SEO
(content is
evergreen)

23. A Platform You Can Stand On:
WordPress
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
PHILOSOPHY
Platform: Simple & elegant,
but also powerful and flexible
Extensible: Customize via
themes and plugins
Robust API’s: Easily integrate
with other services
Rapid iteration: Three major
releases every year + easy
upgrades
Open: Use your own data and
code
WordPress is the most popular CMS on the Web. They power one in five
websites, this includes 22% of all new active domains,
23,000 plugins and more than 1,500 themes.

24. Get Social or Get Out
• Publishers/senior execs
MUST participate in
social media – no longer
an option
• Google + is an SEO play –
post stories on G+;
watch your traffic grow
• YouTube - 2nd largest
search engine; post your
videos there to extend
reach
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

25. Get Social or Get Out
• LinkedIn – “All-
Star” for
personal profiles
• LinkedIn
publisher tools
for blogs, etc.
INNOVATION MISSION 2014

26. Native. It is Here and it Works
• BuzzFeed – Business
model is 100% native
• Traditional Media
Companies - NYT,
• WSJ, GateHouse and
Russmedia all
experimenting
• The Elkhart Truth’s
Flavor 574 targets
• food niche
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
“We are the newsroom for our brand partners. We are helping them
react to events that make sense to their brand.” Matt Trotta, BuzzFeed

27. INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Eric Bright, VP of E-commerce, Deseret Digital Media: “An open and
transparent culture is a must-have. Get rid of email. Big data has
dominated the scene for a long time now but small data is where you can
leverage and innovate. We saw true reinvention in work at Autommatic
and eBay. They are responding to the needs of consumers. Finally, it was
amazing to listen to Allen Blue, founder of LinkedIn, and also the
executives at Automattic. They are truly out to improve the world and
not just build a business. Leadership is hard and lonely—we can learn a
lot from these leaders.”
Mark Poss, CEO, Red Wing Publishing: “The culture piece of this trip has
been the consistent theme for me over the past three Innovation
Missions. Culture and vision drive your ability to execute. We have made
and continue to make many changes to improve our culture and attract
top talent. Other key takeaways for me: shareabilty is a KPI, seeing how
the different companies were approaching native was very helpful as I
start to craft my own strategy, and Kirk Davis’s point about ‘selling digital
stuff versus selling a digital business.’ “

28. INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Shannon Kinney, Founder and Client Success Officer, Dream Local
Digital: “I came away with eight top takeaways: SMB confusion is going
to increase and they need our help more than ever. LinkedIn’s new
product line around sales acquisition is going to be a game changer.
Data matters and we need product management. Big data and
audience targeting are getting more and more powerful. No more
email! Google agency PIN; this will help us to assist SMBs. Company
culture matters a lot. Integrated sales teams don’t work.”
David Arkin, Vice President of Content, GateHouse Media, Inc.:
“Proper use of data was a big takeaway for me. Our editors are not
using data in the right way (BuzzFeed has a criteria on how they
approach stories – we need to implement something similar).
BuzzFeed is obsessed with shares/engagement and we can learn from
that as well. The CBS Local visit also touched on data and I particularly
like the tailgate videos. Finally, we need to look at WordPress. That
was a very impressive visit.”

29. INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Brandon Erlacher, Publisher, The Elkhart Truth and CIO, Federated
Media: “Things that we are looking to implement because of the IM:
encourage use of Google+ (it directly feeds the index) and use other
Google tools to make sure SMBs are found (and us too!). Become
‘thought-leaders’ utilizing tools on LinkedIn (gives our brand lift).
Rename native marketing to content marketing (I liked Buzzfeed’s
notion of ‘being the newsroom for the brand/client.’) Use big data to
drive decisions on product, content and helping SMBs. Continue to
evolve the culture in our building and businesses.”

30. 2014 IM Report How 2 Use It
Have your entire team read it
and then schedule a meeting
to discuss.
Pick at least three action items
to implement by the end of the
year.
Call on LMA (Nancy or Pete)
for help in any area.
INNOVATION MISSION 2013INNOVATION MISSION 2014

31. QUESTIONS?
Nancy Cawley Lane
Nancy.Lane@localmedia.org
@localmediarocks
https://www.linkedin.com/today/a
uthor/11309770 (6 blogs about the
IM have been posted here)
Tumblr:
http://nancycawleylane.tumblr.com
/
INNOVATION MISSION 2014