It's time to change media thinking

The Field of Dreams Strategy:
In media, it used to be okay to follow the "Field of Dreams Voice" strategy- you know the voice in Kevin Costner's head that told him, "If you Build It, They Will Come." This was actually named #39 on the list of Top 100 Movie Quotes: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams#The_Voice

You can no longer afford to "build" media content, and hope "they will come". Now that consumers and online audiences can choose exactly what they look at, when, and in what medium- marketers and media companies are forced to adapt and follow the audience around. Quite different from the build it and hope they come approach of yesteryear.

The game is interaction and engagement: How can media- be it broadcast, print, B2B or digital- help their advertising clients move from simply being noticed by their audience, to actually being of use to their audience?

As audiences consumer media in ever-changing ways, media executive will need to think differently. Digital, emerging, and online media now "drive the bus", and decision-makers need to think as interactive media entities rather than as print or broadcast entities with online extensions. Here are the first steps:

1- Customized, unique sponsorship and ad packages are needed, whether in print, broadcast, or online. The media executives who charge their salesforces and content leaders with the flexibility and resources to launch, deliver, and execute unique new sponsorship ideas that drive user-interaction will win big.

2- In print media, the title of Chief Editor should be abolished, in favor of Content Director- a leader who is strategically thinking of new ways to deliver the best content to his/her audience segment, whether that's in print, flat content online, streaming video, or online community applications and user-generated topics.

3- Also in print, the title of Publisher should likewise be abolished, in favor of Revenue Director- a leader who sells consultatively (really), is a creative and strategic sales thinker, and who is on-top of all aspects of print, online and emerging trends.

4- The title of Circulation Director should be transitioned to Audience Director- an executive who understands all aspects of their audience including understanding cross-over from print and/or broadcast to digital media, online usage habits, and leveraging behavioral marketing to drive new content ideas and leverage new revenue categories.

5- The senior-level executives who manage media companies from the C-Level need to cultivate real and consistent communication within their organizations to drive innovation, have forward-thinking financial pros on staff, and be careful but diligent in driving partnerships and acquisitions.

Sounds easy, right? At the pace of media change in our industry now, thinking differently about delivering content to audiences and monitizing the ability to get users to read, interact, and act on advertiser's messages is the end-game. Not an easy task, but one with large rewards to those media companies- and the executives who lead them- who figure it out.

Integrated and Convergent Selling: Can it be this hard?

As a media sales professional, you've no doubt been subject to numerous strategy sessions where the topic of being a "customer-centric" sales force and selling "integrated" media in "multi-platforms" has been discussed.

When the ideas are finished being exchanged, the strategies discussed, and the long dinners and drinking finished, sales people and senior management tend to go back to their siloed existences where integrated, team selling rarely exists.

If you work in a broadcast, cable, and digital media company the term is often referred to as "convergent" selling.

"Tending to move toward one point or to approach each other" is how Merriam-Webter's Dictionary defines convergent: http://www.webster.com/dictionary/convergent Then why do TV and online sales teams so often move away from each strategically and sit on opposite floors physically?

If you're within the framework of a print publishing company, the term most often used is "integrated" selling.

"To incorporate into a larger unit or to bring into equal membership of an organization" is how Merriam-Webster defines integratrated: http://www.webster.com/dictionary Then why do print executives always act like the larger/more important unit and is online still treated like an unequal member of the organization?

Either way, corporate executives love to point out how their respective media properties are well-positioned to work together to enable advertisers to reach audiences in multiple media effectively. What executives fail to address is the glaring in-efficiencies in the integrated/convergent sales processes and the internal struggles that make executing truly multi-platform selling worthwhile.

Team Efforts Start at the Top: Fostering a team-selling atmosphere and truly customer-centric approach within larger media sales forces starts at the executive levels. When the VP of TV Sales and the VP of Interactive Sales have respectful and trusted relationships with each other and empower their teams to do what is in the best interest of the client, great things can be accomplished. When this does not occur, distrust, selfishness, and pettiness usually does- leading to stunted revenue growth.


Over the past 5 or so years, some publishing companies have started created seperate sales teams specific to online to capitilize on this growing medium. Those companies still most likely initiate strategy thru their print brands, have top-level print management drive the major account relationships, and treat online has an "add-on" as part of an a la carte menu.


The same holds true for broadcast media companies, who view the branded network as the strategy driver, lead with TV in major account relationships, and whose idea of convergent selling is adding some online to the upfront plan funded by some scraps of budget.

It's no wonder interactive sales sometimes feel disconnected from their print or broadcast colleagues, sort of like Ryan in this quick office scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aa8rkmliEM


From a management standpoint, I guess this behavior can be understood. Media pros who've risen to management or executive ranks very rarely have online or digital backgrounds. Only recently has that started to change, as companies like Time Inc and Martha Stewart Living Optimedia are handing executive positions overseeing multiple media brands to managers with online backgrounds. Click here for a link discussing those appointments: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=63372


Does this signal a change in internal selling strategy? I think it does, and some examples include:

• Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal (soon-to-be News Corp) has a solid integrated strategy in which print and digital media teams have shared revenue goals in each territory and our now led by "Multi-Media Sales Managers".
• Reader's Digest recently (April 2007) announced an integrated sales team to sell cross-platform, McGraw-Hill has a similar structure, etc.
• MEredith has a convergent team approach by the name of 360i that has a good reputation and delivers intelligent cross-platform ideas for agencies and clients.
  

Talking about convergent or integrated selling at the corporate level of media companies is easy and logical, but actually having a salesforce motivated to truly execute that strategy is hard to do.

The key starts at the top, as executives must foster the team convergent sales approach, build trust internally at high levels, and remember the path to exploding sales growth is working together.