e-commerce
and all points in between. Each approach has its own merits and challenges.
DUNCAN EDWARDS President and CEO
Hearst Magazines International, USA
M and ecommerce are flagged up as exciting additional revenue streams. Do you agree? Potentially – yes.
How successful are your ventures? We have a number of projects around the world that range from the full scale e-commerce that we run with ElleShop in Japan (see box) to small affiliate deals in almost every country and every website
Are strong brands the key to success? The key to success is audience. Somehow you need to have large numbers of consumers coming to your shop window in order to convert some of them into actual shoppers. Having highly popular consumer brands like Cosmo and Elle, with big web audiences is certainly a help. You also need to have brands in your inventory that people want to buy.
Could you give example/s of money making ventures and ones that have been shelved? Our full ecommerce business in Japan is now profitable (as are most of our smaller affiliate arrangements as the costs are minimal).
Retail is a risky business. How do you best deal with this? You are right. For these reasons we are careful about investing too much of our resources in this area of digital activity. For us the priorities are building
audiences on the freeweb, and mobile in particular, followed by developing paid for consumer digital properties; ecommerce is really our third priority in digital.
What can you offer that the likes of Amazon and eBay can’t? If you compete head to head with these guys, they will win, so you have to offer something else in terms of what you sell or the service you offer.
What advice would you give any publisher looking to test the waters? Be careful.
Is there a key strategy to employ? Lots of testing, keep your costs low and be ready to move on if things don’t work out.
How do you see ecommerce evolving for publishers? I suspect some form of affiliate model will become easy to plug into websites and publishers will be able to earn modest revenue shares from these.
off to another experience). Within our radio brands our approach has been to adopt a deals based strategy that has enabled a clear consumer proposition without the risk of getting fully into retail.
Could you give example/s of money making ventures and ones that have been shelved?
PAUL KEENAN Chief executive Bauer Media UK
M and ecommerce are being flagged up as exciting additional revenue streams. Do you agree? Yes – ecommerce is not just a way to drive new revenues for our digital businesses but also a way to deliver better experiences for our consumers. Media brands should be looking to not just inspire consumers but to inspire them to act … or to purchase. Helping consumers to not just choose but to purchase will ultimately drive a stronger consumer relationship.
How successful are your ventures? In our specialist brands (vertical/passion brands) we have had our best success by working with a single or limited number of retailers to create a product that integrates seamlessly with our content (rather than simply directing consumers
fipp.com
Deals and partnerships within radio and specialist have seen the greatest win. Where we have created loose integration with a simple affiliate model – success has been more limited. Previously, we worked with Foundem to create a price comparison affiliate model in several Specialist markets – the lack of control in terms of conversion meant this model struggled to deliver the returns we were looking for.
Retail is a risky business. How do you best deal with this? Partners are vital – and finding the right one should start with the unique offering the brand is looking to deliver. We have moved away from a multiple partner approach within our motorcycling portfolio to working closely with one supplier and are really excited about what we are now delivering to the consumer. Doing this without a partner would be risky and time consuming. Merchandising is simply not the same as writing quality content that helps consumers choose product – assuming an editorial team can pick products is a risky (and probably flawed) approach.
There is some formidable online competition. What can you offer that they can’t? Trust, independence, quality content and insight – all the qualities that already make strong publishing brands successful. Consumers do use Amazon and eBay, but they don’t trust those brands in the same way they do media.
What advice would you give any publisher looking to test the waters? As with any digital models that are new to your business – test quickly and quietly and learn fast.
Is there a key strategy to employ? In terms of a business model – there is unlikely to be a one size fits all solution. The strategy should be to play to your business and brand strengths, take a few small calculated risks to learn quickly, work with suppliers who fit your requirements and be clear on the value you are delivering to the consumer.
How do you see ecommerce evolving? The key will be closer relationships with retailers … potentially to the point of ownership where appropriate with retailers starting to use partnerships to launch new spin offs and products rather than just a route to market. These partnerships should be a starting point into new business models not the end point – ecommerce doesn’t have to just mean clothes and gear but the relationship can fuel a huge variety of services for brands.
issue 82_2014 | Magazine World |15
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