News Corp sees Instagram as threat in fight for consumer eyes

How to win readers that 'automatically default into free'

News Corp believes it can monetize content and beat free alternative sources by providing easy-to-access and in-depth content, according to Darren Stein, general manager of insights, analytics and planning for News Corp Australia.

News Corp said in a recent filing at the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it experienced a 22 per cent decline in Australian newspaper revenues between July and September.

The company is up against both free user-generated content and free ad-funded content, Stein said in remarks to the ADMA Engage conference in Sydney on 12 November. “The challenge for us is that the brands [that are free] are huge global brands that everyone is familiar with,” he said.

Those brands include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube. “You have to be so differentiated now… It’s a much tougher challenge than it’s ever been before,” he commented.

Instagram is especially a threat because, unlike with a tweet or other Facebook update, users are much less likely to verify a photograph’s truth by checking a news website, Stein said.

“If you see a photo, it has to be true,” he said. “That could be a risk factor if we don’t get our act together in that space.”

Companies still not strategic enough around social media: Report
Social media marketing on the rise as RPV value leaps
More Australians are using mobiles to connect to social media

Also, Stein referred to what he called the ‘WTF dilemma’, in which 18 to 34 year-old consumers are the most likely to pay for online content, but also the most likely to expect everything online to be free.

“No matter how good your offer is, they will automatically default into free,” he claimed.

That’s not to say people won’t pay for content ever, however. People will pay if content is always up to date and available, wherever and whenever they want it, he said. Also, they will pay if the content provides depth for when the consumer wants more information, and if the content is easy to access and find.

By monitoring consumer behaviour and understanding how they get the news, it is possible to trigger targeted content that is more likely to be relevant to the user, he said.

News Corp is still in the middle of a journey to better understand its market and the consumer experience, Stein said. “I don’t want anyone to think today that News has got it cracked.

“We now know more than ever before about the consumers of our products.” News Corp started from a “low base, but we’re not on a low base anymore,” he said.

One major trend News is watching is the explosion of connected devices, especially mobile ones, Stein said. By 2014, the number of networked devices will be double the global population, he said, citing a statistic from Intel.

In addition, video is the most popular kind of content, and “everyone is a content creator”, he said.

Adam Good, Telstra Media director of digital media and content, said in separate remarks that Telstra is focused on the multi-screen experience. He cited the four main screens as the smartphone, tablet, TV and PC/laptop, which together they represent 90 per cent of all media interactions. The remaining 10 per cent include radio, newspaper and magazines.

“You do have to think mobile first,” said Good. “It is the device that is on us all the time.”

While most people always carry their smartphone and always have it switched on, only about a quarter of tablet owners carry their tablet at all times of the day, he said. However, people are increasingly using tablets for things they used to do on smartphones and especially PCs.

Good agreed with Stein that video consumption is growing at a phenomenal rate. Most video consumption is on the PC but it is also growing on the tablet and smartphone, he said.

“We’re seeing our network inundated with content consumption.”

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia

Signup to CMO’s new email newsletter to receive your weekly dose of targeted content for the modern marketing chief.

Follow Adam Bender on Twitter: @WatchAdam

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Show Comments

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in