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TALES FROM THE HIVE

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... Circulation (PBS) and Classified (Mactive) operating systems ... Free classified ads offered by spokane.net in opening play for craigslist.com audience. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: TALES FROM THE HIVE


1
TALES FROM THE HIVE
  • Managing Innovation
  • at a Regional
  • U.S. Newspaper

2
The Spokesman-Review
  • 7-day Average Circulation 115,000
  • Largest daily newspaper between Minneapolis and
    Seattle
  • Distribution area 37,000 square miles
  • Core Population 443,000 in 162,000 HHs
  • Core Penetration by Newspaper 54
  • 550 Employees newsroom of 135
  • Family-owned independent

3
What is The Hive?
  • A place where all functions and
  • people involved with new-product
  • development, product makeover
  • database marketing, CRM
  • and high-tech communication
  • are co-located

4
Why is it called The Hive?
  • Like a beehive, it houses specialists working
    together to achieve common goals.
  • The name has no ties to traditional newspaper
    nomenclature. Thats intentional.
  • The name connotes fun and evokes buzz.
    (Everyone in The Hive has a bee name DataDrone,
    Beekeeper, Stinger, Honey, Queen B, etc.)
  • .

5
What functions are co-located?
  • New-product development
  • Market research
  • Data collection and management
  • Marketing technology
  • Product repair/makeover
  • Websites
  • E-mail and web marketing
  • Direct-mail
  • Call-center management
  • Consumer marketing

6
Why Co-Locate?
  • 1. Create synergy.
  • 2. Break down walls.
  • 3. Provide protective cover for talent.
  • 4. Create a non-traditional environment
  • We have conversation pits, not conference rooms
  • We aim for a high-design physical environment.
  • We have Foosball. We have lava lamps!

7
The Hive is not . . .
  • . . . a department
  • . . . a company
  • . . . a project
  • The Hive has no budget . . . but everything
    it does is budgeted on a project-by-project basis
    or allocated from departments.

8
Hive Creativity Techniques
  • Turn all premises upside down (like Costco).
  • Limit tools (as in Apollo 13, i.e., build the
    box to get outside of)
  • Limit the missions scope
  • Limit the missions timeframe
  • Work the problem
  • Simplicity, Slimplicity, Synplicity
  • (Keep it simple, lean and compatible)
  • TMPending Trademark of The Oxalis Group, Shaun
    OL. Higgins

9
Hive Creativity Techniques
  • Many small trump few large
  • Pack the room!
  • Instant post-mortems (e.g., revising e-mail
    message lines)
  • Dress it up (first-rate design)
  • Big means
  • BIG!

10
Hive Decision Questions
  • No mission, no money!
  • Is the market REALLY demanding this?
  • No champ, no stamp! (Does anyone really LIKE this
    idea? Or, Stop sucking up, please!)
  • Fastest, surest, biggestmix and match, but
    frontend the results.
  • What are the opportunity costs?
  • If Johnny Courier jumps off a bridge, will we?

11
Timeline of Innovation at The Spokesman-Review
  • 1980s
  • Experimented with robotic writing programs in
    newsroom.
  • Launched one of the first electronic publishing
    projects by a U.S. newspaper.

12
Timeline of Innovation at The Spokesman-Review
  • 1990s
  • Electronic publishing evolves onto the Web
    spokesmanreview.com and spokane.net.
  • New Media Ventures subsidiary formed.
  • Database marketing techniques applied to
    Circulation with mixed results.
  • Demand-distribution publications launched
    Rentals, auto, restaurants, etc.

13
Timeline of Innovation at The Spokesman-Review
  • 2000s
  • New Circulation (PBS) and Classified (Mactive)
    operating systems installed by S-R.
  • Universal Customer-Service Unit formed.
  • New general and targeted publications
  • PINCH, Better Health Living, Saturday
    Finance, 7, Home, quarterly Travel, new free
    weekly for suburbs.
  • The Hive starts buzzing!

14
Timeline of Innovation at The Spokesman-Review
(2000s)
  • Spokesmanreview.com named best Website of its
    size in the United States.
  • Spokesmanreview.com begins charging non-newspaper
    subscribers for newspaper content. No drop in
    traffic. 100,000 added to bottom line.
  • E-mail updates added to information services for
    business and general audiences.

15
Timeline of Innovation at The Spokesman-Review
(2000s)
  • Free TMC product, PINCH, repurposed as a 73,000
    circulation free weekly, now ready to offer
    reader-generated copy. Content also posted on
    spokane.net.
  • Weekly, zoned section for suburbs relaunched as
    57,000 circulation free weekly newspaper with its
    own website.
  • Free classified ads offered by spokane.net in
    opening play for craigslist.com audience.

16
Lessons learned from early efforts
  • Lesson 1
  • State-of-the-art newspaper operating systems
    (Circulation, Classified and A/R) were required
    to support a state-of-the-art Marketing/CRM
    database.
  • We had the skills in 1990 to do one-off projects
    but lacked the hardware/software to sustain
    ongoing, high-level CRM until 2003-2004.

17
Lessons learned from early efforts
  • Lesson 2 Cloning was futile.
  • Identifying potential new subscribers was
    deceptively easy
  • Finding real new subscribers was difficult and
    too costly.

18
Case files on cloning gone astray
  • The Case of the 80-year-old Widows
  • The Case of the Magnificent Seven
  • The Case of the Missing Persons

19
Lessons learned from early efforts
  • Lesson 3 You cant be a two-item store.
  • Most newspapers, including ours, had only two
    things to sell consumers the paper itself and
    Classified ads. One item could be purchased
    everyday the other, every so often.
  • We needed more products to upsell.

20
Upselling Then and Now
  • Then
  • Thank you for subscribing. Can I interest you
    in a Classified ad?
  • Thank you for advertising with us. Would you
    like to extend your subscription at a special
    rate for Classified advertisers?

21
Upselling Then and Now
  • Now. . .
  • Upsells of more than 20 ad-enhancing features.
  • Upsells of SR-branded merchandisebooks, etc..
  • Upsells/Cross-sells of online options.
  • Upsells of E-Z Pay programs.
  • Promotion of newspaper-sponsored events.
  • Upsells of target-distribution products.
  • Coming soon! Upsells of magazines, national
    papers.

22
Next Steps Package Selling
  • In 2006 . . .
  • All products cross-sold in packages of
    mix-and-match combinations for example
  • An ad in core newspapers Friday Financial
    section
  • --plus, ad framing business-update e-mails
  • --plus, ad on business pages of online service
  • --plus, print ad picked up request-only Saturday
    Stock market section.

23
Next Steps Company Store
  • In 2006
  • Add an extended line of high-quality newspaper
    merchandise, available online and for upsell by
    Call Center.

24
Next Steps 6-column Classifieds
  • In 2007
  • In 2006, we increased Classified ad type size to
    nearly 8 points.
  • January 1, 2008 We will go to 6-column
    classified format, providing a common,
    interchangeable ad size throughout the paper and
    offering opportunity for multiple Classified and
    ROP placements on the same day.

25
Next Steps Data-Based Commissions
  • Now Subscription commissions based primarily on
    traditional characteristics length of order, E-Z
    Pay, cash with order, etc.
  • By 2007 . . .
  • Commissions based on household demographics
    (e.g., more for those desired by
    advertisers).
  • Save bonuses based on desirability of
    household to advertiser. (We do a bit of this
    now.)

26
Next Steps Any Day Home Delivery
  • By 2008
  • You only want us only every Wednesday?
  • No problem!
  • You want us Monday, Wednesday, Friday?
  • No problem!
  • You want it this Saturday only?
  • No problem!

27
Next Steps Choose your sections
  • By 2009
  • Everyone gets the Main News section.
  • Then its mix-and-match, for example
  • Do you want Sports with that?
  • Do you want Business with that?
  • Do you want Entertainment with that?

28
Next Steps All ads in color
  • By 2010
  • Base ad rates will include full-color (just like
    TV!)
  • Steps along the road Color-only sections
  • --TV Week (Long ago)
  • --Saturday Financial (2006)
  • --Any/all section front ads (2005)
  • --Forthcoming high-school monthly (2007)

29
In Conclusion
  • The Hive
  • Brings all tech-based marketing efforts together
  • Fosters creativity and synergy
  • Accelerates product-development
  • Presents a clear alternative to traditional
    departmental structures and newspaper
    hierarchies.

30
Questions?
  • Thank you!
  • shaunh_at_spokesman.com
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