Digital Winners 2014: Are Stokstad, Amedia

1. DEVELOPING TOMORROWS LOCAL
MEDIA HOUSES IN THE DIGITAL ERA
CEO Are Stokstad
OSLO
21. OCTOBER, 2014

2. Confession – the Newspaper Industry is facing substantial challenges
Side
2
Perceived strengths
anno 2007
Obstacles
anno 2014
100 % value-chain ownership
from content production to
end user distribution
Need for highly flexible
infrastructure adapted to
changing markets
Internal production of (nearly)
all editorial content ~100 %
fixed production costs
Flexible production from
numerous sources –
variable cost base
Technological ownership
Usage of off-the-shelf world
class technology solutions
adapted to continuously
changing products, services
and devices
=
Development – advertisement, print 2007-E2014
4 431
7 189
?
E2017
-2 758
2007 E2014
Development – consumption newspapers
(SSB, % daily use of media-channel)
E2017
-29%
?
51%
2013
72%
2007
(IRM, billion)

3. Be that as it may, Amedia still is a Norwegian media giant – reaching 2,1 mill
people, more than 40% of Norwegian people, every day
Side
- Tromsø 77 %
- Bodø 80 %
- Tønsberg 71 %
- Fredrikstad 72 %
Amedia has 68 mediahouses
spread all over the country
Every day nearly 1000
journalists gives the local
market relevant news and
updates
In several key regional
markets we daily reach more
than 70 % of the people
3
Daily reach

4. How to face the industries formidable challenges?
Today’s themes:
Side
4
• Strengthening end user relevance
• Enhancing local and central creativeness
• Ensuring World class scale efficiency
• Radically improve speed of execution

5. Strengthening end user relevance:
Central policies and implementation skills do pay off
“This is one of the best long-term
young readers programmes ever: led
by extensive research, thought out
and strategic, guided by a ‘need to
have’ philosophy about young
readers,”
The 2040 project!
«We want YOU on the team»
Avisa Nordland hired 60 young
editors which were given real
influence on the product!
Led to real change in the
organisation – how to organise,
prioritise and think
- The jury of WAN IFRA Moved the school into the
Side
5
media house!
Moss Avis has developed a class
together with the secondary
school. The students developed
their own section on the website:
www.moss-avis.no/skoleavis
The program has included
research towards a group
of 3.500 people since 2008
Daily reading*:
• 15-19 years
=> 7 out of 10
• 20-29 years
=> 8 out of 10
*in defined local geography

6. Local creativeness and speed:
In the digital era local initiatives can, rapidly, beat national leaders
Side
6
 Buzzit was developed in the cellar of the local
newspaper Nordlys over a few weeks
 The product was launched in June 2014
• Day one: Buzzit had more than 100.000
…But with one million visitors a week it
becomes clear that the market wants this
product!
users
• Best week: Over 1,1 million users
• Age profile: Over 55% of Buzzit’s user base
are between 18-34 years old
 Uses the strengths of Facebook as distribution
channel – only 25% of it’s traffic stems from the
local newspaper’s frontpage
 Focusing on speed to market, «childhood
diseases» will emerge and cannot be solved up
front

7. Significance of scale – aID is a critical fundament for both editorial as well
as commercial development. It launched in April and is now implemented in
68 media houses
Side
Launched april 2014
7
STEP 1
STEP 2
Digital paid content
«Big data» segmentation
STEP 3
Individual and
dynamic products
Transactional products covering
the entire customer cycle
is our most
critical initiative of
scale
It enables us to build
the basis for our
future editorial as
well as commercial
products
We successfully
implemented the
basis – now we have
to fill it with relevant
products and
services!

8. Concluding remarks
Side
8
• The newspaper industry, Amedia included, is still facing significant
changes – it will not be easy
• Amedia believes that;
• We are well positioned dealing with existing and future challenges
• Future development should be based on thorough market
oriented approaches:
• Future content products ought to be based on broader
perspective and sources – we must broaden our current
value chain
• We must strengthen our value propositions for advertisers –
their ROI is our focus

9. Amedia AS
Akersgata 28
Postboks 1168 Sentrum, NO-0107 Oslo
Telefon +47 22 00 90 00
www.amedia.no