November 15, 2018
Predicting The Future
On 15th November the World Media Group and The Internationals hosted a Breakfast Briefing in Paris by focusing on: macro consumer trends, media and the future of journalism.
Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist – kicked off with his top 10 consumer predictions for 2019, a copy of his presentation can be downloaded HERE:
Few of the insights which really stuck out for me were: the predicted growth of Nigeria (larger than USA by 2050!), the decline of Silicon Valley as the sole power house for digital innovation, facial recognition in Chinese public toilets (yes, it is a thing), The Trump Show – Season 2.
Matthew Knight, Strategist Partner, Foxlark Strategy – talked about how the rise in demand-led, service-led and solution-led businesses will lead to brand marketeers moving from being in reactive mode (a race to the bottom) to a more intuitive and purpose-driven way of behaving, and the shift from brands being ‘storytellers’ to becoming the ‘story which people tell’. Download a copy of Matthew’s presentation HERE:
The final session was fascinating. Emma Winchurch Beale was joined by a panel of 4 award winning journalists to discuss the future of journalism. The panel included Daniel Franklin, The Economist; Jennifer Shenker, The Innovator; Geraldine Amiel, Bloomberg and Simon Kuper, Financial Times.
This was a wide-ranging discussion touching on:
• The implications of social media on freedom of speech as both a blessing and a curse; the need to re-establish the credibility of journalism with the public; the impact that Trump is having in making free speech more difficult in countries like, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia; journalists being under greater pressure to improve accuracy.
• The evolutions of publishing models 1) media brands which connect with the Top 1% 2) ‘Club’ brands with a loyal following 3) the rest – which have no ‘post advertising’ funding model.
• Digitalisation for most quality publishers has been an opportunity to expand reach, but the need to deliver the same ‘editorial values’ across more and faster channels is a challenge.
• Digital has given editors a greater understanding of what stories engage readers (big surprise Corporate Takeovers isn’t one of them), however, it is still a duty to ensure that even the most un-sexy but important stories still get written.
• The shift in the premium media brands business models in recent years from being ad driven to being subscription led with readers paying for content whether it be on or offline.
Belinda Barker, 15th November 2018