What’s the difference between someone perusing social media content and navigating one of Meredith Corporation’s digital assets? “When people come to us, they come with purpose and intent,” says Matt Minoff, the publishing giant’s Chief Digital Officer.
“When I’m on Facebook, I’m in browse mode. I’m scrolling through a feed and I’m looking for things that capture my attention. When you’re coming to us, you’re coming with a purpose,” Minoff adds in this interview with Beet.TV.
That purpose varies by title, generating “both the implicit and explicit data” the company collects from its reach consisting of some 175 million consumers monthly.
“You’re coming to our recipes because you’re looking to make dinner or you’re thinking about going grocery shopping. That’s an ideal moment for a client to capture consumer attention and to be part of that experience.”
Visitors to Better Homes & Gardens are considering “planting your garden or doing some type of home improvement project. When you’re coming to Shape, you’re thinking about how do you improvement your fitness,” says Minoff.
When you pair intent, data, creative capabilities and scale, “I think we have something that very few others can offer.”
On the branded content creation side, Minoff mentions the Foundry, Meredith’s New York-based facilities where data, insights, storytelling and scale are leveraged to connect brands with consumers. The Foundry was recently nominated for three Webby Awards, presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and two Emmy nominations from The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the Outstanding Innovation category for virtual reality projects.
“I think how all great branded content starts is an understanding of what consumers are looking for and then figuring out how do I weave a brand into that in a way that still drives return for them,” says Minoff.
Asked to assess the near future of the publishing business, his “deepest hope” is that most publishers are able to find business models that support the great content and products that they create.
“I think there’s been a challenge with advertising shifting a lot toward the platforms, that a lot of publishers have been trying to figure out what’s the next generation business model,” Minoff says.
Subscriptions are one such model. With some 50 million print subscribers, Meredith sees “a big opportunity to extend that into our digital properties as well.”
This video is part of a series titled The Road to the Digital Content NewFronts. It is a preview of topics to be explored at IAB’s NewFronts, which begin on April 30. This series is presented by Meredith Corporation. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.
