Dave Morris » naa

The Oklahoman/NewsOK featured by NAA

David Morris — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:53:12 +0000

We’ve been working the past couple weeks on a corporate video to be included with the Newspaper Association of America’s report on newspapers doing video.

In February 2008, Internet users viewed 10 billion videos, a 66 percent increase over February 2007, according to comScore, a leading Web measurement firm.

Meanwhile, local online video advertising was a $400 million business in 2007, according to Borrell Associates.

While still a small percentage of total and local online advertising, online video represents an enormous opportunity for newspapers to grow revenue and audience.

“Zooming In on Online Video: A Development & Growth Guide for Newspaper Web Sites” is intended to help newspapers of any size develop profitable video applications. As competition heats up for online video mindshare, newspapers have an excellent opportunity to leverage their skills and content and capture an even larger share of online advertising spending.

Here’s the report on The Oklahoman with a link to the video we produced.

Vegas: Day 4, the recap

David Morris — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Last day in Vegas. I could come back this weekend.

Got an email from Ed Kelley, Editor of The Oklahoman, earlier this week. He’s in DC attending the NAA conference.

Says Ed: Here’s a quote from a trade pub covering NAA/ASNE in DC, from Martin Baron, editor of the Boston Globe: “Collecting audio and video is supplemental. We try not to do NPR style reports online. We look for video and audio that complements text but doesn’t replicate text. We would like to do three videos a day essentially, and I think we’ll get there relatively soon.”

Whoa. That’s some old school thinking there. I’m sure Boston.com is not realllly thinking that. Right?

Meanwhile, lots happening in the world of online video:

- Web video views are up 66% over last year, according to Comscore report found on LostRemote.

“The service estimates that close to 135 million users spent an average of 204 total minutes each viewing Web video over the month. Users watched the videos for an average of 2.7 minutes, with an average monthly consumption of 75 videos per person.”

NewsOK.tv viewers watch a similar 2-3 minutes per visit.

- People continue to say attendance is down at NAB. Some of the vendors note you can find similar information online. And some vendors are simply saying “go to our web site” to learn more. While some of the “booths” are overwhelming, like Microsoft and Sony, others are not here at all. Apple and Avid, two majors players in video, decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Apple said something like it wasn’t the best way to reach their audience.

- I spoke with the Associated Press yesterday, eager to learn more about their online video and online graphics packages. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn much from the guys at their display. In fact, they seemed puzzled as to why we wanted video or graphics. Yet at the same time, they announced this week a new OVN 3.0 and mobile video. It’s one thing to promote your new stuff, but you might communicated it through the ranks for those of use eager to use the products.

- The Las Vegas wifi is really slow. And everyone here is smart-phoned out the wazoo. The NAB site is not exactly user friendly for the on-the-go 411.

- Check out these numbers from Hitwise on online video usage.

“YouTube accounted for 73.18 percent of all U.S. visits among a custom category of 68 online video websites. MySpaceTV received the second highest percentage of visits with 9.21 percent followed by Google Video with 4.06 percent.”

Again, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a lot of credit to LostRemote.com for their coverage of the NAB Show conference and the online video industry as a whole.

NAA Conference, Wednesdaymorning session

David Morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:57:51 +0000

Went to the morning session of the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando.

Topic: innovation and new ad ideas. Here’s one for example: the Chicago newspaper and its niche pub for young peeps had a “roadblock” ad for one day. Advertiser was Gap. Here’s how it worked, they blocked out an entire newspaper or section with Gap’s Red ads from the front page stickie to the back page full ad. Effective.

Other good ideas to, like a Friday automotive section. Typically it’s Saturday. With a bonus radio buy.

It’s cold in Orlando

David Morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:23:58 +0000

I won’t lie. It’s cold today. Overcast, breezy and cold. How cold? iPhone weather reports 48, and I’m pretty sure it’s warmed up in the past 3 hours I’ve been up.

And what’s up with people’s dedication to Starbucks? Nothing against Starbucks, I’ve spent my share of cash on their brew. But here at the Marriott World Center, there is a Starbucks in the lobby. And people will line up 20 deep and wait forever for their drink. That’s crazy.

Maybe they don’t know there is a coffee shop downstairs that isn’t as busy. $2.50 for a large.

I know, it’s not the same.

Answer: the digital age

David Morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:30:23 +0000

Most of the sessions here in Orlando at the NAA Marketing conference have dealt with the future. Quit whining about the past, the good old days of the newspaper industry – whether you come from sales or the newsroom – and focus on the future. And its strengths.

Today, the message continued to be preached. One of the afternoon speakers had this to say, “Think of digital as the core product and print as the support product.” That’s a dramatic shift, but it indicates where the audience is trending.

Earlier this week, newspaper execs were warned to develop a high percentage of overall revenue from the digital side in order to survive.

Rather be a newspaper than a TV station

David Morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:15:28 +0000

Interesting statement. From Merrill Lynch.

The late Tuesday session at the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando dealt with innovating past the economic slump. Lauren Rich Fine, former managing director, said the innovation many newspapers are trying is a sign of hope. It shows there is hope because of the effort to fight the slump and meet needs of the industry. It’s all about new business models.

She said despite the worries, she’d rather be a newspaper than a TV station. Interesting. I don’t think she was just playing to the crowd.

One Night in… Bongo’s again?

David Morris — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:23:59 +0000

Yes, a return trip to Bongo’s. But with a mission. Joe Hopper and I return to Downtown Disney to catch the U23D movie at the AMC. I tried to catch it in Washington DC last week, but it was only playing on the weekends. So we cab it over in the monsoon and run into the themepark. I manage to completely wipe out just as I reach the Bongo’s stoop, complete with a sliding stop in the rain. Nice.

I had steak last time here, I ordered chicken this time. More rice. More plantains. Slightly less garlic.

We ordered some appetizer that I can’t pronounce or don’t remember. Basically it’s a fried mashed potato with meat in the center. I’m telling you, this would be a smash hit in OKC.

It’s been a big news day in Florida. Tornado warnings up north. Massive power outtage in the south.

Also grabbed strong cigar from Sosa Family Cigars. Man. They recommended a “full bodied” cigar. And it was.

Is the online audience worth the investment?

David Morris — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:13:24 +0000

As someone who has spent the past decade in the online biz, that question seems a little obvious to me.

In the Tuesday afternoon session at the NAA Martketing conference in Orlando there was a session devoted to the online audience for newspapers. Simple business model: you must be relevant to your customer and show value to your audience. And you must differentiate, show you are different from the competition.

According to Scarborough Research, newspaper Web site users shop more online and spend more when they do than from other not newspaper sites.

Here’s more: when newspaper sites shopped for items such as clothes or travel items like airline tickets, 3 of 4 actually followed through with the purchase.

Scarborough went further. Seven days of newspaper Web traffic were equal to 80 spots on radio. That’s reach for you.

NAA Conference

David Morris — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:15:27 +0000

sharedVideo(1433966075)

One Night in… Ciao Italia

David Morris — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:52:09 +0000

Here’s the real reason newspaper execs come to the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando – or any conference. To network. To meet, greet, boast, learn and most importantly ask questions.

Dan “Patio” Dalton. It you’re in the media biz, you probably get his emails. He is a one-man marketing machine, with a personal brand: an image of himself on his porch. I’m not kidding.

But everyone knows Patio Man. And he’s always at these conferences. So he runs into Kelly Fry, OPUBCO Communications Group Vice President for News and Information Center (now that’s a title!), and me on the trade show floor and demands we spend 30 seconds with him. He can be a pest, but that’s the mark of the good salesman I guess. He is tenacious. We give him the 30 seconds and his product is solid. In fact we have used Content That Works, his company, for a while now.

However, he convinces us to join him and his co-workers and the company CEO Paul Kamp for dinner. So now we have an adventure on our hands as they say we are headed to a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant located somewhere in an Orlando strip mall.

How could this go wrong, right?

Of course we roll in, nine strong, and grab a corner table. Place is packed. Mostly with locals I think. I’m not sure how anyone else would know about this place. Paul is a former restaurant/food critic outta Chicago, so we kinda trust he knows his pasta. In fact, he breaks down the difference between North side and South side pasta (alfredo vs tomato, sorta).

But we don’t get pasta. We order the special, the sea bass. I’ve never had sea bass. In fact, I’m not sure I want sea bass in Oklahoma. It’s great though. Really top notch fish. Served with potatos cut lengthwise. I usually try to include a price, but Paul and Dan ordered for the group so I didn’t get a good look at the menu.