It is rare for Kevin Beatty, one of the Daily Mail & General Trust's most senior executives, to speak in public.
But there was a sighting - and a hearing - yesterday when the chief executive of A&N Media and managing director of Associated Newspapers delivered the keynote address at the WAN-IFRA digital media Europe conference in London.
Beatty's main message: er, I'm not sure. See what you make of what was reported...
"The debate over print versus digital isn't useful anymore. We consider it pointless and an unnecessary introspection.
Instead we have sought to change our business in anticipation of our customers' expectations.
Although there remain many uncertainties, the one thing that we are sure of is that change, although always a constant, will continue at a phenomenal rate and we need to keep up."
A&N Media reaches 41% of all UK adults every month across its platforms. But their audiences are no longer described by geography. For example, of the 65m unique users a month of Mail online, 42% come from outside the UK.
But, said Beatty, building an audience isn't an end in itself. It is interaction among its brands and platforms that is proving to be profitable.
"Brand interaction builds a richer, more valuable customer profile.
Our business will only prosper in the future as it has in the past if we continue to attract, engage and delight a growing readership/audience and in doing so solicit a reward, whether it is through cover price from our newspapers, delivering a valuable return on investment for our advertisers, shared insight on our customers through enriched data or even via our bourgeoning enterprise activity where sell products and services directly to our customers."
The digital market offers an opportunity to newspapers who can help advertisers navigate through an increasingly complex landscape, he said.
"We continue to create more opportunities for marketers to spend money with our brands... marketers are becoming overwhelmed by digital options, agencies are not ready to manage the full scopes of digital campaigns and advertisers lack the ability to create to the digital platforms."
These stumbling blocks make it more difficult to create brand-building and that is where we see the growth opportunities."
Gosh, Kevin, I remember the days when I could understand everything you said. But, if I get your drift through the jargon, I do believe you're right... I think.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/apr/12/associated-newspapers-digital-media
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