Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Play to the strengths of multimedia, don’t underplay them
A heartening trend in the coverage of the floods in England and elsewhere is the way that newspapers are finally starting to play to the strengths of multimedia platforms, particularly the Web.
Partly because circumstances (like distribution problems) have forced them to think creatively, they’ve been using more of the possibilities open to them with their websites. Like setting up special messageboards to allow readers to share their experiences, pictures and videos (how Web 2.0 is that!) and doing the kind of extended coverage the limited space of the paper simply wouldn’t allow.
The same virtually infinite space the Web can allow for coverage also came up in Press Gazette’s feature of how the Guardian investigative team covering the BAE bribes story last Friday. They’ve used the Web to publish ALL the documents and back-story.
They’d initially though of putting most of it in a book, but Alan Rusbridger convinced them that was “old thinking” and the way to do it was on the Web, with a special website. Which is what they’ve done.
It allows the story to get to a much wider, global, audience and potentially could lead to whistleblowers, who might not have seen it if it had only been in the print edition, sending them more info to keep the story going.
Another great strength of multimedia is the ability to personalise and localise content. As long as it’s properly tagged, the consumer can be given a few options to choose from and get back only what he or she wants with nothing else to get past or pay for but not use. That’s something the Telegraph are trying to make more of with their personalised pages and it’s perfect for the time-poor lives most of us lead these days — allowing you to get what you want with the minimum time wasted.
Interactivity via Web 2.0 features also do more than provide UGC for your multimedia offering — they also help your brand build a stronger relationship with the readers who provide it (and are happy to see you saying it’s good enough to share with others) and in a time when competition in the “attention economy” has never been higher, maintaining a strong relationship with them is something you want to do. Because the winners in the future of the media will be those brands who’ve built the best relationships with readers by interacting with them on their terms, treating them as equals and giving them what they want, when they want it and in the medium that suits them best at that moment.
All of this means papers’ multimedia offerings need to be not just bolt-on optional extras but equal parts of the offering with the print product. All editors need now to think holistically instead of only thinking about what to do to via multimedia as an afterthought.
Get it right and your multimedia presence won't just be part of your offering, it'll be the main platform for the future of your media brand and it'll be one everyone expects, and gets, great things from.
Partly because circumstances (like distribution problems) have forced them to think creatively, they’ve been using more of the possibilities open to them with their websites. Like setting up special messageboards to allow readers to share their experiences, pictures and videos (how Web 2.0 is that!) and doing the kind of extended coverage the limited space of the paper simply wouldn’t allow.
The same virtually infinite space the Web can allow for coverage also came up in Press Gazette’s feature of how the Guardian investigative team covering the BAE bribes story last Friday. They’ve used the Web to publish ALL the documents and back-story.
They’d initially though of putting most of it in a book, but Alan Rusbridger convinced them that was “old thinking” and the way to do it was on the Web, with a special website. Which is what they’ve done.
It allows the story to get to a much wider, global, audience and potentially could lead to whistleblowers, who might not have seen it if it had only been in the print edition, sending them more info to keep the story going.
Another great strength of multimedia is the ability to personalise and localise content. As long as it’s properly tagged, the consumer can be given a few options to choose from and get back only what he or she wants with nothing else to get past or pay for but not use. That’s something the Telegraph are trying to make more of with their personalised pages and it’s perfect for the time-poor lives most of us lead these days — allowing you to get what you want with the minimum time wasted.
Interactivity via Web 2.0 features also do more than provide UGC for your multimedia offering — they also help your brand build a stronger relationship with the readers who provide it (and are happy to see you saying it’s good enough to share with others) and in a time when competition in the “attention economy” has never been higher, maintaining a strong relationship with them is something you want to do. Because the winners in the future of the media will be those brands who’ve built the best relationships with readers by interacting with them on their terms, treating them as equals and giving them what they want, when they want it and in the medium that suits them best at that moment.
All of this means papers’ multimedia offerings need to be not just bolt-on optional extras but equal parts of the offering with the print product. All editors need now to think holistically instead of only thinking about what to do to via multimedia as an afterthought.
Get it right and your multimedia presence won't just be part of your offering, it'll be the main platform for the future of your media brand and it'll be one everyone expects, and gets, great things from.
