Products show worth at INC3

By Chuck Moozakis and Tara McMeekin
Editors

WASHINGTON — The future — as well as the current — direction of individualized news came under the microscope last month as proponents gathered to discuss the concept at the third annual Individuated News Conference.
The meeting, backed by Media-
News Group and held at The Washington Times, examined ventures already under way, but also took a close look at the potential challenges faced by media organizations as they evaluate the delivery of hyper-customized news and information.
“It’s the media franchise of the future,” said Peter Vandevanter, MNG’s vice president of targeted products.
Vandevanter highlighted the contrast between last year’s conference, which was largely based on concepts, and this year’s meeting, which boasted five individuated products in the marketplace.

Host of products
Among those products: MNG’s I-News; The Washington Times’ customized newsweekly; the Knight Foundation’s Printcasting; PersonalNews in Switzerland and Time Inc.’s mine magazine.
“By the end of [last year’s conference] we were debating whether the first individuated news products would be printed on a digital press, or on a home printer — and as I remember it, the group was divided about 50-50,” Vandevanter said. “This year, we start with actual products to show and discuss — real market-tested products. And two of them are printed on toner-based digital presses, one on an inkjet press and one on a home printer. So we were all right last year.”
There are no “wrong answers” when it comes to individuated newspapers, Vandevanter said, because products can inhabit any platform, including e-readers, PDAs and PCs.
“Individuated news is platform-agnostic, let’s be clear about that,” he said. “As long as the platform is digital.”

New business model?
In a video presentation, MNG CEO William Dean Singleton further underscored the importance of exploiting concepts like individuated news, the term MNG coined to describe the creation of publications tailored to readers’ interests.
“If we needed a new business model for newspapers last year, we need it even more this year,” he said. “This conference continues to pursue a new business model. We owe it to ourselves and to the world to see if this new model will work.
“I’ve lived my life believing newspapers are the cornerstone of democracy and I believe the individuated newspaper will modernize that concept,” he said.
“Imagine, as a reader, getting all the news packaged the way you want, about any subject you want, and in any depth you want, when you want.
“And then imagine advertisers being able to reach a motivated buyer when that reader is motivated to buy. In many ways, we’ve built our company around that dynamic,” he said.

First strides
Each of the five individuated products took their first strides from concept to reality over the past year. The Times, for example, partnered with Océ, Printcasting, MNG and Augsburg, Germany-based workflow software developer Syntops to produce a personalized version of its national newsweekly.
Over a four-week period, 60 Times subscribers were able to customize their editions, going to a Syntops-anchored Web page that allowed them to choose among a menu of options, said Ted Agres, deputy managing editor.
Once the selections were made, the papers were printed from PDF files on an Océ Jetstream 2200 inkjet digital press at the vendor’s facility in Boca Raton, Fla., and finished with inline Hunkeler postpress equipment.
The customized editions ranged in size from 20 to 60 pages, with 40 being standard, Agres said. Content included a selection of Times articles printed during the preceding week, a page of citizen journalism, international news and features, sports and reader-selected content from other sections of the paper.

Customization
Key to the project was the Syntops workflow that allowed The Times to generate full- and half-page modules containing reader-selected content.
“We first tried to figure out how deep we wanted to get into a page,” said Times Cross-Media Design Director Gil Roschuni. “The more incremental you get, the more complex it gets. Ultimately we limited it to halves. We used background modules (from Syntops) with default rules and background information on the page  — date and page numbers are put on the page by the system.”
Agres said subscribers receiving the personalized editions were satisfied with the finished product, with the vast majority reporting that individualizing news was important. The Times hadn’t examined personalizing advertising in the newsweekly, but Agres said almost half of the respondents said they’d be interested in such an approach.
“The thing that is most remarkable about the newsweekly is that it’s actually unremarkable,” Agres said. “It looks and feels like a regular publication — the difference is that it’s the content that the user has requested.”

I-News ready to roll
MNG’s I-News also made some solid strides, said Vandevanter. The publisher is now offering I-News to 24 Denver Post subscribers in northwest Denver, in preparation for the service’s formal launch in Los Angeles this summer.
As with The Times, I-News lets readers choose the information and news they want to receive. MNG is supplying content from its newspapers — in Denver from The Post and in Los Angeles the Daily News — combined with news from The Associated Press’ AP Complete service. The AP service displays news in 197 categories from which subscribers can build their customized editions.
Once the information has been selected by readers, the finished package is sent to their homes via a smart, wireless desktop printer.
In addition to the home services, MNG also launched a trial with Marriott Hotels in April that delivered I-News to hotel guests staying at the Residence Inn in downtown Denver.
The product, produced on 8.5-by-11-inch paper on a desktop printer, was delivered to 11 guests by 6 a.m. for the duration of their stay. MNG also used AP Complete as the foundation from which guests could choose the news and information they wanted to receive.
MNG now plans to expand the hotel service, delivering I-News to 60 guests, Vandevanter said. “It’s a fascinating new world,” he said.

Printcasting branches out
MNG also said it would partner with Printcasting, the Knight Foundation-funded initiative that allows readers to use Web-based tools to easily create their own customized publications.
MNG will use Printcasting’s apps to fuel the creation of niche products in Los Angeles. MNG is the first publisher to sign up to use the software, which was developed — and subsequently launched — in conjunction with The Bakersfield Californian.
Coincident with the deal with MNG, Printcasting launched new city Web sites in MNG markets Denver, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Boulder, Colo., to enable residents to create their own niche publications, said founder Dan Pacheco.
The initiative has also taken other steps to increase its versatility, he said, including the forthcoming development of a mobile version that will enable users to post their content via multiple channels.
Pacheco also outlined Printcasting’s 60/30/10 revenue-sharing model as it begins to move from funded entity to a sustainable business.
Under terms of the model, the publisher would keep 60 percent of ad revenues it collects from companies marketing their products or services in niche publications. Content providers would receive 30 percent while Printcasting would collect the remainder.
At The Californian, which served as Printcasting’s test bed, the paper has now hired a part-time evangelist to elicit support. Early adopters include the Kern County Library, political parties and the downtown business improvement group.

Segmented newspapering
Finally, Syntops said it would formally launch its PersonalNews individualized newspaper in Germany, beginning Oct. 1.
PersonalNews allows readers to create their own newspapers by selecting specific sections from newspapers around the world. The ensuing papers are then delivered to subscribers, either as PDFs, or as printed editions, said Gregor Dorsch, Syntops’ CEO.
The German launch follows a trial Syntops conducted in Switzerland. Syntops partnered with Swiss Post, which took responsibility for printing and delivering the finished papers.
The German rollout will be PDF-only, initially, Dorsch said, until Syntops can find printers to produce the papers.
“We’ll begin to strike deals with regional printers with digital presses once the service is available,” Dorsch said.
PersonalNews will be priced at 25 Euros for 25 issues. Subscribers will be able to select from among 600 different newspaper sections, and from a wide variety of titles.
Customers can select a maximum of 10 sections per paper and participating papers will receive approximately 56 cents per section in revenue, Dorsch said.

Questions loom
But even as the notion of individualized publishing progresses, the conference also spotlighted some of the difficult issues facing the concept. Chief among them: monetizing. Participants were clearly intrigued with CPMs ranging into the triple-digit range, but panelists and some observers questioned the lack of verifiable audience readership data that would convince advertisers to take the plunge.
Panelists were also concerned about issues of privacy, and whether potential consumers might be scared off from participating in individuated news efforts by the prospect of having their preferences stored by servers managed by media organizations and other third parties.

Time sets next step for ‘mine’

By Chuck Moozakis

Editor in chief

WASHINGTON — Time Inc. is evaluating the next iteration of its customized magazine as it pores over research it’s accumulated since the publication’s April launch.
Called mine, the five-issue experiment allowed readers to build a tailored magazine, containing specific articles from up to five Time Warner Inc. publications, including Time, Sports Illustrated, Food & Wine, Money, Golf and Travel + Leisure.
Some 30,000 consumers requested mine, which was produced by New York-based Ace Group Inc. on Hewlett-Packard Co. Indigo digital presses.
Wayne Powers, president of Time Inc. Media Group, said executives will conduct about six weeks of research, beginning this month, to determine mine’s future direction.
“The future is yet to be determined,” Powers told registrants at the Individuated News Conference here. “After we conduct the research, we’ll see.” Powers said Time had already received calls from other advertisers interested in sponsoring their own mine magazines.

Happy with results
Regardless of the outcome of the consumer research, Powers said Time — and advertising partner Toyota Motor Corp. — was happy with the initial results. Toyota originally came up with the idea of a customized publication in a bid to market its 2010 Lexus RX sports utility vehicle, Powers said.
“For the launch of our driver-inspired 2010 RX, we wanted to communicate within a medium that demonstrated a like-minded commitment to user-centric innovation,” said David Nordstrom, Lexus’ vice president of marketing, in a statement the company released in March. “We’re excited to have a partner like Time Inc. who saw this as an opportunity to showcase their innovation and shake up the way magazines are read.”
“They pushed us,” Powers said. The result: a 36-page customized publication that contains consumer-requested articles in tandem with ad copy that mirrors that consumer’s interests.
Time based the content of mine from online surveys readers filled out earlier this year. Toyota used the same data to concoct the customized ad copy.
Powers said printed editions of mine were in subscribers’ mailboxes within nine days of the original request. Subscribers could request a digital or mobile edition of their customized publication as well. Powers said 90 percent of readers requesting mine opted for the print edition.

Dedicated group
Time created a dedicated group to oversee mine’s production. Editors of the various publications worked with the group to determine which content to supply, and the editors made adjustments to their content management and editorial management software to produce the files needed for output. Powers said the experiment represented the first time the various publications under the Time umbrella collaborated to such a degree on the production of a single publication.
Powers declined to disclose how much mine cost, but conceded, “Short-run is expensive. We used 100- pound cover stock and 70-pound (paper) inside.”

Advertising reflects conundrum

By Tara McMeekin
Editor

WASHINGTON — The topic generating the most buzz at INC3 last month was advertising — how to personalize it and how to monetize it.
Topics of discussion during the advertising panel and among attendees at large ran the gamut on everything from just how targeted advertising should be, to the best ways to personalize it, to the most successful methods for delivering advertising messages.
Time Inc. presented what is likely the most successful advertising model of an individuated product to date with its mine magazine. Mine is the brainchild of Time and major advertiser, Lexus. Upon launching mine, Time received triple the amount of opt-ins it expected for readers wanting to receive targeted Lexus ads, according to Wayne Powers, president of Time’s Media Group.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Peter Vandevanter, vice president of targeted products for MediaNews Group, after the presentation. “To be standing here a year after the last conference and realize that Time has done it.”
Among the technologies in play for mine: the use of quick-response codes, or QR codes, which are based on product barcodes that can be quickly transformed into product information for consumers.
Many iPhone users already use a similar app that allows consumers to request product information by merely transmitting a photo of the product.
OutputLinks provided the QR coding for mine.

Getting to know you
The common theme among speakers on the advertising panel at INC3: Newspapers must meet the challenge of getting to know their readers if they hope to successfully target advertising.
The panel was comprised of execs from companies that offer products aimed at helping advertisers do just that, including Digital Technology International and MediaSpan. Also on the panel were execs from Centro, Precision Ads and PageTurnPro.
“Without data, without deep consumer information, you aren’t going to have a product that is valuable,” said Shawn Riegsecker, founder of online advertising engine Centro. But he warned that the onus is largely on the newspapers since readers aren’t inclined to constantly update the demographic information that is helpful in targeting them.
“You have to come up with a learning engine for your product,” he said. “As people change, your information has to change too.”
Because of their respect in the local market, newspapers that are proactive are well positioned to do this successfully, he said.
“The newspaper has let every opportunity pass it by,” Riegsecker said. “You could’ve done Craigslist and you didn’t … you bought your way into CareerBuilder. Don’t let this thing pass you by.”

Value of content
Ken Freedman, vice president of sales and marketing for MediaSpan, said newspapers need to remain focused on the real value of their products, and that is the content they produce.
“Newspapers have been zoning for years, but the real value is still the content we produce,” he said. “It will make us more powerful than Google or any of those aggregators.”
Freedman told attendees there is no magic bullet when it comes to successfully personalizing advertisements, but that a wide variety of  tools are available.
“There is no one right answer to what we’re trying to do, but we’re working on it because we (Media-Span) have the tools to do it.”
Precision Ads founder John Dowd told attendees that newspapers stand to benefit from any amount of targeting they do with advertising.
“Newspapers have gotten better at tracking and mechanics and using that information,” Dowd said. “The bar right now for newspapers is so low that they are going to increase CPM [by implementing any] amount of targeting.”

Caution
Advice from panelists was also tempered with warnings about things publishers may be better off avoiding in their quests to monetize personalized products.
“With technology you have opportunities, threats and noise,” said Larry Kluger, president of Journal Publications Inc., developer of Web publishing software PageTurnPro. “The Kindle — that is noise right
now — someday, maybe, but we wouldn’t focus on something like that. On the other end is digital [which is] also an opportunity to exploit.”
The reason: Digital editions have immediate returns, according to Kluger.
“On the cost side there isn’t much there,” he said. “On the benefits side, you are reaching new subscribers (and) saving postage costs.”
Attendees and panelists agreed that first and foremost, personalized ads must strike the right chord, in the right way, in order to be effective.
“Personalization has to be done right and resonate with more than one sliver of your personality,” said Steve Nilan, vice president of marketing for DTI.

From the editor’s desk: It’s the Journey

By Tara McMeekin

Editor

When News & Tech first turned its eye to digital presses some eight years ago, my thought process was somewhere along the lines of, “An inkjet press capable of producing 4-color newspapers. Brilliant!”
Fast-forward to 2009 and a handful of vendors have proven that digital presses not only have a place in newspapers, but that inkjet digital represents the best technology for delivering targeted newspapers to readers. So where are the newspapers?
Truth is, most are still skeptical as to how these machines fit into their plans. Complicating their conundrum is the fact that most are fighting for their lives at present, and taking risks with new projects currently falls under the heading of “dream on” in their budget plans.
But there are proofs of concept. Most notably, Investor’s Business Daily has been printed — quite nicely — on O’Neil Data Systems’ HP Inkjet Web Press. But ODS President Jim Lucanish is also quick to say O’Neil has no plans to print the paper on the machine, at least for now.
Last month, attendees gathered at The Washington Times for the third Individuated News Conference, backed by MediaNews Group, to evaluate not only how these products can be printed, but to look at the software and online tools that can be used to create and monetize them.
Among the most successful models of a personalized publication in the market, however, isn’t a newspaper at all, but Time Inc.’s mine magazine.
The Times and MNG, meantime, each discussed their newspaper models at INC3, sharing results of the personalized newsweekly and I-News, respectively.
The Times product was well received by readers, but managers overseeing the project said those polled on the product were reluctant to commit to paying for a subscription. And while MNG has reported some success in monetizing advertising in its I-News pilot — which rolled out in a Denver neighborhood and to guests at a downtown Denver Marriott Residence Inn — the product has only been tested with a relatively small number of readers.
While it’s fair to say none of these ventures have yet become roaring successes, one fact remains clear: The idea of personalized, targeted newspapers isn’t going away. The concept has been mulled over and tested in various forms for more than 50 years. Why? Because publishers see value in giving readers news they choose and advertisers and newspapers alike know there is value in targeted marketing when it’s done right. The question that remains is just how to get there.
When it comes to a foolproof, personalized news vehicle that perfectly targets and delivers advertising results, we’re certainly not there yet.
But remember this: During last year’s INC in Denver, all of the products displayed in Washington this year were just concepts. Today they are real, and that speaks volumes.
Newspapers are fighting for survival, certainly, but wherever there is innovation and an open exchange of good ideas, the task of survival is a little less daunting.

INCrements

Legislative future
Participants of the political panel debated the wisdom of a government bailout of the newspaper industry and how legislation might affect the future of individuated publications.

Amanda B. Carpenter, author and columnist, The Washington Times; Brian Rice, legislative aide to U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.); Stephen Keating, Keating Media; and John F. Harris, editor-in-chief of Politico.

Times cites growth
Times Executive Editor John Soloman said the paper has increased the number of channels it uses to target readers. He also said The Times plans to launch a national edition this fall in a bid to capitalize on its Washington perspective.

John Solomon, executive editor, The Washington Times

Washington Times to launch national edition

WASHINGTON – The Washington Times said it will launch a national edition this fall.

Executive Editor John Solomon said the paper is currently evaluating print sites, but said the national edition would likely run about 36 pages Monday through Friday.

Solomon said that he expects The Times will be able to compete successfully against other national papers such as USA Today and The New York Times because of The Times’ Washington perspective.

More details about The Times plans will be revealed within the next few weeks, Solomon told News & Tech.

Printcasting, MediaNews strike pact

WASHINGTON – Printcasting today said its publishing software platform will be used by MediaNews Group to support the creation of niche products. MNG is the first publisher to agree to use Printcasting’s platform, which was initially launched last year at The Bakersfield Californian.

The announcement was made at the third Individuated News Conference, which kicked off today at The Washington Times.

In addition, Printcasting said it established new city Web sites, in MNG markets Denver, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Boulder, Colo., to enable residents to create their own Printcasting publications.

Printcasting allows anyone to be a publisher by tying online content to templates that can be printed or viewed on the Web and mobile devices.

Printcasting is funded by an $837,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge.

Catch INC3 on N&T Twitter

Catch up on all the latest INC3 Coverage on Twitter by going to http://search.twitter.com/search?q=INCDC or following us at
www.twitter.com/newsandtech

INC3 preview: Individuated news

By Tara McMeekin
Editor

MediaNews Group Chief Executive Officer William Dean Singleton will headline the third Individuated News Conference, being held June 24-26 at The Washington Times in Washington, D.C.

The conference, co-sponsored by I-News pioneer MediaNews Group, The Washington Times, Océ, Accrisoft and News & Tech, is aimed at bringing publishers together with software and hardware vendors that offer products suited to creating individuated, niche, or hyper-local newspaper editions and related products.

“Last year was concept — this year we have products,” said Peter Vandevanter, MNG’s vice president of targeted products, citing four initiatives launched since MNG’s inaugural conference in Denver last June.

Those products are MNG’s I-News, The Washington Times’ tailored newsweekly, which began testing earlier this year; PersonalNews in Switzerland, which pools content from 20 national newspapers and international titles and allows readers to select the content they wish to receive (see News & Tech March 2009); and Time magazine’s mine product. PersonalNews is delivered via PDF to the Swiss Post, which uses Syntops’ software to create individual files for each reader that can be printed and distributed via postal channels or as an e-paper.

Products on show

Océ will be discussing its role in The Times’ production of its tailored newsweekly. The Times leverages Océ printing technology at the back-end to compile documents.

Océ will also have information on its JetStream 2200 digital press.

Dan Pacheco, senior manager of digital products for The (Bakersfield) Californian, will be speaking about the Printcasting interface his paper designed with a grant from the Knight Foundation.

The Times also leveraged Printcasting to launch its customized newsweekly. Pacheco will give demos of the interface, creating Printcasts on the spot, based on audience input.

Syntops will display its front-end software while Accrisoft will show its Freedom software, which leverages RSS to “push” information to readers.

Digital Technology International and ppi Media will also be demonstrating software that can help publishers create and deliver targeted news.

Speakers scheduled

Speakers scheduled to participate in the conference include John Dowd, chief executive officer of Presicionads.com, Dale Peskin of new-media think tank iFocos, John Harris of Politico, Dante Hamilton of www.personalizednewspaper.com and Eduardo Hauser of DailyMe.com. DailyMe Inc. created its Publisher Solutions software to allow newspapers to provide customized, reader features.

Additionally, James Molnar, vice president of sales for the Charleston (S.C.) Business Journal, will examine the fundamentals supporting the notion of self-selected content.

For more information about the event, including hotel accommodations and conference registration, visit www.individuatednews.com.

I-News checks in at Marriott

By Tara McMeekin
Editor

DENVER – MediaNews Group, which plans to roll out its I-News “individuated newspaper” concept to subscribers in Los Angeles this summer, has already begun quietly distributing customized news content to hotel guests through a trial with Marriott Hotels.
Peter Vandevanter, MNG’s vice president of targeted products, told News & Tech that the publisher has been delivering a personalized news product to guests staying at the Residence Inn in downtown Denver since April 2.
The product, produced on 8.5-by-11-inch paper on a desktop printer, is delivered to guests by 6 a.m. for the duration of their stay, Vandevanter said.
“We rolled it out to 11 people initially, and we will continue to expand the service,” he said.
Hotel guests receive their customized news products by 6 a.m. daily
for the length of their stay.

Since the average stay at the Residence Inn is two weeks, MNG and Marriott identified the property as a good venue to evaluate I-News.
Upon arrival, guests are asked two questions: Where are you from, and do you want to receive a summary of local Denver news?
Guests that say no to the second question do not receive I-News while those interested in Denver news receive a mixture of news from their hometown newspaper and local Denver news.

Photos: MediaNews Group

The product also includes advertisements from adjacent businesses, with offers for freebies like a complimentary glass of wine or shoeshine.
Responses have been overwhelmingly positive, according to surveys conducted by MNG.
“Some guests said they like it better than The Denver Post, and many liked it better than USA Today,” Vandevanter said. “It’s the news of the day even though the format is different. It’s not broadsheet – but for the first 100 years in this industry neither were newspapers.”
A woman polled for feedback at Residence Inn said she enjoyed I-News because it was informative and easy to skim.
“I picked San Diego as my city since I used to live in San Diego,” she said. “To get that mix of news … it was very enjoyable. Exactly what I asked for is what I got.”
Another guest polled on I-News said he would be willing to pay near what he pays for delivery of his traditional newspaper for the product.

Proven ad value
With the test in Denver and the upcoming rollout in California, Vandevanter said MNG is busy proving the advertising value of I-News, which he estimates could yield a target of profitability of $200 CPM.
Vandevanter credits the value of advertising to the fact that I-News scales so well.
“It’s been well received because we are getting 10 times the ad value that these advertisers can get in the print edition of the daily newspaper,” he said. “And these ads are magazine quality.”
The I-News rollout in Denver comes just as Marriott announced it would stop providing USA Today to guest rooms, effective June 1, citing a 25 percent drop in demand and a desire to reduce waste (see N&T Dateline, April 13, 2009).

Free newspapers
Instead, Marriott began offering free newspapers in its lobbies on April 20, as well as newspapers based on customer preference. Guests have the choice of receiving USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, the local paper, or no paper at all.
“This new program is more guest-focused,” Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott Jr. said in a statement in April.
Meantime, MNG began testing I-News with home subscribers in a Northwest Denver neighborhood, months ahead of the official rollout of the service to subscribers of the (Los Angeles) Daily News, scheduled for August (see News & Tech, March 2009).
In L.A., subscribers will be able to access the Daily News online as an e-edition or upgrade to receive a printed product via a smart, wireless desktop printer installed in their homes, Vandevanter said.
Daily News readers will select news based on their interests, which will be combined with news from an undisclosed wire service, Daily News content and targeted advertising, Vandevanter said.
“For testing in Denver, we are taking news from the late edition of The Denver Post, scraping the headlines and paginating those articles in the same order of hierarchy as they appear in the printed newspaper,” Vandevanter explained. “The next step takes content based on reader preference from the [wire service] server.”
That process, Vandevanter said, is based on coding developed in-house by MNG IT staff in Denver.
“It’s basically RSS to PDF technology,” he said.