10.00 a.m.-12.30 p.m.
(New York time)
10:00 a.m.-10:05 a.m.
Welcome and Introduction to World Congress
Be welcomed to the INMA Virtual World Congress by INMA President Damian Eales
of News Corp Australia, who will share the association's vision for the Congress and
the many initiatives INMA is launching in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
>> Damian Eales, President, INMA, and Chief Operating Officer, Publishing, News Corp Australia
10:05 a.m.-10:10 a.m.
Introduction to Today's Module
In this module, learn how leaders and their companies prepare for
deep uncertainty and
complex
futures. Learn what strategic trends will influence business, media, and society after
today’s
massive disruption. Learn to capitalise on the “trust moment” for media in today’s
crisis and how
consumer time spent with media is shifting towards digital, phone, digital video, and
streaming.
Learn how marketing spending is likely to shift in the months ahead — in general among
specific
channels, and what we have seen in the past in these kinds of massive global meltdowns?
>> Moderator: Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA
10:10 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Reinvention For a Post-Pandemic Future
Amid today's intense uncertainty we can begin to discern key aspects of the new economic
and social landscape beyond the peak of the pandemic,
as existing trends accelerate and novel factors emerge. The shape of the economy and vital
advertiser sectors will be cast not just by the
easing of social distancing but also the reconfiguring of industries, work, and the role of
government. News consumer behaviours are
evolving as trust becomes paramount and attitudes to subscriptions develop. Every news
organisation's strategy must focus both on survival now,
and active reinvention for what will necessarily be a substantially different post-pandemic
environment. This extraordinary global
disruption is an opportunity for us to together create a more positive future for the news
industry.
>> Ross Dawson, Futurist, Author, Strategy Advisor
10:45 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
Trust, Consumption Patterns, Time Shifts, and 5G: Accelerations and
Shifts
Post-Coronavirus
The dynamics and business models of news organisations was already in a state of transition, and
then the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.
In this information-packed session, eMarketer co-founder Geoff Ramsey will answer vital
questions about where news media is trending, including:
- How trust in media has evolved,and will continue to change in a post-COVID-19 world (i.e., not all media are created equal when it comes to trust, and yes, context matters).
- Why consumer consumption of streaming video and audio are ramping up fast—and all the more so because of the global pandemic.
- How is consumer time spent with media shifting, and what effects will these trends have on media spending patterns, particularly in the midst of COVID-19?
- When will 5G move from hype to reality, and why should we care?
>> Geoff Ramsey, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist, eMarketer
11:20 a.m.-11:55 a.m.
Inspirations In a Lockdown and Where Print Goes After COVID-19
Amid lockdowns and grim statistics, news publishers have stood out for their generosity,
creativity, and community spirit. In this presentation,
Mario Garcia will share his favourite publisher stories of inspiration and innovation during the
COVID-19 crisis to date. When we look back at what
news media companies did during the crisis, what kinds of stories can be told about news brands?
Meanwhile, Mario will discuss with Congress participants
trends he expects to see in print in the post-coronavirus era — insights many publishers
urgently need now.
>> Mario Garcia, CEO, Garcia Media
11:55 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Takeaways and Wrap-Up
INMA will distill key learnings from today's module and preview what's coming up next.
12:00 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
Overtime
Our objective is to end by 12:00 p.m. Yet budget extra time for INMA as sessions and Q&A might go long.
In this opening address of the World Congress subscriptions module, learn the latest data about
the surge in demand for
news and online subscriptions from the head of INMA’s Readers First Initiative. Learn the
surprising truth behind the phenomenon:
That subscriptions are mostly not being sold because new people came to the Web sites.
Meanwhile, this session will pivot
to best practices to create new experiences as people are locked down in their homes —
punctuated by how publishers are
engaging and retaining this surge of newly acquired subscribers.
A few weeks ago, INMA members heard about Robbie Kellman Baxter's new book, 
In response to today’s crisis, the Subscribed Institute at Zuora has put together its Top 5
direct-to-consumer
subscription business concepts leaders should know in time of uncertainty. In this session,
Zuora will break down how
you can help, focus on your customers (lifetime value), re-imaging your innovation strategy,
payments and paywalls in
a pandemic world, and new considerations for recurring revenue.
Learn why Dagens Nyheter has scrapped almost all traditional acquisition channels but their own,
finding new ways to reach new readers.
The experiences came in handy when the coronavirus crisis hit, and has led the newspaper to
achieve a major goal.
A leader in digital subscriptions, Le Monde's main editorial and marketing initiatives to drive
engagement amid the COVID-19 crisis will be the
focus of this session. What is working best? What is not working? How are they preparing for the
future?
Singapore Press Holdings' The Business Times introduced a new Personal Edition Package
targeting individuals who were working from home during the COVID period. Surveys have shown
a preference for an individual package with lesser concurrent access. Acquisition is up 4X.
Demand for news, especially in the digital space, has increased during the COVID period.
The Straits Times targeted repeat users of the main publication site with an introductory offer,
driving up new acquisitions. Acquisition is up 2X.
Gannett and its 250+ newspapers are nurturing subscribers during these unprecedented times. In
this presentation, dig into the specific trends and topics Gannett
follows to provide a public service to its communities while also creating pathways to reader
support and subscription.
With the COVID-19 lockdown came issues never before imagined:
advertiser brand safety
issues around
coronavirus coverage, the re-making of restaurants as general stores and takeout
enterprises, the
need to support independent and local small businesses,
re-thinking marketing messagaging to one of empathy and support, the reading of tea
leaves to
shift sales reps from collapsed accounts to rising accounts, where to place bets, how to
reposition
fourth estate media in the marketing mix, and so much more.
In this module, INMA will provide a just-in-time look at these issues and what the
likely
next steps should be for news companies in the weeks and months ahead.
We are in the midst of the “fight” phase of COVID, with some markets’ lights
flickering back on and some not yet there. With pandemic lockdowns slowly lifting,
businesses begin to envision what the “new normal” will be — and with
it will come clues to what will happen next in advertising. Which ways could things
go next for advertising? What levers do ad sellers have available? In this session,
learn from BCG consumer sentiment work to inform which categories will suffer more
versus less. Where are the opportunities and threats in the months ahead?
As an update to Deloitte’s 2020 predictions, this presentation will focus what is likely to
happen
next in advertising-based video on demand (AVOD), television, podcasting, private 5%, and the
smartphone
ecosystem. Duncan also will look at what will happen post-pandemic: Will people take transit,
for example, and what that might mean for commuter newspapers and more? 
Traffic surges and eCPMs decline. It’s a familiar refrain in today’s pandemic advertising scene.
In this presentation, learn recommended advertiser verticals to focus on, where the advertiser
brand safety
discussion is going next, and what content and creative rotations work best in this environment.
COVID-19 and harsh economic conditions have put a strain on advertising revenue. In this
session, we will look at
practical advice from the South China Morning Post that will help to maximise your revenue:
floor prices, ad log data as a tool, supply path optimisation/consolidation, limiting liability,
and product innovation/experimentation. 
Whether it’s the development of its ReachLocal marketing services business or its rapid response
during COVID-19 of an initiative to help small local businesses, Gannett maintains a commitment
to
advertising across its 262 daily news brands in the United States. In this presentation, hear
Gannett’s short-, mid-, and long-term advertising outlook during these trying times at its
national,
local, and ReachLocal businesses. 
One of the media industry’s success stories in terms of protection and growth of revenue as been
the partnership
model at The Irish Times. This has meant incorporating native, experiential, digital, print, and
audio. In
this presentation, learn more about the partnership model and what it’s meant for campaigns with
FitBit,
Land Rover, and others. During COVID-19, the partnership model has been challenged yet the Times
has pivoted thanks to Zoom events and podcasts. 
Brazil's Infoglobo has launched a series of digital initiatives aimed at reducing the impact of
the COVID-19 crisis on ad revenue such as virtual events and branded content.
Learn more about these initiatives in this presentation.
It's not enough to have the right technology and the right real-time data and the right staff
to analyse and compartmentalise information. To make data work for media companies requires
a new creativity. In this deep dive module, learn practical cases of how media companies
are making actionable real-time data to change business outcomes: subscription sales
and retention, advertising sales, audience engagement, and more.
The media business often takes a reactive, not proactive, approach to changes in market.
Because of that, opportunity
for new initiatives is often forfeited in lieu of defensive measures to satisfy existing
business models instead of
pushing against the tide to pioneer new ones. In this next phase, challenges like privacy,
death of the cookie, and
strength of platforms should be leveraged to shed the legacy models that are shrinking in
media and venture into the
exciting unknown of what’s next. This session will focus on these opportunities and how
media
companies can thrive in this era.
That data is one of the key drivers in the digital advertising market is hardly any secret.
This has been
the case since the introduction of programmatic ad sales, where ads are automatically traded
in real time.
Data has driven growth. And technologies, media agencies and advertisers have become
accustomed to being
able to target their advertising, build profiles of users across the web, and report on huge
amounts of data.
Those times are “a'changing.” Third party data is dying and 1st party is
returning to its rightful position.
For all of us, technology-imposed restrictions and stricter data-protection legislation
heralds a return to classic media planning and buying virtues.
What will the digital advertising landscape look like once third-party cookies come to an end? The answer
is still not completely known. But with third-party cookies dying, and the validity of third-party data
diminishing with it, advertisers and marketers need new solutions that will enable them to continue providing
the personalised messaging consumers are used to, while maintaining the highest levels of data privacy.
And those solutions need to be based around the most accurate, well-sourced data possible. Intentionally
volunteered by users, zero-party data fits those standards — combined with other data types, it promises
to emerge at the center of the new ecosystem that evolves. And media companies are in a good position to
take advantage. In this presentation, learn more about why
zero-party data promises to play a critical role in the new advertising landscape, and what media
companies need to know to create a strategy around it.
Norwegian regional publisher Amedia is well known for creating a scalable digital
subscription
machine for its 70+
local newspapers throughout the country. Yet behind that success is a data infrastructure
and
a cultural plan to
democratise access to the data that continues to drive the company’s subscription success –
nationally and at the local level.
Go behind the scenes of that data infrastructure and lessons learned.
Over the past three years, Norway's Aller Media has builts its own data and
personalisation platform which has been
“productified” and rolled out with significant results. It has been a zigzag
journey through GDPR, tech, data science,
KPI targets, organisation, competence, culture, and strategy. In this presentation,
learn
more about the journey,
the strategic rationale, and more.
News media faces a perfect storm of challenges thanks to the news environment
coupled
with changes in tech and privacy regulation. The FT now has a long history of reader
revenue powered by data. Publishers are sitting on “untapped gold mines of
information.”
COVID-19 has created some new headwinds, but also brought huge swathes of new
audiences.
This session will focus on how media companies can lean in to direct customer
relationships
and make the most of these opportunities.
Publishers are upending the status quo with business model
approaches that
redefine value and shorten the runway between editorial discovery and the “last
click.”
In this
module, learn how media companies are ushering in the new revolution of “content to
commerce,”
ranging from data-fueled bets on content experiences that drive engagement to Web sites
that drive
the last click to lifestyle networks to bets on personal finances and other growth
projects.
Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd. (BCCL) — owners of the Times of India and Times Internet
— has
always been on the cutting edge of monetisation. In this presentation, hear more about Times
Internet's
platform-agnostic India Lifestyle Network and their bets on personal finance, among the 40
growth projects in
this network. Learn the Times' unique take on subscriptions, the rise of bundled offerings, and
the progress of
Times Prime, a mix of BCCL brand and external brands using the Times Group's marketing muscle.
Wirecutter is a 9-year-old product review Web site owned by The New York Times Company that
focuses
on writing detailed guides to different consumer product categories which recommend a few
items
in the category. Generating revenue from affiliate commissions, Wirecutter is less reliant
on traditional advertising. In this presentation, get an overview of Wirecutter, lessons
learned,
and where the company is looking next. 
Mansion Global is a luxury real estate news and listings site with emphasis on celebrity
homes,
unique estates, and market reports. Part of News Corp’s Barron’s Group, Mansion Global is
a multi-lingual platform that is localised to address the interests of an international
audience.
In this session, learn how the MG Reserve newsletter and hub goes beyond real estate offerings
to offer lifestyle experiences. Learn how, in response to the COVID-19 world, Mansion Global
launched a virtual open house experience: a classified section with videos and an opportunity
for listing agents to generate leads. And see how Mansion Global white labels a lifestyle
magazine for a luxury real estate brand and sells the magazine to affiliates who then
customise and localise. 
Did news companies need a pandemic-induced
lockdown to remind us
that we are at the
center of the wheel in most communities? What has emerged in recent weeks are herculean
efforts
to save local businesses, create hub-and-spoke networks for restaurants, livestream
community events, inject our brands into the emerging concept of digital socialising,
and other concepts that make news media as community organisers indispensable. In this
inspirational
module, INMA will surface the best examples internationally of community programmes
during
the COVID-19 turndown — case studies to emulate in your markets. Come away from this
module inspired. 
There is a lot of news about the coronavirus, but little of it is geared to the young reader.
We empowered young readers to become “ambassadors” to spread information to their
communities. A three-pronged approach allowed us to be a reader service, increase reach, and deepen relationships. 
Under the motto #vorarlberghältzusammen (Voralberg Sticks Together), Austrian regional publisher
Russmedia’s response to COVID-19 was an initiative to bring their community together: a
neighbourhood
assistance campaign, a greeting card campaign, daily puzzle pages, livestreaming church
services,
Webinars on health care and politics, free announcements of delivery services and online shops,
and even a one-minute applause to thank employees in essential professions. 
The Hindu Group has been working collectively on all fronts to make life easier not only for its readers but also the entire nation that is
dependent on reliable and authentic news. Our initiatives move towards these goals: spread awareness, create in-depth knowledge, and curb fake news.
The motive has been to keep the masses entertained, inspired, and give them a sense of hope. “Stay Home. Stay Vigilant.” instills hope and is built on three major pillars: trust, inspiration, and agility.
Belgium's HLN and VTM Nieuws wanted to bring people closer together in their joint fight against
COVID-19.
Respecting the strict lockdown rules, they sent a helicopter in the air which filmed the
six-hour
“Tour Against Corona.” Thousands of citizens, health workers, and companies waved
and made
messages in their gardens or on their buildings. The result: a non-stop online livestream which
gave a signal of hope to our population. 
CNN 411 is a public service tool that allows users to enter their zip code and get a
personalised,
data-driven experience of coronavirus resources in their community.
Faced with COVID’s devastating blow to its business model, The Big Issue — a weekly U.K.
magazine sold by vulnerable people —
adapted with an appeal fund, a new subscription business, selling the magazine in-store for the
first time, an app, and a
campaign to celebrate organisations creating meaningful impact for society through partnership.
Learn more about this
scrappy brand’s inspirational efforts. 
Like other Spanish newspapers, 2020 was to be the year in which La Voz de Galicia accelerated
its
subscription business. Yet faced with the COVID-19 crisis, how to keep the reader revenue
momentum
going without giving up the public service commitment which is part of the compoany’s DNA?
Through a
campaign aimed at supporting readers and increasing brand perception and driving new
subscriptions,
La Voz de Galicia creatively enhanced the wave of visitors via newsletters, social engagement,
and Q&A sessions with experts. 
This is a new age. For every person, business, and non-profit. And for print. Figuring out how
to survive, not just as a business, but as a humanitarian organisation and employer, meant
quick thinking, innovation in the times of crisis, a series of “firsts” and “onlys,” and
most importantly, “people” as Rashtradoot's focus. 
Onet, the largest and most reliable portal in Poland, encouraged people to stay at home during the pandemic,
providing them information, psychological support, and entertainment. Onet has launched online concerts,
a daily video programme, and even an online coronavirus test. Onet attracts both users and clients. 
The Telegraph in the United Kingdom wanted to be there for its readers — wherever they need them,
wherever, however. This meant adapting its journalism and deliverying many new initiatives: community
hubs, journalist-reader interactions, new series, podcasts, tales of good in the community, newspaper
features, and helping those less fortunate. 
The main objective of this initiative by the Göteborgs-Posten (Gothenburg Post) was to reach and
engage the citizens of Gothenburg during the COVID-19 crisis through its news reporting and
innovative ways to endure and bring a silver lining in the crisis. GP encouraged people to stay
home and stay safe, care about and respect each other, facilitating match-making between
helpers and those who need help, provided pro-bono advertising to small local businesses,
and encourage digital social contact. 
It's not enough to have the right technology and the right real-time data and the right staff
to analyse and compartmentalise information. To make data work for media companies requires
a new creativity. In this deep dive module, learn practical cases of how media companies
are making actionable real-time data to change business outcomes: subscription sales
and retention, advertising sales, audience engagement, and more.
At the 2010 INMA World Congress in New York, Thomas Mattsson spoke about video as the next thing
on newspaper sites.
Ten years on, having been Editor-in-Chief of Expressen.se and Expressen in Sweden from 2005 to
2019, he repeats his projection and asks all of us: What took you so long?
Rede Gazeta has undertaken a digital transformation with a special new digital product and a
weekend print edition.
Adopting the “7/1 model” whereby there is a Sunday print newspaper (where most of ad revenue is
generated) with digital
the rest of the week, Rede Gazeta is flipping the script on where news media may be headed next.
The world is in crisis, climate is changing, and the planet’s ecosystems are deteriorating.
Let’s discuss how we,
powerful media companies reaching millions of people every day, should use our impact and voice
as a force for good. Ringier
Axel Springer decided to actively support the 17 SDGs plan for people and for the planet
prepared by United Nations in 2015.
We would like to share with you our plan on how to become a sustainable media company: reduce
our “footprint” and reinforce our “brainprint.”
With a user-centric approach, India's regional media powerhouse Eenadu is taking a multi-media
integrated approach
for client solutions. Learn how Eenadu scales solutions for local and national advertisers in a
win-win model — with remote leadership and strategic flexibility
during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
For more than a year, a machine has run the Web site of Canada’s national newspaper. The result
has been increases
across the board for every business metric that matters to The Globe and Mail — and now,
we're using it to lay down the newspaper as well.
AFP has become a major international actor in the war against disinformation with fact-checking
operations. This work worldwide involves collaboration with Facebook and links to its
fact-checks
appear alongside original posts on Facebook. Covering the issue of disinformation and its many
consequences for societies — from health hazards to polarization to hate — is a top
priority.
How does an editorial team handle such a complex and controversial subject as climate? How to
cut through deliberate misinformation
and confusion with specialist knowledge? Stuff launched a climate reporting section, “Quick,
Save the Planet” that shines a spotlight
even as Stuff itself reduces its own footprint.
Advance Local will share early results from experiments to build more intimate
relationships with customers through free and paid text-message services. These services are generating high levels of engagement,
providing strong leads for paid product offerings, and creating a new direct revenue stream for Advance’s newsrooms.
Alma Media's Iltalehti has developed a content management system that tells its journalists how
many people will read their
stories before they are published — investments in machine learning and predictive analytics
that are paying off. The neural
network that makes the predictions is based on 50,000+ published articles. Learn about next
steps: ti ming of stories and
how stories perform behind a paywall.
The New York Times believes print has a future if publishers are clear-eyed about it strengths
in a multi-media environment
and will share successful examples from their ecosystem such as a special section for kids, a
crossword puzzle, a foldable
version of the Constitution, and more. Key to print’s success surprise and delight readers.
Before, during, and after the coronavirus, there have been
stand-out news brands that
could imagine
value creation as something more than profitability. They re-thought their mission. They
created new
measurements of success. They were able to make space that allows new products and
services to
flourish — sometimes disconnected from the legacy business. Those brands broke out in
recent weeks
with new products, new services, and new ways to engage their markets in the most
chaotic
environment possible. INMA presents these companies and their stories of innovation.
Long before today’s pandemic, South China Morning Post aimed to open a second front for its
brand: Beyond being a local
English-language news brand for Hong Kong, SCMP aimed to be the English-language world’s portal
to mainland China. Being that
bridge is now more important than ever. In this presentation, learn how the South China Morning
Post is doubling down on
its strategy during COVID-19 and creating new value in the process.
Schibsted in Norway is aiming to turn distribution from being a pure cost to becoming an
asset. As a result, the company is now
delivering everything from fresh bread and juice to home delivery of e-commerce. The company
recent launched a service whereby
you can send a parcel from your own mailbox to any house in Norway using the newspaper
distribution network.
News Corp Australia has identified wagering as a business for growth, including affiliates
Punters.com.au and Racenet.com.au.
Learn the vision for this strategic bet, what's next, and where this initiative fits in the
global context for wagering and gaming.
Newsday is undertaking a branding initiative of transforming from not only a “news and product” brand but to a brand embedded in culture.
COVID-19 has accelerated that effort as the company builds on similar experiences by Red Bull and Marriott changing the way people
think about their brand.
Readers are willing to pay for trustworthy quality journalism, especially in times of crisis.
But have we transformed our businesses to be truly reader centric? In this session, learn
about examples from Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) of new and innovative thinking in the
newspaper's plan to reach a digitally profitable position.
Everything literally did change in the COVID-19 shutdown:
advertising evaporated
overnight, digital
engagement and subscriptions surged, employees shifted from in-office to work-from-home,
cost
structures and workforce structures changed, print as a platform came under new
scrutiny, and
e-commerce skyrocketed in importance. In this closing module, INMA
aims to look on the other side of the health crisis and its economic ripple effects to
identify the
“new normal” for the news industry over the next 6-18 months.
COVID-19 has been horribly painful. Display advertising and copy sales have contracted. Cord
cutting has increased.
Structural shifts have massively accelerated, and legacy players' digital transformation
runways have shortened as a result.
Some organisations are in survival mode and facing tough choices. But others may be lucky enough
to capitalise on the golden
opportunity this tough situation offers to accelerate digital transition. Cultures are unfrozen,
people are expecting change.
Organisations have already introduced new ways of working that would have been unthinkable a
year ago. There will never be
a better opportunity to reshape for a strong digital future, and this session will explore key
priorities in doing this. 
How do you ensure that the digital transformation of your newsroom becomes a long-term benefit for your
business, not just a change of technology? With COVID-19, the risk of making hasty decisions has increased.
To avoid the technology pitfalls, get inspired by the key trends that are shaping digital transformation
projects among news companies across the world.
Having gone through 12+ weeks of right-sizing their business, shifting to work-from-home,
re-forecasting revenues, connecting with communities like never before, and settling in
for what appears to be a “new normal,” news media companies are seeing some vague light
at the end of the tunnel. In this Q&A session with INMA leaders from Europe, North America,
Latin America, and Africa, learn what media companies are prioritising in a three-, six-,
and 12-month time horizon. How does this sync up with your company’s priorities? And what
has changed for these companies that will never be the same again? 
Close out the World Congress with what has become an exclusive tradition: INMA CEO Earl J.
Wilkinson’s outlook for the
year ahead, unveiled for the first time. Part aggregation of World Congress, part aggregation of
his global connections,
Earl's Outlook presentation will aim to construct what a “new normal” looks like.
What do publisher moves
during the 2020 pandemic look like in the rear-view mirror, and what does that look moving
forward? What ultimately
will change after this disruptive period? 