EMERGING MEDIA TRENDS & THE EDELMAN CLOVERLEAF OVERVIEW Edelman UK recently hosted the launch of the Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism’s Digital News Report 2016 – a study in 26 countries of the way people consume news and information. Among the key findings was more consumers using social media as a source for news and information. The actual brands that provide the news becoming less important to consumers than the social routes to reaching them. This shift around the way that content is discovered, combined with other global trends we’re seeing and insights from our own Edelman Trust Barometer are having a profound impact on the ways we need to work to reach many of our target audiences. We see three major disruptions that are changing how content is discovered, consumed and monetised.
personalisation Accessing news and information via social channels means that content discovery is now a highly personalised experience where a network of ‘friends’ filter and curate the news that is shared.
advertiser frustration While ever more content is created, more and more ways are designed to keep it at bay. According to the Digital News Report 2016 ad-blocking is running at anywhere between 10% and 38% (21% in the UK). The use of ad blockers is likely to increase with ad-blocking apps and browsers now available for Apple and Android phones – a third of those surveyed saying they plan to install an ad-blocker on their smartphone.
THE EDELMAN CLOVERLEAF These trends have all come together to create what one observer has called “not just a perfect storm, but a supervolcano” in the battle for both access and attention with implications for how we create meaningful communications programmes. The Edelman Cloverleaf reflects our holistic point of view on the evolving media landscape and the implications for communications marketing programmes. It’s a framework that guides how we extend the lifecycle of a narrative to promote a brand or business, or shorten it to protect it.
Smartphone usage is driving the personalisation trend. It’s up - 53% saying they use their smartphones to access news and information. People using smartphones are also more likely to use social channels to access news. AL SOC I
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All of these factors mean that sometimes great stories fail to reach audiences because of the friends they keep, the channels they access and their own personal views.
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Auto generated recommendations mean that consumers are increasingly served up news and information based on what platforms know about you, and those around you. Although users are concerned about these algorithms the convenience they offer means that algorithms that take account of what you’ve read before come out ahead of editors in the report as a preferred curator, by a margin of 36% vs 30%.
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FRAGMENTATion Perversely while more of us are seeing a narrower range of information, sources and volume of content proliferate. Instagram is only five years old and yet has 400m plus monthly active users. And yet….we still only have one brain. This means a lot of information is consumed in increasingly bite-sized pieces.
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Platforms are where the journey to content often begins, but the content and stories people discover and engage with comes, in large part, from the three overlapping groups of publishers in the centre of the cloverleaf. The interconnectedness of them all means that powerful storytelling is often dependent on the complex ecosystem as a whole.
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CLOVERLEAF PLATFORMS SOCIAL Platforms
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The importance of social channels as an access point continues to grow
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• 51% globally say they use social media for accessing news. In the UK 35% use social media but 8% say it’s their main source of news up from 6% in 2015.
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• Facebook is the predominant channel in almost every market. 67% globally use it generally with 44% say they use it for news.
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Search is still an important starting point
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• In the UK 20% say they use it as an access point for news and information. • Edelman’s Trust Barometer 2016 shows that 63% of respondents say they trust news sources found through search. More than traditional, social, online or owned channels.
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Curators that bring together a variety of news sources play a smaller but often important access role. TOP UK CURATORS • Only 4% in the UK use Google News vs 24% in Portugal at the high end. Reports though suggest it’s growing quickly. • Curators are most popular with early adopters and heavy news users.
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traditional media brands still matter enormously. Most of the news content consumed still comes from them.
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• Despite the increase in access to content via social channels, globally 69% still access a newspaper brand online each week; 62% access the online service of a broadcasting outlet and 44% a digital born brand like Huffington Post or Buzzfeed.
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• In the UK BBC dominates with 36% saying the BBC news website or app is their main source of news.
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Influencers are digitally savvy creators that hand craft content for platforms
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• Technology is transforming the power and scale of an individual’s reach. • Edelman’s Trust Barometer 2016 shows an inversion of trust with Peers more trusted than authority figures
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• Of the top most-subscribed YouTube channels none are traditional media brands, 10 are online media brands……the rest are people.
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• 90% of Instagram followers follow an influential 10% of Instagrammers
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• The best programmes are digital experiences built with an earned media mindset
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• Scale can be a challenge unless the topic is high interest
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Brands continue to go direct to audiences with content INFLUENCERS
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WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? A lot of content ‘snow’ melts before it hits the surface. For stories to travel and have a life we need to build programme assets that work across the cloverleaf understanding how each channel relates to its audience and its particular approach to content. We have learned a lot about the way stories flow from publishers through platforms to reach audiences. Here are three best practices EDITORIAL MINDSET • Original and high interest content is increasingly the ‘lead domino’ that begins a virtuous cycle of earned media particularly in our ad blocking and personalised media world where the battle for attention is fierce. • Employ an editorial mindset from the outset and make it part of the content creation process. • Make sure it’s quality content that’s unavailable anywhere else. This is a powerful way to start. • Also craft assets with an earned media mindset but social by design thinking. • When possible have some paid amplification to support behind it.
SOCIAL STORYLINES • As an access point to content, social is increasingly important and for stories to travel on social they need visuals, emotion and the ability to enhance people’s identity. • Make sure that you understand how each channel relates to its audience and its own particular approach to content. • Learn from Data analytics to help identify the stories that get share the most and understand their unique features.
SCALE • Somewhere there is usually someone or something that has more distribution power than you do. Partner with them. • Distributed content is on the increase and we know that many media brands are working hard to distribute their content way beyond their own platforms. Use their reach. • Paid programmes like sponsored content and influencer projects can increase your digital surface area. Use them.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT JO SHELDON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MEDIA STRATEGY E: JO.SHELDON@EDELMAN.COM Edelman | Southside | 105 Victoria Street | SW1E 6QT London | www.edelman.co.uk | 0203 047 2254 | @edelmanUK | 4