imim

Interesting experiment what the market leader daily newspaper in Tokyo city developed. They invented a new application as a “generation translator”, what helps to Y and Z generation to understand the “traditional media” – newspapers.

Tokyo Shimbun on YouTube

They expect from these application to teach the digital generation to use, read print issue in the future.

The application as invented in corporation with Dentsu advertising company as an augmented-reality application and it is translate the newspaper content into kid-friendly content. When app users hold their smartphone over the newspaper pages, the articles become animated with cartoon characters, pop-up headlines, and commentaries.

 Hayashi – creative director Dentsu – said the app has received positive feedback locally and internationally. “The Tokyo Shimbun readers who have children or grandchildren are saying, ‘The newspaper turned into an educational tool for my children,’ and ‘It’s good that children get to become familiar with newspapers’ … this AR service has received huge attention from media from around the world, and we think that we succeeded in conveying the Tokyo Shimbun’s innovative spirit through this campaign.”  

 Advertisers are also utilizing this app. “In the October 20 edition, we created four ad spaces in addition to the kids’ articles with the AR feature,” Hayashi said. “These ad spaces drew interest among many advertisers, and this initiative seems to be quite a promising new move for the Tokyo Shimbun’s advertising department.” A promotional video has been viewed more than 50,000 times on YouTube.  

 As a result of aging society the newspapers also use their social linguistic tools to keep the readers, but still the shrinking market challenge the publishing houses to get new readers from younger generation.

The 88 percent of households belongs to daily reader family, and more than two daily newspaper are subscribed in each household.

But the readership figures declining and the social demographic figures shows “black future” that is why the publishers has to find gateway to the new generation.

 “I personally feel that the print media companies will be looking into the possibility of utilizing AR technology so that it can deliver a more practical and concrete service, rather than continuing to pursue its entertainment element,” Hayashi said. “There ought to be a fresh dimension in applying AR that will be unique to the newspaper medium. I believe the answer will eventually lead to the creation of new added value for the newspaper medium and to a new generation of newspaper fans.”

 The main question is still open. The growing up generation will be familiar with paper, or they will use the screen to use the printed newspaper, with additional features?

The print advertising market can positioning themselves in new dimension due to the new research method what is starting in Hungary.

 It could be an evident matter that the readers take in hand every issue more than once.From now it is a new dimension on the print market because we will have quarterly information about the contact numbers due the new research method. 

The Hungarian Publishers Association two years ago initiated a strategic changes at the readership research market and in corporation with Millward – Brown research company started a new system.

 Based on this research panel from May 2013 a new dimension also will be published. Beside the regular question of readership “When was the last time you read issue of the following paper / magazine?” From now will have answers and figures for the question of “ How many times you take in hand this issue?”

This research question give  a chance to set up CPI (Contact Per Issue) figures, and it is a new dimension for the print ad market because it represent the performance of the print as a marketing tool.

The researcher team set up as a goal to get better efficiency figure for brands which somehow similar to the TV and Radio research figures. This figure still cannot put the different media type (TV/Radio/Print) on comparable base but it would help to the media planners and researcher to make more targeted campaignes. The new figures shows a gross reach figures of a newspaper or magazine which shows how many contacts they can generate.

It is not only a figures of the readers habit but more feedback on the quality of the media product. How many times they stick to get back again to the journalistic content of the media.

 The unique development of this figure is the frequency of it. Up to now such a researches has been taken in separate studies, and in EU there is no such a program which providing figures every quarter of a year.

 Such a frequency helps to the industry to analyze the performance of a certain media. Imagine that for quarterly magazines we will have figure for each issue, and getting feedback how attractive the content of it. But also for dailies it is a tool if we would have long-term information.

 In practice if a magazine readership figures 100 thousand and the CPI figure is 3,8 that means the magazine can generate 380 thousand contact. (According to the test researches some monthly magazine will have such a 3,8 CPI).

The test database will show that each print media is taken in hand at least two times, but there are dispersion based of caracter of print media. The yellow pages usualy generate 2,8 contacts, the women weeklies 3,3 and monthlies 3,8 contacts can generate.

 More figures and consequences will be reachable from May and each quarter….

http://www.mmonline.hu/cikk/print_ereje_20_uj_dimenzio_a

On Sunday, March 3rd, Lucy Küng kicked off IMIM’s fifth module (“International Media Innovation Management”) in Vienna: with a case-study on the (mis-) management of the BBC during last autumn’s Jimmy Savile scandal followed by false allegations of a former politician in the broadcaster’s “Newsnight” program. 

On Monday, our Master’s program continued with a symposium organised in cooperation with Austria’s public broadcaster ORF:  For “Media in Transit/ion” our speakers and audience focused on three aspects of current media developments: (1) user generated content, (2) mobile devices and (3) moving images.

Anthony Sullivan, Lucy Küng, Dieter Bornemann.
(c) imim

The aspects were illustrated by Anthony Sullivan (The Guardian),Lucy Küng (Universities of Jönköping, St. Gallen and Oxford), Martin Zimper (Zurich University of the Arts) and German multi-media journalist and entrepreneur Richard Gutjahr. Lucy Küng described a “boiling frog”-situation that legacy media seems to be pushed into: They keep adjusting to a more and more challenging environment, not recognizing how precarious the situation is they maneuvre themselves into. Anthony Sullivan, Product Manager for Online & Mobile at the Guardian, said that media has to focus on the user. His editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, refuses to introduce a paywall (the Guardian/Observer group has been reporting losses for a few years now – “despite double-digit growth in digital revenues”).

Dieter Bornemann (moderation), Andy Kaltenbrunner (program director imim), Richard Gutjahr. (c) imim

 
Richard Gutjahr presented his case-studies of last year’s politainment format rundshow and crowd sourcing/funding platform LobbyPlag. For Bavaria’s public broadcaster, he tried to integrate viewers into the late-night show. For the watchblog LobbyPlag he wants to shed light on how the European Union’s decision-making is influenced by lobbies.

Gerhard Apfelthaler (California Lutheran University).     (c) imim

 Gerhard Apfelthaler held a seminar on “The Influence of Culture on Innovation (and Organizations)”. From his point of view, individualistic cultures — such as the anglo-saxon — are more likely to be innovative than rather collectively oriented cultures (e.g. continental Europe, Asia)

José García Avilés (c) imim

With the help of IMIM’s Scientific Board, including José García Avilés (Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche/ESP), Claudia Janssen (Berlin University for Professional Studies/GER), Matthias Karmasin (Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt/AUT) and Klaus Meier (University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt/GER), the students worked on their Master’s thesis projects.

video conference with Nic Newman (c) imim

Due to an injury, Nic Newman who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism/University of Oxford unfortunately was not able to come to Vienna. We had a q&a session with him per video conference. Just recently, Nic edited the RISJ Digital Report and his Technology, media and journalism predictions 2013.

The seminars took place at IMIM’s Viennese carrier fjum_forum for journalism and media.

Channel 4 and the multiplatform environment

Discussions about the television industry cannot seem to escape the inundation of buzz terms and the constant search for the ultimate innovation holy grail. Multiplatform, transmedia, cross-media, connected TV, smart TV, hybrid production – these are all words widely being tossed around to describe the present and future transformation of television.

The terms “broadcasting” and “television” seem somewhat outdated as media companies known as “broadcasters” continue to grapple with how to best position themselves, evolve and connect with audiences.

However, it is not only the use of terminology that needs to be reassessed. The creation of audiovisual content from commissioning stage to distribution stage needs to be approached in the light of digital creativity and multiplatform opportunities. How are TV stations responding to change, particularly multiplatform adaptation?

Channel 4 seems to be grabbing the bull by its horns and taking charge in the new online scenario. In a white paper on Channel 4′s multiplatform publishing strategy, Frank Boyd describes the organisation as “the most innovative and adventurous broadcaster in the UK when it comes to experimentation with multiplatform publishing.” In the 2011 Bafta Awards, three of the four projects nominated for Digital Creativity were in fact Channel 4 productions.

But how is Channel 4 managing change? As quoted in the white paper, C4′s head of online Richard Davidson-Houston believes that “companies need to overcome some of the fundamental assumptions embedded in the professional cultures inherent in different sectors to learn a new approach to development and production”. Similarly, in an interview with Power to the Pixel, Louise Brown, multiplatform Commissioning Lead at Channel 4, talks of C4’s particular remit as a public broadcaster and the need for people to interact with broadcast output.

Channel 4 presents an interesting case study on company change and adaptation. The company’s focus is no longer about being a television station but about delivering content with the maximum possible impact. As expressed unapologetically by Davidson-Houston – television is just part of what Channel 4 does.

The Big Fish Fight multiplatform initiative by Channel 4 is great example of a project that uses the interplay of TV and interactive media across multiple platforms to achieve a concrete goal and audience engagement. The project set-out with two sustainability objectives: to end the EU practice of discarding fish and to encourage consumers to opt for a more diverse range of fish. The project reached far and wide with supermarket chains taking concrete action and political debate in the UK Parliament.

Channel 4 is transforming itself to a converged creative business in its quest to be ahead of the game in digital innovation. The organisation’s work is a reminder that transformation and convergence have indeed happened. A ‘wait and see’ strategy is no longer a viable solution and digital opportunities across platforms are up for grabs.

Game changing innovation by the Mozilla Foundation

Up until a year ago, the name Mozilla was to me the name of an internet browser. Then came the excitable tweets from a journalist friend who was in Ravensbourne, London attending #MozFest. The tweets enticed me to find out more about my friend’s discovery.

A year on and several tweets later, I now know that Mozilla is so much more than browser. The Mozilla Foundation is an organisation that has grown over the past fifteen years with a mission to drive change and innovation by enabling the open web. The Mozilla festival organised by the foundation, is a unique gathering for hip geeks enthusiastic about the future of the web and all things tech and shareable. The yearly festival is an opportunity for web developers, journalists, gamers, educators, filmmakers and all those keen to share skills and expertise.

 Mozilla’s cutting edge is its focus on citizen empowerment and the determination to create products that serve the user. Openness and transparency are at the core of the organisation’s mission as expressed in the recently published Mozilla Annual Report:

 “Mozilla’s vision of the Internet is a place where anyone can access information, a place where everyone can hack and tinker; one that has openness, freedom and transparency; where users have control over their personal data and where all minds have the freedom to create and to consume without walls or tight restrictions.”

 Mozilla’s Popcorn Maker, a free web app, is a concrete example of this organisation is creating products with the potential of becoming game changers rather than mere trend setters.

 Web video is rapidly gaining ground, yet until recently it was difficult to create interactive video. With Popcorn Maker users can augment, remix and share web video. The new app allows users to create sophisticated interactive video which can be circulated across the web with great ease and speed.

The TEDTalk by Beau Lotto and Amy O’Toole was augmented by the team Mozilla using Popcorn Maker. This shows how a video or audio file on the web can be enhanced by layering in services and content from the web, using a drag-and-drop interface

Popcorn Maker’s disruptive potential is described in a recent on article FastCompany: “its toylike simplicity is exactly what makes the app as potentially disruptive as YouTube was to video and WordPress was to publishing.”

Change and innovation is about creating possibilities. We have been constantly witnessing how media is changed with the remixing and sharing of simple web tools. However, video was until recently a one way medium – we could make and send web video but not interact with that content. Mozilla recognised that lacuna and worked with the community to create a user-friendly tool to change and innovate video content. 

“Australian futurist and entrepreneur Ross Dawson has gone about predicting the death of newspapers according to country, charting out his observations in the map pictured here.

http://futureexploration.net/Newspaper_Extinction_Timeline.pdf

His point is not just that newspapers in their current form will become, as he says, “insignificant”, but exactly when this happens varies from country to country.

The extinction, Dawson predicts, will start in more developed countries, beginning with the US in 2017, followed by UK and Iceland in 2019 and Canada and Norway in 2020. But in most countries, newspapers in their current form will still be around in 2040, so prophetic claims of the death of the newspaper are premature at best. “

(http://designtaxi.com/news/33318/Newspaper-Extinction-Timeline-Read-All-About-it-Online/; access  Nov.5 2012)

Austria has still 16 years to read printed newspapers – and your country?

Social Media is getting more important – specially for journalists. This article describes the use of the most important social media platforms for journalists in the process of news-gathering. How to find sources and stories on the net

http://www.journalism.co.uk/skills/how-to-use-social-media-in-newsgathering/s7/a550556/

It’s the back to school season and cartoon characters and superheroes have taken over the supermarket shelves – bugs, toys, robots and cars are on merchandise of all sorts. Most of these are the Pixar animation creations that have ignited the imagination of children and adults worldwide.

Pixar is one of the top innovation and creativity power houses. It is a trendsetter known for its distinctive approach to the work place. Since their Toy Story success in 1995, all their animated features have enjoyed blockbuster success.

As the company’s timeline shows, its beginnings go back to 1979 when George Lucas set up a group to explore techniques for digital printing and editing. He hired Ed Catmull, a leading researcher in computer graphics. In 1986 a deal was struck with Apple founder Steve Jobs, who was attracted by the talent of the team and passion to make full-length computer-generated animated films. The collaboration with Disney started in 1991. Pixar would conceive its stories, write the scripts, direct animation, and carry out post production while Disney would focus on marketing and distribution.

Creative success and unblemished track records don’t just happen. Behind this once small company’s success, is a strong understanding of innovation processes. In an article on the Harvard Business Review, Ed Catmull, President and co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, reveals some of the innovation principles and practices which have guided Pixar through the years.

A Community of Connected Creators

 The Pixar culture is one that prioritises the importance of nurturing a creative community. Many companies opt to outsource for economic reasons or practicality but for Pixar in-house creativity is a must. Catmull believes that there should not be a disconnect between the creators and makers of products. The Pixar President champions a stronger connection between creators and production that leads to better products.

Failing to succeed

At Pixar, only after passing through extensive development will a story finally move to the much more costly digital animation phase. Failure is an inherent part of innovation. A feature which takes just over an hour to watch, takes at least five year to get developed and produced. And many other stories don’t make it to production. The company is known to conduct post-mortem reviews of films where teams have the opportunity to share what they would and would not do again.

 Life Long Learning and Spatial Dynamics

Pixar has built a company culture of lifelong learning. The company has even established Pixar University which offers more than 100 courses and employees are encouraged to devote up to four hours a week on their education.

To encourage interaction among different departments, Pixar has created a large atrium at its centre with a cafeteria, meeting rooms, and mailboxes. Innovation in communal space design is used to create a different atmosphere as opposed to conventional office life.

 19 Academy Awards and $3 billion at the box office are not a coincidence. Pixar’s success story so far, has been the result of a deeply ingrained culture of creativity and innovation.

In the on-going “to be or not be” dilemmas faced by news organisations, the trend has been to focus on how to improve existing products. Much is said about how business models need to change and how the digital age creates new demands for mainstream news products. We hear of the companies which have decided to call it a day or are downsizing radically.

What about new entrepreneurial initiatives? Can new disruptive competitors emerge from outside established organisations? In a city like New York, where media companies come in all shapes and sizes, it is certainly a challenge to stand out and be counted as an innovative news business practice.

The newly launched website Narrative.ly makes an interesting innovation case study. The digital publication does not opt for the standard traditional breaking news format or politics and entertainment stories. Instead, it sets out to undertake high-quality, feature reporting using a multimedia story telling approach.

In a competitive digital environment everyone is rushing frantically to be the first to break news on trending social platforms. It is a constant race for scoops and interviews with the usual suspect politicians and celebrities. Narratively proposes to do pretty much the opposite. Long format and in-depth narratives about New York City and its undiscovered characters, is the format proposed by this publication. It’s not the average 100 stories a day which works for this project but one, multimedia story a day.

The founder of Narratively, Noah Rosenberg describes himself as “a passionate storyteller across all media platforms”.  Rosenberg, a freelance journalist and contributor to The New York Times, started raising funds on the crowd funding platform Kickstarter. At the time of writing, the project had raised almost $54, 000 with backing by over 800 funders.

In the project’s Kickstarter video, journalism professor Jeff Jarvis describes Narratively as a “chance to rethink content, storytelling, and journalism and to leap frog the old media companies that are still trying to figure it out.”

Just a couple of weeks after its launch, it is worth exploring the different features which make this publication particularly innovative and possibly a  model for future journalism:

360 degrees story telling: Narratively focuses on a singular story everyday and on a different city inhabitant. Here it is not the format that comes first, but the story. How can the story best be told? This can vary from a short documentary, to a photo essay, to an audio piece, to the long form article. This approach recognises the changing needs of tablet and smart phone users who want and have an opportunity to discover different content and aspects of a story.

A collaborative approach: The project relies on a network of freelancers, who have worked for leading organisations such as The New York Times and the BBC. These collaborators know the city and share an enthusiasm to tell untold stories of individuals who experience cities in unique ways.

Community engagement: On Narratively, Fridays are devoted to behind-the-scenes coverage and user generated content in the section called The Park Bench. The site engages with the New York community on a hyper local level through the types of stories it publishes. It sets out to engage with users by providing multi-media content, curating comments and crowd sourcing content from residents.

Flexible and adaptable: Each city has its stories, peculiarities and characters. This makes the Narratively format an adaptable one. What has started off as a publication centred around New York, could grow into a  digital brand for city storytelling all across the world.

Whether this innovative concept will reach far and wide, is yet to be seen. However Narratively’s approach to relate stories organically is a promising start and an interesting model for news and digital story telling.