Pictured from left: Samantha Johnston, Executive Director, Colorado Press Association; Kimberly Wilson, President and Publisher, Schurz Communications/The South Bend Tribune; Susan Cantrell, Vice President, Sales and Advertising, Lawrence Journal-World and Eric Bright, Vice President of E-Commerce, Deseret Digital Media
By Nancy lane, President, Local Media Association
The Local Media Innovation Mission officially kicked off yesterday in Seattle with twenty senior level local media executives. Afternoon sessions featured key takeaways from the recent WAN-IFRA study tour and World Advertising Conference presented by Local Media Association president Nancy Lane and WAN-IFRA Executive Director, Publishing and Advertising, Ioana Strater.
Throughout the sessions the attendees shared their own experiences on a wide variety of related topics including:
· Creative online ad formats including takeovers, pencil expanders and large format ads. Examples: ksl.com ($22,000/day from takeovers), signonsandiego.com ($36 CPM) and ljworld.com (unique format delivering click through rates close to 7%).
· Many are using CMS systems including Salesforce, Wide Orbit and Ask.
· Some are exploring the concept of augmented reality. One vendor name that was mentioned was Arasma.
· Innovative wraps are being sold (Christmas wrap in Lawrence and Final Four at Swift). Final report will include more details on pricing and implementation.
· Check back often for live updates from the West Coast Innovation Mission.
Next up: visit to Fisher Communications (Borrell local media company innovator of the year in 2011).
A full report will be issued at the end of June. To order your copy, contact Tanya Henderson at tanya.henderson@localmedia.org.