Will Digital Publishers Ever Recover From COVID-19?
Global digital publisher BuzzFeed has gone from a forecasted profit of $US30 million for the year to a potential loss of $US20 million, according to reports in the Financial Times.
Founded in 2006, the company has long struggled to turn over a profit, despite its enormous readership.
After culling 15 per cent of its global workforce last year – including 25 staff members in the Sydney office – and launching a host of new initiatives to generate new revenue streams, including its own line of kitchenware, BuzzFeed appeared on track for a big 2020.
“BuzzFeed has expanded our data-driven approach to growing audience to include revenue,” said BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti in a blog post in January this year.
“With the exception of News, every content division is now operating profitably, and News is trending in the right direction.”
However, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this optimism quickly turned to despair.
Already this year BuzzFeed has been forced to shut its already reduced Australian news office, as well as the UK equivalent.
“Both for economic and strategic reasons, we are going to focus on news that hits big in the United States during this difficult period,” BuzzFeed said in a statement at the time.
“Therefore, we will notify staff in the UK and Australia that we are not planning to cover local news in those countries. We will be consulting with employees on our plans regarding furloughs and stand-downs in these regions.”
But with FTI Consulting expecting a drop in online advertising sales to the sum of between 19 and 23 per cent, BuzzFeed is by no means an outlier.
In Australia, 10 Daily announced it was closing down entirely in May, citing “both short-term and long-term challenges and opportunities”.
Vice Media also announced it was culling five per cent of its global workforce earlier this year, despite the fact it is still on track to be profitable for the year.
Company CEO Nancy Dubac summarised the state of the global publishing in a letter to staff upon announcing the cuts.
“Publishing right now is difficult across the whole industry— plain and simple— and the pandemic has intensified the tensions we all know exist between publishing and advertising,” she said.
With the likes of Vice and BuzzFeed struggling at such a large scale, and 10 closing its unique publishing offering, a more consolidated media industry now seems inevitable.
And although it might be necessary for survival, Dubac argued it will be to the detriment of the media industry as a whole.
“The world has learned this before: monopolies are not a winning strategy for humanity,” said Dubac.
“It’s time we stand together as a media industry and address the serious issues that have slowly eroded the original promise of the Internet: a tool to bring society on more equal footing through knowledge and creativity unparalleled.”
Latest News
Dettol Helps Kids Wave Goodbye To Germs With New Program For Global Handwashing Day
Dettol today announced it has developed a play-based program, ‘Catch a Habit’, to teach Australian children to adopt good hand hyg
Tis’ The Season To Turn Shoppers Into Buyers
Hayley Fisher [pictured] is the AUNZ Country Manager at Adyen. In this op-ed, she discusses the upcoming holidays sales season and explains marketers can help drive sales. Over the 18-months the pace of ecommerce has accelerated to new heights. According to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), a record $44.2 billion was […]
Vodafone Australia To Pitch Creative
TPG Telecom has announced it will hold a creative pitch to further develop the Vodafone brand here in Australia. Last year’s merger between Vodafone and TPG brought together a family of brands under the TPG Telecom group, with the creative shift to position Vodafone for the future. While Vodafone’s long-standing relationship with WPP will continue, […]
Entries Now Open For Spikes Asia Awards 2022, With A Big Integration & New Categories!
Time to get your entries in for Spikes Asia Awards 2022. Alternatively, Liquid Paper over your B&T 2021 Awards entries.
IBM CMO Jodie Sangster Departs
IBM CMO Jodie Sangster announces departure. Has promised not to do a podcast, take up painting or open a yoga retreat.
Jaimee Wiggins Appointed To Lead New Zealand Brand Partnerships For Pedestrian Group
Jaimee Wiggins not only boasts a double-lettered first & surname, she's also Pedestrian's new brand partnership person.
Westfield Launches Home Delivery Service
Following 18 months of intermittent lockdowns across Australia, shopping centre giant Westfield is launching a new service that will tap into the ecommerce boom. The new service, named Westfield Direct, will take on the likes of Australia Post by providing shipping directly to customers. Shoppers will also be able to select items from an online […]
SBS Named By AFR As One Of Australia’s Most Innovative Companies For Digital Language Services
SBS has been recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s Most Innovative Companies, in the prestigious annual list published by the Australian Financial Review and Boss Magazine, from over 700 nominated organisations. Ranked third on the Media and Marketing list, SBS was the only media company to make the list, recognised for its growing and evolving multilingual digital services, exemplifying SBS’s innovative culture and strategy. SBS provides multiplatform services in more than […]
StoreConnect Wins International Salesforce Partner Innovation Award For Work With Playbill
StoreConnect eyeing the 8X10" matte premium finish wooden frame after winning Salesforce innovation award.
BWS Celebrates Lockdown Freedoms With “Can’t Wait Mate” Campaign Via M&C Saatchi Sydney
BWS celebrates end of lockdown in new work. Little do they know we've all been pissed for the past three months anyway.
Dentsu’s Merkle Appoints Michael Komasinski As Global CEO
Michael Komasinski named Merkel's global CEO. Sadly, interview doesn't include recipe tips or favourite karaoke song.
Twitter Plays With In-Conversation Ads
Twitter has confirmed it is experimenting with a new ad format which will see ads placed within conversation threads for the first time. The company’s Revenue Product Lead Bruce Falck made the announcement on Thursday. “Starting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations,” he posted on Twitter. “If […]
Tourism NT Wins International Gold Award For Its “Seek Different” Campaign
Tourism NT wins international gold award for its marketing. Studiously avoids any mention of being eaten by a crocodile.
Martha Stewart Collabs With Rapper Yung Gravy To Turn His Song ‘Martha Stewart’ Into An Ad
It's everyone's favourite homely homemaker-come-jailbird, Martha Stewart, starring in a it's-that-awful-it's-good ad.
Tug Expands Work With Budget Direct Insurance And EasyCompare Thailand
Idle hands are indeed the Devil's work. So the Tug team spared a routine exorcism on the back of new client wins.
ABC Relaunches Aussie Music Show The Sound For Season Three
In exciting news today, Mushroom Group is thrilled to announce much lauded Aussie music program The Sound will return to the ABC this November! Celebrating some of our best musical talents since its launch in 2020, The Sound Season 3 will debut on Sunday 7 November at 5.30pm (local time). Viewers can watch The Sound on ABC TV each Sunday afternoon or catch up with the latest episodes via ABC iview. Across Season […]
Facebook Adds New Features To Marketplace On Its 5th Birthday
In top news for dieters everywhere, Facebook's Marketplace has dispensed with the cake for its 5th birthday & done this.
Thursday TV Wrap: Gogglebox And Home And Away Face-Off For Entertainment Crown
They may sport the worst acting on Australian TV, but it was no impediment for Gogglebox or Home and Away last night.
Athena Home Loans Dubbed Australia’s Most Innovative Company By AFR
AFR labels home loans firm Australia's most innovative company. Oddly, the Gaytime Cornetto not getting a look in.
“Ugly, Sexist, Misogynistic Rubbish!” John Lewis’s New Ad Features A Boy In A Dress & People Are Livid!
Often there's a very fine line between ugly, sexist, misogynistic rubbish & playful, joyful fun. And here is exhibit A.
Indie Agency Next&Co Named One Of The Top Ten Media Companies By AFR
Independent digital agency Next&Co has been named as one of the top 10 media and marketing companies in the 2021 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies List.
Omnicom’s Resolution Digital Bolsters Creative Solutions Offering With Senior Sales Hire
Resolution Digital throws down the gauntlet with new senior sales hire. Yes, "gauntlet" could be embellishing things.
Publicis’ Q3 Revenues Up 11.2% YOY, As Growth In Asia/APAC Region Soars
Publicis Groupe's impressive Q3s are in and they may as well smell like Veuve, Chanel N°5 & new Renault upholstery.
Menulog Enlists Aussie Musos Baker Boy, Big Twisty, D’Arcy Spiller & Kirsten Salty For Latest Campaign
Menulog amps up the riotous fun in latest campaign. Things still miserable for its delivery drivers, however.
AKQA Crowned Most Innovative Media And Marketing Company By AFR
Strategic design and innovation company AKQA has received the top industry ranking in the 2021 AFR Boss Most Innovative Companies List. This is the third consecutive year the company has been acknowledged by the AFR for its commitment to innovation in the media and marketing category. The Most Innovative Companies Awards were presented via a […]
Hedley Thomas Launches Investigative Podcast Shandee’s Story Via The Australian
National news brand, The Australian, has launched a new podcast from Hedley Thomas, Shandee’s Story. Shandee’s Story is the culmination of six months’ work by Thomas, the award-winning investigative journalist behind The Teacher’s Pet and The Night Driver podcasts. The podcast investigates a harrowing cold case. Shandee Blackburn was left to die after a frenzied knife attack as she walked […]
Greater Bank Claims Silver At Step Two Intranet & Digital Workplace Awards
Greater Bank has won a Silver Award at the 2021 Step Two Intranet & Digital Workplace Awards with its Intranet Built on the Elcom Digital Employee Experience Platform. The global awards recognise outstanding contributions to the fields of intranets and digital workplaces, honouring remarkable solutions that deliver business value to their organisations and then share […]
New Research Identifies ‘Commerce Content’ As Key Revenue Driver For Brands And Publishers
Two new research reports have revealed key drivers for ‘commerce content’ and the massive revenue opportunity it presents for digital publishers and brands. Published by independent media organisations, commerce content allows readers to understand the goods and services promoted by an editorial team. It’s now a major part of the partnership ecosystem, and a way […]
JCDecaux And The Federal Government Collaborate For Vaccine Tally Campaign
Despite 70% of Aussies now being vaccinated, still no sign of The Verve's 'The Drugs Don't Work' reentering the charts.
