Managing Media Companies: Harnessing Creative Value

Media is an exciting and innovative industry. In its effort tocombine business and creativity, the industry has traditionallybeen faced with unique opportunities, and also challenges,increased by the short–lived nature of its products and services.The media industry is currently being reshaped by the sudden riseof digital technologies and web applications. As such, this secondedition of Managing Media Companies has been completelyrevised with brand new content to reflect those latest developmentswith clear emphasis on digital transformation.

The authors have made an in depth study of the strategies andmanagement practices of leading media companies and have identifiedthe core competences these companies need to have to win in the newworld. This book is strongly focused on applicability and combineslong standing best practice principles with innovative approachesfor staying ahead. It systematically discusses competences neededin each of the key functional areas in media companies drawing onexamples from all main media sectors.

An essential text for students of media management andprofessionals in the field, this book includes the following keyfeatures:

A discussion of the key challenges faced by media executivestaking daily managerial and strategic decisions in an industryundergoing enormous change. In–depth discussions of the current and new skills mediacompanies will need. Insights into best practices from traditional and new mediacompanies as well as from pioneers of media and telecommunicationsconvergence. Brand new and fully updated case studies from a wide range ofglobal media companies, which include Axel Springer, Hubert BurdaMedia, Gruppo Mediaset, Endemol, OhmyNews, Canal+, Telenet, EMI,The RTL Group, Schibsted, Lagardère, LGI s Chellomedia,Sanoma, Second Life, Google s YouTube and the BBC.

ADVISORY BOARD.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.

PREFACE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

CHAPTER 1: Introduction.

Media: One or Many Industries?

Current State of the Industry.

Focus and Scope of the Book.

CHAPTER 2: Rebalancing the Media Value Chain.

Current Practices Mostly Historically Grown.

Fundamental Changes Still Ahead.

Consequences for the Management of Media Companies.

Is a Fundamental Rethink of Future Business Models Needed?

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: The Welt Group: Creating New Business Models ForNews Provision.

Case Study: Hubert Burda Media: In Search of New DigitalBusiness Models.

Case Study: Mediaset: From Focused Broadcaster to Value ChainOperator.

CHAPTER 3: Creating and Leveraging InnovativeContent.

Future Role of (Blockbuster) Content.

Should Content be Redefined?

Management of the Content Generation Process.

Peer Production, User–generated Content and Co–creation.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: Endemol: Diversifying the Content Portfolio.

Case Study: OhmyNews: Creating a Sustainable Model for ContentCo–creation.

CHAPTER 4: The Fight for Customer Attention:Intelligent Mass Marketing and Cautious Niche Strategy.

The Increasing Need to Understand Customers.

Strategic Brand Management.

Fine–Tune the Marketing Strategy to Revenue Model.

Marketing Strategies for Subscription–based Players.

Marketing Strategy for Niche and Thematic Offerings.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: Canal+: Keeping Consumer Loyality in the Face ofPlatform

Competition.

Case Study: EMI: Developing New Marketing Models for the DigitalAge.

Case Study: Telenet: Leveraging Digital Segmentation.

CHAPTER 5: End–to–end Supply Chain Management.

Achieving Operational Excellence in Supply Chain Management.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Standardized Media Supply ChainProcesses.

Improvement Levers for Non–standardized Processes in the MediaIndustry.

Managing the Transition to Digital Platforms.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: RTL Group: Creating a Digital Value Chain.

CHAPTER 6: Ways Out of the Advertising CommodityTrap.

Traditional Advertising Under Increasing Pressure.

The First Wave of Advertising Spending Shift: Direct Marketingand Below the Line.

Digital Technology at the Core of the Second Wave.

Reaching New Capabilities in Advertising.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: Schibsted: Diversifying the Advertising Source.

CHAPTER 7: Corporate Strategy in Media.

Current Media Landscape.

Future Portfolio Logic.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: Liberty Global: Multichannel Portfolio Play.

Case Study: Lagardere Active: Restoring Growth ThroughOperations.

Case Study: Sanoma Group: Restructuring the Portfolio forGrowth.

CHAPTER 8: The Future Role of Online Media.

Online Start 1995––2001: ′Overestimate in the Short Term′.

Period of Consolidation 2002 to 2008: Building the DigitalPlatform.

Online Media Business Models.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: Second Life: Peer Production ThroughCo–creation.

Case Study: YouTube: Building Social Media.

CHAPTER 9: People Management in Media Companies:Creative Managers or Managed Creativity?

Current People Management Practices in the Media Industry.

Current Challenge:Embrace ′Creators′ Yet Do Not Understate′Transformers′.

Common Principles of People Management Processes for ′Creators′and

′Transformers′.

Management of ′Transformers′.

Management of ′Creatives′.

People Management in the Digital Media Era.

Outlook and Open Questions.

Key Takeaways.

Case Study: BBC: Adapting the Organization to the DigitalWorld.

INDEX.

Annet Aris, Adjunct Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, and former partner at McKinsey & Company. Dr Jacques Bughin is a director at McKinsey & Company, and academic Fellow at ECORE as well as at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL). Both draw on a long and broad experience of working in, and teaching on, the media industry.