Media - the essentials

Quote of the day by Jeff Bezos (again, I know) - but sometimes, it seems like Media CEO and directors forget this essential two facts:

"The Post will have readers at its centerpiece. I’m skeptical of any mission that has advertisers at its centerpiece. Whatever the mission is, it has news at its heart"

Source: Jeff Bezos warns Washington Post must innovate its way to success

Quand Jeff Bezos s'offre THE Post

La phrase du jour - à méditer

"Si les gens ne paient pas pour des médias indépendants qu’ils devraient lire, des intérêts privés paieront volontiers pour les médias qu’ils veulent que l’on lise"

Article (un peu trop?) alarmant sur le rachat du Washington Post par le CEO d'Amazon:

Des faits dérangeants sur le rachat du Washington Post par Jeff Bezos - ZDNet

New York Times- challenging the paywall model

Paul Smurl about the digital and paid strategy of the New York Times @ The Digital Innovators'Summit Day 2 

The Atlantic @ Digital Innovators' Summit

@JBrainerdSmith about the challenges and opportunities for the The Atlantic in a media changing world. The selected contributions are from attendees at the Digital Innovators' Summit in Berlin. A big thank you to everyone involved in sharing and spreading the knowledge!

Tablet vs e-Reader Owners

Now that the iPad has revolutionized the world of portable devices, what about the Kindle and Nook owners? What are tablet vs e-reader users doing on their digital device? A review of the evidence from several GfK MRI studies (US !), shared by Kathi Love, President and CEO of GfK MRI, on the last FIPP Research Forum.

A meteoric growth of portable digital devices 

Tablet and e-reader Ownership has increased like never seen before with 7.1 million iPads and some 11.7 million e-readers in circulation (January - April '11). e-Reader users tend to be more female. Tablet ownership is more gender-balanced. "Users of tablets are younger than e-reader users, whose age profile has grown old since they were released". Both kind of users are highly educated in comparison with the average US-population.

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News Addicted vs Bookworm?

Book reading seems still more common than periodical reading. Both kind of owners have read a book on their device during the last 6 month. But tablet owners are more likely to read magazines (38%)  and newspapers (37%) than e-reader users (magazines: 18% ; newspapers: 12%).

Most digital devices are used daily. Compared to e-reader owners, tablet owners use their device slightly more on average weekdays than weekend days. 47% of tablet users share their device with (an) other family member(s). e-reader owners tend to be more the sole user of their device (69%).

Tablets make the difference when it comes to 'online' activities such as reading or sending an e-mail, social networking, play games,... e-readers seem to be dedicated to... reading books. Some 62% of tablet owners say they have 10 or more apps on their device but a limited amount is regularly used.

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Of course, tablet owners prefer free apps. And yet, approximately 66% of the apps downloaded were free (last 30 days before analysis). Problem, knowing that 66% of the apps available in the Apple AppStore are not for free.

Are Digital Readers Confused?

Digital is convenient but tablet readers are still in love with printed magazine copies, praising the format and the ability to rip out any articles or ad that they find interesting. Kathi Love admitted that there is still some confusion over whether users prefer the digital version to the print one. Understandable, knowing that 65% of tablet readers say it's more satisfying to read a magazine in the traditional way while 67% declare that if available, they would prefer the electronic version.

When it comes to digital reading, 72% of tablet users want all magazines to be formatted in the same way. Nearly the same amount would like to be able to buy items by clicking on the magazine ad. In short: the benefits seem to be a richer experience with digital and a more tactile one with print - read on the FIPP website where you can find other informations about this review.

Source: GfK MRI iPanel, GfK MRI Survey of the American Consumer, GfK MRI Starch Digital 

Print - Enjoy the Journey

A spoken poem, in sound and picture, captivates the power of print. Released by InkGlobal in the United Kingdom The Journey is a must see. Enjoy the spoken poem; print is not dying. Produced by Ink, written and directed by David Bowden @ The Garden Studios. Spotted via @magazinespuntnl

She's a Reader

Yesterday was the yearly World Book Day. Time to celebrate the written word and to encourage our closed ones to discover/to share the pleasure of reading. I've found my own way to celebrate this day and I took the time yesterday to analyze the reading behavior of Belgian women. Because reading - books or other media - is a great way to escape our daily life!

Belgian women loves reading

View more PowerPoint from Vanessa Sanctorum

Source: research study #Femininsight - part of the project I'm every WOMAN-  some 3.000 Belgian women, aged between 15 and 75 years, were surveyed about their daily life (in February - May 2011)

Belgian daily switches language

Our little country is complicated. That's a fact. For Belgians, and for foreigners. Everyday our International Sales, responsible for taking care of advertisers and agencies abroad, struggle with the same problem: explaining the differences between Flemish people, people living in Brussels and Walloon people.


As a marketeer, it is my responsibility to help them with relevant information and insights about these matters. Besides the political issues, it's really passionating. Because North and South think different. Don't dare call a Brussels native a Walloon! And don't forget the small group of German-speakers in eastern Wallonia. For the info: I don't like talking with socio-demographic datas but in Belgium, it helps a lot to understand the situation. A speed training 'History of Belgium for Dummies' is also a plus. 


The point is: media of one language community don't interact with media of the other language community. Except for a few exceptions such as national surveys and charitable causes. And of course, on the advertising market. Especially when the media sales house is integrated into the publisher, as Sanoma or Roularta are.


Le Soir is known as a French-written quality daily with strong roots in Brussels and surroundings. Editor-in-chief Béatrice Delvaux is a kind of an Iron Lady, passionated about her job and her (media)brand. Tomorrow, publisher Rossel will publish a special edition in Flanders, with the first five pages written in Dutch. The purpose? To let discover the tone-of-voice and the specific insights about the political issues and the analysis about Flanders. In other words: to feed the debate. In a positive way. I'd like to say: chapeau! Let's hope it will make the other language community curious. But I have doubts... Knowing the sales figures of newspapers these days...