by Jacqueline Koch | Oct 27, 2015 |
One publication that appears to be thriving in this new digital age is women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, which saw a whopping 45.9 per cent year-over-year audience growth in August 2015.
In August, the audience for magazines in the United States grew 4.2 per cent year-over-year to 1.67bn, according to the most recent MPA Magazine Media 3600 Brand Audience Report. While any growth in the publishing sector is good news, it is important to point out that most of this growth is coming from the mobile web, where the audience grew by 42.4 per cent to over 440m in August 2015. In the same timeframe the audience for print and digital editions shrank by 5.6 per cent, while the web (desktop/laptop) audience declined by 1.1 per cent. This is a downturn from the July numbers, where the web audience grew by 3.2 per cent.
These statistics tell a good news, bad news story. While the overall audience size has grown, there is much work to be done by publishers to keep and grow their audiences as technology continues to turn this industry on its head.
One publication that appears to be thriving in this new digital age is women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, which saw a whopping 45.9 per cent year-over-year audience growth in August 2015.
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by Jacqueline Koch | Oct 27, 2015 |
By Steven Wise
The potential for rampant ad blocking can be a daunting prospect for the US$140bn a year online advertising business. This is especially true for publishers whose businesses hinge on their ability to deliver ad messages to their audiences.
While ad blocking software for desktop browsers has been available for years, it hasn’t had a dramatic impact on how publishers monetise ads. However, in the last few months, industry chatter over ad blocking has risen substantially thanks to some new developments from Apple.
Ad blocking comes in a various forms
Earlier this month Apple introduced the latest generation of iPhones, along with a new mobile operating system, iOS 9, which allows ad blocking plug-ins. Within days of the release, ad blocking apps became among the most downloaded category in the Apple App Store. The top selling ad blocker in the iTunes Store is
Crystal, a top 10 app selling for $0.99.
1Blocker is a popular alternative which is free with limits or $2.99 for the full feature version.
Typical ad blockers suppress banner ads, popups, and autoplay videos. For end users, the obvious benefit is a less cluttered browsing experience. But there can be secondary benefits as well, like faster page loading, less data usage, and better battery life on their smartphones.
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by Jacqueline Koch | Oct 27, 2015 |
By Gretchen McLaurin
VUCA: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. This term was initially used by the US Military in the late 90’s to address planning and leadership for the post-Cold War era.
Developed to explain a fast-paced, increasingly unstable and rapidly changing world, the concept has since migrated into business schools and corporate boardrooms to frame strategy and leadership development in the 21st century.
Because VUCA is a leadership model, we can look to the leaders of companies for insights in how to thrive in today’s rapidly changing world. There are several characteristics common to those who are best able to navigate a VUCA world: Individuals should be lifelong learners with the ability to flip problems into advantages. They see connections where others don’t and learn from nature, striving for balance. They understand rapid prototyping and smart mob organising, making it fun and easy for teams to achieve success. They are motivated by significant emotional events, whether personal or global. And they have a sense for nurturing shared assets and knowing how to bring resources together.
With hindsight we will look back at the technologic, economic and demographic factors that fostered some of the most profound media disruptions in the last decade and see whether VUCA principles could or should have helped leaders anticipate them.
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by Jacqueline Koch | Oct 1, 2015 |
When the user-generated content (UGC) craze started in 2005 with the meteoric rise of Youtube videos, no one knew if it would last. Yet, today the quality and quantity of UGC in online publications are growing more rapidly than ever.
According to a 2015 report by Mary Meeker, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, content on the web is increasingly dominated by UGC. This is evidenced by the fact that Pinterest pin creation is up 75 per cent, Twitch video broadcasts are up 83 per cent, Wattpad stories are up 140 per cent and Airbnb reviews are up 140 per cent year-over-year.
A number of factors are colliding to drive this massive growth in UGC, starting with a rich set of new consumer-friendly content creation tools. These include products and applications like GoPro and Hyperlapse, which allow consumers to create visceral video experiences that rival those created by professionals. Add to that near ubiquitous access to smartphones with high quality cameras, the huge increase in mobile broadband speeds and effortless options for delivering images and videos from laptops or smartphones to highly visible websites. As a result, this year more UGC will be created, distributed and shared across social media platforms than content created by professionals.
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by Jacqueline Koch | Sep 24, 2015 |
It’s that time of year! UNGA, and it’s the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Time to think about a few other items: Giving back. Paying it forward. Or stepping up as a good corporate citizen. However you want to frame it, each member of Boost! Collective holds a deep commitment to advancing positive change. As luck would have it, our hometown offers us fertile ground and much inspiration. Seattle is a recognized epicenter of global health, cutting-edge research and an extraordinary assortment of development organizations—from cancer and infectious diseases to land rights, disaster relief and new technologies to address the root causes of poverty.
We recognize that to tackle any tough problem, cross sector collaboration is an invaluable tool and we draw strength from diversity. We founded our collective of professionals—each with varied skills and interests—on this principal. Every day, for each client, it reaffirms the maxim: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
With this in mind, we found it fitting to be joining forces with Global Washington. An organization supporting the global development community in Washington state, Global Washington connects, strengthens and promotes the work of 170 members engaged in creating a more equitable world including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Mountain Safety Research We are honored to contribute to the growing momentum of their work and supporting the production of the 2014 Global Washington annual report is just one way we can do this.
At Boost! we’re optimists. We are doers. We’re passionate and we’re motivated. Like Global Washington, we’re firm believers in the power of collective impact.
In August, the audience for magazines in the United States grew 4.2 per cent year-over-year to 1.67bn, according to the most recent MPA Magazine Media 3600 Brand Audience Report. While any growth in the publishing sector is good news, it is important to point out that most of this growth is coming from the mobile web, where the audience grew by 42.4 per cent to over 440m in August 2015. In the same timeframe the audience for print and digital editions shrank by 5.6 per cent, while the web (desktop/laptop) audience declined by 1.1 per cent. This is a downturn from the July numbers, where the web audience grew by 3.2 per cent.
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