Guess what? Paid content isn't about the content, after all.
Last Thursday, Bonnier R&D invited a couple of guest speakers, e.g. Forrester Analyst Nick Thomas, Sapient AD Cassian Opara, SSE researcher Henrik Sjödin, and a large number of colleagues to discuss and exchange experiences regarding the popular topic of "consumers' willingness to pay for digital content". The event was internal, so the exact conclusions can't be revealed. However, the following four public sources were referred to during the seminar and are highly recommended:
Forrester Research - People Will Still Pay for (Access to) Content
James McQuivey, Vice President and Analyst at Forrester Research, summarizes his thoughts regarding the Paid Content 2010 conference in NYC. Main conclusion: Consumers don't pay for content, they pay for access to content.
Microsoft - Charging for Content
Microsoft's Alastair Bruce has put together a slide show on all ways in which publishers currently are charging their consumers; freemium and metered access being two examples.
Beta Tales - Five Ways to Build Unique Value for Paid Digital Content
Aftenposten's own Digital Media Strategist, John Einar Sandvand, explains how unique value is created. Media companies are able to generate a sense of unique value and thus charge their consumers if they manage to fulfill at least one of the following five attributes: unique content, unique convenience, unique usefulness, unique experience, unique packaging.
Nielsen - Changing Models: A Global Perspective on Paying for Content Online
Nielsen asked more than 27,000 consumers across 52 countries if they are willing to pay for online news and entertainment which they currently get for free, and the answer is a definite "maybe." As expected, the vast majority (85%) prefer that free content remain free.
We would love to hear your view on these things.
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Google
Technorati
Twitter
Comments
@supergr00bi Good points! Regarding #4: I totally agree. Just asking is most likely not enough. A/B testing and other more practical and subtle testing methods are probably the way to go...
Paulina Modlitb..., March 8, 2010
Nice links! I have just 4 short comments on them: 1) The problem of the prisoner's dilemma: As long as there is content available for free somewhere, media companies that introduce payment will fear being punished by their readers. Not introducing payment will remain the favorite option. Ergo: Companies will need to provide their readers with a different product in the paid-for-world. 2) The problem of richness: If one wanted to cluster the numbers in McQuivey's presentation in terms of text+pictures, audio and audiovisual, it becomes clear that people pay much more for rich media such as video or internet than for static media such as magazines or newspapers. On digital devices like the iPad, (formerly) static media will be in direct competition with rich media. It's obvious that this will force all media to become richer - and thus more costly to produce. 3) The problem of the billing relationship: Fewer readers and more costly content presentation on digital devices will have to be offset by higher advertising revenues per reader. If the media companies do not "own" their readers and do not produce the customer insight necessary to sell high-margin targeted advertising, the business model is broken. The one who owns the customer always makes the most money. 4) The problem of experience: When asked about their propensity to pay for certain media, people do not have a clear vision of what the experience and content would be like. With the offering being very vague, so are the answers. This will hopefully change as soon as people have used the iPad or a similar device a couple of times.
@supergr00bi, March 4, 2010
No need to thank us. We really appreciate your blog, so just keep writing. ;) I just posted a tweet regarding your new blog post.
Paulina Modlitb..., March 2, 2010
Thanks for linking to my digital media blog BetaTales.com. I just posted a new article elaborating on the model mentioned in your article: How newspapers offer less Unique Value than before http://betatales.com/2010/03/02/how-newspapers-offer-less-unique-value-t...
John Einar Sandvand, March 2, 2010
Post new comment