CALL FOR SYNOPSES

We have never seen change like this, and the cross-roads metaphor has never been more apt – for media investment, business models, revenues and content planning – as well as research.

In the last few months we have seen the advance of new behavioural and social feedback measures; quality and claims of quality have been under the spotlight; measurement development has been suspended as stakeholders struggle to reach agreement on what they really need; and the way we organize and fund audience measurement has been threatened as never before. All media are implicated, and all parts of the world are affected – so is the very definition of audience and audience research changing right under our feet?

In October 2015, media owners, media planners, advertisers and measurement companies will meet in London to discuss and debate the key questions facing media research, media planning and buying and the media industry itself – newsbrands and magazines (print and digital) in particular.

We will be showcasing discussion under four broad headings and this Call for Synopses and ideas for panel debates gives more detail on the proposed sessions/topics:

  • Media Planning and Buying – What is our new trading currency? Is it fit for purpose, and who is in charge of trading now?
  • Media Business Models – How far can we go in re-thinking our paid-for content strategy and who has got it right? How can we make audience quality count?
  • Media Content – If we were starting again now, how would we plan content across platform and device – and what role would the paper/original version have?
  • Media Measurement – Are we measuring the right things, are we measuring them well, and how can we learn to love hybrid?

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All participants in the media ecosystem are being transformed in unpredictable ways, providing a rich set of subjects for the 2015 Publishing and Data Research Forum.  As such, we invite synopses on such topics as:

Media Planning and Buying

  • Cross-Platform Metrics: Is media really being  bought across platform/device? Which common metrics will direct future planning?
  • Digital Campaign Effectiveness: How do we account for viewability, quality and legitimacy of inventory, brand safety?   How big an issue is fraud and non-human traffic?
  • Video Advertising: A new market for publishers – but how is it valued and how can research help?
  • Programmatic trading: What are publisher and planner/buyer points of view? Do time-based compensation models work? How do publishers scale up for behavioural targeting/addressable advertising? How much do ads benefit from being placed in ‘appropriate’ media? What is the downside risk of ads appearing in the “wrong” places? Can behavioural targeting replace or supplement traditional media, or does it come with too many caveats, risks or conditions?
  • ROI and Attribution Models:  How are our notions of the consumer path to purchase changing? How do we capture all the various influences on purchase and brand choice and give them due weight in our models? How are econometric methods evolving to meet the challenges of micro-planning of ad campaigns and of an ever more complex mix of media?

Media Business Models

  • Consumer Demand and Consumer Revenue:  What have we learned about new revenue generation – pay-walls, premium content, subscription/membership programmes and brand extensions?
  • Aggregation/Disaggregation:  Would unbundling work for digital print as it has for the music industry? New forms of aggregation – what can they tell us about consumer choice – and can we monetize that? How can we measure aggregated and disaggregated content consumption?
  • Collaboration? How does the industry ensure best research value for individual media, while collaborating across media? Where does digital measurement properly sit? Who pays, who benefits from industry research – and is the balance of power right? Who are the custodians of data quality, indeed is data quality losing relevance?

Media content

  • Cross-Platform Content Delivery:  How do we make decisions about developing content for new platforms and new devices?  How do we know they’re the right decisions? How is the integration of video, photography and text working best?  How can publishers maintain or grow share of consumer attention?
  • Let’s Not Forget Paper: In what ways, if any, does the reading experience with a paper edition change with the arrival of digital editions? What’s still successful and profitable in printed form? What kind of future do paper copies have – weekends only? Premium pricing?

Media Measurement

  • Cross-Platform Measurement: How close are we to delivering a complete view of media consumption across print, web and app-based platforms?  How are we meeting the measurement challenges of tablets and mobiles?
  • Engagement: What do we mean? How do we measure it – and does it really make a difference? What evidence can publishers provide that a premium should be placed on their content in the digital space?  When is simultaneous media usage a sign of engagement and when is it a sign of distraction?
  • Social Media Metrics: How valuable is a like, a follower or a fan? How much content is being retweeted – and how much is that worth? How can publishers exploit and monetize their social media presence?
  • Changing Reading Behaviour:  How do we measure “reading” of video in digital editions? What is the role of neuroscience-based methods in understanding reading behaviour?
  • Big Data and Data Integration: Can hybrid models retain the advantages of traditional samples and panels, while harnessing the granularity and scope of massive flows of real-time behavioural data? How are publishers mobilising to take advantage of their data assets?  How are they working with their newer digital distribution partners to leverage those assets?
  • New Work on Perennial Research Issues:  Topics of ongoing interest – including new approaches to data collection; improving response; re-thinking basic readership metrics; mixed methodologies among others.

To submit a synopsis, an idea for a panel discussion or suggestions for new topics and speakers, please limit your submission to a maximum of 500 words.  Submissions must be received by the secretariat by 16th March 2015. Please include the names of the author(s); their organisation, positions emails, telephone etc. Please send your submission to Sandy@pdrf.net/new_site.
Secretariat: Telephone +44(0) 20 8861 8030 for further information.