Less Than a Song

This one goes to Istanbul.

Actually Outdated

Just to drive home yesterday's point let us illustrate 20th century newspaper baroque. Not up to date any more. Matters littly, for as we have read before young men with lower educational grades soon won't be reading anymore, anyway.

Only problem is, the 50+ readership despite all progress of genetics and the chemical industry, despite any efforts of surgeons and life support machinery is shrinking nevertheless. Those losses, we regret to say, will definitely not be compensatable with iPad apps, not even for high quality oriented setups like "Bildzeitung". plink, nix,    praise or blame!
 

Well Understood

The people who designed the title of this Austrian free newspaper are the only people who really understood the grid pattern that ORF On introduced into Austrian web design and developed it into a really efficient ad machine.

Everybody else kinda just fetishized one aspect of this pattern and wrecked the pattern into a slight embaressment.

The Broadcasting World: No Petting Zoo

Austria's top online and digital media strategist, a director of ABC (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) who's first turn in office is about to complete its run has not been invited to this year's "Media Future Conclave" congress of his private business competitors where they usually elect the next temporal King of DMA (Digital Media Albania).

Given the fact that our hero - in stark contrast to his market driven peers - for 4 and a half years now has demonstrated that he and his team of eminent experts have been able to a) conceive and b) really really implement "central" strategies, we think the non-invitation is a veritable scandal.

At least one man does listen.

While even we here in Jamaica since having read this impressive and brilliant interview with Austria's top media and animal rights expert in Austria's top business journal have finally understood the secrets behind digital success, the wolves of media street have not. So, despite having amply demonstrated you are not really interested, listen up, private media sector bosses, there is a still one thing or the other you could learn from an extraordinary leader.

Update: The interview is not available any more but contents can still be glimpsed from this related press statement.

The Situation

While from the late seventies to the very early 2000s being the most attentive follower of public ideas was a sure receipt for winning and easily hold one's own against the so called first mover advantage and disruptive innovation. But since the mid zero years, the rise of new global behemoths and the rise of the tiny glowing screen you might need ever more and newer stuff to land a coup in the media market place. Without a vision and a consequent precisely conceived and concisely formulated and understandable strategy nothing is to be won any more. This is precisely what most of the publishers in the german speaking world say they have but really lack the strictly political means to transform into big money. Having such a vision the corresponding operational plan is exactly what distinguishes our protagonist here.

On the other hand, by a certain greed for the public's daily tribute to the destruction of our forests and the continued usage of rags seems to lock the yellow as well as the self declared quality press into old-fashioned text-heaviness and blindness towards newer digital mind over matter innovations. Let us listen to to what the digital strategist has to tell us. (For the link availability see above.)

The Vision and Strategy

Wir haben unser zentrales strategisches Vorhaben, ORF.at zur multimedialen Plattform auszubauen und damit auch die Marktführerschaft im österreichischen Medien-Online-Markt abzusichern, erfolgreich umsetzen können.

Now this sentence is exactly where we can learn how it is done. Simple and clear. But imagine all the work that is behind these concisely formulated and operationalised objectives. Getting the right terms selected is essential. And while private publishers still follow old time values and fetishes like "portal" and "services", the afore cited phrase contains practically all the decisive ingredients of the digital future: "platform", "multimedial", "leadership", "market", "successful", "implement", "secure", all neatly combined into a single understandable positive statement. To quote an old truth, a single picture tells more than a thousand words, and moving pictures at 25 frames per second, even more so. Think about that, publishers.

The Tactical Implementation

In a rare gesture of generosity, the guru not only speaks his strategic mind in public - which is often rather common with visionaries - he also details the revolutionary tactical elements, aptly split into 4 clearly distinguishable moves that have safely carried said strategy to the down range and even the green.

Erstens wurden die größten ORF.at-Angebote technisch und designmäßig optimiert, modernisiert und barrierefrei gemacht sowie die Integration von Videos verstärkt. Das ist z.B. bei „news.ORF.at“ und „sport.ORF.at“ bereits geschehen. „oesterreich.ORF.at“ und die neun Bundesländerseiten sowie „wetter.ORF.at“ werden noch heuer im Sommer folgen.

While now we have enumerated the essential elements of strategic conception above, this technical terms here are of comparable essentiality: "offerings", "technical", "design", "modernized", "freely accessabile" and "integration" of the next big thing, video, are the key components of deployment. Headquarter strategies aren't worth a penny if you cannot carry them downrange or as we used to say, if Charlie does not feel them applied to his bodily sensations.

Zweitens ist mit der Videoplattform ORF-TVthek die wichtigste Online-Innovation des ORF der vergangenen zehn Jahre entwickelt und erfolgreich realisiert worden. Heuer hatten wir im Schnitt bereits 8,5 Mio. Videoabrufe pro Monat, Top-Monat seit Bestehen der ORF-TVthek war – nicht zuletzt aufgrund der auch online intensiv genutzten Japan- und Libyen-Berichterstattung sowie Dancing Stars – der März 2011 mit 10,5 Mio.