Engaging  the  influen,al  in  an  ideas  communityNick  Blunden  |  Global  Digital  PublisherE:  nickblunden@economist.com  |  M:  +44  7968  838933  |  T:  @nickblunden

Un,l  recently  we  lived  in  a  world  of  rela,ve  informa,on  scarcity

Picture  credit:  h,p://www.flickr.com/photos/archivalproject/3296822880/  

“Eight  years  ago,  in  its  heyday,  the  New  York  Times  Company  was  worth  $7  billion  and  paid  a  dividend  of  more  than  $100  million  a  year.”

Henry  Blodget,  Business  Insider

“There  was  5  Exabytes  of  informaEon  created  between  the  dawn  of  civilisaEon  through  2003,  but  that  much  informaEon  is  now  created  every  2  

days  and  the  pace  is  increasing”Eric  Schmidt,  Exec,ve  Chairman,  Google

We  are  now  entering  into  an  new  age  of  informa,on  abundance

The  explosion  in  new  digital  tools  is  making  media  owners  of  us  all

“All  one  needs  is  a  computer,  a  network  connecEon,  and  a  bright  spark  of  iniEaEve  and  

creaEvity  to  join  the  economy”  Don  TapscoU,  Author,  Wikinomics

Picture  credit:  h,p://www.flickr.com/photos/karola/4669292392/

This  is  fundamentally  changing  the  rela,onship  we  have  with  informa,on

Informa,on  is  no  longer  an  asset  to  be  exploited  by  the  few  and  passively  consumed  by  the  many.  It  is  increasingly  a  universal  social  currency  that  is  

ac,vely  traded  by  us  all.

Picture  credit:  h,p://www.flickr.com/photos/drewm/468436732/

The  consequences  of  this  change  in  our  rela,onship  with  informa,on  can  appear  to  be  trivial

“The  gap  is  between  doing  anything  and  doing  nothing.  And  someone  who  makes  a  LOLcat  has  

already  crossed  over  that  gap.”  Clay  Shirky,  Author,  Cogni,ve  Surplus

Picture  credit:  h,p://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/24/trashcat-­‐is-­‐not-­‐amused/

But  the  consequences  of  this  new  mass  par,cipa,on  in  media  can  also  be  very  profound

“A  revoluEon  doesn’t  happen  when  society  adopts  new  tools,  it  happens  when  society  adopts  new  

behaviours”  Clay  Shirky,  Author,  Here  Comes  Everybody

Picture  credit:  h,p://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/dec/13/guardian-­‐weekly-­‐news-­‐review-­‐2011

The  implica,ons  for  tradi,onal  media  have  generally  been  seen  as  profoundly  nega,ve

Picture  credit  h,p://www.flickr.com/photos/wvs/7860530/

“Clearly,  the  sky  is  falling.  The  quesEon  now  is  how  many  people  will  be  leP  to  cover  it.”David  Carr,  Mourning  Old  Media’s  Decline,  

The  New  York  Times

However  despite  warnings  of  informa,on  overload  demand  for  it  seems  to  just  keep  growing

“It  is  clear  that  consuming  more  media  and  more  entertainment,  in  a  sense,  makes  Affluents  hungry  for  sEll  more  rather  than  saEaEng  their  need.  What  beTer  news  could  anyone  in  the  media  

industry  hope  for?”The  Ipsos  Mendelsohn  Affluent  Survey

That’s  because  intelligence,  like  affluence,  is  increasingly  becoming  a  mass  phenomenon

“In  most  rich  countries,  the  old  disEncEon  between  high  and  popular  culture  is  breaking  

down.”John  Parker,  ‘The  Age  of  Mass  Intelligence’,  

Intelligent  Life

Picture  credit  h,p://moreintelligentlife.com/story/age-­‐mass-­‐intelligence

This  is  crea,ng  unprecedented  opportuni,es  for  the  creators  of  ‘intelligent’  media

"IncepEon,  the  $160m  auteur  vechicle  that  proves  really  expensive  movies  don't  have  to  be  stupid  to  be  successful.  It's  a  film  that  imagines  that  the  mulEplex  masses  aren't  so  dumb  aPer  all.”

Mark  Kermode,  Film  Cri,c

In  the  emerging  networked  knowledge  economy  ideas  are  more  important  than  ever

“It  is  really  exciEng  when  you  think  about  the  different  way  stories  are  told  and  products  are  

sold  you  are  thinking  about  a  whole  shiP  in  many  ways  of  how  we  engage  with  content.”

Aleks  Krotoski,  Boradcaster

Video  available  on  request  from  The  Economist  Group

And  influence  is  no  longer  just  about  who  you  know  but  more  about  what  ideas  you  have

“Obama  for  America  mobilized  3  million  individual  donors,  who  made  6.5  million  donaEons  totaling  $500  million  over  the  course  of  the  campaign.”

Blue  State  Digital

In  this  new  ideas  driven  networked  economy  tradi,onal  media  and  social  media  coexist

“There  is  no  point  in  ge\ng  connected  unless  you’ve  got  something  to  say”

Sir  John  Hegarty

These  changes  create  huge  opportuni,es  for  companies  who  can  think  beyond  the  status  quo

“The  internet  is  a  connecEon  engine  and  companies  that  build  on  top  of  the  underlying  

knowledge  of  that  connecEon  engine  are  going  to  be  the  ones  that  Succeed.”  

Rishad  Tobaccowala,  Chief  Strategy  Officer,  Vivaki

Picture  credit  h,p://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=469716398919

But  we  need  to  stop  thinking  about  individual  products  and  start  thinking  about  experiences

“I  think  we’ve  known  for  a  long  Eme  now  that  Starbucks  is  more  than  just  a  wonderful  cup  of  

coffee.  It’s  the  experience”Howard  Schultz,  Founder  and  CEO,  Starbucks

Apple’s  success  with  iTunes  shows  that  crea,ng  experiences  around  content  creates  value

“Apple  has  sold  over  15  billion  songs  through  it's  iTunes  Store  since  its  launch  in  2003,  making  it  the  

number  one  music  retailer  in  the  world”Techcrunch

This  is  why  The  Economist  is  focused  on  crea,ng  a  community  experience  not  just  a  website

“The  world’s  most  valuable  community  for  intelligent  analysis,  discussion  and  debate  where  our  readers  benefit  as  much  from  the  experEse  of  each  other  as  they  do  from  the  experEse  of  our  

journalists”Tom  Standage,  Digital  Editor,  The  Economist

“People  who  have  new  ideas  are  going  to  show  up  in  The  Economist.  You  can  think  of  it  as  a  

community  of  ideas  people  who  are  out  there  looking  for  the  next  big  thing  to  show  up  on  the  horizon  and  trying  to  figure  out  how  the  world  works.”  Richard  Ogle,  Author,  Smart  World

A  community  centred  around  the  needs  of  the  global  ‘ideas  people’  psychographic  

A  community  centred  around  the  needs  of  the  global  ‘ideas  people’  psychographic  

“People  who  have  new  ideas  are  going  to  show  up  in  The  Economist.  You  can  think  of  it  as  a  

community  of  ideas  people  who  are  out  there  looking  for  the  next  big  thing  to  show  up  on  the  horizon  and  trying  to  figure  out  how  the  world  works.”  Richard  Ogle,  Author,  Smart  World

Video  available  on  request  from  The  Economist  Group

The  sharing  inherent  in  this  community  creates  valuable  social  currency  for  our  readers

“If  searching  for  news  was  the  most  important  development  of  the  past  decade,  sharing  news  may  be  among  the  most  important  of  the  next”The  Pew  Research  Center’s  Project  for  Excellence  

in  Journalism

And  their  par,cipa,on,  which  lies  at  the  heart  of  the  community,  adds  value  to  our  content

“I  enjoy  your  comments  secEon  because  of  how  well  moderated  it  is.    It  is  a  much  more  civil  place  than  most  news  sites,  it  comes  as  close  to  true  

discussion  than  any  other  news  site”Katheryne  Kieser,  Economist.com  user

Community  fulfills  a  fundamental  human  need  for  belonging  and  recogni,on

“Human  beings  can't  help  it:  we  need  to  belong.  One  of  the  most  powerful  of  our  survival  

mechanisms  is  to  be  part  of  a  tribe,  to  contribute  to  (and  take  from)  a  group  of  like-­‐minded  people.”  

Seth  Godin,  Author,  Tribes

Community  also  allows  us  to  explore  the  changing  nature  of  journalism  in  a  digital  world

“The  role  of  journalists  in  this  new  world  is  to  add  value  to  the  conversaEon  by  providing  reporEng,  context,  analysis,  verificaEon  and  debunking,  and  by  making  available  tools  and  plaeorms  that  

allow  people  to  parEcipate”Jeff  Jarvis,  Author,  What  Would  Google  Do?

And  to  harness  the  huge  poten,al  of  word  of  mouth  to  grow  our  reach  and  influence

“Social  Media  have  taken  the  solid,  dependable  old  tortoise  -­‐  word  of  mouth  -­‐  and  transformed  it  into  countless  hares,  mulEplying  like,  well  hares”  

Bob  Garfield  and  Doug  Levy,  Ad  Age

Commercially  community  provides  the  engagement  adver,sers  increasingly  demand

“Consumer  engagement  with  our  brands  is  ulEmately  what  we're  striving  to  achieve.  

Awareness  is  fine,  but  advocacy  will  take  your  business  to  the  next  level”  Joe  Tripodi,  CMO,  Coca-­‐Cola

And  new  marke,ng  opportunites  that  go  beyond  basic  display  adver,sing

“ConversaEons  among  the  members  of  your  marketplace  happen  whether  you  like  it  or  not.  Good  markeEng  encourages  the  right  sort  of  

conversaEons.”  Seth  Godin,  Author,  Permission  Marke,ng”

Community  also  creates  new  habits  to  replace  the  old  ones  tradi,onal  media  once  relied  on

“Habit  is  one  of  the  only  true  sources  of  sustainable  compeEEve  advantages  in  the  media  

industry”Jonathan  Knee,  Co-­‐Author,  The  Curse  of  the  Mogul

We  believe  that  this  community  experience  will  also  unlock  new  sources  of  value

“The  value  of  content  is  not  in  what  we  produce  but  in  what  it  produces:  signals  about  people's  interests,  about  authority,  about  topics  and  

trends"Jeff  Jarvis,  Author,  What  Would  Google  Do?

And  that  communi,es  built  around  psychographics  are  capable  of  crea,ng  sustainable  value

“In  towns  and  ciEes  where  there  is  a  strong  sense  of  community,  there  is  no  more  important  

insEtuEon  than  the  local  paper”Warren  Buffet,  CEO,  Berkshire  Hathaway

Ensuring  that  The  Economist  will  remain  as  relevant  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  for  169  years

“To  take  part  in  a  severe  contest  between  intelligence,  which  presses  forward,  and  an  unworthy,  Emid  ignorance  obstrucEng  our  

progress.”The  Economist  Group,  1843

Engaging  the  influen,al  in  an  ideas  communityNick  Blunden  |  Global  Digital  PublisherE:  nickblunden@economist.com  |  M:  +44  7968  838933  |  T:  @nickblunden