A new WAN-IFRA report examines how publishers around the world are now doing just that by joining advertising alliances to grow revenues.
The new report, called "Publisher Ad Alliances," is released by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) on the occasion of the World News Media Congress in Estoril, Portugal. The report delves into why and how these ad co-operatives make sense, profiling five different alliances around the world.
"We need to rethink our alliances, be it in content sharing, advertising power, data sharing, or fundamental underlying synergies in the tech ecosystem. The wealth of the news industry depends on its diversity, but news publishers will never cope with the exponential growth and competition of global powers if they do not join forces. This report shades a light on an inevitable trend that has been overlooked for too many years" said Vincent Peyregne, CEO of WAN-IFRA.
With the rapid decline of print advertising revenues during the past decade along with the stark realisation that most publishers alone don't have the scale and reach needed to compete with the duopoly for digital advertising dollars, publishers partnering makes a far more palatable proposition, says WAN-IFRA.
“I think you can find some fantastic new opportunities and real incremental revenues. It isn't robbing what you're already doing, I can assure you of that. It's new revenues. It's revenues that people are not spending with you because they don't see you as something big enough,” says Morgan Stevenson, Director of SME Solutions at Newsquest in the UK, which is part of the 1XL publisher cooperative.
The report features alliances that have been operating for at least a couple of years and are on a sound financial footing.
Even with the security of an alliance, there are still significant headwinds in the digital advertising space. Managing those macro challenges, in addition to the micro challenges like handling individual publisher expectations, are set to be the focus of most alliances’ first few years.
Beyond the profiles, the report also provides some insider advice on the steps involved in creating an alliance, as well as a reference list of the numerous publisher partnerships operating in regions worldwide.
The report is available free of charge for WAN-IFRA Members and is being offered for sale to non-members.
