MLM SF: Traditional Media Seize the Mobile Advantage

For traditional media companies with legacy businesses to harvest, mobile platforms offer a critical opportunity to forward-shift toward tangible growth. At MLM SF, digital media executives and vendor partners shared a variety of actionable mobile successes that indicate that, at long last, mobile’s time has arrived.

Media can deploy effective mobile solutions to clients big and small, with different media sectors better aligned to service specific business segments. Belo VP of Digital Joe Weir noted that his local TV stations typically work upstream with larger clients that have already adopted a mobile strategy and seek richer branding opportunities. Auto dealers may sponsor a niche app, as an example, or a local builders association can fold its content into Belo’s apps while the station also assists the company in building and marketing its own mobile solution.

Tribune Media SVP of Mobile Andy Vogel amplified these mobile distinctions by explaining how different business segments value device-specific traffic. “Tablets are great engagement vehicles for big brands. The smartphone space seems to work very well with SMBs. And SMS can still be the best way to communicate with customers in a clear fashion.”

Whether it’s content sponsorships, mobile app building, or rich media tablet ads, the central idea is to leverage mobile “as a wedge to get in the door,” said Gumiyo CEO Shuki Lehavi. “That gives you the opportunity to sell across the portfolio.”
For TV stations, the portfolio sell opens up the 3-screen approach. For newspapers and other traditional media, it may be a different, more diverse product bundle. Either way, Weir urged the audience to go with a “simple sell.” And Chris Hanburger, StepLeader’s VP of business development, supported prudent product and sales strategy, but exhorted that those that are having the most success in mobile “are going gung-ho into it.”