Local Media Organizations Announce Branded Content Beta Group

Broad mix of media companies selected for Facebook Journalism Project-funded program to test and expand branded content programs

News provided by

Local Media Consortium

Nov 20, 2019, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium and the Local Media Association, two of the local media industry's most innovative organizations, today announced the selection of 22 diverse local media companies as beta group participants for the Branded Content Project, a partnership between the LMC and the LMA, and funded by a $1 million investment from the Facebook Journalism Project that commenced in March 2019 with an initial alpha test group. These organizations, each of which demonstrate a commitment to furthering best practices in branded content initiatives, will received grant money to test and develop successful and sustainable branded content offerings and revenue streams.

The LMA and LMC define branded content as any sales initiative that uses content to engage the user and is paid for by a client who participates as part of the content, helps supply the content, or sponsors the content that is distributed across any platform.

"We received applications encompassing every media type from all over the world, and ultimately selected the Branded Content betas that best demonstrate the ability to help others learn from their initiatives while learning more about branded content strategies themselves," said Julia Campbell, Branded Content Project lead. "As part of the Branded Content Project initiative, these beta testers will build on the knowledge gleaned from the alpha projects, participate in case studies and contribute to white papers to explain their findings and share their results with the broader local media industry."

The call for applications was announced in September and closed October 21 seeking groups with a mature branded content program. Applications were received from LMA and LMC members and non-members, with entries from across the U.S. and as far away as Africa and Argentina. The Branded Content Project beta group includes the following (listed in alphabetical order):

ARA Newspaper (ara.cat)
Cox Media Group
Entravision Communications
GateHouse Media
Growing Community Media
Lifestyle Frisco
MinnPost
Mundo Hispanico
Narcity Media
Newsday Media Group
Portland Press Herald – Masthead Maine Media Network
Skyline (SCNG Media)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Swift Communications
TAPinto.net
The Denver Post
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
The Seattle Times
Tribune Publishing
Village Media Inc.
WBOC (Draper Media)

Many of the organizations will focus their testing on the common challenges identified across all organizations in the first round, including the need for education of the sales teams and advertisers, proving ROI for clients, and improving the process and workload of branded content teams. In addition to interacting with and drawing from the alpha group's discoveries, planned beta initiatives include working with brands and advertisers to test scalability in other markets, improving usability or UX, implementing better analytics or reporting, adding additional training for sales and news, adding social video production, gaining assistance with in-market group sales events for clients and purchasing technology for improved production.

"Our participation in the Branded Content Project's alpha group has been especially rewarding as each of the participants brought a unique perspective and challenges to the table in an earnest effort to collaborate and grow together," said Eric Brandner, general manager, Creative Lab at McClatchy. "The best part is seeing the wins: our team has already incorporated several Branded Content Project insights into our work, and it's been great to see our project colleagues launch revenue-driving initiatives, too. I know the beta group will benefit from these same opportunities."

The consensus among Branded Content Project participants is that drawing from strength in numbers and lessons learned from industry colleagues is an invaluable opportunity. "Our team is honored to participate in the Branded Content Project because it offers us the opportunity to learn from other wonderful publishers in the space who have seen success too," said Robin Gruen, Vice President, Tribune Publishing. "We all bring unique and varied experience to the table, which makes for interesting, insightful and applicable outcomes. We know this initiative will prove valuable to our clients, as well."

The beta testing will begin in January 2020 with plans to share initial findings with fellow alpha and beta participants in spring 2020. The cohort will work together to test projects through fall 2020, ultimately sharing findings industrywide to guide local media organizations toward more efficient and effective branded content programs and revenue streams.

About the Local Media Association
The Local Media Association is a thriving and innovative association that serves local media companies (newspapers, TV, radio, directories, digital news sites, and more) as well as research and development partners in the industry. LMA assists local media companies with the digital transition via cutting-edge programs, conferences, webinars, research and training. They are intensely focused on helping local media companies discover new and sustainable business models. Learn more at http://localmedia.org.

About the Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships on behalf of nearly 90 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 3,300 outlets. By harnessing the combined volume and scale of its members, the LMC reduces costs and increases revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. The aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 1 billion unique monthly visitors and its member companies serve more than 6 billion pageviews to consumers. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.

About the Facebook Journalism Project
Created in January 2017, the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP) exists to establish stronger ties between Facebook and the news industry. FJP works to ensure quality journalism thrives by unlocking and adding value through new products, partnerships with the news industry and specific FJP programs. FJP works in three ways: collaborative development of new products; providing tools and trainings for journalists; and providing tools and trainings for people. www.facebookjournalismproject.com

Media contacts:

Christina Gillham, 646-868-5174
[email protected]

Kristin Brocoff, 949-400-4899
[email protected]

SOURCE Local Media Consortium