VERDENS GANG
VERDENS GANG
The golden age OF
the consumer
We live in the golden age of the customer. Never before
has it been better or easier to be a media user. Information has become independent of time and space. It went
from scarcity to overabundance. You no longer have to be
present at a given time to follow your favourite TV show.
Local news is no longer limited by geography: Breaking
news from VG can be found with a simple keystroke
whether you’re in Cape Town or Trysil. News now even
finds you, just as often as you find it.
What’s happening is that capitalism works: Established
systems are being destroyed by more effective structures.
And while the advantages are obvious for consumers, these changes pose fundamental challenges for those – like
us – who have thrived under the established systems.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS
VG’s approach to this is to be as agnostic as possible about
how content is consumed: Customer preferences always
win in the long run anyway. That’s why we’re working more
than ever with distributing our content on social media. We
encourage people to download our apps, so that we
can send them push notifications about big news stories.
Do you want to listen to our interviews as podcasts,
watch them on TV or read them in our weekend magazine? The choice is yours. Do you prefer print, a small
mobile screen or a big TV screen? You choose. VG’s content is there for you however you want to consume it.
In financial terms, our biggest investment in 2014
was a renewed push towards video. Why? Because in the
fundamental transformation of the media business, it
won’t be possible to survive by just putting aside money
for a rainy day. It’s already pouring.
CRUMBLING BUSINESS MODELS, BURGEONING
OPPORTUNITIES
Traditional business models are crumbling. Earnings
from print are in an unstoppable downward spiral, while
digital advertising volumes are expanding, putting negative pressure on prices. This too is capitalism at work.
The flip side is that we now have more ways to touch
readers than ever before; so many that we can’t even
call them readers anymore. They are readers, listeners,
viewers and users. In short, they’ve become consumers.
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Torry Pedersen
Editor-in-chief
This is a great opportunity where what will divide winners
from losers is the ability to bring news first, presented
and told in engaging ways. And even in a time where big
data, algorithms and aggregation are buzzwords, being on
location with eyes and ears is still fundamental for engaging reporting. This is true whether you’re covering school
bullying or the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. For many,
it’s reassuring that this part of our business is unlikely to
ever experience a “Brave New World” – at least not until
drones learn to speak!
Torry Pedersen, Editor-in-chief, says: “VG’s content is
there for you however you want to consume it.”
Never before has
it been easier to be a
media user.
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