Subscribe
for just...
plus
Raise your hand if you've heard this one before. "We can't even keep up with what's happening tomorrow, so all we can do is react!"
This is pretty much how most brands and media companies embrace change. Because change is happening at an ever faster pace, and because the format of change involves new types of technology that we have never seen before, most people find themselves in some kind of shell-shock.
And some might say, why shouldn't we just react? Isn't that good enough? Why not let the other companies try out all the new things and make all the mistakes, and then we can get in the game when the market is ready for it?
But in this article I'm going to show you why you need to change early, and how to predict when that is.
Note: I have overly-simplified all the graphs in the article to better illustrate how change happens.
Let's start with the media industry. The graph below illustrates the advertising revenue figures for US newspapers for the past 35 years (source: The State of the News Media).
As you can see, the media industry was growing at a fantastic rate. Everything seemed right, and nothing indicated that it was facing imminent collapse. From the 1980s to 2002, the future absolutely looked to be in the media industry's favor.
Then in 2003, the curve started to level out. At first this didn't seem to be much of a problem, until we reached 2005, and the future of newspapers just disappeared. It went from amazing growth, to dropping catastrophically.
Register to try out Baekdal Plus completely for free for one week.
Baekdal Plus is your premium destination for trends and analysis for the media industry. Every year you get 25 reports about the future media trends, business and editorial strategies, monetization analysis and insights about how to use analytics specifically for publishers.
As a subscriber, you also get full access to all the Plus reports (more than 200) published over the past 8 years, as well as the ability to share what you read.
Yes, of course, please write to plus@baekdal.com and I will send you a regular invoice that you can pay via your bank. I will need your company name, address and VAT number (if within the EU). Also, please note that due to this process being manual, this will be for an annual subscription only.
Yes, please write to plus@baekdal.com for details. But for 25-99 users: the price is 20% off the subscription price ($79/year per user), 100+ users is a fixed price at $5,000 (for all combined).
Yes, please head over to Baekdal Media to read about consulting where I can help you with strategy reviews, trend and strategy reports, and strategic guidance for you media company or a specific publication.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
What are the factors that define advertising.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
The people in charge of buying ad space needs the ads to work.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
The rising inflation and energy costs demands more of publishers.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Journalism is a vital part of society, but not all forms of news should be considered journalism
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Being relevant to young people is about much more than just TikTok.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
We had the money, the technology, and the infrastructure ... but not the will.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Publishers are frustrated by brands cutting advertising next to war coverage.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter
"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
plus
plus
plus
plus
plus
plus