Q: What were the key takeaways from the FIPP World Congress?
A: It’s amazing to see the amount of energy and transitions going on in the industry. Some companies really know exactly where they are heading to, some are struggling, however most of them have embraced the future of digital and print. What I really enjoyed was the presentation by Condé Nast International where they explained the strategy for their magazine, Vogue. With their magazine, they have had to handle digital developments in the US as well as China. And this has led to a number of new challenges for them; one being the different digital channels and platforms available in both countries and how that has impacted their overall strategy.
Q: How should publishers be developing their content creation strategies?
A: I like to refer to publishers as media companies. Media companies are fully aware that there are many channels that they can publish on. I believe they should focus more on extending their brands and creating communities with their audience. They need to take a look at all of the channels at their disposal and consider the best practice for each specific channel.
Q: How can digital pennies be turned into digital pounds?
A: I think that’s a very good question. The only way to find out is to approach this from an entrepreneurial point-of-view. Experimentation is the key. Accelerate when ideas are successful, and throw them away if they are not. It’s especially important to learn and co-create from other relevant industries and peers.
Q: What’s the next big tech challenge / opportunity?
A: For sure it is AI (Artificial Intelligence). Every company has an enormous amount of data, which will likely double next year, plus external data available. To bring that all together with an algorithm or system that can learn, is an advantage for every part of a company. It allows media companies to know far more about their customers and automatically create engaging, personalised content for them. This opens up many opportunities, from automatic content translations to automated reporting.
Q: What’s coming next from WoodWing?
A: We understand the media industry, from our many years of experience. Therefore, we understand the challenges media companies have and what they need. What we do is create an environment where media companies can easily connect all of their software systems, making content creation, workflow and multichannel publishing easy to do.
One example of this is our next product for release, due out before the end of this year – Enterprise Aurora. Encouraging team collaboration, efficient production and an increased speed of content creation through streamlined workflows, Enterprise Aurora is a game-changer for our publishing customers. It allows both print and digital stories to be created in one system, adjusted for the intended channel, and then published to print, mobile, social or the web.
Elvis DAM, our digital asset management solution, continues to expand with AI-powered auto-tagging integrations.
Q: What content do you relax with at home?
A: At home I consume a lot of content. It is usually a combination of newspapers, magazines, Netflix, HBO and music streaming.
WoodWing are global leaders in developing systems to streamline content creation. With experience in the publishing industry for over 17 years, partners in over 100 countries and more than 1,000 customers, WoodWing is a recognised and trusted name. Beginning life to assist print publishers with improving their publishing workflow, WoodWing now produce products to assist a range of organisations with their marketing, advertising, content creation, reporting and Digital Asset Management.
Email: info@woodwing.com
Website: www.woodwing.com
