Passionate consumers are the key to business, says Time Inc. UK CEO

“Never has our content been more valuable, and our reach been greater,” said Time Inc. UK’s CEO, Marcus Rich, today at FIPP’s Middle East and Africa event in Dubai. Rich spoke about the importance of “content, trust and data” to the business, which according to him, is “growing consumer and advertiser revenue streams”.

Time Inc UK brands ()

With more than 60 brands focused on three audiences, Time Inc. UK has spent a lot of time getting to know its core users. “Passionate consumers are key to the business,” said Rich. “People like TV, radio and the internet, but they love their hobbies. And they spend a disproportionate amount of time in this space.”

Rich said 62 per cent of the company’s digital consumption is now mobile, but offers just 15 per cent of revenue at the moment, although native advertising is “set to change that”. Native spending is soaring and according to Rich, “we’re best placed with our knowledge of our audiences to work with partners and produce that fuels the shift native advertising.” However, the “growing adoption of ad blocking” is “starting to change the way we compete in business,” he added.

But, still, reaching Time Inc.’s passionate consumers remains the priority. “People will always want to hear a great story, well told,” said Rich “and we are the best storytellers. Now, if we’re able to marry our content with our data, we can start building new headline revenue growth”.

Rich used the example of Time Inc.’s presence in the equestrian space, which is worth £3.8bn in the UK. The audience data available shows exactly how this is broken down, and enabled the company to launch Equo – a digital entry system for equestrian events. “Once we’ve married our knowledge with subscription files and tablet data, we can start to predict behaviours. It allows us to see whether there’s an opportunity to add other things, for example ecommerce, events and experiential products,” said Rich.

Growth in video

Rich showed the audience the company’s most watched brand video, which is one of a cupcake being decorated. It was shot in the basement of the Time Inc. UK offices, and has basic production values. “It’s not all about the production values, it’s about learning potential,” he said.

“We know that people have never been more engaged with our brands and trust our content. We’ve never collected more data, which allows us to predict behaviours and move into new spaces.”

He concluded: “The opportunity for us at this point is unique. We’re not publishers, we’re content creators. We’re audience first, and uniquely advantaged with the trust we have with our consumers. The content and data we generate from interactions gives us the opportunity to build the business with consumer AND advertising revenue streams.”

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