Complex Networks bills itself as one of the most diversified digital media companies in the business, so it’s counting on diversification to protect its business.
Complex Networks CEO Rich Antoniello has steered the media company away from an economic cliff before, so he’s following a similar strategy to now deal with the coronavirus pandemic -- expansion. “We’re not pulling the plug on anything that we had in the chambers or anticipated,” he said. Read more below. On March 31, Complex introduced a new ad program; in a few weeks, it will unveil a new commerce platform; and in the fall, the company plans to debut a new event. Website traffic is surging, ad prices on news sites are low and for ad fraudsters, the coronavirus pandemic is a crisis too tempting to go to waste. For Digiday+ Members, editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey's latest column illustrates the tough choices that publishers are facing. “Just salary cuts will at most bring the costs down by 10%, at most, I can guarantee,” said one exec. Anheuser-Busch U.S. CMO Marcel Marcondes shared with Digiday how the company is changing its approach to marketing, avoiding coronavirus content for advertising and more. Other things to know about Sign up for the Digiday Future of TV Briefing for news and analysis on the broader TV, streaming and online video industry delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Even in the face of cookie restrictions and regulations, ad revenue remains the lifeblood for independent publishers — but they’re using entirely new tactics to keep it pumping through their veins. In a webinar on April 13, at 3 p.m. EST, join experts from CafeMedia, Huge and Atlanta Black Star as they discuss revenue strategies in the privacy era. Sponsored by CafeMedia. | |
| howdy! Coronavirus Fallout | 'Rats out of the sewers': Ad fraudsters are leaping on the coronavirus crisis | For ad fraudsters, the coronavirus pandemic is a crisis too tempting to go to waste. Website traffic is surging. But with advertisers adding coronavirus-related keywords to their block lists and others pausing spend altogether, ad prices on news sites are low. With less competition in the auction, low quality ads — and even publishers’ own […] | | Sponsored by Zephr | Publisher’s guide: Paywall strategy in 2020 | In the midst of a pandemic, the appetite for news and information has resulted in a spike in subscriptions for some publishers. In this new guide, learn tips and strategies for monetizing content at a time when advertising revenue is coming under increasing pressure | | howdy! howdy! Coronavirus Fallout | 'We're not in advertising mode': Anheuser-Busch CMO Marcel Marcondes on staying relevant | Last month, Anheuser-Busch announced that it would use its production lines to produce hand sanitizer to help consumers amid the coronavirus pandemic. But that’s only one way the world’s largest beer company is changing the way it operates during this crisis. As the situation has evolved, the company has developed initiatives aimed at helping consumers […] | | Sponsored by Simulmedia | A marketer’s guide to TV measurement and attribution | In a new guide for brand and agency marketers, learn the most cutting-edge measurement and attribution techniques preferred by advertisers that have successfully scaled their TV budgets. | | howdy! WTF Programmatic | WTF are post-auction discounts? | Post-auction discounts let advertisers compete in the auction as if it bid $6 or $7 or more, but then benefit from a discount after winning the auction. | | howdy! | Complex’s Rich Antoniello’s recipe for media in crisis: ‘Brand plus brains plus balance sheet’ | For publishing companies to survive a global crisis like the one we're in, Rich Antoniello's formula is 'brand, plus brains, plus balance sheet." He would know, having stewarded Complex through the 2008 financial crisis as CEO, the role he still holds now. But compared to that, the downturn brought about by the coronavirus pandemic is "infinitely more difficult," Antoniello said on the Digiday Podcast. | | |