Telenor's - Ericsson

Essentially, nobody paid attention to what they
were doing. It was low key and off the horizon,
which gave them the space to succeed.
to lock customers in (then systematically
ratcheting up consumer subscriptions
afterwards).
However newspapers are different.
Murdoch’s strategies will only work if all his
competitors do the same, which would
amount to a cartel and create problems with
the competition authorities. And even if all
his competitors do sign up, there is still an
abundance of free content. While publishers
may feel their content is unique, internet
browsing habits suggest that many readers
find news stories interchangeable. The risk
is that paywalls will reduce audiences and
advertising revenues, while creating a competitive
advantage for free outlets.
So what is the way forward for media and
telecom companies?
First, we must recognize that clever collaboration
is in the best interests of both media
and telecom firms. I think a touch of the
Google approach to innovation would make
sense: small collaborative teams working on
exploratory projects. Try to work fast, follow
through on good ideas fast, launch them
in beta fast, and then see what the response
is. Use this to refine, improve – or reject. In
this emergent world, it’s important to let audiences
define what works for them.
On the teams, you want either mid-level
people or people on the peripheries because
– as technology advances, platforms multiply,
and new players enter the value chain –
you need people working at the cutting edge.
Often these employees know exactly what
audiences really want but either they are never
asked for their opinion, or they spend so
much time managing present processes they
lack time to reflect on the future.
LARGER ORGANIZATIONS are often very skilled
at exploiting their existing products but that
process seems to squeeze out exploration,
which is what the current environment calls
for. To get past this, top managers must
be explicit that creativity is central to the
organization’s future.
For instance, why has Pixar been so successful
at animation? Because it is immersed
in storytelling and the history of movies but
also grounded in the latest digital animation.
Or take hbo. The people there had great
knowledge of plot, dialog and Broadway but
they also knew how the emerging cable business
worked. They were able to exploit the
16 EBR #3 #2 2010
regulatory freedom of cable to nudge their
concepts in edgier directions than the more
conservative networks. This paid off, and edginess
became part of their content formula.
Change is possible. Within the bbc in the
uk, the staff was steeped in tradition and
burdened with onerous public service
accountability requirements. Yet with bbc
News Online, they created a really rare example
of an old, a very old, media organization
with a leading product on the internet.
I can’t actually think of any other examples
of that.
And how did they do that? They set up a
small division under the radar staffed by
journalists who were completely fascinated
by the task of trying to make the old concept
of public service news work on the new
vehicle of the internet. Then, essentially,
nobody paid attention to what they were
doing. It was low key and off the horizon,
which gave them the space to succeed.
Clearly, they had a great brand to work
with, but so did a lot of the media majors
at that time.
These teams must also be insulated from
market forces. This is particularly necessary
for media products, because the truly innovative
ideas are by definition different and
therefore need time to find an audience and
for audiences to become accustomed to their
differentness. If you analyze many of the creative
winners in the media over the past 10
years, most have a business model that protects
them from the raw end of market forces,
such as the bbc with its license fees. This
“guaranteed” income allows very new types
of products to reach wider audiences, and
for word of mouth to spread. ●
What will you be doing in
one year? And in five years?
▶ I hope very much that in both the immediate
future and long term I will be working
with organizations in the media and communications
fi elds, helping them master the strategic
challenges that are coming down the
line. I believe the trick is freeing up their capacity
to innovate. I don’t believe start-ups
and young fi rms are inherently more innovative
– they simply place fewer hurdles in the
way of innovation. I’d also like to free up my
own capacity to innovate.
In television, Küng says that telecom and
media companies come together at three
points: in content creation and acquisition,
at the mobile and home-user interfaces,
and in content distribution over both television
and telecom networks.