Postmedia Network has introduced a new division called Postmedia Content Works, which brings together three separate business units with a commitment to deploying brand-specific content outside of the company’s existing assets and platforms.
The new division houses more than 100 people, and combines the company’s content division Postmedia Works, its experimental R&D unit Postmedia Labs, and its media measurement and monitoring tool Infomart.
“They were three different groups, so with the content marketing world exploding we decided to bring the groups together so we can be prepared and grow our business,” said Yuri Machado, senior vice-president of integrated advertising and strategy at Postmedia in Toronto.
Machado said Postmedia Content Works would focus on creating bespoke content that clients can use in off-network deployments, such as their website, their intranet and social media feeds.
“We’ve been testing the market and talking to customers about their pain points, and the explosion of content that they have to manage for their brands is one of those,” said Machado.
The new division utilizes a four-pronged approach to content marketing:
Strategy: Using what the company called a “very consultative” approach to building content strategies, Postmedia Content Works will help brands reach target audiences by a “strategic flow” of content rooted in logic and authenticity;
Create: The company will use its in-house team of writers, editors, analysts, videographers and “engagement experts” to develop content for clients;
Deploy: Postmedia will take a “strategic” approach to deploying content, ensuring it reaches the intended audience in the right location;
Measure: The Infomart monitoring and analytics platform will keep clients informed about the stories, competitors, influencers and issues impacting their brands.
Mike Pilmer will oversee the day-to-day operation of Postmedia Content Works in his role as SVP, while Machado will have a client-facing role overseeing strategy and product development.
Content marketing has emerged as a key business area for Postmedia, which claims to have completed more than 200 content marketing programs to date. The company continued to build out its expertise with the April launch of its native advertising unit Postmedia Content Solutions, which Machado said it would bring to the recently acquired Sun chain of newspapers “in the next few months.”
“It’s just expanding that footprint and doing more programs on our network,” said Machado. “The goal is to improve the engagement of those programs, because that’s ultimately what our customers are looking for.”
Machado cited a recent statistic by native advertising platform StackAdapt stating the Canadian content marketing space would be worth as much as $250 million next year, with the entire content space valued between $1 and $2 billion.
“We want to really set ourselves up to start grabbing some of that market share,” he said. “The best way to do it is with our primary USP, which is that we’re great content creators.”
Machado said the company sees a “large growth area” in off-network activity. “I think there’s lots of space for customers to improve the quality of the content on their channels, and we’ll be there to help them,” he said.
The finance, tech and automotive categories have been most receptive to Postmedia’s content marketing offer, said Machado, but the company is keen to expand into other areas including healthcare and entertainment.
