Year in Review: Here are the three new research reports I dropped in 2020
By: Damian Radcliffe
Tags: Middle East, Ecommerce, Research, Research Reports, Covid 19

Year in Review: Here are the three new research reports I dropped in 2020

The impact of COVID-19 on the media business, deep dives into eCommerce as a revenue stream for publishers, and my eighth annual report on the state of Social Media in the Middle East

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’Tis the season to look back at the past 12 months. And what a year 2020 has been. Over the next few days, I’ll bring together my output from the past year around media business and revenue models, changing journalistic practice (including local media,) digital/tech in the Middle East, as well as the podcasts I’ve hosted.

Alongside this, I’ll also share the media mentions and interviews I’ve been fortunate enough to have in the media, and my teaching materials from 2020.

To start this series, here are the three full research reports I published this year. Collectively, across SSRN, Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Scribd and SlideShare alone, they have enjoyed more than 15,000 views.

1. Social Media in the Middle East: 2019 in review

This report is the eighth in an annual series of publications, dating back to 2012, designed to share the latest stories, trends and research in social media usage from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Using a wide variety of academic, industry and media sources, this White Paper identifies important insights from social media’s development over the previous year.

The report is the first to be co-authored with University of Oregon Ph.D. student Hadil Abuhmaid. It was designed by recent UO graduate Kelly Kondo.

University of Oregon: Social Media in the Middle East: 2019 in review, by Damian Radcliffe and Hadil Abuhmaid. Download, or view online, via the University of Oregon Scholars’ Bank, Scribd, SlideShare, Academia.edu and ResearchGate.

2. The Publisher’s Guide to eCommerce: Case Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected most industries, including the publishing and media sectors. Arguably, the advertising downturn associated with the pandemic makes it clearer than ever that companies need to diversify their revenue streams.

Facing an “extinction event,” as the current crisis has been called, may encourage publishers to look again at eCommerce and its potential.

In doing this, it makes strategic sense for publishers to identify propositions that build on their existing relationship with audiences; and which play to their strengths. Audience data and insights, coupled with trust and name recognition, are valuable commodities that can be harnessed to support eCommerce activities.

Historically, as BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti noted at the start of 2020, media companies have not done a good job of this.

“….A longstanding problem in the media industry where content creators provide the inspiration to buy a new product, go on a vacation, or watch a new show–but don’t capture much of the economic value created,” he argued. “This is sometimes referred to as the “attribution problem,” where Google and other middlemen end up capturing value they didn’t create. We see a real opportunity for us to reclaim some of that profit.”

Peretti, as this new report shows, is not alone in this optimism. If publishers can further understand, and anticipate, the user journey — including the role of content as a driver for purchase decisions — then this remains a firm foundation on which eCommerce products and properties can be built.

3. The Publisher’s Guide to Navigating COVID-19

This free-to-download report brings together the best examples we’ve seen of how news and media organisations have risen to meet the challenges of COVID-19. It looks at a range of tips and tactics to help all kinds of publishers, from subscriptions to eCommerce, the state of ad tech, and tools for building loyalty.

The Publisher’s Guide to Navigating COVID-19 report’s 80+ pages are split into seven chapters covering the pandemic’s impact on the media, what it means for subscription strategies, and how publishers are building loyalty and engagement.