It took an enlightened publisher to put a lively Gen-Yer in charge of dragging its 166-year-old business into the digital age.
And a beanbag or two.
But the results for Malaysia’s New Straits Times Press – part of the Media Prima group – have been outstanding, helping generate record profits and a 22 per cent increase in advertising sales.
Integrated new media business is part of a five-year plan – called Project Optimus – which aims to push revenue to RM1 billion (US$320 million) revenue by 2015 by leveraging core strengths and “unleashing potential”.
It plans to create a high performance and passionate workforce while building a reputation as a good corporate citizen, using technology to support these aims.
For 26-year-old Cheryl Goh – who has worked in internet start-ups for seven years – it was “the stuff start-ups have wet dreams about”. Her role as NSTP’s head of e-emedia is to strategise and execute the company’s positioning and direction for new media
“Here’s a 166-year-old company which is putting its trust in new media professionals,” she says. “I was amazed how much flexibility we got to do what we wanted to do.”
There’s more than just the business of getting the house in order, although this is part of the plan: The company – which publishes the ‘New Straits Times’, relaunched following the separation from Singapore in 1965, and two other dailies, ‘Berita Harian’ and ‘Harian Metro’ – is working to generate new revenue by diversifying into non-print media and enhance its current offerings.
Goh says digital is “a huge part” of the company’s strategy, “and it has legs because of management commitment”.
“To start with, we refurbished an old printing plant to house the new media team, kitting it out with bean bags, a canteen and a games room,” she says. “It’s a tangible and physical sign of the company’s commitment, and provides a separate culture from print, where employees have fun while working.”
The radical approach has attracted attention and recognition from both inside and outside the company. Goh says the sense of fun has helped with morale and recruiting, with the company committed to hiring the “best and brightest”.
Strategic themes this year have been to grow in-house competencies, expand and manage the current online reach, monetise the audience, and build a creative culture.
“Hiring and building culture has given us an internal creative and technology team which allows us to be more nimble and cost efficient in fulfilling the needs of digital advertisers,” she says. “We’ve also revamped online assets, relaunched our online presence, re-engineered our newsroom and expanded our reach into mobile with tablet versions for our three print editions.
“To monetise better, we don’t just sell display advertising… we also provide end-to-end solutions.”
Ventures such as the initial group buying site mymetromall.com.my – with its strong focus on retail discounts – has brought revenue from transactional income, and Goh says, “we have discovered some sweetspots”.
Creating a creative culture required an innovative approach: Goh says she recognised that while 57 per cent of Malaysians are under 30, three-quarters of the company’s staff were over that age.
Staff volunteered for a Wakalabs initiative which engages youth in the company and fostered ideas and innovations for products and services targeted at the youth audience.
One outstanding success was a ‘Hackweekend’ – think the programmer subculture definition here –which brought 60 young people into the new media centre for 30 hours and yielded 13 “awesome” apps.
In a year, NSTP has boosted online revenue by 250 per cent and turned the company into an employer of choice for young technology professionals.
The company has won national and local awards including a Petronas journalism award and a ‘best in cross media’ gold in WAN-Ifra’s digital media competition?– raising its public profile, and attracting the curiosity and interest of older-established departments and staff.
And neither have the financial results gone amiss: The 22 per cent increase in ad sales in 2010 – compared to an average 2.5 per cent during 2004-2009 – and savings of RM11 million (US$3.51 million), helped towards an RM80 million (US$25.5 million) profit, the highest in the company’s history and more than twice that of 2009.
The company is also paying out the highest bonuses in its history.
Says Goh, “You need top management on board, to encourage a creative culture and hire the right talent, and to focus on delivering results.
“Move fast, and be prepared to break things.”
• The NSTP e-media case history was presented at WAN-Ifra’s Digital Media Asia event in Hong Kong in November.
