4 key takeaways from the PPA Festival in London

The big smoke beckoned this week as the Jobbio team jetted into London for 2023’s PPA Festival to talk all things Amply. 

The festival provides an essential agenda for the industry, and this year welcomed over 80 speakers and 500 specialist content providers delivering the tools to drive innovation and deliver success within businesses.

Which is precisely where Jobbio’s Amply network comes in. 

We work with publishers globally to deliver immersive job boards and smart ad tech, all designed to help publishers unlock new revenue streams that are crucial to their business goals.

Jobbio’s David McConvey succinctly explains Amply’s proposition on stage at the PPA Festival

The team not only met with industry leaders to share our unique revenue proposition, but we also got some insights into what is concerning and motivating publishers this year and beyond.

In addition to discovering that Thursday is the day for drunken online shopping as people head home from from after-office drinks and go online, we also found out the following:

1. Navigating the “Trust of AI”

Echoing concerns heard at both The Publishing Show and Digiday’s Publishing Summit in Colorado, AI was in the spotlight. The recent issue with the German magazine Die Aktuelle, which published an interview, purported to be with retired Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher, was a topic of discussion. 

The sportsman has retreated from public life following a brain injury, and his “responses” were actually AI-generated. The editor of the magazine has since been fired and the publisher has apologised to Schumacher’s family. The situation, much like fears over generative AI within the publishing industry, is a classic case of, you can do it, but should you?

Go team: Brian Collins, Jasper James and David McConvey

2. A potential recession

Many publishers addressed fears over an economic downturn. In a talk titled “Recession-proof ways to deliver more value to your audience (and advertisers)”, points were raised around how publishers are seeing a drop in ad revenue and user subscriptions due to the looming recession. 

Simultaneously, advertisers are expecting more bang for their buck, and publishers are looking at ways to differentiate their content and touchpoints to address this.

Happily, Amply is a perfect solution for publishers who are seeking to utilise their brand recognition and audience to drive more revenue.

3. We’re in an uplifting era

Bauer Media’s innovative mood-mapping concept (complete with giant head)

Publishers talked about personalising or mood-mapping content to deliver better user experiences, and to support their audiences during crises. 

Bauer Media’s solution was to look at the way its audience feels on a given day, and produces content to help:

• Monday: Most stressed, frustrated or anxious day
• Tuesday: The day people have difficulty concentrating, and are disinterested
• Wednesday: The most productive (and angry) day
• Thursday: Most focused and hopeful day.
• Friday: Happy and hopeful
• Saturday: The most happy, hopeful, positive, relaxed and energetic day
• Sunday: The most tired, sad and bored day.

Similarly, HELLO! carried out research that found that 89% of its readers prioritised personal happiness over career or relationships. In response, the publisher ran happiness and kindness campaigns, which increased its engagement durations by 1.36 minutes.

4. Diversity is not just a “nice to have”

ED&I policies: essential for success

40% of companies have no ED&I program (equality, diversity and inclusion), and few actually measure where they are and what they are doing in this regard.

Not only is this the right thing to do, but companies which do have ED&I policies in place perform better. Evidence shows that diverse teams make better decisions and produce better results.

Want to learn more? Of course you do.

• Learn more how Amply can maximise your audience engagement and unlock a new revenue stream, get in touch today. 
• To read more takeaways from attending key publishing events, read our round-up of Digiday’s Publishing Summit.