Friday 4th November: Are chief digital officers leapfrogging the rest of the C-suite?

November 04, 2022

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OK, listen up if you want to be the big boss one day: you need to get yourself a chief digital officer title ASAP!

A new study from industry association MMA Global (marketing and media, not martial arts) says CDO responsibilities have shifted to improving overall business performance as much as digitizing business practices. That could provide a faster path to the corner office for digital leaders, their roles overlapping with (stepping on the toes of) other C-suite staffers.

Asked about his prospects of landing a plum role, one MMA board member told Digiday: "If the board was looking for somebody who could see into the future, define transformational business dynamics, and then marshal the company in that direction, then yeah, maybe.” Ooooft!

The Independent, after its fifth consecutive year of profitability in 2021, has put more than 20% of its staff at risk of redundancy. The online only title is looking to cut costs citing a decline in the digital ad market and wider worsening economic conditions.

I'd never heard of Puck until I read this piece from Mark Stenberg, but I think I might have just found my favourite new newsletter model. You should read the piece, but the crux of it is mixing a paid newsletter with premium advertising revenue, much like the the best magazines. With open rates over 70% among paid readers and ad revenue growth of 500%, this is Pucking brilliant.

The New York Times continues to grow its digital subs base; adding another 180,000 in Q3. The big news is, it's no longer all about news. Instead it's about an all-access mix of games and cooking content, audio, product recommendations and now The Athletic. Let's hear it for 'The Bundle'.

This week's podcasts:

With just days to go until the US midterms, there has never been so much at stake in terms of misinformation and polarisation. In this new Conversations episode, Chris is joined by Reuters News Agency’s Politics Editor Scott Malone, Digital Verification Editor Stephanie Burnett and Director of Emerging Products and Special Events Rob Schack to discuss how data can help build trust in the news. Listen now.

Our sixth Media Moments episode looks at the world of podcasting, from how publishers are refocusing strategies on engaging superfans to the growing popularity of video podcasts. To discuss 2022’s biggest podcast trends we’re joined this week by Naomi Mellor, founder of The Skylark Collective.