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Start-up targeting Millennial women opted out of traditional data metrics — www.inma.org

The groundbreaking takeaway from this piece is that you need to actually talk to your targeted demographic. That may seem obvious, but the hidden point here is that existing data may not actually tell the whole story.

Ana Bakalinova, head of product at 4-month-old brand Eliza, an online start-up under the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said in a recent talk that they were expected to rely on the data and stats collected by the group's overall analytics team. But she believed analytics and surveys didn't truly reveal what Millennial women desired in their fashion choices, so they went out and actually spoke to them instead.

They discovered that women were annoyed with Instagram and Amazon because everyone was dressed the same, and products didn't resemble what actually arrived at the door in terms of quality. It's early days for the brand but this story serves as an important reminder that data and analytics can sometimes reinforce existing issues and frustrations among audiences.

The Kyiv Independent: it’s all about freedom — thefix.media

As the Kyiv Independent celebrates its first birthday, this is a great and inspiring overview of its journey since the Kyiv Post's closure, and how a quick spin-up meant they could outpace competitors. Interestingly, Patreon is a dominant source of income for the publisher, with over 8,000 supporters paying £64,000 a month.

Informa posts recession-busting profit update thanks to return of events — pressgazette.co.uk

Business information and events business Informa has posted a recession-busting trading update reporting underlying revenue growth of 41% in the year so far. The performance is being fuelled by a bounce back in events and B2B information, especially in the US where Informa has brands covering pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, private capital and healthcare.

Meta’s layoffs make it official: Facebook is ready to part ways with the news — www.niemanlab.org

We spent a fair portion of this week's episode discussing Meta's journey this year and its relationship with the news business. Following the layoffs last week, this is a comprehensive overview from Nieman Lab of what has definitely changed, and some speculation over the future of Meta's Journalism Project.

New podcast:

Beyond the Twitter chaos, platforms and publishers re-evaluate their relationship — voices.media

Our eighth episode looks at the major social media platforms, and how their relationship with publishers has fared after yet another tumultuous year. We're joined by social media consultant and industry analyst Matt Navarra to explore the chaos at Twitter, Meta's bad year and what it takes for publishers to succeed at TikTok.

Want to be a judge for the inaugural Publisher Newsletter Awards? — voices.media

We're recruiting judges for the first year of our Publisher Newsletter Awards. If you'd like to be a part of the judging panel highlighting the best in publisher newsletters, drop us a line on [email protected] to let us know you're interested.