Thirty-three Black, Indigenous, and people of color media outlets have been selected to participate in the Branded Content Project’s Sales Bootcamp, offering the cohort group an opportunity to receive state-of-the-art sales training to help launch new content marketing products.
Participants will have access to free audience sales products and specialized training on closing advertiser partnerships. Full-time project managers, experts from the Local Media Association, Local Media Consortium, Facebook Journalism Project and past Project participants will serve as coaches and trainers to help publishers secure new revenue.
“The Branded Content Sales Bootcamp is designed to help publishers grow their initiatives with the help of expert training and go-to-market strategies,” said Peter Lamb, Bootcamp coach and a 30-year marketing veteran who has worked with some of the world’s largest media companies. “We look forward to working with this group of BIPOC publishers to help sharpen their content marketing experience and maximize their content in a way that is attractive to readers and advertisers.”
They’ll also have access to the Branded Badge Certificate Program, a focused sales and editorial training curriculum designed to educate local news representatives on successfully implementing a branded content strategy.
The 24 week Bootcamp will consist of monthly group calls and one-on-one support from dedicated staff. The participants will also be featured in case studies showcasing the results from the program and are expected to provide bi-weekly progress updates.
“We are excited about participating in the Branded Content Bootcamp,” said WURD Radio CEO, Sara Lomax-Reese. “Developing new revenue-generating products is absolutely essential in a market that is constricted by the economic realities of Covid-19. We are looking forward to learning from the program creators, coaches and the cohort.”
“Our team is honored and grateful that a media company on a remote island in the Pacific has been afforded this opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and develop sustainable strategies that deliver results for our clients and adds value to our readers. This training couldn’t have come at a better time as media publishers around the world recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and look for innovative ways to generate revenue, serve our clients, and engage our readers,” explained Mindy Aguon, CEO and editor-in-chief, The Guam Daily Post
The call for applications was announced in January and closed February 5 seeking groups whose primary audience identify as BIPOC. Applications were received from LMA and LMC members and non-members. The Branded Content Project Bootcamp includes the following publishers (listed in alphabetical order):
Al Día News
Amigos in Business – Nuestra Voz
Arabic Media Company LLC – Chicago In Arabic
Black Voice News
Chalkbeat
Corinth Communications, dba The Dallas Examiner
Current Media & Magazines
Dallas Weekly
El Clasificado
Florida Courier
Harlem World Magazine
Houston Defender Network
NDIGO
New Digital Press, LLC DBA Nuestro Estado
New York Amsterdam News
OTV | Open Television
Precinct Reporter Group
Pulso
QCity Metro
RTM360
Sahan Journal
Sound Publishing
Substantial Media, LLC
The AFRO American Newspaper Co.
The Atlanta Voice
The Charlotte Post Publishing Company
The Guam Daily Post
The Florida Star
The Oklahoma Eagle
The Sacramento Observer
The Washington Informer Newspaper
Tiloben Publishing Co., Inc – The Seattle Medium
WURD Radio
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More information about the various organizations can be found below along with a link to the official press release from The Branded Content Project website.
About The Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships and initiatives on behalf of over 90 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 4,500 outlets. The LMC delivers over $50M in annual financial benefit to its members by harnessing their combined volume and scale to reduce costs and increase revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. The LMC has also launched several strategic initiatives to provide cost-effective shared services and aggregated ad revenue opportunities for its members like The Branded Content Project, The Matchup and the Local News Advertiser Inclusion List. According to ComScore, the aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 212 million monthly unique visitors and reaches 80% of the U.S. online audience. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.
About Local Media Association
Local Media Association is a thriving and innovative organization serving more than 3,000 newspapers, TV stations, digital news sites, radio stations and research & development partners. Local Media Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable trust that supports the mission of LMA and the essential role of local news and information in a healthy democracy. 2021 projects include: Lab for Journalism Funding, The Fund for Local Journalism, Fund for Black Journalism/Word in Black, Oklahoma Media Center, Solving for Chicago, The Branded Content Project and much more.
About the Facebook Journalism Project
The Facebook Journalism Project works with publishers around the world to strengthen the connection between journalists and the communities they serve. It also helps address the news industry’s core business challenges. Our trainings, programs, and partnerships work in three ways: 1. Building community through news by working with and investing in organizations that fund quality journalism; 2. Training newsrooms globally; and 3. Partnering with news publishers and nonprofits to combat misinformation, promote news literacy, fund new initiatives, share best practices, and improve journalism on our platforms. For more information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/journalismproject
About The Branded Content Project
The Branded Content Project is designed through a strategic partnership between the Local Media Association, the Local Media Consortium, and the Facebook Journalism Project to help facilitate additional growth, engagement and success for more publishers of all shapes and sizes. Branded content uses the strength of storytelling to provide a valuable benefit to advertisers while increasing audience engagement and revenue for local media publishers. This powerful revenue stream has shown to be a success for many media organizations.
About Distributed Media Lab
Distributed Media Lab mission is to create and empower new media business models designed to harness the decentralized architecture and economics of the open web for the benefit of publishers, marketers and consumers.
Media contacts:
Christina Gillham
cgillham@thatcherandco.com
Kristin Brocoff, 949-400-4899
kbrocoff@thatcherandco.com