Following is a memo distributed to employees today by U.S. newspapers President Bob Dickey; broadcasting division President Dave Lougee, and Chief Digital Officer David Payne:
October 6, 2011
A Message from Bob Dickey, Dave Lougee and David Payne:
As we look at the many opportunities ahead of us in the digital space, they are big and they are exciting. We have incredible content and assets that give us a unique competitive advantage with the combination of our local and national properties, and we have an unparalleled opportunity to leverage these strengths to become the leader in online news and information.
To get there, we have to prioritize our efforts and focus on the digital products and services where we can be truly best in class. As a result, Gannett Digital has realigned its organization around product development and is focusing its resources on three key areas: (1) investing in our core news products and capabilities -- building new web, mobile, and tablet products with deeply-enhanced social, video, advertising, and personalization feature sets; (2) local marketing services like DealChicken and GannettLocal to support our advertiser clients; and (3) new product development.
As in any prioritization effort, we also have to make some tough calls. One of those includes the decision to close our MomsLikeMe sites. We are at a critical juncture with the MomsLikeMe platform. After careful review and analysis, we have determined that we cannot scale this product and rather than investing in it further, we believe we are better served redirecting our resources towards the digital efforts where we see greatest opportunity and potential return on our investment. As a result, we are posting a notification today to each of our MomsLikeMe sites to let their members know of our plans to close the site on Friday, Oct. 14.
Moms are an important demographic that we serve in many different ways across our businesses today – and we will continue to do so going forward. While MomsLikeMe has been a good resource and gathering place, we need to support this audience in new and different ways. The people who have worked on these sites have done very good work, and we greatly appreciate their contributions.
Our ability to prioritize and to be able to adapt quickly to reset our direction as needed is critical as we continue to evolve our business. If we can continue to do this, we are all incredibly bullish about our ability to win, and we look forward to sharing with you many of the things your colleagues across the company have been working on together to continue the successful transformation of Gannett.
Bob, Dave and David
History of Moms
Aimed at female consumers, the Moms Like Me network was launched in November 2006 by The Indianapolis Star. Gannett has never made public the number of employees working on the Moms site, so it's impossible to say how many jobs will be eliminated as a result of its shutdown.
In June, when he announced 700 U.S. newspaper layoffs, Dickey told employees in a memo: "We will do all that we can to avoid further layoffs outside of those related to ongoing consolidations."
In GCI's most recent 10-K annual report to securities regulators, filed in February 2011, GCI said: "Gannett also continues to execute on its vertical strategy of growing niche audiences. The MomsLikeMe.com network had an average of over 800,000 monthly unique visitors in 2010, according to comScore. MomsLikeMe.com also made significant progress in attracting premier national advertisers, such as Kohl’s, Mederma and Nintendo."
In the 10-K filed a year earlier, GCI said the following:
"During 2009, the company continued to execute on the company’s vertical strategy of growing niche audiences. The MomsLikeMe.com network showed strong growth in 2009; unique visitors, as measured by comScore, grew from 592,000 in December 2008 to 736,000 in December 2009. Beyond growing Gannett’s audience, the company made significant progress attracting premier national advertisers, such as Proctor and Gamble, Unilever and Target, to the MomsLikeMe.com brand. In combination with Ripple6, which powers the MomsLikeMe.com sites, the company is able to offer innovative marketing solutions, such as Brand Communities and Social Insights programs, that allow for unique opportunities for marketers to interact directly with moms. This provides a compelling value proposition beyond traditional banner advertising as a way to effectively monetize social media."
Earlier: The infamous Moms Like Me post from September 2008.
October 6, 2011
A Message from Bob Dickey, Dave Lougee and David Payne:
As we look at the many opportunities ahead of us in the digital space, they are big and they are exciting. We have incredible content and assets that give us a unique competitive advantage with the combination of our local and national properties, and we have an unparalleled opportunity to leverage these strengths to become the leader in online news and information.
As in any prioritization effort, we also have to make some tough calls. One of those includes the decision to close our MomsLikeMe sites. We are at a critical juncture with the MomsLikeMe platform. After careful review and analysis, we have determined that we cannot scale this product and rather than investing in it further, we believe we are better served redirecting our resources towards the digital efforts where we see greatest opportunity and potential return on our investment. As a result, we are posting a notification today to each of our MomsLikeMe sites to let their members know of our plans to close the site on Friday, Oct. 14.
Moms are an important demographic that we serve in many different ways across our businesses today – and we will continue to do so going forward. While MomsLikeMe has been a good resource and gathering place, we need to support this audience in new and different ways. The people who have worked on these sites have done very good work, and we greatly appreciate their contributions.
Our ability to prioritize and to be able to adapt quickly to reset our direction as needed is critical as we continue to evolve our business. If we can continue to do this, we are all incredibly bullish about our ability to win, and we look forward to sharing with you many of the things your colleagues across the company have been working on together to continue the successful transformation of Gannett.
Bob, Dave and David
History of Moms
Aimed at female consumers, the Moms Like Me network was launched in November 2006 by The Indianapolis Star. Gannett has never made public the number of employees working on the Moms site, so it's impossible to say how many jobs will be eliminated as a result of its shutdown.
In June, when he announced 700 U.S. newspaper layoffs, Dickey told employees in a memo: "We will do all that we can to avoid further layoffs outside of those related to ongoing consolidations."
In GCI's most recent 10-K annual report to securities regulators, filed in February 2011, GCI said: "Gannett also continues to execute on its vertical strategy of growing niche audiences. The MomsLikeMe.com network had an average of over 800,000 monthly unique visitors in 2010, according to comScore. MomsLikeMe.com also made significant progress in attracting premier national advertisers, such as Kohl’s, Mederma and Nintendo."
In the 10-K filed a year earlier, GCI said the following:
"During 2009, the company continued to execute on the company’s vertical strategy of growing niche audiences. The MomsLikeMe.com network showed strong growth in 2009; unique visitors, as measured by comScore, grew from 592,000 in December 2008 to 736,000 in December 2009. Beyond growing Gannett’s audience, the company made significant progress attracting premier national advertisers, such as Proctor and Gamble, Unilever and Target, to the MomsLikeMe.com brand. In combination with Ripple6, which powers the MomsLikeMe.com sites, the company is able to offer innovative marketing solutions, such as Brand Communities and Social Insights programs, that allow for unique opportunities for marketers to interact directly with moms. This provides a compelling value proposition beyond traditional banner advertising as a way to effectively monetize social media."
Earlier: The infamous Moms Like Me post from September 2008.
dealchicken to follow suit. nine months. tops.
ReplyDeletetwenty bucks says no tears are being shed at GMTI today. too many manhours wasted keeping that dog of a site afloat.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of corporate taking a good successful idea developed at one of the newspapers (Indy, Cincy) and screwing it up. DealChicken is doing great in Phoenix (where it was created) but is sucking wind everywhere else where corporate is running it. Maybe it's time to let people that know what they are doing, and not the folks at corporate, run things for a change.
ReplyDeleteHow many good people are once again,thrown out like so much trash.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how many or a good guestimate.
Proof that the mothership is unafraid to axe the pieces it doesn't think are working.
ReplyDelete12:49 ... yeah, about two years after most everyone at local sites realized it was pointless but "the mothership" allowed it to continue to steal limited resources ... yeah, then they finally axed it. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI remember the unveiling of the "Power Moms Will Save Us" plan. As if long, blathering posts about toilet training would keep the sinking ship afloat.
ReplyDeleteAnother failed idea in a long list of failure. I was fired part of the reason was for questioning stupid ideas. I can't say I know what will work I did offer a few ideas. Not saying my ideas would have worked, but I could have told you before it launched that this wouldn't. Very similar to real news real life and other dumb concepts that are forced down people's throats. And god forbid for the free thinker that might question it. They are labeled a trouble maker and not a team player. How's that team thing working out?
ReplyDeleteSo... Whatever happened to Cozi?
ReplyDeleteFurther proof that Gannet really needs to drop one-size fits all edicts for its local operations and that it limit itself to development and backend support for spaces like this one.
ReplyDeleteThat is unless all think forcing local newspapers to drop locally branded Mom’s sites (which were working for many) to adopt a less local, national brand that Gannett ultimately crashed and burned for all as a result is good. It’s not.
Given this announcement one has to wonder how far behind is one for MetroMix.
12:20 wrote:
ReplyDelete"dealchicken to follow suit. nine months. tops."
I'll take that bet. DealChicken will still be around - and making money - this time next year. It's no MomsLikeMe.
1:42 Here's all that the most recent 10-K says: "In May 2008, the company purchased a minority stake in Cozi Group Inc. (COZI). COZI is a free web service that helps families manage busy schedules, stay in communication and share memories."
ReplyDeletemomsDONTlikeme.com
ReplyDeleteMany talented local people put countless hours into the product. In many cases, they didn't have the support they needed either locally or nationally.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real shame
What a sad, sad, sad reflection on [the Director of MomsLikeMe]. They took a relatively successful local-local moms product and told the local markets "thanks for working so hard to make this a success, now we're taking it away to make it better than you ever could." They spent millions buying Ripple6, then nationalized and renamed it to MomsLikeMe. They repeatedly turned down ad dollars from local advertisers to make room for national, big-dollar: national advertisers who never materialized. And, yes, I mean to the point they were literally saying "we don't want your money." They took a very successful "local" product and killed it. How does that pride taste?
ReplyDelete2:31, I hear that. Gannett has a talent and track record for not fully-supporting its acquisitions.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone name any non local acquisition or product launch that succeeded?
ReplyDelete3:46 As I read your question, two national acquisitions have succeeded, although I'm not sure about their current prospects: PointRoll, and majority control of CareerBuilder.
ReplyDeleteAnother memo said six people would lose jobs (not counting, I guess, the freelance discussion leaders and such who won't have their $100 a month or whatever). Some of these sites really were working as local entities -- when they went national, a lot of the moms here bowed out.
ReplyDeleteProof that Gannett still doesn't understand the digital space. They launch these things, fail to give them proper support and then kill them when they underperform. Trouble is, they are destined to underperform because Gannett doesn't properly staff or promote them. In the meantime, digital companies run by passionate people with far fewer resources than Gannett continue to be born. This company is where innovation goes to die.
ReplyDeleteGannett ran the site into the ground. The Detroit site did very well when it was the local MotorCityMoms. Then the Gannett people decided to ban one of the original users because she dared to criticize some of Gannett's decisions. A large chunk of the regular, frequent users left with her and created their own site, and traffic plummeted.
ReplyDeleteFunny how there are now only TWO people associated with momslikeme with jobs... the two who took away the local sites' control and tried to make it another ivillage or cafemom...
ReplyDeleteAnd the person who said they didn't want local ads... SOOOOO TRUE! They could have monetized so much more successfully if they would have done their jobs and let us do ours!
A reader who wants to be anonymous, and who says they've had trouble posting comments asked me to post the following:
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked for Gannett, I was forced to pretend I was a mom and start conversations on the Moms Like Me site. I was told I should be spending at least an hour a day on this. It felt so disingenuous.
Way to seed those rumors, Jim. That's the kind of thing that newspapers refuse to use if it comes from an anonymous source. Yet you run with it. Great standards there, guy.
ReplyDelete3:46, ever hear of USA Today?
1:39:
ReplyDelete1. It's an anonymous comment, just like virtually all the ones on this site -- including yours.
2. This is not a new assertion; for years, we've heard readers making this claim.
3. I do not know whether it is true. But at the same time, you aren't saying that it's false, either -- right?
Brilliant, Jim. Let's go very slowly so maybe you can understand.
ReplyDeleteTrue, it's an anonymous comment, like most here. But it's also an accusation of pre-conceived deception. Most newspapers don't allow anonymous sources for those accusations unless there is a damn good reason.
Saying "Well, Gannett would take action" is not a damn good reason for that type of accusation.
This proves you are simply a rumormonger with no credibility.
Finally, I don't comment with a name here for the reasons I've listed. You allow people to make anonymous attacks on anyone who posts here with a name. Don't refuse to deal with that issue and then try to hide behind the claim of: "You post anonymously, too."
Does that clear things up for you?
2:28 Once more, do you know for a fact that what this poster says is untrue?
ReplyDeleteJim, do you know that it's true? The burden of proof is on the accuser here.
ReplyDeleteIf you want me to disprove it, then provide the site where the poster worked, and I'll make some calls. But I'm not going to just call random Gannett sites. Also, without the person's name, how could it be disproved?
Does this clear things up for you?
Jim, I tried to answer your question, but you are screening. Provide the specifics (name of site, name of person), and I can ask. But I am not going to call up random Gannett sites and ask: "Did you tell someone on staff to pretend to be a mom?"
ReplyDelete4:42 I would give you that additional information if I could, but I don't have the poster's permission.
ReplyDeleteUntil then, this will remain an unconfirmed claim -- one of tens of thousands posted here since September 2007. My sophisticated, adult readers decide what they want to believe, and dint want to believe; that's the way this blog has worked for more than four years now.
Well, then it doesn't have much credibility. We don't know where it came from or if the source is reliable, and we don't have a way of confirming it.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing you got right is I decide I want to believe. And this claim might or might not be true. But I also believe that you are a rumormonger who plays silly shell games like the one today.
Ok I worked at asbury park press and when I went on the moms site it was mostly like 95 percent co-workers talking to each other on the site. I wanted to scream don't you goofballs talk to each other at work? I didn't see that at any point they stated to be moms and some actually were. But I felt it was misleading to see employes dominating the limited conversations/topics that was on there.
ReplyDeleteI worked in Rochester during the launch and I CAN DEFINITIVELY tell you the three top females were not moms. Although on had an adult step-child and another told me "her dogs were just like children."
ReplyDeleteMy response: "Really? How long were you in labor with your dogs?"
Just renaming it doomed it to fail... Moms like me... Really? There aren't moms just like you and their kids aren't just like yours either.
4:40 did they work at paper?
ReplyDelete4:55
ReplyDeleteYes. They also gave a stipend to non-employee moms to start discussions. But those were actual moms as far as I know. But all stay-at-home which wasn't real "inclusive" either.
It was ok as a local sight... moms forming play groups, sharing kid friendly restaurants, playgrounds, etc. When it went national it tanked with both revenue and readership.
Reading some of the content on MomsLikeMe hinted at stuff that wasn't appropriate for the main page of a newspaper...like 'what do you sleep in' polls? Really?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was given the job of MomsLikeMe site manager, it was because I was the only mom in the features department with kids under the age of 20. That's all; you're a mom, guess what your new job is!
ReplyDeleteAnd regarding 8:10 p.m.'s comment: The "what do you sleep in" kinds of polls were designed to get moms talking and generate page views. They really didn't care about anything else. Ads were a close second, but page views were the almighty number one.
Have to disagree with 7:09 p.m. I knew the site manager and very few posts were from employees. She cultivated a loyal following by working countless hours. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have any comments on what will happen to High School Sports.Net?
ReplyDeleteWill that survive or be cast off as well?
I am shocked at the accusations of deception and women (or men for that matter) "pretending" to be moms on that site. Perhaps that happened in cities other than my own, but here in Buffalo, NY, we are REAL women with REAL children and REAL discussions. We were all heartbroken to see it go.
ReplyDeleteApparently, Gannett did not understand the true value of the users it disavowed by closing MLM in the manner it did. Who typically uses deal sites?
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteWe are YourCity.MD and have gone back and forth with your Cincinnati office trying to partner for almost 7 years now. Cincy is your most successful .com site and James (who heads the IT side there) has been a big supporter and advocate of our 500 local city websites for healthcare since our introduction.
We were actually shocked when the LOCAL Cincy Moms converted to Momslikeme which was a global site causing you to loose all the great local traffic.
City sites like ours and your Cincinnati.com that are dedicated exclusively to one local area become the experts in their fields of expertise. We knew Momslike me would fail and expressed that to Gannett the day you made the change.
Now, you are trying to once again launch a GLOBAL site as gannettlocal IN THE SAME WAY. Again, I repeat, we have 500 LOCAL .MD city sites that welcome all your lost Moms and even Gannett back onto the web in a local city partnership across 100% of the USA in an unrivaled and unique local platform, on the web!
See http://www.MyCity.MD for a list of all 500 .MD cities and 50 .MD state sites or just go to our flagship city site in Cincy: http://www.Cincinnati.MD to take a look.
Please pass this on to Bob, Dave, David and your New CEO!
We wish you well in the New Year!