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Newly launched, The Independent Publisher Alliance has been founded to give mid-size UK publishers a larger voice and to use its collective strength to educate, collaborate and support each other.
The goal? To maximize our potential and to strengthen our joint bargaining power across all areas.
The IPA is the brainchild of Alex Newberry of The Race Media, Dan Hodgson, National Rail and Jon Westbrook from outsourced ad ops and publisher solutions specialist, Sovrn //Gold.
The Alliance will be led by its members, with 3 events in 2021 (hopefully in person) and held quarterly in the following years. The three most pressing issues (as voted by members) will be discussed, with industry experts recruited to give their point of view.
In addition, social channels through Slack, LinkedIn and WhatsApp will enable publisher members to communicate with their peers for questions, knowledge sharing and more…
To register interest
in the Independent Publisher Alliance, click here
Independent publishers have been blazing a digital trail since the ’90s – all the while innovating, informing, and entertaining their audiences amidst the greatest transformation in publishing since the advent of the Gutenberg press.
A recent study by the Reuters Institute suggests that 76% of publishers will be doubling down on their digital efforts in 2021. Independent publishers, however, have never stopped doubling down in digital – we’ve had to in order to survive and prosper.
By being adaptable, flexible and fast moving, independent publishers have pioneered so much of the digital innovation we see around us. We’re also a robust and determined bunch who take every brickbat that regulation, user preferences and platforms throw at us.
2021/2022 is about to throw one more grenade into the path of publishers and this one, if left to its own devices, could cause a whole lot more collateral damage than all that has come before – the end of the 3rd party cookie and all that entails for the publisher advertising ecosystem. This inevitably raises many questions – not least the wholesale change in the way that ads are traded, a rush to first-party data and the increasing dominance of Google.
This offers an exciting opportunity for independent publishers to take back control and make decisions that have a positive effect on their media businesses moving forwards.
To support this we are announcing the formation of the Independent Publisher Alliance, which is the brainchild of Alex Newberry of The Race Media, Dan Hodgson, National Rail and Jon Westbrook from Sovrn //Gold.
Hodgson says, “Throughout Europe, publishers are creating alliances (think Ozone in the UK, Bertelsmann Ad Alliance De). Cost-cutting at media buyers has allowed these alliances to take advantage and empower buyers to purchase brand-safe audiences at scale. Advertising is one area that is proven to benefit from collaboration. The IPA intends to take this further.”
“Jon, Dan and I have all been small independent publishers at one time in our careers, and we agree that there is a lack of free support and resources aimed specifically at this group,” continues Newberry. “You can find amazing stories of innovation by the big publishers such as Reach and Daily Mail, but still struggle as an independent publisher in applying those lessons at your own companies, especially if you are a team of six with limited development resources.”
“Independent publishers offer special interest content along with engaged and loyal users,” Westbrook adds. ”The time is right now for these publishers to collaborate. The Independent Alliance aims to offer guidance and forums around major issues, be that advertising, reader revenue, events, e-commerce or other relevant areas such as regulation.
The Independent Publisher Alliance is aimed at publishers helping other publishers grow their business successfully.
Jon Westbrook, Sovrn //Gold
If you feel that participating in The Independent Publisher Alliance can help your publishing business, please register your interest here.
Jon Westbrook, Dan Hodgson & Alex Newberry
Founders, The Independent Publisher Alliance
