"Communication companies must regain leadership in the digital environment, which they have ceded to leading companies focused on distribution and not on content". This was stated by Mónica Herrero, dean of the School of Communication of the University of Navarra, on the occasion of the closing of the 29th International Communication congress (CICOM).

The meeting, which coincided with the 7th Annual meeting of the International average Management Academic Association(IMMAA), hosted nearly a hundred researchers of 15 nationalities, who discussed the future of the management media in the new digital environment.

Mónica Herrero, co-chair of congress and director of the Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia University, Eli Noamnoted that we are just beginning to understand the digital revolution, but it is "a new world that we have to learn to live in. According to Herrero, we are just a click away from valuable content, "but at the same time, being so close to information, entertainment or games can be a distracting source that pushes audiences towards instant gratification". 

Differentiated marketing strategies and innovation leadership

In their first stage of transition to digital, the media have used digital channels to distribute the same content they offered in their offline channels, seeking with them new forms of profit, said the dean, who assessed the results of this strategy as very limited.          

Currently we are, according to Monica Herrero, in the transition to a new stage in which trends show a need for digital media to complement the traditional business model , which consisted of accumulating large audiences to whom to sell the customer advertising with subscriptions and payment models.

"That is the goal, ambitious, that we have discussed in this congress: to find in this digital environment a strategy that allows the media to regain the digital leadership currently held by prominent companies such as Amazon, Google, Netflix or Apple, whose main concern is not in content."

As concluded the co-chair of the 7th annual IMMA meeting , the digital transition for the media implies a rethinking, with different marketing strategies and leadership in innovation: "Traditional media have to become agile and innovative companies and position themselves as true catalysts for learning on the Internet, tablets and mobile platforms".

In this context, "they must find new products with new content, new pricing strategies, new ways of connecting with audiences and new talent to nurture. In short, it is, according to Mónica Herrero, "an intimidating challenge , but an exciting place to work or research.