Specialist
Former VP at Vice Media Group LLC
Agenda
- Vice Media’s operating environment and competitive positioning relative to Buzzfeed (NASDAQ: BZFD) and Complex, plus impact of Vox acquiring Group9
- Trends for ad spend across social platforms, plus headwinds and tailwinds across segments
- Business model assessment and ability to gain momentum, weighing continued challenges such as need for mature content and IP monetisation opportunities
- Profitability outlook for 2022 and beyond – implications of continued media consolidation and potential for job cuts to sustain profitability
Questions
1.
Could you describe the operating environment for Vice Media Group and its main segments?
2.
Could you discuss Vice’s overall business model that it refers to as the flywheel business model, how all of these segments come together and the synergies there?
3.
What three key trends or drivers will be impacting demand for Vice the most, whether across business segments or its different media channels?
4.
Could you discuss the CTV [connected TV] market and if you think it could ever reach the growth of linear TV? How will your outlook here impact Vice’s ability to scale and capture ad dollars in streaming, given factors such as a good portion of viewership being subscription video on demand and ad-free only?
5.
You had mentioned that Vice has traditionally been more of a walled garden. Has there been a shift away from that or do you think there might be one? Is Vice becoming more willing to share its first-party data and what will be some of the pros and cons?
6.
How should we think about big tech media platforms and their share of the pie for ad spend? Is this an ongoing risk for players such as Vice and BuzzFeed, and how so? If Google and Facebook are taking a reported 85% of every digital ad dollar, how should we think about the remaining piece of pie for Vice to compete with BuzzFeed or Vox, for example?
7.
What is Vice’s pure IP play strategy and how might it differentiate the company from direct competitors such as Vox and BuzzFeed, but also indirect competitors battling over those dollars? What competitive advantages or benefits are there for Vice since adopting the IP-based technology and solutions?
8.
There has been activity in the marketplace with BuzzFeed’s SPAC IPO as well as Vox acquiring Group Nine. What is happening in the broader marketplace and what will be the specific impacts for Vice Media over the next year or so?
9.
How might Vice either grow or potentially lose market share over the next year or so if both Vox’s and BuzzFeed’s pursuit of M&A to scale and grow is a rising threat?
10.
You made a point about Vice’s need to age up with Millennials. How will the company approach content creation as it considers its target consumer base? You talked about that becoming more and more expensive.
11.
What IP opportunities are there for monetisation across each of the business units?
12.
If content production costs are increasing, is Vice also able to sell premium content to distributors at a higher price point?
13.
What do you think will drive revenue growth over the next year or so for Vice Media across the main five segments we’ve discussed? Could you rank, from highest to lowest, the growth you’re predicting across the business lines?
14.
How much could advertising revenue account for? Do you think it is less than 30%, and what will be your expectation there for a shift over the next year or so?
15.
It goes back to when you were talking about the subscription model of The New York Times and what it’s developed. I’m curious of your opinions on what direction you anticipate Vice Media heading towards, especially because it seems the opportunity to go public via a SPAC is off the table at this point. How does the company grow organically and grow its market share positioning?
16.
What is your confidence in Vice Media’s ability to reach USD 1bn in revenue by the end of 2023, and are there key indicators or risks to executing the targeted growth?
17.
What factors are important to highlight when considering Vice Media as an acquisition target?
18.
What non-core assets would you consider divesting or potentially spinning off across the five business segments if you were making that decision?
19.
We discussed some areas that are facing pressure and will continue to do so, whether that be the cost of content or the cost of audience trafficking. What will drive profitability for Vice Media in 2022, as well as long-term profit sustainability?
20.
What is your broader outlook for how consolidation might play out in the marketplace over the next year or so? Do you expect it to continue to ramp up and for there to be more consolidation in the media sector?
21.
What do you think about Vice management’s strategy and the biggest challenge it will face in the next year? What do you think of the company’s culture?
