Too many publishers define their core value as a combination of distribution and audience.  They are stuck in the printing-press-era mindset where publishers are in the business of owning and taxing the road connecting advertiser to audience.  If this is how you define your business model, your days are numbered, whether you’re in the magazine, web site or broadcast business.

Today, there is nothing proprietary or particularly compelling in distribution pathways or audiences.  The balance of power is shifting completely, and we are rapidly approaching a day where the audience has complete control of the content and the means of distribution.

So what options does this leave for publishers?

The most successful publishers have always known that their most important assets are their brands.  Franks cites several well-known examples in her article–HBO, Martha Stewart and Real Simple–all brands who have a very clear identity.

Great brands are like great friends.  You spend time with them because you want to–not because they control access to information or audiences.  You spend time with them because they’re fun, entertaining or helpful.  They make you smarter and more successful.  They make you feel better about yourself.  You trust them.

Once you have a relationship with a BRAND (not a magazine or web site or TV show), you’ll look for ways to spend time with that brand, regardless of the distribution medium or platform.  That’s why great media brands have a great deal of influence.

The fun part now is to find new ways of using that influence to create value.  We’d love to know: what’s working for your brand?  Bed sheets at Kmart?  Business research reports?  Custom content campaigns?

And let us know if you want to talk about how we can help you build a great media brand!

We couldn’t think of a better place to have that conversation than New York, home of the global business community, and home to many of the world’s leading media organizations.

We are delighted that the Direct Marketing Association has offered to let us co-locate TWTRCON NY, which will be held June 14 at the Hilton New York, with their Digital Marketing Days event. The DMA, founded in 1917, represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, as well as nonprofit organizations.

DMA members spent $173 billion on direct marketing in the United States in 2007, and they expect to generate bottom-line returns on their integrated marketing campaigns. In 2010, that investment will include strategies that involve Twitter and the real-time web as a way to connect directly with customers.

We are just beginning the process of reaching out to speakers, sponsors and developing our agenda for TWTRCON NY. As with previous events, we are already seeing the community start to get involved and shape the direction of the event.

If you have ideas for content, speakers or other ways that you’d like to get involved in TWTRCON NY, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. It’s going to be the biggest and best Twitter conference in the business!

To us, case studies and examples of how organizations are using social media are the most useful and interesting social media stories we see. (That’s why we built a whole conference around social media case studies.) And who doesn’t need statistics to get the scoop and build a pitch?

We’ve been trying to find a way to organize our collection of statistics and case studies for a while. We started out with a collection of links on a page, then moved to Twitter feeds, and hope we have now hit on a format that is useful and makes it easy for social media marketers and media professionals to find the most relevant information.

We are putting each social media case study and research story into a post, with enough information to help you decide if it’s worth clicking through to the full story. And we are tagging the posts with industry, business function, platform, and subject matter, so readers can use the tags to browse the stories. Or, just use the search bar. And follow our Twitter feeds for the latest updates.

We’d love feedback, suggestions and comments, so please let us know what you think about the new site!

In addition to consulting with Equifax on how to incorporate social media strategies into its solutions, Modern Media developed a new sales presentation focused around how Equifax can help its clients to maximize the value of their consumer relationships. The presentation focuses on key database marketing trends, best practices in managing consumer relationships, and showcases case studies of how leading marketers have leveraged Equifax services to increase the value of their consumer relationships.

The events team included a number of expert production crews, conference planners and marketing executives, located both in the UK and in the US.  Modern Media’s role was to coordinate efforts among the various members of the events team, and manage the overall project plan, timeline and budget.

When we first helped TechWeb launch CreateYourNextCustomer.com, the goal was to create an innovative, dynamic online media kit that featured a media planning widget, easy-to-update product information and a place for blog posts and research.  The TechWeb marketing team had the insight to add several lead generation features, to work with Modern Media to produce a monthly traffic-driving newsletter, as well as build support for the site among its management and sales teams.

Over the last two years, the site has become so successful that it was time for a re-design, which launched at the beginning of December 2009.  With the new layout, we’ve better separated the product information from the thought leadership information, and created new flexibility for the ever-

growing and -changing TechWeb group of products. The blog now has much richer content and more ways of engaging readers. We’ve also added new features, such as the online RFP form that automatically sends information to the correct sales contact, and re-designed the media planning widget to be more intuitive and easy-to-use.

We’re excited to see the site continue to grow and evolve as TechWeb continues to innovate in terms of the media products and services that it offers to its clients!

To participate — and to see how other friends of Modern Media and TWTRCON have answered our 5 questions — click here.

Our Warmest Wishes For a Prosperous (and Predictable) 2010!