Video: Ziff Davis’ Mike Finnerty on using its size to drive its commerce business

By Gianna Capadona • April 10, 2019 •

Digital publishing is all about maximizing resources, reach and efficiency. In this presentation from Digiday’s Hot Topic: Subscriptions and Commerce, which took place in NYC this February, hear from Mike Finnerty, general manager at Ziff Davis, on how it uses its scale to make the most of its commerce operations. The key hits:

When your business operations are dealing with a wide variety of publications, it is essential for them to understand the value proposition of each brand.
From a user experience standpoint, what works on one website will work on another, regardless of the difference in content.
Finding efficiencies requires an understanding of each brand’s unique audience. “Not all brands can do all things well. You have to be really focused on what your audience is there to do,” said Finnerty.
“I think the big goal for us is to make sure we’re building a really strong platform that, as we go off and acquire the next brand or two, or three, they’re able to plug more efficiently into the system. So it’s making sure we have that scalable data infrastructure, a scalable technology platform, but also a great go-to-market approach for marketers.”