The Skinny
In this paper we describe a strategy to help Condé Nast compete not just with other media companies (like Hearst and Meredith) but also with tech companies like Google and Facebook.
We propose a product - Backpack - that enables users to go through their daily moments in a more enriched manner by incorporating Condé Nast content into these moments.
Backpack shows a map of your daily life with social events, meetings, friends etc. and adds Condé Nast content to this map in an engaging and interactive manner.
Moments of Relevance
Competing with Google and Facebook implies competing for the user’s attention when the user is in an elevator, at a coffee shop, waiting for a train, excited about the food that has just arrived and so on. It is in these instances that we scroll through Instagram, look for articles on Google, browse Facebook and make these companies the traffic cop that guides our attention.
We propose a solution that can help Condé Nast compete for the user’s attention in these moments and not after the user is already captivated by Google or Facebook.
Waze
Waze is a community based navigation app. Millions of users use Waze every day to guide them on their daily drives. Waze users benefit from community reported traffic estimates, travel times, fuel prices, local events and much more, overlaid on GIS map data.
While Google Maps and Apple Maps give users all the navigation data they need while they’re driving, Waze gives users a feeling that they are not driving alone. They can learn from those who’ve been on the path. This feeling of being part of a community of people around the city who are driving is unique to Waze.
Daily journeys
Map of daily journeys
Backpack breaks down our daily life into small journeys - hanging out with a friend, pitch meeting with a client, killing time on the subway, couple of free minutes on the elevator - and enriches these journeys with content and community.
The user’s calendar feed gives Backpack access to her/his activities to create an initial daily map. Patterns such as when the user commutes to work, hangs, kills time while waiting for a friend etc. are figured out by Backpack to create a map of the user’s daily journeys.
Backpack with friends
Backpack mashes up the journeys of the user’s friends on the same daily map so the user can backpack with friends. Victoria may be doing a “Daily growth metrics review meeting” and Rebecca maybe going through “2018 musings”.
Some of these may be friends of the user, while others may be Backpack users who have publicly shared their journeys.
The user will experience strength in numbers by seeing crowdsourced Condé Nast content on a subway ride, while the user has a personal experience with content that can help the user bond better with a friend she/he is seeing for lunch.
An enriched experience
Content from Condé Nast and user generated content are combined in a seamless way to create an enriched set of daily journeys.
In this case, the user is set to meet his friend Rebecca for a drink. Rebecca may be on a journey of “2018 musings” - where she’s read articles about 2018 and created a story with her best snaps from 2018.
Articles from Bon Appétit or Videos from Vogue are mashed up with pictures and stories shared by Rebecca to create an engaging journey for the user before he sees her for drinks.
A profile worth taking pride in
A backpack profile will be one that a user takes pride in. It will reflect the user’s journeys, the friends that the user has been with on these journeys, the beautiful pictures taken by the user, and the intuitive and creative content by Condé Nast.
Reflect on past journeys
The user will be able to see past journeys she/he has been on and the journeys that friends have been on.
Just as a seemingly infinite scroll of Instagram posts or Facebook Newsfeed, Backpack will offer its users a rich archive of Backpack journeys to consume and participate in.
Summary
