Welcome to the FIMS Lab newsletter

In this edition:

• FIMS Lab highlight: 👀 This Shaw Media sizzle reel

• One Marketing Thing: Why the color of your logo matters

• One Trending thing: Positive vibes only says John Legend

• 🤖 One AI Thing: Experiments with AI video translation

Total read time: ☕️ 4 minutes

FIMS Lab highlights:

We are really looking forward to Next Tuesday 🎉 when four FIMS Lab participants will share their marketing strategies and what they learned about prep sports coverage (Shaw), premium content (Georges), removing unlimited access from the mobile app for non-subscribers (The Gazette) and new market expansion (Sonoma).

Until then, check out this 🔥 promo spot from Shaw Media

Help shape phase two of the FIMS Lab 💕

One marketing thing: Why branding colors matter

The Color Code: Branding in Local News (Adapted using ChatGPT from Why We Buy by Katelyn Bourgoin)

Color isn't just a visual element; it's a psychological tool that can influence your audience's perception and engagement. Research indicates that up to 90% of initial impressions about a brand come from color, and it can increase brand recognition by 80%. In the competitive online information landscape, brand identity is crucial and understanding the psychology of color can give you an edge.

Practical Applications

1. Stand Out in a Crowded Market: Online information sources can unique color schemes can make you memorable. Think of it as your visual USP.

2. Build Trust: Colors like blue can instill a sense of trust and reliability and overcome consumer objections. Bourgoin points out Zoom, LinkedIn, Facebook and Microsoft all use blue as their primary brand color.

“Blue projects trust, security and confidence, which was key in the early days of the internet and social networking…

Part of the art of choosing your brand colors is understanding your buyer's reservations. What do people want when hosting business meetings online? To feel secure,” she says. Zoom logo, blue.

3. Drive Urgency and Engagement: Using colors like red in special offers can create a sense of urgency and prompt immediate action from your viewers or readers. “See how Kroger here uses red (urgency) contrasting with yellow (positivity) to encourage buyers to take advantage of National Candle Day,” she says.

4. Evoke the Right Emotions: Depending on your narrative, the color scheme can be adjusted to evoke specific emotions. For example, softer colors could be used to grab the attention of Gen-Z, while bolder colors might be reserved for breaking news banners.

5. Reflect Local Culture or Values: If your news organization focuses on a specific community, consider using colors that resonate with that community's culture or history.

Look at that 1976 KHQ logo!!

Tech Tips

- A/B Testing: Use A/B testing to see how different color schemes affect user engagement and subscription acquisitions.

- Color Consistency: Ensure that the color scheme is consistent across all platforms, from your website to your mobile app to your print editions. However, remember younger news consumers stick mostly to social media and your stark black and white images may not have The Vibe these audiences respond to.

Color is a low-cost, high-impact way to differentiate your brand and engage your audience. It's not just about aesthetics; it's a strategic element that can significantly influence your bottom line.

So, next time you're considering a rebrand or even a minor tweak, remember: color is a powerful business tool.

One Trending thing: We’re ready for good

Musician and entrepreneur John Legend is ready to to combat online negativity with — a restaurant recommendation app called, It’s Good. Speaking at the WSJ Tech Live conference last week, Legend shared his new tech venture will feature curated and personal recommendations — not reviews — from public figures and your social circles, not strangers.

Food and Wine magazine reports the app will also feature recommendations for travel and experiences, in addition to restaurants.

The trend toward positivity has been bubbling for a while and has recently included IRL experiences with friends and family. Combined with influencers and curation — it promises to be a new experience for a generation that grew up without any viable alternatives.

We know sites like Yelp and Google give space for personal grievances without any accountability. The same is true for many social comment spaces.

By leaning into social circle and friend recommendations (not reviews) Legend and his pals hope to use their influencer power for good in the following ways:

• Slow, invite only rollout

• Focus on trustworthiness and reputation

• Intentionally diverse user base

• Public launch pre-populated with curated, select recommendations from celebrities, professional reviewers, influencers and public figures. Imagine a (Sponsored!) Holiday Gift guide with recommendations from high school class presidents or star athletes, local surgeons and health professionals, civic leaders, or top local Uber drivers. 

• Curated content supported by recommendations from personal social feeds

• No star ratings

• Lists curated by location or theme, and wishlists

One AI thing: Video language translation

Ethan Holland was working from his hotel room last month wondering whether a tool for fast video translation was worth experimenting with. Holland, VP of Digital at Draper Media is also a member of LMA’s Digital Media Club.

“I do not speak German or French and did not do the Spanish,” Holland said in an email. “HeyGen transcribed it, translated it, cloned my voice, created audio, and then matched it to my speech and face. It’s powerful.”  

He followed up with this experiment on Facebook

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Joe Amditis was experimenting with a similar tool from Eleven Labs.

“Holy SH*T,” Amditis wrote in a Slack channel. “New ElevenLabs ‘dub’ feature lets you translate and dub videos into any language and have it sound like your voice.”

His original

Minutes later, in Spanish

Are newsrooms excited about this? Holland said post prompted five phone calls and a dozen DMs.

“I've never posted anything to Facebook that generated so much buzz.”

Upcoming:   

• Our next FIMS Group call: As mentioned above, 4pm ET on October 31. No costumes required 👻 🎃 

• Now available CAUSE MARKETING with FWD>DFW RECORDING

  and DECK. Did we mention they’ve earned 💰 💰💰? Register now for the next Big Branded Call 

• Subscription sprint recording Password .8G1x^3c: Last week Amalie invited Anjanette Delgado, executive editor of the Detroit Free Press to talk about their 🐅 🐅 digital subscriptions and retention initiative. Here are the slides. You’re welcome to share internally, but please don’t spread beyond the FIMS Lab.

That’s all for this week! Have feedback? Please set Jay, Julia or Dorrine know.