Salon Media Group Inc · OTC:SLNM
Salon Media — Investor Presentation (September 2014)
26 slides from Salon Media's investor presentation, Sep 8, 2014
Slide 1: Salon Media Group, Inc. September 2014
~ALON MAKES YOU THINK » Viadimir Putin goes rogue: Ukraine, NAT( very dangerous new reality \¢ ak SALON MEDIA GROUP, INC SEPTEMBER 2014
Slide 2: Note on Forward-Looking Statements
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This presentation has been prepared by Salon Media Group, Inc. (the “Company”) solely for informational purposes. It is not, and should not be assumed to be, complete. This presentation is not an offer to sell securities, nor is it a solicitation of an offer to buy
Slide 3: Salon at a Glance
SALON ~ ATAGLANCE
Slide 4: Key Points
KEY POINTS FEARLESS JOURNALISM. MAKING THE CONVERSATION SMARTER. * Salon is an award-winning online news Website offering fearless journalism and a fresh, progressive voice * Total revenue in FY14 ended in March grew 65% to $6M * 17M users a month on multiple platforms ranging from mobile to social
Slide 5: Two Years of Strong Audience Growth
TWO YEARS OF STRONG AUDIENCE GROWTH Total Traffic Salon has experienced unprecedented — HERE 2ON2 WJUNEI2O TMs | epee traffic growth since June 2012 sss000 * 290% Overall Traffic Growth 0010200 * 549% Mobile Browser Growth sail + Excludes mobile app traffic aoe | * 733% Social Media Growth ae] « Inc
Slide 6: Business Strategy
BUSINESS STRATEGY 4. Revenue Growth 3. Traffic Growth 2. Product Innovation 1. Strategic Hires GROWTH CATALYSTS * In 2012, Salon adopted a strategy that has led to the most significant period of user growth in its history. Salon’s strategy has been to focus on growing its user base, which in turn in
Slide 7: Who We Are
SALON WHO WE ARE
Slide 8: Who Is Salon
WHO IS SALON Salon was founded in — offering a < S ALON p and voice in the new Internet landscape. Hillary's overlooked '16 . . . worry: Will she write off Featuring a diverse array of voices and thelantcinterventionist perspectives, Salon covers a wide range #RINVOMESEEEIEES left again? of topics i
Slide 9: Driving the National Conversation
DRIVING THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION “They're thoughtful and provocative; they have the potential to change minds and alter opinions...” Salon’s diverse editorial thought-leadership influences conversations on leading topics of our time from politics and healthcare to women’s rights and entertainment.
Slide 10: Writers Making Headlines
WRITERS MAKING HEADLINES * Salon was selected as an Honoree for the 2014 Webby Awards for Best Writing (Editorial) —_ Sia * Salon essayist Roxane Gay's collection hit the = 4 WeEBBY New York Times best-seller list AWARDS * Blake Zeff co-hosted MSNBC’s The Cycle * Salon’s Social Media Editor, Liam O’
Slide 11: Salon News
SALON NEWS The latest headlines about the brand... = F @| Growing our staff... Key hires include celebrated writer Thomas Frank, Politics writer, and Laura Bennett, formerly of The New = | Republic, Culture Editor Growing our coverage... Following our Sustainability section launch, Salon Welcome to
Slide 12: At the Center of the Conversation
AT THE CENTER OF THE CONVERSATION THE DAILY The HUI cINGTON ( ~ The BEAST Washington POST ; . New York Post ‘Allantic — Gimes instorn. ~FOrbes Slate : BUSINESS POLITICS & NEWS SALON! ENTERTAINTMENT & TECNOLOGY LIFE & CULTURE Hollijigood SGAWKER® NEWYORK. | L VULTURE
Slide 13: Highly Engaged Users
HIGHLY ENGAGED USERS AFFLUENT ~ EDUCATED ~ ENGAGED 17.6MM | Monthly Uniques 53,500,000 | Page Views/Month 9+ Minutes | Average Time Spent Average annual $96,000 | . income 36 | Median Age 85% | College Educated 57/43 | Male/Female Split
Slide 14: Highly Engaged + Top Earners
HIGHLY ENGAGED + TOP EARNERS High-quality, free content keeps readers engaged across the site Average minutes per view (total A35+ & HHI $100K+ audience) (comp.) SALON.COM fod 2.0 SALON.COM NEW YORK TIMES DIGITAL uy 1.8 POLITICO.COM THEWEEK.COM is 1.5 NYMAG.COM SLATE.COM |i) 1.5 WASHINGTONPOST.COM T
Slide 15: Salon on Demand
Neen SALON ON DEMAND At the cutting-edge of technology, Salon’s responsive design offers readers a seamless site experience across desktop, tablet and mobile and via our dedicated Salon apps — ensuring that thought leaders and influencers can keep up with the conversation. No matter where they are.
Slide 16: June Quarter Competitor Traffic Growth
JUNE QUARTER COMPETITOR TRAFFIC GROWTH * Salon had the largest traffic growth among its competitive set * Salon traffic grew 35% since March 2014 according to comScore Media Metrix * Only three other sites had double-digit growth during the same period Salon comScore Traffic 2013 - 2014 14,000,000 1
Slide 17: The Salon Team
THE SALON TEAM Dave Daley joined Salon in 2011 as Executive Editor and became Editor-in-Chief in June 2013. He previously worked at newspapers and launched an e-publishing platform for short story writers. Matt Sussberg, VP of Sales, Cindy Jeffers joined Salon in April joined Salon in June 2012 2012
Slide 18: Our Business
SALON ~ OUR BUSINESS
Slide 19: Key Factors Driving Growth
KEY FACTORS DRIVING GROWTH * Advertising is the primary source of revenue accounting for 92% of revenues in FY14. * Traffic increases are the main driver to revenue growth « In June 2014, Salon reached its all-time high of 17.6 million unique visitors based on a shift to breaking news and a broader
Slide 20: Major Revenue Streams
Neen MAJOR REVENUE STREAMS * Salon’s major revenue source is advertising, accounting for 92% in FY14 * 45% of our direct advertising sales were generated by high value-add sponsored content with custom integrations including innovative content, slideshows, social media campaigns, dashboards, video a
Slide 21: Major Expenses
MAJOR EXPENSES * Salon’s major expenses are producing content and website operations, selling advertising, technology development, and G&A. * Inthe past few years, the company has invested in content production and technology at the expense of G&A and Sales & Marketing Expense Breakdown FYO7 FY08 FY
Slide 22: In Good Company
IN GOOD COMPANY Salon connects top tier advertisers with upscale intellectuals and influencers ST WIE citi em ~. BVLGARI 4 SIEMENS —xcxs- sft msnbc Mercedes-Benz accenture =@Or Cour[Haay HBO Ss atat oldman “ee The New York Gimes Canon P @_ VISA
Slide 23: Native Advertising
NATIVE ADVERTISING ORIGINAL CONTENT TAILORED TO ADVERTISERS’ NEEDS A dedicated team of writers collaborates closely with the advertiser to create original series, slideshows, infographics and more to bring brand content to readers in an organic way. All content is available cross-platform and is sup
Slide 24: Video Creation & Distribution
VIDEO CREATION & DISTRIBUTION GROWING VIDEO CAPABILITIES * Provide brands with a dynamic platform for sharing campaign messaging and an array of creative assets * For the season two premiere of VICE, HBO leveraged Salon’s video capabilities to encourage sampling of the show. The campaign included a
Slide 25: Social Media Campaigns
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS LIVE SOCIAL GALLERIES * Salon utilizes social media in on-site modules and to drive viewership to native advertising stories * Salon campaigns have included social content modules to pull in The Economist's tweets and a gallery of social media posts with #lnspiredLife for a Co
Slide 26: Events
EVENTS As Salon seeks to connect with users in more ways, we have explored in-person events. The events aim to expand our brand awareness and provide additional products for our sales team to sell. We plan to roll out the following events in FY15: * Inside Salon: Ongoing editorial event series hoste
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