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Writer's pictureChristopher Prinos

Indigo Trigger, MediaNews Group & Tribune Publishing

In the Summer of 2022, Indigo Trigger and MediaNews Group, along with Tribune Publishing, solidified a partnership to help one of North America’s largest publishers plan for a new future. The project focused on building a plan and roadmap to implement a new Lead-to-Cash platform for the enterprise. One that would consolidate a number of silo’d legacy systems into a single eco-system that would provide operational efficiencies, standardization, and modern solutions to complex ad operations challenges.


We sat down with Shalonda Lewis, Director of Operations and Shared Services for Tribune Publishing, to talk about their project, goals, and experience working with one of the industry’s premier Lead-to-Cash consulting groups.




In interview with Sara Willard (Indigo Trigger) and Shalonda Lewis, Director of Operations, Tribune Publishing.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

So before we get started, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself and your role with

Tribune Publishing.


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

So I've been in publishing for a little over 25 years. The majority of my career was actually spent with the LA Times, and when the LA Times was sold, which was 2018, is when I became

dedicated to Tribune Publishing full-time.


While at the LA Times, I had a number of roles. I spent time in sales for bit and I also spent time in the project management office, but the majority of my time was spent in operations.

So those three areas sales, operations, and project management is really my background. And so transitioning to Tribune publishing full time, ultimately I became responsible for three

functional groups for Tribune publishing.


First, owned and operated digital fulfillment. That's one team. We support print order entry and fulfillment. That's another team. And then the third team is my “bridge team”, which is the

systems and projects team.


It’s this team that is really responsible for ensuring that our tools align with our business needs

— they’re sort of the bridge and I think of them as translators because they sit between

technology and the business. This group can speak both languages to ensure that everybody

understands what's what we’re doing and how we’re moving forward.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

So it sounds like you wear a lot of hats?


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

I have a lot of teams to manage. I like hats. So that's my day job. And then you get into the

major project we’re working on now which is Lead-to-Cash.


So when Tribune was acquired by Alden Global Capital, one of their planned projects was to

move all divisions over to a new consolidated Lead-to-Cash ecosystem, which ended up being Naviga Ad. So, based on my skill set and background, it made sense that since that I lead the project—the project to convert all of MediaNews Group and Tribune publishing to the new platform. So I'm currently also functioning in that capacity as the lead project manager for the Lead-to-Cash platform consolidation effort for MediaNews and Tribune Publishing.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

Wow, and that is definitely a big project to manage, right? Especially when you're dealing with

platform migration from beginning to end as well, which I assume brought you to Indigo Trigger. So why don't you walk me through how you found the Indigo Trigger team? What did that decision look like? How was the Indigo Trigger team involved and what did they do for you?


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

So Indigo Trigger was selected prior to Tribune Publishing being a part of the conversation. The way it was explained to me was that Indigo Trigger would be our “pre-implementation” partner. So the framework in which we were planning to work and engage was already decided before Tribune Publishing was really a part of Media News Group.


The idea was we'd work with Indigo Trigger for four months—in a pre-implementation planning model—and out of the gate that did not seem like enough time based on the size of the project. And I have to say it was really unfortunate for Indigo Trigger because I think it's a massive project regardless. But I think what they came into was a set of two different companies functionally. Tribune Publishing was highly centralized in lots of ways, and the MediaNews Group, was more decentralized. And so you have these two very different environments.


So we’re working to pull different people, platforms, and approaches together into one. And in

essence, we're strangers. We don't know each other. We're completely different companies. It

was a really interesting dynamic to enter into. And to be honest with you, I think there's so much value added once Indigo Trigger came aboard because the Indigo team spoke a very common language to us both — and I think that was huge.


And I don't know that we had those types of conversations pre-Indigo Trigger. So Indigo Trigger comes in and basically says, OK, this is a common language. We’re going to give you a map and walk you through how you should be making decisions because with this new system—configuration needs to be carefully thought out. And so the decisions that you make one impacts the other. so how you make those decisions in sequence matter a lot. And so that was really the first conversation.


And so that was our introduction to Indigo Trigger. And I also have to stress that working with a partner that actually understands the industry that you're in, that's invaluable. And that was something right away. They completely understood and understand the publishing industry at a micro and macro level.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

That is great. It helps when a partner can see the bigger picture while implementing strategic

thinking, goal planning, and also beginning-to-end system(s) integration.

So what was that process and their involvement like?


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

We had tons of meetings of course, but I think what was important for them was to understand

how we operate now and what we were hoping to achieve for our future state eco-system. So it's having both of those conversations at the same time because I think you almost miss a

step when you only focus on one goal and don't speak through current and existing processes and workflows.


They wanted to understand how we operate today and then what was our goal and plan for the future and then how that maps against the actual tools capabilities and then from there you can kind of determine if it meets your needs or not and so that was a ton of meetings so we met constantly lots of workshopping. Lots of emails back and forth. They were working directly in our systems. They gave us access to tons of documentation that helped us plan and roadmap. And that was something that was provided by them. I would say day one they presented a roadmap.


Chris and his team were basically, this is how you should move forward. Even though we're

focused on the pre-implementation effort, once Indigo Trigger is gone, these are the things that you should be doing and how you should be thinking about your project over the long haul. And it was really something. Once they were gone, we were still following our playbooks, so to speak. And I would say—being a year on from when we started—we still refer back to things that Indigo Trigger provided us with.


And to take it one step further—I needed to quantify for myself how much time was saved

working with Indigo Trigger as a partner versus if we were completely on our own. I needed to

know for myself because I'm like, there is no way based on how we're structured we'd be able to get to this exact place with this timing, So I came up with a map. It would have taken us 18 months to accomplish what we were able to accomplish without Indigo Trigger.


Indigo Trigger did that same exact thing in five to six months. So five to six months versus it

would have taken us at least 18 months to get to that same place on our own. And so that still impacts us today, right? Because really we'd just be getting to the place to start to have a conversation if we would have used that 18 months to just sort of white knuckle it.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

So that's fascinating and impactful data. So you mentioned that it has been about a year or so

later since Indigo Trigger’s involvement. We just touched on some of the data points and the

impacts that you saw. Are there any other results or effects that you're reflecting on from their involvement?


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing) I think there's one other piece that I feel like is really not what anybody signed up for, but it's kind of something that you get with Indigo Trigger specifically. And I say this only because I've actually spoken to several Indigo Trigger customers, and this is one of the things we have in common. Indigo Trigger creates this connective tissue within the people on that project team that I think

impacts the entire project for the life of the project.


And that's not something that's really one of those squishy things that you can put in a contract or an agreement. But that actually speaks to the people who comprise the Indigo Trigger team. And I've said that to Chris and I've said that to JT and I've said that to all of the individual people who will listen because that was really key.


That was really a challenging space for us based on where we were coming from being

separate companies and things, and they sort of created this environment that connected us.

And so once they were gone, that connection remained. And that's how we've been able to

make so much of the progress that we've made.


So let me just put that out there. A year later, we have officially launched all of Tribune

Publishing into the Naviga Ad platform for digital and that allowed us to eliminate a contract we were in for our legacy digital OMS.


So that was absolutely a win for the project, a win for the enterprise. And it was celebrated

because it was kind of a big darn deal. I will also say that now we've been functioning in the system for a little bit over two months. And no major issues whatsoever.


It seems to be working the way it's expected. We haven't had any delivery issues with Google

Ad Manager (GAM) or anything like that. So really, it's been a success.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

Great, great feedback. Do you foresee Tribune using Indigo Trigger and the team again, potentially for phase two or another project? Or are you in a place where now you have the tools to be successful for whatever comes next?


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

Yeah, I think it's one of those things that I would love to use Indigo Trigger again, to be honest

with you, because it really did impact us. They were really an extension of our team, which is really a unique partnership and you don't get that involved vendor relationships.


And it allowed us to make progress faster. So I feel like if we start to miss milestones, that's

probably going to be the place where we go, if we need additional support. And I'm like, hey, I know the exact people that can provide for us. I've got additional support. So I think right now we're just kind of, you know, strutting along, we'll see if we can make major progress, but I feel like because of all the competing priorities within our organization, we are

gonna get to a place where we may start to slip from a timeline perspective and a delivery

perspective if we don't get additional support.


So for now we're doing well, but I think we're getting to a place where it's gonna go, wait, we

need help. And I know exactly where I would go because that would be super easy.


Sara Willard (INDIGO TRIGGER)

Well, that's great to hear, Shalonda. And we appreciate, again, your feedback, your insight on

the project and just sharing it all with us. That really wraps up what I wanted to cover today.

If there's anything else you want to add or share, please do. We appreciate you and just thank

you for being such a great partner. I look forward to the next time we get to actually see each

other again in person.


Shalonda Lewis (Tribune Publishing)

Absolutely. So again, if there's anything else, please let me know. You guys are just awesome. If we could put an actual dollar value on the amount that we've saved in time and resources just partnering with Indigo Trigger, it's truly a compelling story.

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