Target Switches Digital Strategy, Thrillist Gets Boost, TechDirt Membership

The Content Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today:

Target Switching Up Its Digital Strategy

After a disappointing e-commerce experience for customers two years ago, Target is trying to learn from its past mistakes and revamp its e-commerce strategy.

The company put out a memo, and 10 agencies are competing for the spot of representing it.

A part of the memo posted by AdAge said the company wants to find “a strategic partner driving innovation and strategy across channels specifically brought on to support the multichannel work stream and the sub-work stream within the digital experience team to counsel how our channels are going to work together for consistent touch points for the guest.”

Thrillist Raises Money for More Content and Production

Thrillist Media Group has garnered $13.1 million in funding for its initiatives, which include a men-centric, daily e-newsletter and a fashion line called JackThreads, writes Laura Hazard Owen of PaidContent.org.

With this new money, the company will further promote the Thrillist brand online and put out video and mobile content.

Cofounder Adam Rich says it also has plans to “continue developing JackThreads into a lifestyle destination that doesn’t just sell products, but also perpetuates a lifestyle that we know our guys covet.”

TechDirt Chooses Premium Content Over Paywalls

Unlike The New York Times and the other media companies that followed suit, TechDirt is not choosing to put up a paywall.

Instead, it offers benefits to the readers who choose premium membership, including exclusive access to articles while they are still in draft mode and, for $1 million, the ability to shut down the site for a day, according to Gigaom.

So far, no one has taken them up on it.

Companies and Communication in 2012

In his new book, Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power their Organizations, author Boris Groysberg discusses how, with the prominence of social media, transparency in a company is key.

“Do you really believe you have as much control in 2012 as you had 30 years ago?,” he asks. Effectively running a company these days requires more than transparency —authenticity is also necessary.

Apple Looking to Change TV Forever

Apple, which plans to give television viewers more power with its new cable box, will have to begin negotiations with both content providers and cable companies before releasing it.

According to Business Insider, the interface would resemble that of an iPad, and users would be able to stop and start shows, or whole seasons of shows, whenever they please.

Rodale Hires New Managing Editor for SI.com

Matt Bean, the VP for digital product development at Rodale, is taking on the role of managing editor at SportsIllustrated.com, where he will oversee the innerworkings of that site and of FanNation.com.

According to AdAge, SI has one of Time, Inc.’s most forward-thinking digital strategies, with its All Access subscriptions and an app for desktop computers.

“This American Life” Makes a Movie

And now a fun one to round out the week. Ira Glass teamed up with comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia to create “Sleepwalk with Me,” a film that is an autobiographical telling of Birbiglia’s sleep issues.

He’s told his stories on Glass’ show and turned them into an off-Broadway show. Now, it’s going to be shown in 100 theaters around America.

“This American Life” used Facebook to figure out what scenes of the movie worked best with fans, and it also put out a public message on the site, as well as on Twitter, to enlist people to bring the film to their local theaters.