BtoB Media Business - February 2011 - (Page 4)

Upfront BY MATTHEW SCHWARTZ “[Commoditization] is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don’t allow yourself to be commoditized, you won’t be.” Andrew Goodenough, president-CEO, Summit Business Media Page 8 Shift to marketing services at heart of Time Inc. reorg ■ In October, Time Inc. reorganized its FROM THE PUBLISHER Bob Felsenthal Since taking the helm of Time Inc. in Sep- consumer marketing unit. The changes intember, CEO Jack Griffin has made a series of cluded the creation of a Digital Marketing and structural and management changes that Business Development group. place the world’s largest magazine company Regarding Time Inc. Branded Solutions, into the marketing services arena. Caine said, “Our goal is to leverage the brandThe moves are similar in scope to those ed assets [of the company] and the scale of Griffin made while president-CEO of the Na- those assets with programs and ideas for our tional Media Group at Meredith Corp., whose clients.” He added: “We do see terrific brandtitles include Better Homes and Gardens and ed programs existing within our groups and Family Circle. within our brands, but we also see, at times, For example, in 2006 Griffin created that there are opportunities to add even more Meredith Integrated Marketing, the compa- value to them.” ny’s digital marketing services The changes at Time Inc. unit, making Meredith’s brands come amid some improvement in less dependent on print advertisthe advertising market following just as media buyers started ing two years of anemic media to migrate their budgets en masse spending. to online venues. Time Inc.’s ad revenue grew Four months after succeeding 6.7% last year, according to the Ann Moore at Time Inc., Griffin Publishers Information Bureau. has already put his imprimatur on Ad pages increased 2.8%. the company, which publishes “They’ve got to find new Fortune, People, Sports Illustrated Jack Griffin, CEO, Time ways to leverage their content Inc. and Time, among other titles. that are going to be profitable for ■ In January, Time Inc. Branded Solu- them, attractive to advertisers and engaging tions debuted. The full-service sales, market- to readers,” said George Janson, managing ing and creative unit targets the publisher’s partner and director of print for media buyer largest ad partners. Leslie Picard, who had GroupM, whose clients include Accenture, been president of Time Inc. Corporate Sales Dell Inc. and Novartis. and Marketing, was appointed president of “They have storied brands that are part of the new unit. our culture. The question is: What do you do ■ In December, Time Inc. tapped media with them that’s going to make money? veteran Randall Rothenberg for the newly cre- That’s [Griffin’s] biggest challenge, as it is for ated position of exec VP-chief digital officer. every media company.” Rothenberg, who was previously presidentJanson added: “He’s had a lot of success CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, fostering integration at Meredith but, will oversee Time Inc.’s digital strategy and admittedly, Time Inc. is a very different work across the publisher’s editorial, advertis- company; there are more institutionalized ing, technology, consumer marketing, legal, silos and fiefdoms.” research and marketing services. Reed Phillips, managing partner of media ■ That move was preceded by the promo- investment bank DeSilva & Phillips, said Griftion of two Time Inc. executives to new roles fin has been given “carte blanche” to reset in the company’s sales and marketing depart- Time Inc. “He’s got most of the changes out of ments. Stephanie George, exec VP of Time Inc. the way and is now focused on execution,” and president of advertising sales and market- Phillips said. “He’s putting a greater emphasis ing, was promoted to CMO. Paul Caine, presi- on digital media, which is the area where he dent of the Style & Entertainment Group, was can make the largest impact in the shortest promoted to exec VP-chief revenue officer. period of time.” 4 | Media Business | February 2011 | mediabusinessonline.com Are you ready for a tablet media world? re we moving to a tablet media world? Whether you have an iPad or not, you certainly are aware by now of how impactful the device can be for delivering a printed page. Visually stunning and impressive to flip through—without getting ink on your fingers! Many media brands are rushing to release apps for the iPad or similar tablet devices. Our own BtoB magazine is among those that have jumped in. I was pleased to find great demand for our free iPad app, as we generated more than 1,500 downloads in its first month with no promotion. While tablets present a wide array of revenue opportunities, whether through paid subscribers or advertising, the buzz alone seems to be worth it right now. Advertisers really want to be located in apps, and readers are quick to check them out. More than 8 billion apps were downloaded last year, and that figure is expected to hit 17.7 billion this year, according to a Gartner Inc. report. This new world of mobile media apps represents a tremendous opportunity for b-to-b media companies. Even if the only reason to own a tablet is to have quick access to a wealth of magazines, newspapers and books—without having to lug them around—this alone will soon make them a must-have for businesspeople. I encourage you to consider your app strategy now and implement it soon. As some have predicted, as many as half of b-to-b media readers may be on iPad apps within five years. That’s a significant reason to get your mobile strategy ready. A Bob Felsenthal can be reached at bfelsenthal@crain.com. http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - February 2011

Btob Media Business - February 2011
Contents
Upfront
State of B-to-B Media
Social, Mobile Drive New Lead-Gen Techniques
Sales & Marketing
Audience Development
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - February 2011