BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - (Page 12)
TOP INNOVATORS
CEO
Levin has said face-toface events for professionals are like concerts for music fans. “Why is it that people are still going to concerts and paying a ton of money when they can download the music for free?” he asked rhetorically in an interview with ple, breaking up the former CMP Media into three busiDivision: Large Trade nesses—long before many Title: CEO others saw the value in deep Company: United Business expertise in a vertical marMedia Comment: In the face of deket. “It wasn’t universally clining print revenue, Levin acclaimed in the business has focused on growing media at the time,” he said. UBM’s events and data This decentralization was businesses. His biggest accompanied by a flattening move to date was last year’s of UBM’s organizational $287 million acquisition of structure. Levin said this is Canon Communications. reflected in the company’s Wiki, an electronic forum for employees to share best practices and ask questions of their compatriots. “People are sharing by saying, ‘This is what I’m doing very well,’ ” he said. “I think that’s very innovative.” UBM has also dived headfirst into virtual events and marketing services. The results of these various moves are clear. UBM reported first-quarter operating profit totaled $72.6 million, up 18.6% from the year-earlier period. Revenue increased 7.5% to $386.7 million. The company realized BtoB. “It’s for the human interaction.” these gains even as its print business was exHe also decentralized UBM—for exam- periencing a 13.1% decline. —Sean Callahan
W
hen David Levin took over as CEO of United Business Media in 2005, the company generated about two-thirds of its revenue from print. Now, that total is less than 15%. Of course, some of that decline was unavoidable as print revenue has diminished at virtually every b-to-b media company. But Levin has used a series of innovations to transform UBM from its printcentric model into a company that generates a large majority of its revenue and profits from live events and data. Levin zigged when most others in b-to-b media zagged: He kept buying during the downturn and focused on acquiring trade shows outside of Europe. His biggest move was the $287 million deal for Canon Communications, which was primarily a trade show business. UBM has also bought a number of events in Asia, Brazil and elsewhere around the globe.
David Levin
Andy Weber
Division: Small Trade Title: CEO Company: Farm Journal Media Comment: Weber has fostered the long heritage of innovation at Farm Journal, overseeing the launch of ambitious projects to fight world hunger and help family farmers with succession planning.
B
y his own account, Andy Weber, CEO of Farm Journal Media since 2000, has been in the b-to-b media game for a long time. “I started in this business as a peddler,” he said. Weber, however, isn’t afraid of change, and neither is Farm Journal Media. Despite having a flagship brand, Farm Journal, that dates back to the 1870s, the company has a rich heritage of innovation. Farm Journal Media is famously a leader in database management, which it uses to deliver customized publications to farmers, making sure, for instance, to bring content on corn to corn farmers. The company has also embraced integrated media, enabling advertisers to reach an agricultural audience via print, Internet, events and television. As CEO, Weber has fostered this heritage of innovation. “The editors and other em-
ployees here, they look at themselves as caretakers for this 134-year-old brand,” he said. They’re not preserving that brand as a museum piece; they’re making sure Farm Journal Media remains full of vigor into the future. Earlier this year, the company made an equity investment in CommodityUpdate, a mobile media company that delivers agricultural commodity prices to mobile phones. Agricultural marketers are sponsoring subscriptions to the service to reach farmers. Weber said Farm Journal Media increased its revenue about 20% last year and
expects to do the same this year. He said 80% of last year’s revenue increase was generated from products introduced since 2008. Two of the biggest game-changers at the company are the Farm Journal Legacy Project and Farm Journal Agricultural Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. The Farm Journal Legacy Project, funded by grants from DuPont, government agencies and others, is an advocacy project addressing the lack of succession planning among family farmers. The Farm Journal Agricultural Foundation includes, among its projects, Farmers Feeding the World, which has a goal of raising millions of dollars annually to fight world hunger. Weber said one of the most effective tools for doing that is spreading Western farming methods to increase yields. Weber sees this effort as a noble cause, not something that will merely help the Farm Journal brand. This spring, he visited Afghanistan and Iraq on behalf of Farmers Feeding the World. He returned convinced of the charity’s capability to improve the world, not just the business. “This year, I’ve spent half my time on this, and you wouldn’t have to pay me to do this,” Weber said. “It’s exciting. It’s all new. It’s never been done before, and there’s no —S.C. rulebook on how to do it.”
12 | Media Business | May 2011 | mediabusinessonline.com
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - May 2011
BtoB Media Business - May 2011
Contents
Upfront
Top Print Advertisers
Top Innovators
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Audience Development
Events
Production
People
Benchmarks
Endnote
BtoB Media Business - May 2011
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - BtoB Media Business - May 2011 (Page Cover1)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - BtoB Media Business - May 2011 (Page Cover2)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Contents (Page 3)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Contents (Page 4)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Contents (Page 5)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Upfront (Page 6)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Upfront (Page 7)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Print Advertisers (Page 8)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Print Advertisers (Page 9)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 10)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 11)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 12)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 13)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 14)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 15)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 16)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 17)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Top Innovators (Page 18)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Sales & Marketing (Page 19)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - M&A (Page 20)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Audience Development (Page 21)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Events (Page 22)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Production (Page 23)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - People (Page 24)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Benchmarks (Page 25)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Benchmarks (Page 26)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Benchmarks (Page 27)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Benchmarks (Page 28)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Benchmarks (Page 29)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Endnote (Page 30)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Endnote (Page Cover3)
BtoB Media Business - May 2011 - Endnote (Page Cover4)
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