BtoB Media Business - September 2012 - (Page 10)

SPECIAL REPORT hang the economy—high unemployment, the debt crisis in Europe, the budget deficit here, the apparent paralysis in Washington and the upcoming elections—and I think the economy is going to continue to be pretty soft.” UBM Tech CEO Paul Miller said he is “not anticipating a bonanza year for the economy in any shape or form in 2013.” He is optimistic, though, when it comes to UBM Tech, which recently instituted an organizational restructuring (see story, page 4). “We’re in good shape as a business,” he said. “I’m pretty sure we will be able to grow in 2013 because of everything we’ve been doing over the past five years, making sure our portfolio is correct, making technology investments and strategic acquisitions, and hiring people with a good mix of experience and skill sets.” Chuck Richard, VP-lead analyst at Outsell, is forecasting a moderate performance for the b-to-b media and information industry in 2013, and he anticipates a “halfspeed recovery” for the next few years. Richard pegs the sector’s actual growth rate in 2011 at 3.4% and forecasts growth in the range of 3.1% to 3.5% annually for 2012 through 2015. Comparing these projections to a growth rate that averaged 6.5% annually for 2004 through 2007, he said, “We will see positive growth, but it will be at half the pace we saw after the last recession.” Budgeting out of the doldrums With innovation and investment, media executives plan for growth that will outpace a sluggish economy in 2013 By Marie Griffin W ith the upcoming presidential and congressional elections clouding the forecast, b-to-b media CEOs are not expecting the economy to provide much lift in 2013. Nonetheless, these leaders are counting on targeted investments and the creativity of their teams as they budget for growth Strong forecast for digital, events rates that will outpace a likely lackluster economy. Most b-to-b media executives interviewed for this special report anticipated that they will end this year with mid-tohigh-single-digit growth over 2011. Although the budgeting process is just getting started for most, they will be focused on similar revenue growth in 2013 despite low expectations for the economy. David Kieselstein, CEO of Penton Media since Jan. 30, voiced the predominant view when he said, “I believe we will see an uptick based on new initiatives and—this is an important point—our company can still be successful and grow even if there are external headwinds around macroeconomic trends.” Access Intelligence President-CEO Don Pazour is similarly bullish about his company’s ability to “achieve growth despite flat performance of our markets next year.” Access Intelligence is projected to end this year with revenue up 7% from last year and profits up 15%. Margins have increased because incremental revenue has come from existing products and properties. “We will budget for mid-single-digit growth and drive to achieve at least 10% growth [in 2013],” Pazour said, adding that increases will come from such revenue streams as site licenses, paid content sold on a per-piece basis and e-commerce. Tom Kemp, chairman-CEO of Northstar Travel Media, offered a similar outlook. “We anticipate we’ll have a pretty decent year next year, even though we don’t anticipate a broad economic recovery,” he said. “There are a lot of questions that over- Business media executives said digital media (including marketing services) and face-to-face events were their top-performing platforms this year, and they are relying on those areas to stay strong in the coming year. Although mobile revenue will grow and become increasingly important, they said, the business requires more investment before significant returns will be realized. “Online is not the shiny new object anymore,” said David Adler, CEO of BizBash Media, which covers the business of meetings and live events. “Because the economy is getting better, our advertisers are hiring new marketing people who are steeped in digital. We’re providing our sales team with more digital tools, including marketing automation software and Salesforce.com. 10 | Media Business | September 2012 | mediabusinessonline.com http://www.Salesforce.com http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - September 2012

BtoB Media Business - September 2012
Table of Contents
Upfront
Cover Story
Budgeting for 2013
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Production
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - September 2012