• by Erik Sass , November 12, 2009

American Business Media is implementing a new strategic plan, repositioning the business-to-business trade press association to lead the industry in the era of digital media, according to Bill Pollack, the CEO of ALM and chairman of ABM's strategic planning committee.

 

ABM has divided its functions into four main areas: networking and education, government policy and industry standards, "research to know" and "research to show." The first was ranked by ABM members as the most important; ABM is building out its capabilities here with new partnerships with other trade associations, more regional events, and new digital resources.

The two research initiatives will serve related functions. The first -- "research to know" -- will roll out new data-delivery tools to provide users with real-time business intelligence, including restructuring the Business Information Network reports. The second, "research to show," aims to provide publishers with data that demonstrates the effectiveness of B2B publications and digital assets as advertising platforms.

The new strategic plan is premised on an integrated B2B media model, in which each publisher uses multiple channels to communicate editorial content and advertising to readers.

The B2B publishing business has sustained some major losses over the last couple of years. United Business Media says it will shut down several of its titles before the end of the year, although it did not specify which ones. Earlier this year, UBM cut hundreds of staffers and closed 15 of its print B2B publications.

 

 

Newsweek Lays Off 12

Feeling the continuing squeeze of the recession combined with Internet competition, Newsweek laid off 12 more employees this week. The cutbacks come just a week after the mag's owner and publisher, the Washington Post Co., released quarterly results showing that Newsweek's revenues had fallen over 40% between the third quarter of 2008 and the same period this year. Editor Jon Meacham blamed market conditions.

Hearst Expects to Sell Most Subs Online

For the first time in it history, Hearst Magazines will probably sell more than half of its subscriptions online in 2010, according to Mediaweek, which cited an interview with Chuck Cordray, senior vice president and general manager for Hearst's digital media division. In 2009, the company racked up about 3.2 million subscriptions -- about 40% of its direct subscription sales -- on the Web.

Cordray said: "Where newsstand is lower, online subs have been able to replace that in a profitable fashion. That 50 percent mark had never been on the horizon, and now it's becoming a reality. I'll be very disappointed if we can't in the next 36 months get past 75 percent."

Smith Steps Down as CEO of Reed Elsevier

Ian Smith is resigning his position as CEO of Reed Elsevier, which owns Reed Business Information. Smith's successor will be Erik Engstrom -- previously the CEO of Elsevier. Engstrom will be the third CEO to run Reed Elsevier in less than a year: Smith only came to the post in March of this year, when he took over the reins from Sir Crispin Davis. Like other publishers of B2B and consumer magazines, Reed Elsevier was forced to put a number of its U.S. titles up for sale.