• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 14, 2023

Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones is conducting a comprehensive review of all of its creative, media and production agencies across its consumer brands and suite of B2B products, including Factiva and Dow Jones Risk & Compliance.

The firm, owned by News Corp., has worked with has worked with agencies including The&Partnership and mSix as well as a range of other production and creative agencies since 2014. Search consultant Oystercatchers is assisting with the review.

The company spent an estimated $35 million on measured media in the U.S. last year, according to agency research firm COMvergence, with about 90% earmarked for digital channels. The company spent another $4 million in digital in the UK and Australia, per COMvergence.  

The assessment follows the appointment of Sherry Weiss last fall as Dow Jones CMO. The review is part of a “transformation process” that includes a restructuring of the internal marketing functions across Dow Jones. The company says it has centralized those operations to “improve consistency and efficiency.” 

The process also follows the appointments of Alexander Dousie, senior vice president of brand and Greg Ragon, SVP performance marketing.

“We are on a mission to connect our customers to the best of Dow Jones — our trusted journalism, data and analysis,” said Weiss. “To deliver on this mission, we must maximize the effectiveness of our marketing investments. Following significant advancements in strategy, operating model and our audience and marketing technology, now is the right time for the business to conduct a review of Dow Jones’s internal and external services to ensure they are fit-for-purpose for the future.” 

Weiss will be leading the effort with Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Other brands in the Dow Jones portfolio include Barron’s, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News, Investor’s Business Daily, Dow Jones Newswires, OPIS and Chemical Market Analytics.