t
IN CoNVERSATIoN
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THE CHANNEL
favourite saying
of ours is “nobody
lives in EMEA” –
they don't.
People live and
work in cities or
regions of a
country. To build a media
organisation globally you have to
think about how you create
compelling news and information
at a regional and local level. And
although the world of business
doesn't really respect international
boundaries, audiences are most
interested in the information and
news around stories that affect
them at a local level. The Greek
debt crisis story, for example, has a
completely different interpretation
if you live in Berlin, London or
Cape Town or Lagos.
What we’ve been doing is
essentially putting all the media
assets together in one department,
with a focus on building business
audiences and putting digital at the
heart of the strategy. That’s why
we’re very excited about our IPSOS
TV data because we have done a lot
of work to reinvigorate the TV
business here. But actually most of
this audience growth is coming
from Bloomberg Business Europe
(the European edition of the
Bloomberg.com website) – that’s
really driving European business
audiences to consume Bloomberg
content for the first time.
What is making them so interested
in the Bloomberg offer?
We’ve got a really interesting
positioning opportunity. You've got
all the traditional, highly-valued,
fact orientated news and business
information brands like The FT and
The Economist and the Wall Street
Journal, for example. Bloomberg
also has that heritage. We have
2,500 journalists, analysts and
economists, we publish 5,000
updates a day many of which
impact the markets. We see it every
day: a piece of information breaks
on the Bloomberg Terminal and the
financial services community
reacts. There's no doubt Bloomberg
has more data and analysis than
anybody else. At the other end of
the spectrum, you have the new
digital-only brands like Business
Insider or Quartz who are creating
stories that are built for sharing and
for social media.
Bloomberg has the ability to sit
across the top of both of these. We
can publish smart, accurate, data-
driven content it in a way that’s
modern, connected, social, quick,
short, sharp and react across the
different platforms at a regional
and global level.
We think we have a unique
opportunity and that's one of the
reasons why our digital traffic has
been growing so well. When you
look at our website, you'll see it
doesn't look like anyone else's
offering. At its heart is the
fundamental recognition that if we
want to surround the audience
from six in the morning till 10 at
night we've got to be where the
audiences are spending time.
Business people spend time on
Twitter. They spend time on
LinkedIn. They spend time on
Facebook and they’re not going to
come to us just because we’re
publishing content. That mindset is
being fused into Bloomberg by
bringing in people like Nate
Lanxon, the former editor of
Wired.co.uk, who’s joined to lead
our digital efforts in Europe.
What are your strategies for the
different platforms?
The subscribers to the Bloomberg
Professional service or Terminal are
at the heart of the organisation.
INEMEA
NOBODYLIVES
When Bloomberg Media Group CEo Justin B. Smith appointed Adam
Freeman as Managing Director of Bloomberg Media for EMEA in
May last year, part of his remit was to expand the company’s global
media footprint beyond television to multiple media platforms and to
increase customisation of media products for distinct international
markets. one year into his new role, we spoke to Freeman about how
the new strategies for growth are playing out
”
Television’s
power is
still really
clear tome
“
THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 2 2015
|
17
A
