Marketing

I have subscribed to Business Week for at least twenty years. I did not renew my subscription for several years, as it suffered in quality and after the 2008 Wall Street meltdown it seemed to loose more and more advertising revenue. In about 2009 Business Week was sold to Bloomberg Press. When Bloomberg Business Week appeared I subscribed.

In the gap between Business Week subscriptions I subscribed to the Economist. Bloomberg Business Week covers news of the United States. The Economist covers the world news! I have noticed many characteristics and styles from the Economist appear in Bloomberg Business Week.

But one thing did not change in Business Week, it was more anecdotal while the Economist was more quantitative. For example, the Economist has three to four pages of economic and business data. Business Week has none.

All this asks the question, how do you market to the readers of each magazine. This was no better illustrated than in this weeks (July 20, 2010) issues. There was a add in both magazines for the Ford Focus mid size car. The difference was the Economist featured the hybrid model stating in bold print that it gets 41MPG and runs on battery part of the time. In Bloomberg Business Week the ad said "We hold our value to a higher standard". Whatever that means.

The lesson in marketing is Ford places adds to the audience. It thinks the Economist readers are more analytical.