Bloomberg Media lays out growth path

Bloomberg Media has laid out an ambitious expansion strategy under new media group chief Justin Smith, targeting a broader audience with new topic-specific websites, international licensing of its magazines and a more aggressive digital strategy.“This will be a historic year for the media industry,” Smith wrote in a blog post yesterday.“Technology is disrupting every distribution platform. Consumers are redefining decades-old consumption habits. Advertisers are fleeing traditional media in favor of large digital audiences and the precise targets and metrics available on digital ad platforms.”Smith was named CEO of Bloomberg Media Group in July last year, taking over from Andrew Lack who moved into the chairman role.Writing in the blog, he said this shift presents a huge opportunity as “traditional competitors buckle under their own legacy weight”.He described Bloomberg as unencumbered, benefiting from a series of unique corporate advantages, which he described as a culture of disruption and an established tradition of high-quality journalism.He said the company is setting out to build a digitally-led, multi-platform media company for global business.“We want to become the indispensable source of information for the world’s most influential people.But to do this will require re-imagination and re-invention of its digital, TV, live events and magazine units.In the year ahead he said everything Bloomberg does, from digital and TV to live events and magazines – will require “ongoing re-imagination and re-invention”.In his statement, Smith laid out several key areas to achieve this plan from audience growth, to digital innovation, expanding its video offering, growing its global TV business, investing in print and radio and its focus on design.“Our TV content will be closely integrated with the new Bloomberg digital destinations, and our content viewing experience will be designed for consumption across multiple platforms,” he said.“While we currently lag our traditional linear competitors, we are well positioned to disrupt with direct streaming, over-the-top, and on-demand experiences.”He also said print remains an important vehicle for driving influence around the world and the media group will continue to invest in print magazine and radio platforms, while our competitors pull back.“Print will be complemented by critical extensions into digital, TV, and live events."The company will also expand its international footprint through more aggressive licensing efforts, which in Hong Kong includes a local language version of Bloomberg Businessweek.[Image: Shutterstock]