The Economist sets expansion plans, promotes staff

Singapore - The Economist is aiming for a 20% jump in advertising revenue for 2007/2008, a forecast based on its record 2006/2007 performance, and will be looking to up circulation targets and staff strength.

In Asia Pacific, its India office faced the most changes to meet its circulation goal of 30,000 by Jul/Dec 09. It now has two journalists in its editorial team, separately based in Delhi and Mumbai focusing on politics and business respectively. Also available is its South Asia Edition allowing localisation of ads that target India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

In the bid to increase advertising revenue growth, there have been internal promotions to the publications' sales team regionally. David Smith is now head of sales for North Asia, Terrie Lau is head of sales for South Asia; and Sarah Green is regional online sales manager Asia Pacific. They report to Rupert Harrow, advertisement director, Asia Pacific.

Green's previous position as advertisement manager has not been filled yet.

The Economist's Asia Pacific and worldwide circulation has seen 10 consecutive years of growth, alongside its increased advertising revenue of seven years. The online advertising revenue from Economist.com is also set to grow by 150% this year.

Contrastingly, on the competitor's front at Time magazine, Forbes.com recently reported a 17% drop in Time's total circulation figures. A spokesperson for Time stated the decline was expected because of its decision to cut its rate base from four million to 3.25 million. The deliberate cut was in a bid to be more transparent to its advertisers and get a more accurate audit figure. Rather than follow strict circulation measurements, it has shifted to using audience measurements.