B2B publishing comes to a fork in the road

Business-to-business media companies have two, possible, future paths to profitable revenue growth,according to a study released at the American Business Media top management meeting in Chicago.

The paths, which will seem self-evident to anyone who is on top of their game in the b2b sector, are essentially serving marketers or serving readers. Of the two, serving readers (end users) with content, data, applications and services, gives a slight edge to companies over those who emphasize traditional advertising, marketing and custom services to marketers. The report apparently doesn't say whether one path is preferable over another.

The study, by Booz & Co. will not be released outside the membership of ABM, is intended to help members "fundamentally restructure their business models and operations". However a story in Advertising Age reported some of the study's points.

Matt Egol, a partner at Booz & Co., said the report's recommendations were especially appropriate in the current harsh economic environment, as they suggest the need for "major cost reduction through fundamental changes" and a refocusing on corporate assets and products that map to one or the other paths.

Noting the "significant complexity" and organizational challenges for companies that try to follow both paths simultaneously, Mr. Egol's co-presenter and Booz & Co. partner, Harry Hawkes Jr., said: "We didn't find a single company in the top quadrant." For instance, it would be extremely difficult to task a single sales staff against selling both advertising and database products, they said....

Asked during a Q&A following their presentation -- before ABM members retired to closed-session workshops about the study -- it was clear that many ABM members wondered why they couldn't pursue both paths simultaneously. Some expressed a worry that picking one or the other destiny would deny them a profitable business in the other.

Information from 76 of ABM's 120 media company members was collected for the study. To explain the study to ABM members, Booz said it will hold both webinars and multi-city roundtables.