How Dow Jones has evolved into an information services operation

On the “Innovators Exchange” podcast, Hiten Patel interviewed Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, about the evolution of Dow Jones & Co., from a traditional media company to an information services powerhouse.

Here is an excerpt from Latour:

What we have seen traditionally for numerous years now is that trust is the biggest converter for the Wall Street Journal. So, if you want to subscribe, what is the factor that plays into that? The most self-declared? This is what people say that drives them. It brings to the fore an important part of our strategy, which to me was very reminiscent of being told condolences when I went into digital or good luck, you’re going to write about reindeer when you go to Stockholm. But you actually end up writing about the global mobile revolution. And that is five years ago, and Hiten, I think you were there at the start. I saw that the world of B2C and B2B come together, and I call that at the time B2P [Business to Professionals], because the consumers who use the Wall Street Journal are in the global business world, and they’re navigating their daily lives and their work lives. And the Wall Street Journal is a work tool. And then on the B2B side, those are the same people, but they’re just sitting at their office.

And so, this is why we sketched out a strategy where we’re growing by adding depth, growing deeper and more proprietary information, more distinctive journalism, growing by adding more industries where we apply that vertical that I told you about news, data, analytics, and convening power, adding more industries. We just added of all things; we acquired Oxford Analytica. So, we added geopolitics as a vertical for us in a very explicit way. And then, the third way of growing is by connecting everything that we have, meaning that we, as Dow Jones, can create a mosaic of data from which you can pick the pieces that you want, and you create your information mosaic that is going to inform you and help you make decisions. So, that you can draw on the frontline notes from Yaroslav Trofimov, who is reporting from Ukraine or from the Middle East, and you can connect that to what we learned through Dragonfly and Analytica and bring all these things together. So, you can create the information flow that you need. And so, it’s a remarkable moment for us where not only are each of our individual brands and each of our individual verticals incredibly well positioned to respond to the thirst, and the need, and the necessity for trusted information. But collectively, we can create new information and new mosaics of data and analytics that are even more meaningful for you.

To listen, go here.