Bloomberg Media CEO Smith: We’re growing because we take risks

Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith attributes its projected 15 percent to 20 percent revenue growth in 2018 to taking risks with its products, writes Faaez Samadi of Campaign.

Samadi writes, “‘You have to invent your way to growth,’ he says as we sit in Bloomberg’s Singapore bureau. ‘I know that sounds like a cliché, every CEO says that: innovate, innovate, innovate. But that involves taking risks, getting into new businesses, leveraging our brand, our content creation skills and our global reach, in high-growth new mediums.’

“To that end, Smith’s tenure has seen him walk the talk and re-tool Bloomberg Media as a modern, progressive media organisation built for the digital age. This has been a combination of taking bets on entirely new areas, such as social media, and revamping old models, such as subscriptions.

“That mix is crucial, says Smith, especially for a publisher like Bloomberg that has a wealth of traditional media assets. It’s not about jettisoning the old stuff, but developing it into an better asset for the future.

“‘We value our traditional assets tremendously and see them as being an important part of our global footprint,’ he says. ‘At the same time we’re really realistic about the fundamental trends that are affecting both consumer engagement with those types of traditional platforms, as well as how well you can monetise them.'”

Read more here.