How Forbes is restructuring for the future

Ross Benes of Digiday writes about how Forbes is remaking itself.

Benes writes, “The head count will stay near its current level of 430, Forbes CRO Mark Howard said, but the company is shifting resources from print to digital products, native advertising and live events to diversify its business. (Most of those laid off were focused on print duties like sales and photo editing, according to two sources familiar with the matter.) A company spokesperson, who wouldn’t share raw numbers, said Forbes’ native ads and events businesses each grew about 30 percent year over year. Forbes hosted 17 paid events this year, up from 11 last year. In 2018, it will add at least another five events.

“Forbes’ struggles aren’t unique, given the carnage that befell both traditional and digital media outlets in 2017, which has seen Time Inc. sell to Meredith Corp., Oath — the Verizon unit that contains Yahoo, AOL and HuffPost — shed jobs and digital darlings Vice Media and BuzzFeed miss their revenue goals. Media companies are finding they need to get revenue from lots of places, and ensure their content is differentiated enough to make direct connections with users.

“‘I would categorize Forbes’ issues as symptomatic of an industry in change,’ said an ad buyer, speaking anonymously to prevent damaging business relationships with the publisher. ‘Their business model is under duress, and they are trying to pivot, adjust and survive like so many other publishers.'”

Read more here.