Safian zigs with Fast Company while others zag

Barbara Lippert of Adweek profiles Fast Company editor Robert Safian, whom the magazine anoints as a hot editor to watch in 2009.

Lippert writes, “With its focus on technology, innovation, sustainability and design, the magazine attracts ‘a constituency of business person who does not define himself by paycheck,’ Safian says. ‘The thinking is more, ‘I had a good day because I did something productive, creative, challenging. I was an agent of progress. I made the world a slightly better place.’’

“That’s heady stuff. But Safian knows what brings the magazine’s post-consumer waste recycled pages to life. ‘When I first got here, I asked the staff, ‘What defines a fast company?’ The definition is very fluid. You either get what we mean when we say fast or you don’t.

“‘We’re more focused on big companies than Inc. [is]. We’re also interested in the fast parts of slow companies. We want to reach the people inside big companies who are trying to be agents of progress. We want to encourage them to continue to push.’

“Safian also sees the importance of differentiating the magazine visually, especially when it comes to its covers. ‘Who would you put on your cover?’ he muses. ‘Is Rupert [Murdoch] a fast character? Yeah, he’s creative, and innovative, but he’s too old. So would it be Rupert or the guy working for him running MySpace? We’d pick the MySpace guy every time.'”

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