CMP Media LLC
600 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030
516.562.5000
http://www.informationweek.com
The Wind Up
3M acquires HighJump Software Inc., an established developer of
supply-chain-execution software with applications that are used by
retailers such as Circuit City Stores Inc. and Starbucks Corp., to
manage products and processes at distribution centers. UPS revises
its company charter to "synchronizing global commerce," or help its
customers manage and coordinate the flow of goods, information, and
money throughout their supply chains. Boeing gears up to get into
wireless broadband communications services, aimed initially at
commercial airlines. What do all of these corporate stories have in
common? They're all part of InformationWeek's recently launched
'Transformers' section. The monthly series, introduced in the Feb.
9 issue of InformationWeek, spotlights firms changing to be what
their customers want them to be, and provides senior PR execs with
ample opportunity to sell their company's story without resorting
to spin. The section plays right into InformationWeek's raison
d'etre: business innovation powered by technology.
After taking it on the chin during the tech bust, when ad pages
plunged along with the rest of the tech publishing space,
InformationWeek (440,000 circ) is starting to branch out. In
addition to investing in editorial, CMP Media has also launched the
InformationWeek Media Network. The network brings together the IT
titles InformationWeek and Optimize with five additional
vertical-specific CMP magazines. The Vertical Industry Network
publications are Bank Systems & Technology, Insurance &
Technology and Wall Street & Technology, as well as Government
Enterprise (which launched in March 2003) and Healthcare
Enterprise. The integration of these media brands provides
technology vendors and marketers with a way to reach more than
640,000 technology decision-makers, according to CMP.
Yet InformationWeek, which launched in 1979, has also stuck to
its knitting, with comprehensive coverage of six technology areas:
hardware, software, security, industries, business services and
career development. Within each of those sections are multiple
subsections. The Industries section, for example, includes coverage
of Wall Street as well as the banking, healthcare and insurance
sectors. "The bulk of our audience is management," says Stephanie
Stahl, editor (since 1999) of InformationWeek, adding that 58% of
readers fall into the category of IS management, 31% is corporate
management and the remaining 11% consists of IS staff.
The Pitch
InformationWeek helps to separate itself from competitors by
conducting quarterly reader studies that track subscribers'
business/technology priorities. It then pours the contents into the
magazine, so it pays to scour back issues to get a better sense of
the kinds of stories the publication will run. "They're a guidepost
for us, and we pay attention to them," Stahl says, referring to the
readers' surveys. "It's what we think helps keep us relevant." The
publication recently beefed up coverage of supply chain markets as
well as security, an increasingly crucial topic for corporate
America that was gaining traction even before the September 11
attacks, what with the growing threat of computer viruses and Spam.
Coverage of vertical markets and global business issues, such as
outsourcing, are also taking up more edit.
In terms of contacting the publication, "We try to be very
specific in the beat list," Stahl says. "Not only do our reporters
have technology beats, but they have also vertical beats and
emerging technology beats." The coverage runs deep; a company that
might ordinarily pitch someone who covers database might have an
interesting client in pharmaceuticals, in which case they can pitch
the reporter who covers the drug industry. "We want to let the PR
industry know that you don't necessarily have to come to us with
that specific technology beat pitch," Stahl says. "We have other
ways to approach stories."
It is crucial to include in the pitch concrete customer
examples. The [PR execs] also need to show in the pitch how the
company is gaining: has it solved a problem? Has it created a new
market opportunity? "For us, we need to talk to the customers,"
Stahl says. "We're looking for more than just a standard
pitch."
InformationWeek Contacts:
Stacey Peterson; [email protected], Beat:
Techonomics/Government Enterprise
Jennifer Zaino; [email protected], Beat: Business
Processes
Mary Hayes; [email protected],
Beat: Software Tools
Paul Travis; [email protected], Beat:
Infrastructure
Chris Murphy; [email protected], Beat:
Management
Kathy Foley; [email protected],
Beat: Healthcare Enterprise
For other parts of the InformationWeek brand:
Jim Nash; [email protected],
Beat: informationweek.com, e-newsletters
Brian Gillooly; [email protected], Beat:
InformationWeek Events
Rusty Weston; [email protected], Beat: InformationWeek
Research