Dianne Kennedy's Blog

i M at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL listening to the opening keynote for the IDEAlliance PRIMEX Leadership Conference. 

This year’s conference represents the merging of IPA’s Leadership Conference and PRIMEX (Print Media Executive Summit).  This week, senior executives from across the media supply chain will network and focus on enabling the integration of new media into existing workflows supporting traditional media channels.

Nancy Weber, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer for Meredith Corporation shared details of Meredith’s transformation from a magazine and book publisher to an integrated media and marketing corporation.  Meredith began this transformation in 2005 with its acquisition of Gruner and Jahr and its titles “Parents,” “Child,” “Fitness” and “Family Circle” magazines to supplement the Meredith home and family titles and make Meredith the largest media company reaching women.  That year Meredith also launched its Hispanic titles with “Mujer.” 

In 2006 and 2007 Meredith continued diversifying by acquiring several key agencies including O’Grady Meyers and Genex, NMS, a pioneer and innovator  in the social media space and Directive, a data analytics company.  In 2008, Meredith licensed its Better Homes and Gardens brand to Wal Mart and to Realagy, parent company of Century 21, ERA and Coldwell Banker.  In 2009 and 2010, Meredith focused on growing social communities such as “momster.com” and “recipes.com.”  In 2010, Meredith acquired Hyperfactory, one of the most respected global mobile marketing firms.

Meredith’s transformation from publisher to communications giant is nothing short of amazing!  So what can we take away from this?  What can others do to diversify and leverage media channels in a similar fashion?

Dianne Kennedy