Introduction
The Economist is a weekly publication that has been in production since 1843. Though its editors refer to it as a newspaper, it is produced in a magazine format and type of paper. It is based in London and is owned by The Economist Group, which is owned by the Financial Times, a subsidiary of Pearson PLC.
It mainly gives information on issues relating to business sectors such as finance and economics, international business, politics, culture, science and technology among other fields. In recent years it has grown outside its traditional base in London where it is printed, so much that in 2009, it is said to have sold more than 1.6 million copies per issue all over the world.
Most of these were sold in English speaking countries and even more predominantly Britain and North America. In its initial stages in the process of setting it up, back in the 1800s it was termed as a ‘chronicle of economics’ by outsiders, it defines itself in its core mission as a source of progress by fighting ignorance with intelligence.
The Economist’s major strengths include
Strong Brand
The Economist is a strong brand name by itself and this is due to its rich and long history. It has maintained a steady growth over the years as other publications that could not withstand the numerous challenges collapsed along the way.
It has not been challenged to execute major changes in their management structures by hard financial times ever since it was started in 1843. In fact, the only times it had to change its strategy was in periods such as the recession of 2008 when, unlike their competitors in the market, they were experiencing a substantial amount of growth.
Their strong brand has also been associated with other successful magazines that are owned by the group behind The Economists. This is because as a flagship brand that has survived through time it has led to the establishment of a strong company that is a force to reckon with, in the similar publications industry.
The strength of the publication as a brand is also complemented by the strength of the brands that make up its mother companies. With brands such as Pearson PLC and Financial Times, this publication enjoys some form of immunity. This can, however, be dangerous as some stronger brands have been crushed by the fall of their mother companies.
Experienced management
The managers at The Economist have somehow always come up with a strategy that keeps them profitable even when other publications are suffering the brunt of financial meltdowns. They have always been able to identify the demands of their customers in time and satisfy those demands.
They have also been able to identify new markets and fields of interests that have the potential to not only increase their market share, but also boost their customers’ loyalty. Such abilities can only be acquired through experience where managers have had a long time to examine consumer preferences and their changes. They can then deduce informed decisions such as the restructuring of their market structures.
Their rich history also serves to build onto this experience as the managers can refer to more than a century of business practices that have served to keep the company afloat. This is because they have adopted internal training systems that ensure that the knowledge of those that leave the publication is transferred to those left.
This continuity of knowledge has ensured that they always have a steady supply of credible managers who have the adequate know-how of running such a business as well as those who have already acquired a portfolio of experienced sources for their stories.
The fact that their employees also own part of the business ensures that they maintain the highest levels of professionalism or else run into losses if the publication looses its market domination.
Financial and Marketing excellence
This has seen their capacity increase due to the availability of resources which is a result of increased profits. This has meant that they are able to adopt marketing campaigns without having to limit themselves to low budgetary allocations.
They have had an increased magazine circulation as new markets grow as well as brand loyalty. This has seen them survive through recessions while still making profits while other publications were incurring loses.
Variety
The publication offers information on a variety of topics which include business, politics, science, and arts. It also gives information on different countries strewn all over the world which makes it richer in content than its competitors. This has worked to diversify its customer base to not only those interested in business news, as is the case with their competitors, but other professionals as well as travelers in general.
The best thing about the variety that they have adopted is that it doesn’t dilute the detailed analysis that they have as is the case in other publications that chose to go with this as a business strategy.
They have ensured that they have invested in writers and auditors who have rich backgrounds in all these fields and who are highly recommended. They, however, do not always give the identity of their writers, but it still remains authoritative and rich in content.
Market domination due to Market positioning
It has been identified that The Economist enjoys a considerable advantage over its competitors as far as their share of the weekly publications market is concerned. This has seen them enjoy stable profits as their market has not been affected by any of the natural or financial forces that have affected their rival publications.
This has been promoted by their wide market penetration as the publication enjoys loyal customers from many countries in the world. These loyal customers are due to the general perception that The Economist signifies intelligence. It specifically dominates the major markets which are composed of the world’s economic hubs which ensure that they maximize on revenues where demand is highest.
This has, however, been as a result of hard work over many years, which has led to more people associating themselves with it since they started reading it at a very young age and for long it has been considered a source of intelligence.
Long-term strengths
Strong Brand due to Market positioning
This is a long-term strength since it takes some time before people can adjust to any other brand that may come up to compete with The Economist. It is often realized that the strength of a brand is directly related to the loyalty of its customers.
This means that the strong brand that is The Economist has been building up a portfolio of clients over time as its brand strengthens and these clients have slowly grown fond of the brand to a point where they always buy each copy released. These are the loyal customers are as a result of the fact that The Economist is associated with intelligence.
This means that any of the rival publications will have to work hard to win over these customers so as to weaken the strength of the brand, which still would be impossible considering perceptions take long to break. This makes the strong brand long-term strength and The Economist is the brand to reckon with.
Superior Content and Style with Emphasis on Commentary and Analysis
The publication places more emphasis on giving the readers not only the news as it is reported, but an in-depth analysis of the news which serves to provide the reader with a deeper understanding.
The managers have realized that it is not just enough for them to break news or give information on events, they also give background information that helps the reader come up with a better understanding of not only the situation as it is, but also the previous prevailing condition. This has been advantageous in attracting customers who seek to understand other countries in terms of economy, politics and culture.
It is reported that their sales have in recent times increased especially in airports where most of their buyers seek to gain in-depth information about the country they are travelling to. This prevailed even during the recession, which goes ahead to prove just how good a tool, emphasis on analysis and commentary, can be in determining the success of a weekly publication.
This may be the reason behind its increased sales during tough financial times since it does not only report of the financial crisis, but also on the causes and the possible remedies as provided by their huge team of experienced analysts.
The Economists also goes ahead to give information on how different parts of the world are affected by the same phenomenon, as well as the different remedies they adopt. This serves to capture readers with a global approach to issues whom they target as they adapt to a new age of Mass Intelligence.
Major marketing strategies that managers at The Economist they should consider to strengthen their position in the marketplace
Market segmentation
The Economist has currently been able to curve out part of the market for itself as far as weekly publications are concerned. It, however, needs to come up with better market segmentation structures for it to stay relevant as there are a lot of renewed interests in the same market, as other publications are now recovering from the effects of the financial recession of 2008.
There are also some new entrants into the market with very aggressive market specific strategies. This may lead to The Economist loosing some of its undefined markets, as over the years it has taken a general approach to markets. It is worrying to see a publication that has so many loyal customers having very little representation in the young information hungry youth.
This may result in the loss of their market domination in the near future if they do not go ahead to service the needs of this young market. Perhaps what will be challenging are the differences in preferences between their traditional customers and the more hip and technology savvy youth.
The introduction of an online publication is a step in the right direction, but there is still more to be done (Wang, 2003). This young market has often proven to be tricky to dominate due to its specific needs and it would be of great importance if The Economist identified a young team that can serve this market since they are in a position to understand it better.
This will of course be with the guidance of the old experienced staff so as to maintain the same consistency that has kept The Economist on top for many years.
An example would be to launch an application that will allow people to access content on their phones without having to surf through the bulky websites that may be heavy for some of the phones used by the young. This is because this generation prefers gadgets rather than paper and it is evident that that the future of media is paperless.
Product differentiation
With the increasing competition, it has been noted that most of the traditional competitors as well as new market entrants are borrowing a lot from The Economist. This may in future dilute the uniqueness that the managers and the editors have for a long time struggled to create.
It is, therefore, advised that the managers employ creative and innovative techniques such as patenting their unique adoptions to ensure that the publication maintains its uniqueness, since this is the reason for its survival where others struggle or even fail.
This is meant to reduce competition and also to maintain their loyal customers as well as new customers who may lose touch with their products when given similar alternatives (Books Llc. 2010).
They may choose to implement any of the following aspects of differentiating their products: different functional features or the design of The Economist; advertising to increase awareness; differences in availability in terms of the timing of their publication or the location of their markets and differences in quality by increasing the quality of their products.
Strategy The Economist Should Adopt
I would advise The Economist to adopt product differentiation as this allows them to incorporate any other strategic changes they may want. It is also important to realize that the risk of losing their market is evident and it is closer than any other risk they may be facing because their competitors seem to be gaining on them especially after the effects of the recession receded.
The differentiation strategy will be accepted since it will ensure consistency in the performance of The Economist in the long run. The resources to implement this strategy are available especially considering the fact that they have been enjoying relatively stable profits for some time.
Differentiation will allow them to target more customers especially the smart and curious ones who are mostly the young, who believe that the publication is a source of intelligence (Ranchhod, Gauzente and Tinson, 2004).
This will also give them an edge over their competitors as they will be able to maintain their customers by gaining a pioneering status with no competition, which then strengthens the position of reader, hence proving to be effective.
With the unique competitive advantage and the superior publication styles, content will be further fortified and utilized to strengthen the brand even further. This ensures sustainability as the strong brand has been identified as one of their long term strengths and also due to the fact that the younger customers will remain loyal for a long time.
The emergence of Mass Intelligence Effects on The Economist
The emergence of mass intelligence was previously viewed as challenging by many weekly publications and most of them went ahead to ignore the phenomenon, and continued with providing headlines supported by shallow explanations.
The marketers at The Economists, however, saw this as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the rest of the industry players by providing their readers with more definitive explanations, as well as background information on their articles. This worked to their advantage as they boosted their sales.
The main characteristic of their success is the widespread acceptance by readers who were obviously thirsty for a publication that placed more emphasis on giving the readers not only the news as it is reported, but an in-depth commentary and analysis of the news (Hill, & Jones, 2009).
This is because the readers that came with the emergence of mass intelligence required a source of deeper understanding on the issues that are happening in the world. This obviously meant that they had to hire a different group of writers, who were not only reporters of the news as it were, but also analysts and professionals in the same fields.
They also realized that this group also, had no interest with being confined to only one topic and needed a variety of topics that they could relate together. This is the group that could combine business with travel and holidays, and so they diversified the contents of the publication to include other bodies of knowledge besides economics.
Conclusion
The Economist enjoys a relatively comfortable position in the publications market due to its varied strengths that its competitors lack. This, however, doesn’t mean that the managers and editors should rest easy, since their competitors seem to be gaining from on them.
This means that they have to secure their markets by ensuring that they maintain their uniqueness, which has made them get to where they are now. This is to ensure the sustainability of the brand as well as its leadership in the market.
Reference List
Books Llc. 2010. News Magazines: The Economist, Life, Newsweek, Harper’s Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Insight on the News, the Pen. London: General Books LLC.
Hill, C. and Jones, G. 2009. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. Upper Saddle River: Cengage Learning.
Ranchhod, A., Gauzente, C. and Tinson, J. 2004. Marketing strategies: a twenty-first century approach. New York: Prentice Hall.
Wang, W. 2003. Steal this computer book 3: what they won’t tell you about the Internet. New York: No Starch Press.