The Economist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Economist - Essay Example The main publications and services offered by the Economist include The Economist newspaper, The Economist online, Economist intelligence unit, Economist Conferences, Economist Corporate Network, The World In and Intelligent Life; along with many other government and financial brands, a well represented reflection of the fact that this newspaper that had only 6,000 copies circulated in 1920, has expanded its operations widely by keeping up with the demands of the modern times (The Economist Group, Our Brands). Unlike many of its peers, who suffered immensely by the global recession of 2008/09, The Economist has been able to report a steady growth every year. In the year 2011, the Economist has reported an increase of 10% in its profits whereas its revenue grew by 9% as compared to the last year. Such an increase in profit has led to the 10% increase in the dividend s to the shareholders in the year 2011 as compared to that of last year and the credit has been given to their advertisi ng recovery along with increased investments in their brands, which led to an increase in their print as well as e-circulations (The Economist Group, Press Releases 2011). ... The Economist always had pride in targeting the smart and the successful of the lot as their target market and it was successful too, The Economist was and is always considered as a status symbol for the respective target market but in July 2009, the Economist launched a whole new approach to its marketing strategies by targeting not only the smart and successful readers but the readers of the curious kind. The sudden change in the overall approach to the magazine’s target market has proven to be very beneficial for the company as the magazine industry grows more competitive. It has helped the company in a consistent rise in the profitability and ensuring a positive return on the shareholder’s investments. According to the Porter’s Five Forces model, there are five main factors that contribute in determining the overall competitiveness of the magazine industry (Hill et al, 2010). Every factor will be discussed separately: Risk of entry by potential competitors: T he magazine ‘The Economist’ competes both on the levels of print media and electronic media as with the passage of time the whole industry has moved to more electronic versions of distribution. Although the internet media creates both excitement and paranoia at The Economist, still the magazine has been trying to maintain its individuality on the internet. Every article on the internet is always somehow related to any other article online, thus the same individuality that the magazine pertains on the print media has proven somewhat challenging. The magazine has introduced many new features online but to say that they haven’t reached their full potential will not be unjustified, whereas new emerging magazines are utilizing