The future of B-to-B

1. The future of B-to-B Emap and Reed Business information

2. Emap’s business to business titles AS DETAILED BY EMAP ITSELF... Embodying quality, market-leading journalism, EMAP delivers trusted intelligence to business communities worldwide. Always independent, always inquisitive, we connect professionals, inspiring you to know, to grow, progress and win. And reap the rewards and the Awards. The hub of industry and inside source for the Retail, Fashion Retail, Architecture, Built Environment, Media, Environment and Public Sectors, we unlock opportunities for you through our first-in-class B2B brand portfolio; senior-level awards; influential networks and innovative online products. Achieve your full potential with this focus on undiluted quality, critical knowledge, high-level access and unequalled commercial opportunity.

3. The future of B to B • Chief executive of B2B publisher Emap, David Gilbertson said last year that business journalism over-estimates its own importance. • Supplying news alone was unlikely to provide a successful future (print or digital) for business-to-business publishers. • Providing market intelligence to customers is the way forward. What’s the diffference?

4. The future of B to B • Emap publishes business titles including Broadcast, Drapers and Nursing Times. • Gilbertson said: • "There are a lot of media publications out there that will tell Emap what's happening in Reed Business Information. Will it make any difference to where we get our next pound from? Probably not. • "It will be interesting to know, and it will be good to keep on top of it, but by comparison if someone could deliver me an information service which says 'this is where the advertisers are currently spending their money this is where your next ad revenue will come from' I will pay a lot of money for the second product and not so much money for the first product. In some cases little or nothing.“ • Gilbertson said that much B2B content was mistakenly seen as 'must have information' when it was really 'nice to have' content masquerading as something more vital to business performance.

5. The future of B to B • "Many B2B publications like to tell people in their industry what's going on in that industry, 'six people have moved from this company to that company, this company has just bought this business,' those are interesting bits of information but does any of that affect my business performance and if I don't know it will it matter? • "In practise a lot of B2B content is reportage and much business journalism is inherently in the nice to know category. Do business customers have to know that to do their business? Maybe, maybe not. • "Much business journalism celebrates newness and difference but does not illuminate meaning and put things into context. In doing that it can very easily over-estimate its importance in the industry." • Gilbertson said 'quite interesting' content was not enough and the key question for the future of B2B publishing was whether it could provide information digitally that was distinct and helped its business readership perform better. • Those publishers that could produce distinctive content that informs rather than simply provides interest, he said, were likely to be the ones that would succeed following the conversion to digital publication. • He said: 'If everybody has near unlimited audience quantity [online] then to survive profitably you have to be able to provide audience quality. • 'To my mind there are two ways you can attract audience quality, either through sustaining your uniqueness of content or through quality differentiation that the customer actually values and appreciates. • 'If you can find content that is sustainably distinctive and you have some sort of special value proposition that customers appreciate, then you can generate returns."

6. The future of B to B • Those publishers that could produce distinctive content that informs rather than simply provides interest were likely to be the ones that would succeed following the conversion to digital publication. • If everybody has near unlimited audience quantity [online] then to survive profitably you have to be able to provide audience quality. • “To my mind there are two ways you can attract audience quality, either through sustaining your uniqueness of content or through quality differentiation that the customer actually values and appreciates. • “If you can find content that is sustainably distinctive and you have some sort of special value proposition that customers appreciate, then you can generate returns."

7. Reed titles Data services: ICIS, a global information and pricing service for the petrochemicals and energy sector; BankersAccuity (previously Bankers’ Almanac and Accuity), a leading provider of reference data on the banking industry. XpertHR, an online service providing human resources data, regulatory guidance, best practices and tools for HR professionals Reed Construction Data provides online construction data to the North American construction industry. Online marketing solutions include Hotfrog, a global online business directory. Magazinesinclude Variety in the US, New Scientist in the UK and Elsevier magazine in the Netherlands.

8. The Reed model as described by Reed • Reed Business Information is a provider of data services, business information and marketing solutions to business professionals • RBI provides data services, information and marketing solutions to business professionals in the UK, the US, Continental Europe, Asia and Australia. • It produces industry critical data services and lead generation tools, online community and job sites as well as business magazines with market leading positions in many sectors. • In 2011 its revenues totalled £695m. • RBI is a global business: • Headquarters – Sutton, Surrey. • Operations in Amsterdam, Boston, Los Angeles, Skokie (Illinois) and Norcross (Georgia), Paris, Milan, Madrid, Bilbao, Sydney and Shanghai. • RBI has 5,600 employees worldwide.

9. The Reed model as described by Reed • Market OpportunitiesThe growing need for authoritative industry data and information is driving demand for online subscription data services and providing new opportunities. • Business to business marketing spend has historically been driven by levels of corporate profitability, which itself has followed GDP growth, and business investment. (What are they saying here?)Strategic PrioritiesRBI’s strategic goal is to help business professionals achieve better outcomes with information and decision support in its individual markets. • Areas of strategic focus are: • Further growing the data services businesses • Restructuring the business magazines and advertising driven portfolio. and to realign the cost base with revenue expectations and drive further organisational effectiveness. (What are they saying here?)

10. Business model, distribution channels and competition Across the Reed portfolio, user and subscription revenues now account for 62% of the total business with the remaining 38% derived from print and online advertising and lead generation. Reed electronic revenue streams now account for 51% of total revenue. • Data services are typically sold directly on a subscription or transactional basis. • Business magazines are distributed on a paid or controlled circulation basis. • Advertising and lead generation revenues are sold directly or through agents.

11. The websites http://www.reedelsevier.com http://www.emap.com