Updated: Time Inc.‘s Moore Assigns Squires To Put ‘Genie Back In The Bottle’
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According to a staff memo from Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Chairman and CEO Ann Moore (pictured, right), EVP John Squires has a new summer job: figuring out how to make digital media pay. While Squires works on that, Moore will assume direct responsibility for the News Business unit—and some at the company don’t expect Squires to return to that role.
At its most basic, the memo almost sounds like Time Inc. hasn’t had a strategy. (It has, of course. Far more than one.) When I asked Squires about that during an e-mail interview, along with why this approach, he replied: “It’s a reflection of how serious we’re taking the development of this new business model. John Huey, Ann Moore and I went to Silicon Valley in April and visited 15 different hardware and software companies. We were excited to see how quickly the opportunities are developing for a high quality, color reading device where consumers will really enjoy getting magazines.”
During that trip, he says he was most impressed with some of the new software from Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), HP (NYSE: HPQ) and others. “I think we’ll have color devices that work for consumers soon but the real challenge is in design—how do we make a product that people love that has all the benefits of a great physical experience with benefits of the web (video, search, and a browser) built in?”
Does Squires have a target for the percentage of digital revenue that should be non-ad based or for the percentage of overall revenue that should come from digital? “No, we don’t. We just believe that we need to find ways to build new consumer revenues beyond our successful magazine subscription business.”
Well, yes. Don’t we all? The full memo is below:
June 16, 2009
To: Time Inc. Employees
From: Ann Moore
Re: How to Put the Genie Back Into the Bottle; Special Assignment for John Squires
It won’t be a revelation to any of you that the publishing business is changing rapidly. While print magazines are not going away, and while we have built vibrant websites with over 26 million unique visitors and 750 million pages views each month, it’s increasingly clear that finding the right digital business model is crucial for the future of our business. We need to develop a strategy for the portable digital world and to refine our views on paid content.
Given the magnitude of the opportunity, I have asked John Squires to take on a new role and devote his full time efforts this summer to developing the best business plan for the future. John’s qualifications for this assignment are ideal. He has a strong background in consumer marketing and digital content and has stature in the publishing industry, as well as with digital software and hardware companies. It is likely we will be seeking partners and allies in our quest to ‘put the genie back into the bottle’.
As many of you know, we are currently pursuing four related initiatives:
1. Evolving our current website businesses by identifying and developing consumer revenue streams.
2. Accelerating the creation of applications for smartphone platforms.
3. Developing new products and business models for portable digital readers.
4. Exploring partnerships with other publishers to develop the optimal retail store for our digital products.
John will need the support of many, including Consumer Marketing, Legal, Strategy and Business Development, and the Time Inc. titles. Please pitch in with all your resources available when he calls.
During this assignment, similar to the role I’m playing at the Style and Entertainment Group, I will assume responsibility for the News Business Unit.
A.M.
@sdkstl
Jun 16, 2009 2:25 PM ET
Posted In: Media & Publishing, Magazines, Companies, Time Warner, Time Inc., ann moore, john squires
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