After acquiring Businessweek in a bidding war late last year, Bloomberg unveiled its revamped version of the magazine on April 22, with six parties in four countries and a month of guerrilla marketing in the U.S. and abroad.
"We're trying to reinforce our commitment to our current readers while going after business executives who are having a hard time finding quality business content," said Bloomberg Businessweek vice president of global marketing and communications Carl Fischer. "I also think there are a lot of subscribers and readers who didn't care for the last redesign. We're trying to bring them back."
That last redesign was in 2007, when the title was still under McGraw-Hill. It sparked some highly publicized events of its own, but Fischer insists this is a different type of relaunch.
"It was a different time than 2007, in terms of the economic environment," said Fischer. "We're also launching a truly new product this time. It's less of a celebration than about showing that we're investing in our product, increasing our content, and using the editorial assets of Bloomberg News."
Fischer and the magazine's director of events and brand development, Susannah Harte, tried to do that in New York by opening the doors of the Bloomberg Tower to readers, clients, and influencers for the April 22 launch event. Following the party, Fischer sent a team to distribute free copies of the fresh issues to guests exiting the National Magazine Awards, which conveniently—or, for some, inconveniently—fell on the day of the relaunch.
Similar events occurred that night in Chicago and San Francisco and then in London, Singapore, and Tokyo the next week.
To get copies in the hands of consumers not at the parties, Bloomberg Businessweek worked with staffing firm Eye5 to distribute magazines on four consecutive Fridays in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Abroad, the magazine staged similar guerrilla stunts in Hong Kong and London.
One experiential element that's gotten a lot of attention, however, is exclusive to the United States. The marketing team took over 16 high-traffic shoe shine stands—a hot spot for the magazine's affluent business executive audience—in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Washington to offer free issues and polishes.
All of the stunts are part of a four-week plan, and with the program only half over, Fischer already points to signs of success. Kodak C.M.O. Jeffrey Hayzlett, an example of the magazine's target audience, apparently took advantage of a free shoe shine at JFK airport. He shared his positive feelings on the promotion—and the redesign— with nearly 18,000 followers on Twitter.
