Insider Media Ltd is building a national B2B media company from a strong position in the UK regions. Central to the three year business plan is the belief that business people live in a multiplatform world. There is a robust future for top quality regional information provided in print. Insider also believes that networking is a business critical activity for every business in the UK and owns the regions’ leading business events. Central to all of this is the ability for a business person quickly and easily to access news and information online from anywhere, in the office, or elsewhere in the world.
Six years ago the management team at Insider recognised that so called “national” B2B magazines have a strong penetration in London and the South East but frequently give exceptionally poor coverage elsewhere in the UK.
The company has a growing “nationwide” portfolio of regional business magazines, each one the largest B2B magazine in its region. The current management team came together in 2002 and since then they have expanded the Insider magazines in the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, and launched into Wales and the South West. More launches are planned into other UK regions.
Central to this strategy is a locally based team, embedded in the local business community, focused on delivering commercial solutions to advertisers, sponsors and partners. Insider is a company wholly owned by its management and its management is wholly engaged in the business life of the regions it works in.
Insider held 20 events in 2002 and 50 in 2007. Frequently when advertisers change their marketing strategy it is to reduce advertising to its customers in favour of meeting and networking with them. The combination of expert regional input into regional events and the benefits derived from extensive editorial coverage of its events distinguish Insider’s events from those of business organisations and trade bodies.
Insider hosts the largest, market leading events, held in the largest venues in each region. The events cover a wide range of business sectors from corporate finance, property, human resources, digital industries, young entrepreneur events and new sunrise sectors like bioscience. Sponsor loyalty is very high with many sponsors supporting an event annually from its inception to the present day, in many cases for ten years. Tickets for major Insider events sell out months in advance. Guest numbers are only restricted by venue capacity, with some selling more than 900 tickets.
Electronically delivered, subscription driven, products and services have been and continue to be developed. The IT infrastructure, including a companywide content database and subscription database, enables content, once created, to be distributed via a wide range of electronic delivery points. Most important, recipients whose contact details are known to Insider “request” that they receive the information delivered to them. This makes Insider’s online products and services highly attractive to its online advertisers and sponsors.
Insider’s integrated vertical offering of products and services across different platforms are at the heart of the regional business communities they serve.
The strength of the magazines and events within each region provide an extremely strong defence against competitive activity and the challenges created by non-local, global online services.
