Bloomberg Focuses on Climate Change With New Vertical

Bloomberg Media went live with a new publication today about climate change called Bloomberg Green, which will also include a podcast, events, newsletters and a print magazine. It’s the latest in Bloomberg Media’s strategy to focus and invest in a number of specific verticals such as Work Wise, centering on the workplace, that it began a few years ago to drive what the company internally dubbed “invention-led growth,” which meant it would prioritize categories that might transcend changing consumer behaviors. “We decided that rather than preside over a set of assets that were directly facing significant media headwinds, we would adopt a strategy of inventing and launching new businesses that would benefit from media tailwinds,” Justin B. Smith, CEO of Bloomberg Media, told Adweek. Bloomberg Media’s hyper-specific focus recently made headlines after it acquired CityLab from The Atlantic and slimmed down the team, while asking staffers to reinterview for their jobs. [article_summary section="1"]The new website, BloombergGreen.com, went live with five advertising partners on board who have committed to supporting it throughout the year, including Amazon, HP, real estate firm JLL, asset management firm PGIM and Tiffany & Co., with custom content. In addition, Spanish utility firm Iberdrola has signed on as a presenting sponsor. “[Bloomberg Green] offers media buyers the opportunity to reach a growing audience of consumers who are hyper-focused on the environment,” said Lizz Kannenberg, creative director, brand & story at Sprout Social. “Brand evolutions such as these will likely continue to become commonplace as a way to build deeper customer relationships and align on values that are most important to a business and their audience.” The new publication prioritizes explaining what climate change looks like and includes image-heavy articles that illustrate the changes brought about by global warming and multiple data points, with an explanation of that information’s source. It will include a data dashboard that updates in real time with figures such as increases in global temperature, the most polluted areas of the world and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. “Particularly mid-election cycle, it stands to reason this could drive significant advertiser demand,” said Joey Leichman, vp of buyer development at OpenX. “Many advertisers are looking to diversify their spend away from the walled gardens, and this is another great example of a valuable advertising environment on the open web." [article_summary section="2"]The new publication will also include a daily emailed newsletter, podcast, events and a print magazine—on recycled paper—that will make its debut to subscribers in April with a focus on Earth Day. Bloomberg Media hasn't said how many digital subscribers it acquired after launching a paywall in May 2018. Bloomberg Businessweek has more than 609,000 paid subscribers, according to figures from the Alliance for Audited Media. It’s not the first foray into covering climate change for Bloomberg Media, which claims to publish hundreds of articles about the topic per month. But it does represent a new formal push into the coverage area, according to Bloomberg Green editor Aaron Rutkoff, who also led the company's Hyperdrive vertical covering the future of transportation. "People tend to feel despondency around climate coverage because they think that we have to invent solutions, but a lot of the solutions for this problem are here in the world right now," Rutkoff told Adweek. "They're just not widely distributed. And I think part of what we're going to do is tell stories about solutions." The name recognition Bloomberg already has will help elevate the new publication, said Noor Naseer, ad-tech platform Centro’s senior director of media innovations and technology, especially with a built-in platform that includes the Bloomberg Terminal, Bloomberg Radio and Bloomberg Television. “Among controversial topics, climate change and related environmental concerns seem less polarizing than other controversial topics like abortion, gun control and vaccines,” Naseer said. “Environmental conversation is an area of news that is less likely to raise brand safety concerns, which advertisers are consciously monitoring when planning ad placement.”