<em>Bloomberg Media</em> CEO Outlines 100-Day Strategy

The relatively new CEO of Bloomberg Media Group, Justin Smith, has sent out a memo announcing a "100-day strategy." He doesn't reveal exactly what that strategy is, but says employees will be hearing more specifics on it in the next few weeks. He says he has extremely positive first impressions of the company, and says they need a "clear action plan." The news was first reported by Adweek and then passed around by Bloomberg PR. In the memo, Smith announced the hire of Zazie Lucke as head of global advertiser marketing. He brought Zazie over from Atlantic Media, where she was VP of Marketing. "Zazie will be tasked with nothing less than making Bloomberg Media the leading innovator in cross platform digitally-led marketing," he said in thick media-ese, which is pretty much what we assume she was doing for Atlantic Media. Can there really be two "leading innovators?" Meanwhile, he's "saddened" that two Bloomberg Media employees have decided to jump ship. "Trevor Fellows, head of Global Sales, is leaving the firm," he writes. "Malcolm Fried, head of Bloomberg TV for EMEA in London, is joining a start-up in the content space." One of the last lines struck as interesting. He writes, "As I’ve said to many of you, my main request of each of you is to think and act like entrepreneurs." It's the only way, he says essentially, that they can survive and be successful. The full text of the memo: Dear Colleagues: I’ve enjoyed getting to know many of you across my first few weeks at Bloomberg and look forward to meeting everyone in person soon. My first impressions have been extremely positive. Bloomberg Media Group is uniquely positioned for growth and innovation across our multiple platforms around the world. To seize these opportunities, we need a clear action plan. We’ve therefore launched a hundred-day Media Group-wide strategic planning exercise to map our future course across the coming years. I’ll be back in touch with you with more details on that front in the next few weeks. Digital Successes and Zazie Lucke Announcement I have been particularly thrilled to discover an entrepreneurial spirit hard at work across several of our digital platforms. Bloomberg Media Group is now the leader in business and finance digital video streams for eight months straight with nearly 250% growth in video uniques since November 2012 (the first month comScore tracked us). Another area of digital distinction is Bloomberg Media’s mobile strategy where our products continue to outpace the market. We are now registering over 11.5 million unique users every month across our numerous mobile platforms. Leading in digital is where we want to be and where we will be focusing our efforts and resources. Congratulations to the digital video and mobile teams for these impressive results. To build on this digital success, I am thrilled to announce that Zazie Lucke will be joining Bloomberg Media as the head of global advertiser marketing, reporting to Paul Bascobert. She starts on October 14th and will be based in New York. Zazie, who joins us from Atlantic Media where she served as Vice President of Marketing, will be tasked with building a market-leading ideas, insights and data-driven marketing capability for all of our media properties. Zazie will be tasked with nothing less than making Bloomberg Media the leading innovator in cross platform digitally-led marketing. She'll work to integrate our suite of properties -- television, print, digital, mobile, radio, syndication and events -- to drive superior, measurable results for our advertising clients. Zazie is a rare talent. Please join me in welcoming her to Bloomberg. Carl Fischer, who has led global advertiser marketing for the last three years, will be moving into his previously announced role as head of global brand integration in Bloomberg’s corporate marketing group. Additional Leadership Changes I also want to inform you of some changes in Bloomberg Media’s leadership ranks that have coincided with the beginning of my tenure. I am saddened to announce that two of Bloomberg Media Group’s longstanding leaders have decided to leave the company and pursue new directions. Trevor Fellows, head of Global Sales, is leaving the firm. Malcolm Fried, head of Bloomberg TV for EMEA in London, is joining a start-up in the content space. On an interim basis, I have asked Paul Bascobert to take on Trevor’s direct reports while we determine next steps. At Bloomberg TV in London, Parry Ravindranathan, the head of Bloomberg TV Asia/Pacific, will step in to manage EMEA in addition to Asia while we develop a more permanent structure. Paul and Parry are talented and experienced managers with strong track records of success. Please join me in thanking them for taking on these additional interim responsibilities while we develop our new strategy. I’ll be in touch again soon with more details on our hundred-day strategy process. In the meantime, thank you for your commitment and hard work. As I’ve said to many of you, my main request of each of you is to think and act like entrepreneurs. That’s the only way we’ll successfully navigate media disruption and build a lasting world-class global media company. Best regards, Justin

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Bloomberg Media CEO Outlines 100-Day Strategy

Betsy Rothstein

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