1. Analyze Meredith's marketing information system. What are its strengths and weaknesses?
2. Can impersonal data points really result in meaningful relationships? Explain.
3. Does Meredith's marketing information expertise transfer into other media and products?
4. As a company still heavily rooted in print, what does Meredith's future hold?
5. What recommendations would you make to Meredith's executives?
You may not recognize the name Meredith Corporation, but you have certainly heard of the magazines it publishes. Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal, and Family Circle are some of its oldest and best-known titles. Meredith has been publishing magazines for more than 100 years and maintains many top- 10 titles, both by category and overall. With a total of 21 subscription magazines, Meredith is also the creator of American Baby, Parents, Fitness, Midwest Living, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and MORE. This powerhouse publisher also produces 150 special interest publications-the kind that are available only at retail outlets. Meredith's magazines have a combined circulation of 30 million-Better Homes and Gardens alone reaches over 7.5 million paid readers each month.
If Meredith's magazines sound like something your mom would read, that's intentional. Meredith caters to women. In fact, Meredith has become the undisputed leading media and marketing company focused on women. It has earned this reputation by developing an expertise in managing deep relationships with female customers. With core categories of home, health, family, and personal development, Meredith's goal is to touch every life stage of women, from young adults and new parents to established families and empty nesters.
Print media is hardly a growth industry-in fact, it's been declining in recent years. But building an empire on magazines doesn't mean that Meredith has painted itself into a corner. In fact, Meredith no longer describes itself as a magazine publisher. It claims to be a creator of "content," delivered to women "whenever, wherever, and however [they want] it." Long before print media began its decline, Meredith expanded into television stations, cable programming, and Internet sites.
Today, Meredith has a strong foundation on the Internet and is investing heavily in its future. For example, digital versions of most of its magazines are now available on Google Play. It recently paid $175 million to acquire Allrecipes.com, the largest online food site in the country. With that one acquisition, Meredith doubled the reach of its network of more than 50 online sites to an average of 40 million unique visitors each month. Its Internet empire also includes BHG.com, Parents.com, Divine Caroline .com, and FitnessMagazine.com to name just a few. This network allows Meredith to do more than just distribute content; the company has also become proficient in social networking. With so many brands available through print, television, online, mobile, and video, Meredith plans to continue to touch women's lives in meaningful ways for a long, long time.
Whether through print, broadcast, or digital media, how has Meredith been able to achieve success as the leading expert on women? In short, Meredith knows women. The company knows women through a continual strategic effort to manage marketing information about them. In fact, Meredith's marketing information system is its core competency. That system produces customer insights that allow the company to understand women's needs and desires and maintain strong relationships with them.