In 1994, Ziff-Davis the largest publisher of IT publications in the world, began acquiring companies that specialized in other mediums such as television, trade shows, research, the web and venture capital. Between 1994 to 1996, Ziff-Davis added the following products to its product portfolio: ZDTV, Softbank Expos (which produces trades shows such as N+I, Seybold, Java Internet Business Expo and Web Innovation), Comdex, Computer Intelligence, ZD University, ZDNet, and ZDNN. Prior to these additions, Ziff-Davis employees were certain of the ZD strategy and their specific role -- to produce the best information technology magazines in the world.
But the additions to the product portfolio also added confusion. Employees began to wonder how the new products fit within the overall corporate strategy and how the offerings complemented each other. A workforce that was once amazingly efficient and focused became disorganized and confused. Equally as important, Ziff-Davis' customers didn't understand the company's strategy.
Barrett Marketing was hired to create an internal and external marketing strategy and plan to educate employees on the new ZD strategy, arm the employees with the appropriate tools to "get the word out" to customers and educate the top 100 clients on ZD's strategy.
The web, multimedia CD's, the corporate intranet, TV, video and a series of "town hall" meetings were used to educate, train and provide information to employees and top clients. The results included more "package" selling -- combining the sale of ad space with trade show opportunities, on-line advertising, research, seminars and TV sponsorships.
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