Integration: Connecting the Dots
In 2000 and 2001, Steve Bloom was on the online side in general planning at Zenithmedia. As the company (a 10-year-old offshoot of the Publicis family) set about laying off staff to make up for shortfalls when dot.com business fell off, Bloom stepped into a new role at the agency on the print side. "I’ve always been involved in print," he says. "My first account was BMW, and you can imagine how much magazine buying they were doing. Print’s always been in my blood, even as I’ve gone on short hiatuses."
"Print’s always been in my blood, even "as I’ve gone on short hiatuses."
— Steven Bloom
Bloom now oversees all the magazine activity for clients that include such recent wins as Nestlé AstraZeneca and Richemont (a luxury goods galaxy comprising such stars as Cartier, Montblanc, Chloe, and others), as well as Chase. A lot of these brands, and Bloom himself, are deeply engaged on the print side of the publishing equation.
"All you read about is how print is suffering. We’re in an interesting bubble, because a lot of our advertisers are supporting print in a very big way."
Pharmaceutical companies help to "prop up print," he notes, and despite recent dives in the auto industry, he says, " Things are strong on the print end."
But Bloom also talks about the integration of print and online media. " There might be accounts where magazine spending is going down, but the same money could be supported with their Web property." He notes publishers that work the online side achieve greater profitability with the Web than in print. "Magazines go digital because there are a lot of efficiencies to be realized."
Still, for luxury brands, print is "where it’s at." "Luxury brands show better in print," he says, because of "the aesthetics." The cachet loses some essence online.
Bloom notes that "in this new world of integration and holistic media, we are trying to sit in front of the planning process and pull broadcast, print and online people together to develop big ideas. You take the nucleus of an idea, then drive it through the different properties." To do otherwise is too limiting, he says.
Publishers must do their homework. "Understand the hot spots," says Bloom. Forget the one-off strategy. He wants a clear vision of how the essence of the content ties back to what his clients are trying to do.
If a publisher is pitching an adjacency, readers should get the connection immediately. Bloom says, "If you have to justify it, you lose something immediately."
Pages are driven by opportunities. "If you develop a strong program, the pages will follow suit," he says. "It’s a long-term proposition. Develop something that’s smart for you, so spending budgets can be a continuous progress over a couple of years. You’d be surprised how many of the people we talk to have a lack of understanding."
Breaking Down the Silos
STEVEN BLOOM HAS BEEN IN MEDIA now for about ten years, starting at DeWitt Media, the first stand-alone media agency in the industry. DeWitt was bought by Publicis in the 1990s and became Optimedia. For the first five years he was on the general planning side of Digital Edge for Mediaedge, then in Mediaedge’s print group. It was an integrated planning and buying group, which is the same approach Bloom takes now at Zenithmedia.
"Integration is key," he says. "Whatever client you work on, everyone is sitting together. You don’t have separate departments anymore; it’s all about teamwork. This creates an understanding of people’s roles, the challenges they face within each medium. It’s been working very well. It can be tough to break down the walls, but you need to break through. It’s not about fighting for a print budget, or an online budget, but what’s make sense for the brand."
That’s what Bloom loves most about his job: "I love just seeing successful programs, the end result for clients, hopefully moving their business." His passion for his work, and the fact that every day is different, help him look forward to going to work every morning. "I take a lot of pride in seeing our work in the marketplace," he says.
His analytical abilities and people skills have put him where he is today, as well as his respect for the media partners he works with. "We are working together on the same mission: to deliver intelligent, impactful programs for clients."
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