Keeping up in the Digital Age -- Hearst Corporation creates new Digital Product Group

In this digital age, the ability to innovate quickly, and willingly adapt with technology will often “make or break” a company. The consumer’s attachment to technology and social media platforms is nothing new, but it is still interesting to see historically profitable, large, successful companies falling behind the mark, unsure of how to innovate, and keep up with the ever changing technology landscape, and thus the ever changing consumer.  The “big names” and historically successful players in the luxury, fashion, and beauty industries are prime examples of slow to adopt, and adapt to the changing preferences and patterns of the consumer.  There have been many theories of why, but one thing is for certain, over the past few years in particular, there is no way to avoid the dominance and power of digital. This is why it was no surprise to read of Hearst’s formation of a "Silicon Valley" digital product development group.

Hearst Corporation, according to their website is “one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies. Its major interests include ownership of 15 daily and 34 weekly newspapers; hundreds of magazines around the world; 29 television stations...”

The creation of this group is positioning the Company to better take advantage of the changes happening in technology, particularly across mobile platforms. At the foundation of digital marketing is connecting with not only the core customer, and understanding more about him/her, but also sourcing and connecting with potential customers. This new development, which will work across all Hearst businesses, will help this large corporation do just that -- connect better with customers, current and potential.  While Hearst has invested in technology in the past, this move is focused specifically on apps. I think this is a smart move by the corporation, the formulation of the group will hopefully turn out more relevant and advanced systems for the customer, but also will help foster a spirit of innovation across all the groups, which will help the company in moving forward in succeeding in markets and industries which have been heavily disrupted and impaired.

In Gustavo’s post below, we see how marketers hold the keys to the competitive kingdom, and to further that with technology as stated above, I believe the power is truly in the digital marketer’s hands. The ability reach the consumer is now easier than ever, but the ability to connect and innovate along with the consumer is in the hands of companies willing to adapt.