The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to several industries, and publishing has been no exception. Among those hardest hit have been titles serving local markets. With public spaces temporarily shutting down, regional titles have little leverage to sell advertising, and readers have little interest in learning about activities they can no longer partake in. This has led to print suspensions (temporary and permanent) , furloughs, layoffs and left some on the brink of bankruptcy or closure. The Time Out Group, which serves 328 cities in 58 countries around the world, was not immune to the impacts of the pandemic. The company took swift action when stay-at-home orders were put in place and temporally halted its print in its cities that still offered it. Further, given immediate and forecasted decreases in revenue, CEO Julio Bruno says the company also made some salary reductions, and furloughed an undisclosed number of employees. The company was also forced to lay off hourly employees at its six Time Out Markets food courts, since they were unable to remain open. However, despite these difficult times, Time Out has been proactive in pivoting its business, and establishing more secure footing to stabilize and eventually grow once the crisis is behind us. Its first initiative was to rethink its content strategy. “Time Out is a brand that people come to explore and experience the best of the city when they go out,” Bruno says. “All of a sudden, our audience was homebound.... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-05-28 16:08:28 UTC ]