Why We Welcome the Seven-year Itch
I’ve been unusually restless lately about our two core products: Forbes.com and this magazine. That is to say, I really want to change things up, even break some molds we’ve successfully built since I rejoined the company in 2010. As I shared my professional ferment with a sage colleague, he replied, “You know, there is science behind all this. It’s called the seven-year itch.” My mind quickly raced to Marilyn Monroe—and, of course, the dress—in the now legendary 1955 movie. Then I hit the Web to dig into both the biology and the psychology behind the urge.
Science (or lore) aside, here are the itches I’m scratching.
Forbes.com: Over seven years, our audience has mushroomed—to 50 million monthly visitors (as measured by comscore) from 15 million. Social followers have exploded to 35 million from 100,000. To hit numbers like these we used the elasticity of our brand and its core messages of success to cover new topics. It’s time to focus on certain core audiences. We’re starting to adjust our staff structure and 2,000-strong contributor network to do just that. First up comes Bankable, a segmentation product aimed at younger consumers who are beginning their financial and professional lives.
Forbes Magazine: Our covers since 2010 have tapped into people—entrepreneurs, change agents, socially conscious capitalists and many others. That strategy of covering free-market capitalism via human drama significantly boosted our readership, especially among Millennials. Still, our entire industry needs to cope with print’s struggle to attract advertising dollars. To me, that means our magazine must be tied more closely to our digital thinking about audiences. There are advertising opportunities in the right digital-print segmentation formula.
brandvoice: We took a lot of media heat seven years ago for boldly leading the way in native advertising—both online and in print. Grudgingly, an entire media industry followed us. Now that nearly 200 marketers have used our Brandvoice program to publish content with us, we need something new. That’s why we’re pondering a reordering around an even more seamless marriage of editorial and branded content, remaining steadfast in our belief in proper labeling and transparency.
I’ve always preached the power of change. Now comes the seven-year itch to do what’s next. I can’t wait to see where all this lands.