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Atlantic Media's David Bradley Shows the Power of Seeking Customers' Perspectives

Name: Atlantic Media's David Bradley Shows the Power of Seeking Customers' Perspectives
Uploaded: 2017-06-27T13:14:37+00:00
Duration: 1 min 34 s
Channel: Bob London
Description: In this brief monologue, Bob London reflects on a Washington Post article by Thomas Heath that chronicles how Atlantic Media’s leader David Bradley…

27 Jun 2017 · 2 min

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1:34

In this brief monologue, Bob London reflects on a Washington Post article by Thomas Heath that chronicles how Atlantic Media’s leader David Bradley, together with a trusted lieutenant, recognized the decline of their flagship publication, the National Journal. Rather than defending the legacy brand, they engaged directly with their customers—policy makers and related professionals—to understand their challenges and needs. This customer‑focused research revealed that the National Journal could not survive the competitive online environment, but the insights gathered enabled Atlantic Media to replace the lost revenue with new services tailored to help D.C. policymakers do their jobs more effectively. London emphasizes the broader lesson: listening to customers and asking about their perspectives, not about the company’s product, leads to successful outcomes. He encourages viewers to read the Washington Post piece for full details.

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I was thrilled to see in the Washington Post by Thomas Heath an article a few weeks ago about Atlantic Media, how David Bradley and one of his trusted lieutenants took what was a flagship brand for them, the National Journal, and recognized and embraced the fact that that publication was struggling. They went out and talk to their customers, not about the National Journal, but about them, their customers. They wanted to learn more about what the world looked like from their perspective, identify what their pain points were, what was keeping them from doing their job better, etc. The happy ending of the article was, okay, so the National Journal didn't really survive the process, this sort of venerable D.C. brand. There was just too much competition from online sources, from the Politicos of the world. But that all that revenue, and I believe more, has been and will be replaced by a new set of services to help DC area policymakers and others in that community do their jobs better. And you can read all about it in this article. So I was just very happy to hear, very hits close to home for me. Listen to your customers, ask them questions about them, don't sit there talking about you or ask them what they think of you or your product, and great things will happen. Washington Post, search for Thomas Heath and David Bradley of Atlantic Media, and you'll find this great article. That's all for now. Keep you posted.