In this interview, Bob London and a colleague discuss the tangible impact of original journalism on readers and their organizations. They emphasize that beyond merely publishing news, the reporting sparks innovation, informs decision‑making, and strengthens internal cases for resources, ultimately shaping outcomes and fueling growth. The conversation highlights how, especially during crises like the pandemic, audiences turn to trusted sources such as Industry Dive for reliable information, underscoring the brand’s role as a dependable, objective voice in uncertain times. The speakers also note the importance of explicitly communicating this impact to reinforce the organization’s purpose and value.
Chapters
I'll put forth something that really struck me when I was interviewing readers. The impact and the value of the work you guys do. It's very important to be precise. Yeah, you're publishing original journalism. Great. But what impact does that have to readers? Like if you ask them, well, what would happen if this went away? Well, I couldn't do my job as well. I need that information. Why? I don't know, it sparks ideas. It's, it's, we get innovation from it because we're getting perspectives from people who are objectively looking at the industry. It helps me bolster my case internally for resources. It helps basically shape outcomes and ultimately it helps us fuel growth and we're all trying to grow. What I loved was, I'm going to answer my own question I guess, what I loved was the fact that I think that language, the reader's language, sparking innovation, fueling growth, shaping outcomes, ended up on your homepage. So you really took it to heart that We can't just say what we do. We have to talk about the impact we have.
Well, thank you. And thanks for getting us there. I mean, I think it, it, as I said, it is now a guiding light of where we're going as a company and what we want to do. Um, and it's also something that we can see when the world turns upside down. We can see our audience come to us in much more of a need, much more of a, they need information when, when a pandemic hits. You know, the how this is impacting my industry, how is this impacting what we're doing? They come to us and it's important for those reasons that you said. And I think we knew it, but we never said it right. And you can know something in the back of your mind, but then you can also say it and it becomes that much more real for the people here and it becomes that much more important when you start talking about it.
I didn't think about this before, but in a world where sometimes it's hard to decide what's truthful, what's the definitive point of view on something. So when there's a pandemic and a lockdown and economic downturn, what do you rely on for information? I go to Industry Dive. These guys are going to tell me— Industry Dive's journalists are going to tell us things that are happening and that might happen based on this crazy new world, and I can rely on that. And that, that is a brand.
