Welcome
Happy New Year, and welcome to the first edition of "Inside Outsell," our quarterly newsletter for clients and friends of Outsell. As the leading research and advisory firm for the publishing, information, and education industries, we're pleased to have this connection to provide you with our latest news.
This issue focuses on how we are helping clients navigate through a challenging economic climate. We always welcome feedback, so feel free to send us an e-mail.
CEO Reflections: Remaining Competitive in 2009
 As the New Year begins, the recession and economy are top of mind for everyone. It's important to keep moving forward. The Outsell team is hard at work to provide you with the data, analysis, and advice you need to remain competitive and even thrive. Here are some examples of what we have on the front burner.
First, I hope you'll take a look at our annual Outlook report with recommendations for surviving an economic downturn, and our 30 companies to watch in 2009.
Also, we're conducting a number of studies to ensure that our CEO clients and their teams have the vital benchmarks they need to measure performance in this uncertain time.
- Staying on top of the industry's money flow, we just finished our annual survey of 6,000 information users in the US and UK, providing a critical view of information use and spending trends;
- In January we'll field our annual ad-spending study to 2,000 advertisers in the UK and US;
- CEOs are providing confidential survey responses about sales performance;
- Over 120 information management professionals have given us input about price increases.
The user and advertising data will be available on our website as part of our data assets, and we'll analyze the data in some of our upcoming Market Reports and CEO Topics. It will also inform market discussions at upcoming OLC meetings. In addition, we plan a series of reports on information product and service innovation, product technology management, and spending, as well as Company Analysis reports designed around best-practice case studies, demonstrating how successful companies are successfully navigating this economy.
We wish you all the best for 2009, as we remain focused on serving our clients and the industry in order to advance the business of information.
Anthea C. Stratigos,
Co-founder & CEO
Outsell's Signature Event
We are assembling a superb program focused on "leading in turbulent times" for this year's Signature Event, co-produced with the Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. This highly acclaimed event for CEOs, COOs, and Managing Directors from all information industry segments will take place Oct. 4-6, 2009, at The Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt, County Wicklow, Ireland. To request an invitation, or for more information, please contact Emily Pilk at epilk@outsellinc.com.
For information about sponsorship opportunities please contact Greg Chagaris at chagaris@outsellinc.com.
Custom Services Address Your Challenges
Disruption of our global economy continues to impact publishers and information providers, as well as information management functions in businesses, academia, and government, creating opportunities to rethink markets and reshape how information services are delivered. 2009 will be a year of accountability, and even best-in-class organizations will encounter challenges to their ability to innovate and grow.
Over the last few months Outsell's global Custom Research & Consulting team has designed and led projects to help leaders address challenges to their growth strategies. We have helped clients answer questions such as: What new markets should we consider? What firms will we compete against? With whom can we partner? What are our opportunities in developing countries? How is our brand perceived in our markets, and how should we position our business? How can we improve our win/loss rate and customer loyalty?
We answer specific questions and assist clients in developing strategies and tactics to optimize revenue and ROI in a constantly shifting environment. Our services range from market segmentation and opportunity assessment to branding and perception studies to customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement.
To learn more about specialized advice from Outsell, contact Leigh Watson Healy at lhealy@outsellinc.com or visit http://outsellinc.com/custom_services.
Information Managers: Vendor Portfolio Management Council
Managers of large enterprise content portfolios will benefit from Outsell's new Vendor Portfolio Management Council. Cutting across enterprise sectors and organizational models, the council provides a confidential forum to discuss, validate and exchange ideas about portfolio processes and decisions. This is vital at a time when organizations are looking to cut costs where possible.
Topics covered include pricing strategies, negotiation techniques, and cradle-to-grave (life cycle) management of an organization's content portfolio. Executives from select content providers will be invited to meet with this group of decision-makers to discuss corporate strategies, new directions for content, and other topics of interest to the council members.
For more information please contact Mary Corcoran at mcorcoran@outsellinc.com.
New Website Features
We continually seek new ways to make our website more user-friendly and useful--visit us at http://www.outsellinc.com to see the latest additions.
We love feedback. Please send us a note with your thoughts.
Our Blogs: Thinking Out Loud
Our analysts are "thinking out loud" and blogging on a variety of topics. Their top-of-mind thoughts are available in three areas – check out the following links, available to everyone:
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Latest Research
Upcoming Research
- Information Industry Market Size & Share Rankings: Preliminary 2008 Results
- US/UK Newspaper Publishing Comparison
- E-books
- Top B2B Trade Companies' Print/Digital Revenue Mix
Quotable Quotes
"We must carry on, boldly but quickly, in the face of another economic downturn. Now isn't the time to blink. It's the time to continue the transformations already begun and to remember the mantra, no guts no glory."
Anthea Stratigos, Co-founder & CEO, Information Industry Outlook 2009: No Guts, No Glory
"Distance learning is changing both the size and character of the education industry.... Successful publishing companies are those that figure out how to use their current assets digitally, develop new products for this market, and look for new potential customer sets."
Lisa Abrams, Director & Lead Analyst, Global Distance Learning Market Overview
Outsell in the News
Outsell analysts are regularly sought out by the media for comment in their areas of expertise. Read the latest.
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