Enhancing Profitability for an Embattled Media Company

Opportunity  |  The U.S. flagship property of a global print media corporation needed to increase profitability in the face of enormous industry change and increased competition from more technology-driven Internet-based companies. These companies had a much lower cost base and were winning the media corporation’s readership in large numbers. To get there, leadership realized they had to reorient their focus around areas of the business that continued to provide customer value and to grow profitably by boosting margins.

 Approach  |  Management needed to build consensus around two fundamental questions that were critical to increasing profitability. What business are we really in? And, how can we strengthen our relationship with customers?

The work began with building clarity around a new strategy, business model and performance objectives. That effort helped employees understand and embrace change and kept leadership focused on a new vision. From there, Axiom helped the company:

• Develop an organizational design that supported execution of the new strategy.
• Unlock new value from its legacy products.
• Eliminate unprofitable activities and businesses.
• Invest wisely in creating a new business unit that captured growth from previously overlooked market segments.
• Hold executives accountable for meeting key objectives.
• Realign the sales force so that they were helping implement the new strategy.

Results

• EDITDA increased measurably within months.
• Within three to five years the client projected a 25% minimum improvement in EBITDA.
• New revenue streams from legacy assets continued to contribute to profitability without the need for substantial additional investment.