John French on Cygnus

At Cygnus, we see ourselves more as a technology company providing solutions in media rather than a media company seeking technology solutions. As we finish up 2012 and look toward 2013, I could not be more proud of what Cygnus has been able to accomplish. While 2011 saw Cygnus relaunch all of its digital properties, 2012 was a year when we developed and launched new lead generation products and enhanced our measurable connection between advertisers and readers. We saw substantial growth in digital and events. However, it was clear that a few markets were still seeing the effects of the weaker economy. As advertising dollars remained tight, the development of innovative products and the use of data and analytics were more than a “value add”; they were necessities. Providing these to our advertisers allowed us to take a greater share of the available ad dollars and increase our market share, capturing it from our competition. Our investment in technology and data continued to pay dividends in this regard. We developed a ground-breaking Return-on-Engagement report that allows our advertisers to truly measure the results we provided. Additionally we continued to focus on ensuring the content we delivered in print, online, apps and events provided the audience that our customers most desired. Our focus for 2013 will be to build on our success of facilitating a true connection between our advertisers and our audiences. The innovative use of our integrated databases along with unique and pioneering lead generation products will be at the heart of our 2013 strategy. Providing our advertisers with the ad performance they require, the quality leads they need and the analysis of how they are engaging with the audience will, we believe, be the key to our success in 2013. As the b-to-b industry continues to evolve and change, advertisers have increased pressure on media companies demanding accountability for measurable results. We at Cygnus are proud to be delivering definable metrics and results to our advertisers every day.