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Marketing Industry MiNetwork Gordon Young

Gordon Young takes over as editor of The Drum

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

January 20, 2011 | 3 min read

The Drum has a new editor. From this month Gordon Young replaces Richard Draycott at the helm as Draycott steps down to focus on the Marketing Industry Network. Here Young explains the changing face of The Drum and the roles of its printed and online versions.

"The Drum has a new editor. Or more accurately an old one. For this month I replace Richard Draycott who is stepping down to focus on the Marketing Industry Network (MiNetwork)

"Now, I have edited the magazine at various points since I helped start the title in 1985. But I believe there has never been a more interesting time to be in this chair, for we find ourselves in the eye of a storm; one that is transforming the entire media and marketing business.

"It has certainly transformed The Drum. Only two years ago our team produced 30 stories a fortnight for publication in the magazine. Now they produce 30 stories a day for online.

"As a result of the website, The Drum now reaches more people than at any other time in its history. According to Alexa we are one of the UK’s top 1,000 most visited sites; routinely attracting 13,000 visits every day.

"However, the rise of the web has forced us to redefine the role of the magazine. This title is no longer, for example, in the business of breaking news.

"But what it can do is provide a snapshot of a moment in time, which allows readers to get an overview of all that is happening in their sector. That is why from this issue we have dramatically increased our story count.

"There are other things the magazine can do far better than the website. And that includes showing some forms of creative work. So from this issue we are launching a new section called The Works. It is dedicated to showcasing some of the latest output from agencies.

"But in this day and age of social media publishing is no longer a one way street. Readers are not interested in passively waiting for us to serve up the news. They expect far more interaction.

"And that is the thinking behind the Marketing Industry Network. The Drum readers are all experts in their own fields. Collectively they represent a priceless resource. So under Draycott MiNetwork will aim to facilitate the sharing of knowledge across our database through networking events, peer-to-peer training, white papers, conferences and yes, The Drum. There is a big idea here, one which is already making a real difference to the businesses that are engaged.

"And it is concepts like that which persuade us the future is more about opportunities than threats."

Do you want to receive the offline magazine? If so contact our circulation team.

Marketing Industry MiNetwork Gordon Young

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