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Corporate Social Responsibility Print Dow Jones

Dow Jones Media Group stitches corporate work and lifestyle together with Inspired by Penta relaunch

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By Bennett Bennett | Staff writer

April 9, 2018 | 7 min read

Dow Jones Media Group has relaunched Penta as a stand-alone imprint that covers the lifestyles of influencers in the corporate domain.

Inspired by Penta March Issue

Dow Jones Media Group's lifestyle imprint Penta gets its revamped stand-alone site / Dow Jones Media Group

The current iteration of Penta is a spin-off of a section of Dow Jones Media Group (DJMG) mainstay Barron’s that has lived as a quarterly insert and a section within the Barron’s main site. This new iteration will retain its quarterly print version, but now has its own standalone site, Inspired by Penta.

The rationale is part of a three pronged approach that the two-year old unit of Dow Jones has taken with driving the century-plus old company and parent company of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ is part of Dow Jones, but not DJMG) through another few decades.

DJMG's vision makes the entity seem like a half-publisher, half research and development facility. Said Almar Latour, publisher of Dow Jones Media Group: “Roughly two years ago, we kicked off this new unit within Dow Jones and were given three different tasks. First, to foster the growth for the brands Barron's and MarketWatch, and Financial News in the US and UK. The second focus is on digital growth and live journalism growth. Third, we’ll be launching new initiative and experiment.” This unit, Latour believes, will be able to adapt to how today’s corporate employees get their news. “This is meant to be an area within Dow Jones where we can do a lot of things that we haven’t done before, but with a commercial focus. It’s not like a lab environment, but more of a real-world environment where we still have the ability to try things, to make tweaks or pivot, or move very fast.”

The team behind the new Penta had seen that the audience was already looking for content in an extensive way, which pushed them to giving the site its own solo space to provide commentary on philanthrophy.

“We always knew that we had a phenomenal audience, one that is a super high-quality, wealthy and unique audience. We also got much better at understanding the very needs of that audience and understand how they relate to our content, how they relate to our brand.” As a result, the media group set out to reconceive what covering luxury and lifestyle meant on the digital end. Latour said the overall audience had grown “very, very aggressively, which in turn, gave them more of a sample size to adapt and build from.

Latour continued: “Take these things together and then we all, we're always looking for opportunities to push our digital agenda to help our clients, customers, readers and users.”

Inspired by Penta, therefore, felt like a deeper investment outside the work lives of business leaders and influencers. Said Mae Cheng, editor-in-chief for Inspired by Penta and sister publication Mansion Global: “With the relaunching of Penta, we believe that we have a value proposition and a compelling set of content that resonates beyond just our loyal Barron's readership. With the high caliber of stories we are producing, we wanted to make sure that we had optimal reach."

Penta’s foundation, or its “five keys” (own, invest, give, collect, experience) are said to reflect the lifestyles that they already live, in a space that feels very much for its upscale, corporate readers. Cheng has added a philanthropic, social impact lens to the editorial direction, saying: “Many of our readers and our audience are already influential. A lot of our readers in Barron's for example, have already achieved tremendous success professionally. And the thought was that they should be there to inspire one another and share their stories, because they are using their wealth in very interesting ways and often times for the betterment of society for social impact."

This meant, Cheng added, that the viewpoints of those with influence would be a priority. “Instead of asking me, a journalist, where I went for my travel, it'd be great to have these people who have already established a name for themselves or whoever have become influencers in their own right tell one another about their stories and how they spend their money for social impact.”

It’s a very different take on money, that reflects the growing philanthrophic mindsets of the wealthy, but the increasingly younger demographic that’s forming in the community. Latour said the media group has always prided itself on financial and business advice — Inspired by Penta adds existential substance to the discussion, even by including commentary from financial literacy coaches for those looking to make non-business moves with their money. He said: “A lot of people need education in that space and it's not related to contact with them. Just showing a broader question as to why we care beyond making money. And so there's many ways in which we care about making money. But also what do you do with that?”

The conversations are already happening, she adds, giving the need for the site added relevance. “This is the very here and now,” she says, “I think, people that have worked so hard to make their money that the conversations now aren’t just asking ‘How do I go about and willy-nilly spend my money whichever way I want, but how do I spend my money in ways that make sense?’ They still want to give back to society, to the environment, and I think that's a conversation you hear a lot — they’re aware of the kind of corporation they are, they're aware of their impact and how they make their money and how things are sourced, and the materials that they invest in. It’s a very present-day sort of conversation.”

The exclusive partner for Inspired by Penta’s launch was announced as Northern Trust. Naturally, the company has scouted out potential partners in the financial services, luxury travel, real estate and luxury consumer goods categories.

Latour, Cheng and the rest of the group understand the space they play in, Latour added: “Clearly, there are brands out there that cover luxury and cover it well, and that cover lifestyle and cover it well.” Their team has faith in all they’ve learned from the audience of its sister publications, that it fills the niche smartly and comprehensively.

“I think we are informed by our coverage and by by this unique connection we have to this unique audience. I think that it drives home our business, and our value for clients and ultimately, also to value for users of our product. I think that is a exceptionally notable for Penta, because it really came out of that feedback.”

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