Business Review Launches $8M Campaign

Harvard Business Review (HBR) has begun an $8 million advertising effort to publicize changes in the magazine's content and publication schedule.

The campaign intends "to raise awareness for HBR," said Sara McConville, HBR's director of corporate communications. "We want to reach out to potential buyers or reinforce the buying decision of current subscribers."

The magazine selected the Chicago advertising firm Arian, Lowe, & Travis to head the publicity campaign, which began in January. Ads have already run in The Wall Street Journal, and more will follow in other print media and in airports, according to McConville.

HBR chose the firm because "they understood what we do...and they are HBR readers themselves, which was very important to us," McConville said.

The campaign is the largest HBS has ever embarked on, said Kathy Olofson, the magazine's communications manager.

The changes follow an autumn reorganization of the magazine's leadership that made Suzy Wetlaufer '81 the sole editor.

Wetlaufer said she was taken aback by the size of the campaign.

"Wow! $8 million. I didn't realize it was that big," she said.

While the advertising campaign is a significant one, Wetlaufer said the magazine's core content and style will remain largely the same.

"We have no desire to change HBR because HBR works," she said. "We are a trendsetter. Every institution needs to be constantly reinventing itself. We want to become more like ourselves, only better."

The three slogans of the campaign--"Sometimes a magazine opens you," "The type is set, but the thinking is not," and "Read ahead"--reflect HBR's intent to reinforce its reputation as a forward thinking, an "elegant, but immediately applicable," magazine, McConville said.

Wetlaufer said HBR would not be disappointed if the magazine attracted new readers, although editors have no intent of changing the fundamental personality and target audience of the magazine.

"We write for senior level executives. They have very unique problems, so we can't write effectively for both senior executives and non-senior executives," she said. "We are not at all disappointed with our fabulous distribution, but, of course, the more the merrier."

Beginning in January, HBR stepped up its frequency from six issues each year to 10. It also incorporated new stylistic and content elements to make the magazine "more modern," including three new columns.

In Wetlaufer's letter from the editor in January--the first issue of the new, revitalized HBR--Wetlaufer emphasized HBR's commitment to its tradition of presenting "the most original, robust, and relevant ideas...for the people leading business around the world."

"The HBR you hold in your hands embodies a legacy as meaningful and defining as ever...But (ain't no getting around it) the HBR in your hands also breaks with the past," Wetlaufer wrote. "The house still stands strong, but fresh air is blowing in."

--Staff writer Benjamin D. Grizzle can be reached at grizzle@fas.harvard.edu