Video: Bloomberg’s Michael Dukmejian on targeting the elite of the elite

Michael Dukmejian, worldwide publisher of Bloomberg Markets told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the magazines’ circulation of 375,000 reached “the most rich and influential people” around the world. About a fifth, or 73,000, reside in Asia-Pacific.

The magazines are sent exclusively to subscribers of the Bloomberg Terminal on an opt-in basis. Bloomberg Markets was launched in 1992 as a guide for the terminal, with articles about financial markets. In 1999 it was refocused to offer more emphasis on editorial features and has since gone on to win more than 200 journalism awards, 17 of which were in last year alone.

Two years ago, the magazine was redesigned under Dukmejian and editor Ronald Henkoff to attract a broarder spectrum of advertisers. The move has paid off with advertising growth of 22 per cent in 2010 and 28 per cent in 2011. The team launched lifestyle luxury title Pursuits in March of this year.

“For while, we had a small area in Markets devoted to wealth: wine, cars, hobbies, cocktails—but research kept saying that readers wanted more. That’s where the idea for Pursuits came,” said Dukmejian. Since its launch, it has been particularly successful in attracting lifestyle luxury brands, with the first issue attracting ads from brands such as Rolls Royce, Chanel and Hermès.

Because the magazine is so exclusively targeted, it enjoys a unique engagement rate with its readers. “They read it with one point in mind, which is to make money, so we have very high engagement metrics,” Dukmejian said.

In fact, advertisements that run in Markets and Pursuits have a mnemonic tag which can be used on the Bloombeg Terminal to research the company behind the ad. According to Bloomberg, about 47 per cent of readers research the companies they see in the magazine’s advertisements.

Another area of interest for the readers of Bloomberg Markets is the Asia-Pacific region. “Asia has been a strong ad market for us with 44 per cent growth this year alone,” said Dukmejian. “Our readers are thinking about Asia-Pacific, there’s a lot of opportunity to make money and our readers want to know more about Asia.”

Over the past year, Markets has increased its Asian coverage with the latest a report on Japan’s green technology sector. “Our strongest circulation growth over the past year has been out of Asia, and I think this is where it’s going to grow,” Dukmejian said.