The Success Story of Forbes
Forbes was founded on one of the most eventful years in history – 1917. The same year the United States entered the Great War. The founder, B.C Forbes, had a burning ambition to establish himself as a business writer. He previously worked as the editor of Rand Daily, in South Africa. So let’s discuss the story behind the success of Forbes.
Forbes as a Financial Writer
After his return to the United States, Forbes soon established himself as a renowned financial writer across the country. He also started authoring books. Soon, he started his firm, originally named as “Doers and Doings.” But later on, he was convinced to use his surname as the title of his firm. This was a very common practice during this time period.
Forbes Newsletter
B.C Forbes was a strong advocate of entrepreneurial capitalism. In the 1920s, Forbes started growing at a remarkable rate. However, later on, Forbes was hit hard by the Depression. The company went bankrupt in 1932. After surviving the Depression with great difficulty, other publications such as BusinessWeek and Fortune gained an advantage over Forbes in popularity. Malcolm, son of B.C Forbes son joined Forbes after being discharged from the army in 1945. Malcolm started replacing freelance writers by hiring full-time editorial staff. A weekly newsletter named the Forbes newsletter was soon launched. This newsletter analyzed and informed stock prices and other market news from the previous week.
Annual Report Card System
The 30th anniversary of Forbes was marked in 1947. There were great innovations that enhanced the quality of editorial content, along with circulation and advertising. Forbes introduced an annual report card system on the performance of industries in January of 1949. This gave Forbes a huge advantage of advertising on its January edition, even though January is usually the driest month for advertising. However, the magazine went on to introduce an in-depth analysis of the mutual fund industry in the 1950s.
Annual Version of the Magazine
The editor, James Michaels, brought out the best of the firm to gain it’s way to editorial prominence. When the 1982 edition of Forbes introduced a special annual version of the magazine that ranked the richest in America, the growth skyrocketed. This special annual edition carried a rank list and information of the 400 richest Americans.
Branding Campaigns
Forbe’s continued growth and popularity were credited to well thought out and strategic branding campaigns. By the course of time, Forbes was able to surpass its competitors in popularity.
Financial Setback
The 1990s witnessed the rise of revolutionary innovation – the internet. However, Forbes ensured that it never fell out of the loop in electronic publishing. Forbes.com was introduced in 1996. Although the initial years were a financial setback for the website, it soon found its rhythm and started turning profitable.
Digital World
When Lewis D’Vorkin came on board to Forbes, great innovations followed. Lewis had an illustrious career in print, tech, and TV. However, the team led by him enabled Forbes to leap forward in the digital world.
Finance Magazines
Forbes continues to be one of the most popular finance magazines. Forbes further expanded on the digital side, backed by the stakeholder Integrated Whale media investments.
This brings us to the end of our discussion on the success story of Forbes. Let us know some of your thoughts on the topic.
