By Kendall Fisher(opens in new tab), executive producer at Grow Wire
“The media is jaded.” “Advertising is diluting our content.” “News is dead.” “There is no truth.”
If you’ve heard these notions once, you’ve heard them a thousand times when it comes to the advertising, media and publishing sector. There’s no shortage of dire conversation around the industry. But while change is a hard pill to swallow for businesses in a centuries-old industry, it’s inevitable and it’s constant.
And that’s precisely why it’s an empowering realm for growth, innovation and opportunity.
On this episode of “The Grow Wire Podcast(opens in new tab),” we’re joined by someone who very much believes in that idea: Ad Age’s Associate Publisher and General Manager of Marketing and Brand, Heidi Waldusky.
With a lifelong career in advertising, Waldusky speaks candidly about the challenges the industry has and continues to face—not with a fear-based mentality but with the attitude that change forces innovation and innovation spawns good for everyone. She explains how change has emboldened businesses to seek creative revenue streams consumers have come to adore: Newsletters, video content, premium subscription services and more. After all, she notes people still crave content.
“Audiences still want to read,” Waldusky says, “They still want to be informed! And they want to trust the people who are giving them that information.”
Ad Age is, itself, a legacy brand with 90 years of experience in publishing, catering to business leaders who trust the brand to help move the needle for their companies. But even Ad Age has reinvented itself in order to meet audience needs, stay relevant and prove that they have a fresh and persistent take on the very industry in which they sit.
Waldusky discusses all of this and more, touching on omnichannel media distribution, innovative approaches across those channels, lessons she’s learned in her career as well as lessons other businesses can learn from Ad Age’s transformation over the years.
Tune into the full episode on Apple Podcasts(opens in new tab), SoundCloud(opens in new tab) and YouTube(opens in new tab).