Harvard’s Media Giant with HBR's Editor in Chief Adi Ignatius

We’re delighted to be joined by Adi Ignatius, the Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review. HBR is over 100 years old and has created some of the best business content ever produced but few people talk about it as a media force. Last year it made $302 million in revenue, had 11 million monthly visitors to its website, and was followed by tens of millions of people on social media. There's no question it deserves paying closer attention to. That's exactly what Matt and I did in November last year when we did a Business Breakdown Episode on how Harvard Business Publishing works. Ever since that conversation, I've wanted to talk to Adi about the unique model HBR employs and how it operates. Please enjoy this conversation with Adi Ignatius. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:50) - (First question) - His most memorable experience as a field journalist in Beijing (00:06:13) - Why it’s so important for media leaders to be adaptable (00:07:10) - His perspective on generative AI as it relates to media and journalism (00:10:46) - The characteristics of the HBR that have enabled it to continue for over 100 years (00:12:54) - The most impactful aspects of their business model and legacy (00:14:39) - The roles of both their freelancers and in-house editors (00:19:48) - How they capitalize on different platforms across the HBP brand ecosystem (00:21:44) - Their signature Case Studies series (00:24:20) - The relevance of print media versus digital formats in their business today (00:25:57) - How their brand image continues to evolve naturally (00:27:42) - The role of diversity in the HBR’s culture and design (00:29:02) - The balance between their subscription-based model and advertising revenue (00:32:20) - Broadness versus specificity in their content (00:33:33) - Keeping their content timely but thorough in the era of digital immediacy (00:35:53) - Their sizeable social media presence (00:39:18) - How working with Harvard sets them apart (00:41:26) - What he has learned throughout his career about branding (00:44:30) - Their book HBR at 100 and the potential for true classics being made in the digital era (00:46:53) - The common threads he can identify in their most influential articles (00:48:40) - The Debrief