Bloomberg announces President for Bgov

Sean Callahan of BtoB magazine reports the announcement of a new president for Bloomberg's government division.

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100303/MEDIABUSINESS/100309960/1078

According to BtoB (direct quote from BtoB is in italics)- (Bloomberg) said Tuesday that Kevin Sheekey is rejoining the company as chairman of the government-oriented division. He will also oversee government relations and communications.

Sheekey, who most recently was New York’s deputy mayor for government affairs, worked at Bloomberg from 1997 to 2001.

“Kevin will oversee a service that applies Bloomberg’s unmatched capabilities in data gathering and analytics to a one-stop, integrated information source of government information. Bloomberg is ideally positioned to address the fragmented market for information about people, decisions and data in Washington that affect business,” Daniel Doctoroff, president of Bloomberg, said in a statement. Bloomberg, which has traditionally shunned acquisitions, has been aggressively expanding beyond its core terminals business. The company acquired BusinessWeek late last year.

Alright, let's deal with a couple of tidbits in here.

First, being a former Bloomie and Deputy Mayor of NYC apparently qualifies Mr Sheekey as 'the guy'. While there is sense in this, as far as knowing the Bloomberg method, there is no sense in it if they plan on his being the main BGov person in DC. This market requires an insider as the driver. DC is a relationship driven market and you need a Rolodex or LinkedIn connections with hundreds if not thousands of contacts and those people need to know and trust YOU.

The other point I wish to address is "the fragmented market for information about people, decisions and data in Washington that affect business." While this is a catchy phrase, it means very little.

People, decisions and data.

This implies that there is information worth paying for that is not currently available in DC, or at least not available in one place.- information that involves each of these elements.

This reminds me of a situation I faced in 2002, when I was called by someone from NY who wanted to start a publication in DC - The Federal Paper. I wrote an Amtower Off-White Paper about this (see below), but I advised him against moving ahead. the federal paper folded after 2 issues.

Here is the Off White Paper (and keep in mind I wrote this long before The Apprentice):

"Off-White Paper" #17 - News for the News Impaired: An Amtower "Off-White" Paper

In 1998, I wrote a second Off-White paper on trade shows (Off-White 3.1), about the soon to be ill-fated GovTechNet. The overall point of that piece was "where is the value-add" for this event – what’s the point? We already have two big events, and unless you’re targeting a strong niche, there is no need for this. Well, I pissed off a few people. Again.

And, the event folded in short order.

And now we have a similar situation. The Washington Post announced 9/23/02 what many of us already knew, that there was another publication being launched in the Federal market. The Federal Paper is to be a weekly targeting "senior executives, presidential appointees, and the Hill" (read: the already overworked, the learning impaired, & the otherwise unemployable) with news that apparently they aren’t getting elsewhere. A controlled circulation base of 30,000 of people who need yet another news source.

The breakdown:

- 7,000+ presidential appointees (deer-in-the-headlights syndrome);
the Hill, 1,000-2,000 (with news about the executive branch? They already know everything they want to know, which they get from The Idiot’s Guide to the Executive Branch);

- 5,000+ career SES people (my God, people who work!)

- and another 15,000 "senior" people (AARP?).

News in Washington, D.C. which they aren’t getting elsewhere?

Well, of course, there is no news for these people in Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly, National Journal, Government Executive, the Post’s Federal Page, FCW or GCN and a host of others, including paid newsletters, e-newsletters, web sites and gossip.

That being said, an experienced team has been assembled to pull this off, and it is led by someone with a publishing background.

But the premise remains weak, and when my clients and friends call (I get at least one a day on this one), my advice is "save your money, or if you have that much to spare, give it to me."

So here’s how they got there…

Market research: three sycophants and a rich person in a room with a case of Heineken and four straws.

Rich guy: "I think we can make a play in the public sector publishing market."
Sycophant 1: " Oohhh, it’s a great market."
Sycophant 2: "Aahhh, it’s a huge market."
Sycophant 3: "Yes, but aren’t there…"
Rich guy: "You’re fired."
Sycophant 1: "Decisive."
Sycophant 2: "Forceful."
Rich guy: "Adjourned."

Come to think of it, I am out of cat litter.

Not that I have an opinion on this….

Amtower

Copyright 2002, Amtower & Company
http://www.federaldirect.net/offwhite17.html

Bloomberg & BGov take 5 - what are they DOING?

These two posts are from January 27 FishbowlDC posts. FishbowlDC provides the inside scoop on DC media. You should subscribe if DC media is of interest to you (if you have PR responsibility or are just a media junkie, FishbowlDC is a great source). My personal thanks and kudos to FishbowlDC for following this so closely.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/news_notes/new_bloomberg_initiative_takes_aim_at_hill_rags_150213.asp

1/27/10, 4:59 PM
"Sources tell FishbowlDC that an underground project, slated to put a hurtin' on NJ, CQ-Roll Call, The Hill and Politico is underway at the Washington bureau of Bloomberg News. Rumor has it that the project's aim is to specifically report and track Cap Hill news using a dashboard site similar to Bloomberg's existing technology. "

Few details about the initiative have surfaced but the competition has already begun in the HR department. Reportedly led by former CQ Editor and VP Mike Riley, we hear that recruiting efforts have already snagged several CQ folks including top salesperson Joanna Matthews.
At the time of this post, Bloomberg could not comment on the project or specific hires but a rep tells FishbowlDC, "We are hiring globally and Washington is increasingly important to our subscribers, readers, listeners and viewers. Naturally we are adding staff in the DC bureau."

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/news_notes/bloombergs_bgov_details_begin_to_surface__150240.asp

1/27/10
"Bloomberg News still isn't talking about the development of their new product, designed to take on The Hill, CQ-Roll Call and other Cap Hill pubs but details about the venture have started seeping out since FishbowlDC first reported this afternoon.
Sources at the organization say the initiative is being overseen by execs Chris Walters and Don Baptiste who have traveling to Washington on a weekly basis. Additionally, Chris Roush from UNC's "Talking Biz News" tells us that the project is expected to have a $100 million budget, will create 40-50 editorial positions and is being referred to as "BGov" internally."

Amtower analysis (see my previous posts on this over the last 10 days): Bloomberg is looking to become a major paid information provider on multiple fronts.

- On one front, they will take on the Capitol Hill pubs (National Journal, Roll Call, etc), which includes the Hill and K street (lobbying) audience.

- On another front they will apply their traditional market expertise (finance/investment) to the complex government contracting community and provide an investment service to Wall Street that focuses on Global One - selling to the government (Federal, state and local). Input already announced they were providing an investment tool, Government Investment Advisor (GovIA), providing. Frankly a product like this is long overdue. "

- On yet a third front, Bloomberg will compete against Input, Federal Sources, Onvia and others in providing emerging contract opportunity data to the contracting community.

An Napoleon and others found out, fighting wars on multiple fronts is not a winning proposition.

Bloomberg does have deep pockets and can buy some of the competition, and this is what I expect to happen. With their apparently aggressive growth goals, the "purchase the competition" method is most likely.

Stay tuned....

More on Bloomberg & BGov, take 4

This story gets more interesting every day.

www.Mediabistro.com has a couple interesting posts regarding Bloomberg's foray into the B2G marketplace

First-
"Ex-CQ CEO on Bloomberg BGov Board

The buzz is true and painful. Bob Merry, former CQ CEO, has accepted a position on the board of advisors for Bloomberg's BGov enterprise, FishbowlDC has learned."
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/the_revolving_door/excq_ceo_on_bloomberg_bgov_board__150783.asp

This post is from Feb 2, and predates my first post by over 2 weeks. If I had been reading my daily emails from Mediabistro/fishbowl every day, I'd have been on this sooner! I knew Bloomberg was interested in B2G late last fall, but didn't think much of it. With the addition of Bob Merry to the advisory board of BGov, we know there is now some adult supervision. It would be interesting to know who else they have for this board.

Second-
"CQ-Roll Call Group Freezing Out Bloomberg -
Relations are getting icy between Bloomberg News and CQ-Roll Call Group.
A source at Bloomberg is saying that the CQ-Roll Call Group has refused to renew Bloomberg's subscriptions to CQ's congressional reporting services because, according to the source, "they now consider us a competitor."
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/news_notes/cqroll_call_group_freezing_out_bloomberg__152434.asp

Now this is more interesting, as it indicates more of the breadth and depth that Bloomberg may be interested in pursuing, or at least the paranoia they are causing by entering the market.

The paranoia is legitimate. It is not yet known how broad a net Bloomberg/BGov will cast over the market, so anyone providing government information may have cause for some alarm.

Upside: If Bloomberg makes the market more popular, more companies may be interested in entering the market and investors will may find it a more attractive market segment. Bloomberg would not be the only beneficiary from this.

What is known is that budgets are tight, information sources abound on the web for much of this data (often in raw form, but it is there), and that the true value comes from the added value current information providers bring to the table. The value-add comes from the ability to make sense from the data, make it usable, then useful. This comes from being a proactive student of the market over a long period of time. You have to know what is important to the market and be able to bring those tiny nuggets to the surface and delveier them to the right audience.

There is a major difference between making data usable and making it useful. Technically, FPDS (Federal Procurement Data Service) data is usable, but it has not been made useful (actionable). In the more raw form, it requires analysis from someone familiar with the nuances of the market to add true value. Top flight talent with B2G contracting experience on this is not readily available. It is a small club.

It will be interesting to see

- if Bloomberg/BGov will make more purchases,
- what kind of products and services they roll out,
- who will drive the BGov group,
- how the BGov group will be populated
- who Bloomberg will add to the BGov Board,
- how the competitors respond.

This is a long-term market. Companies entering with visions of near-term market domination predicated on a "brand" name are not only disappointed, but often end up as chalk outlines on the sidewalk. Bloomberg and BGov may have a real play, but if they enter with attitude and visions of near-term radical growth, it will be interesting to see if BGov becomes BGone.

Bloomberg enters B2G, Input enters Wall Steet - take 3

Among others, Talking Biz News reported in January that Bloomberg was preparing to launch a competitor to Congressional Quarterly (aka CG, not to be confused with GQ, if that is still around). The other publications in that arena is the National Journal, The Hill and Roll Call.
http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=13043

Each of these news services/publications is quite expensive, so the circulation base (# of subscribers) was never huge.

CQ is currently owned by the Roll Call Group. I had the opportunity to consult with the original owner, Congressional Quarterly, on the waning circulation of the publication several years back. When I went to my first meeting there, they were trying to grow the circulation base for the publication while it was shrinking. The web was providing much of the news previously not available to the general public. This was several years back: factor in now the use of all the web 2.0 tools and news sources and the ability to get the info without the expensive publications is very real.

My advice back then was to shore up the base rather than to look for new subscribers. The logic was simple: after many years of publishing, they had exhausted most of the sources for new subscribers. The best use of the marketing funds was to keep those who were already subscribers and try to get those back who had recently cancelled. These publications, while fun and interesting, are difficult to sell on a one-to-one basis.

The market for exclusive information sources is shrinking because the "exclusivity" of the information is disappearing - there are literally hundreds of web-based sources that are free or cheap providing similar information.

The key is adding value for the subscriber. Bloomberg will certainly be able to add value considering the number of information sources it has to draw on, including BusinessWeek and the other Bloomberg sources.

In the meantime, Input has not been idle. On February 8 they announced the launch of Government Investing Advisor (GovIA). Quoting form the press release, Gov IA is "a new research offering designed to deliver unique data and insights to the investing community on government spending and contractor activity. Available immediately to subscribers, GovIA provides hard-to-find information and insight on the largest, publicly traded companies serving government, as well as government market data, spending analysis and forecasts."

To focus on this market Input hired Julie Santoriello Chariell as Vice President of Financial Services. She is a financial industry analyst formerly of Morgan Stanley.

Federal Sources is not sitting and waiting either. In a conversation with Ray Bjorklund Friday afternoon, he indicates Federal Sources is focusing on the core business of making their clients successful in their pursuit of government business. Sounds like a good move.