Launching Firstbiz: the business sense of a nation

An election year always presents compelling new opportunities for a nation. For us in the news media, it’s a specially interesting opportunity. It’s always a year where readership and viewership grow, as do habits change.

This election is extra special for a few reasons - one, it is digital. The amount that parties are spending on digital media, both time and money, and citizens reading, watching and discussing, are unprecedented. Two, it is throwing up a clash of ideas that is again new and a departure from what we have seen in decades. We have seen this grow and grow everyday, for the last two years, on Firstpost, in the usage that we analyse across posts and on social media.

[caption id=“attachment_73579” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Firstbiz Image[/caption]

Whatever happens in Elections 2014, we certainly feel that there is a new digital consumption that is emerging on news platforms. A culture that is informed by a nation that wants change, new ways of seeing and new opportunity. And from this emerges Firstbiz - the business offering from Firstpost.

With Firstbiz, we hope to do the following:

One, rethink posting around Business. If business news consumption is plateauing, it is more because of how business is reported or written about in the digital media. But we at Firstbiz believe there is a way to coax every reader to become a business news reader. We also believe that CEOs can use digital media more, if content were tailored and useful. And so can the CEO’s spouse, for everyone who has economic power is a potential business news consumer.

Two, make Business inclusive. Digital media by its very nature allows us to focus on both the big picture and the niche. We don’t have constraints of inches or minutes, we can afford to have a very long tail. So we will cater to big business, the medium-sized business, the small entrepreneur and very small entrepreneurs working out of their homes.

Three, we are also thrilled to relaunch Biztech2, that was a previously a standalone property for CIOs. Enterprise technology is a phenomenally important space, that we will build a multitude of experiences around. We will focus on great depth in this area, both online and offline. One reason for integrating Biztech with Firstbiz is that the business of technology is no longer only about CIOs. Today, marketing, for example, is driving technology spends as much as CIOs.

And finally, this is a beta production. We will change a lot along the way, as we did with Firstpost, to make Firstbiz mean as much to you as it does to us.

Editor-in-chief, R Jagannathan adds: “With Firstpost, we walked right into the middle of a rising tide of public anger against poor governance and corruption. By reflecting a diverse range of public opinion that mainstream media was slow to respond to, Firstpost made a space for itself.

With Firstbiz, which is targeted not just at business and entrepreneurs, but all economic agents driven by aspiration, the need for a quick turnaround on news and views is even more vital. Digital media is best-placed to serve this growing community of participants in the India growth story with its unique take on developments. We will be there wherever you are: first on your desktop or laptop, and soon enough on your iPad, your Android smartphone, or whatever device you use to get to information.”

Do send us your feedback to make_Firstbiz_ work better for you!