'It's all about doing things differently'

It was a celebration with a difference when advertisers, colleagues and friends joined hands last week to commemorate FTW parent company Now Media’s milestone 60th anniversary in Johannesburg. And doing things differently has been part of the company’s DNA over the past six decades. When founders John and Leona Marsh saw the explosion of printed matter 40 years ago, they recognised that decisionmakers did not have time to read and they converted the magazine format of the company’s early years into quick-read newspapers, substituting frequency for thickness. That philosophy saw the birth of the company’s first niche publications – Freight & Trading Weekly and Travel News Weekly – both of which have maintained their industry dominance forty years on. “While many mass media publications are struggling today, Now Media is in good shape with its specialist niche approach to publishing and with the digital media side being developed by a team led by the next generation of family involved,” managing director Dave Marsh told guests. Now Media currently publishes almost 30 print and online publications, with FTW remaining one of its flagship success stories. Advances in printing technology allow us to write the latest news and print on the same day – and almost uniquely among B2B publishers Now Media has its own printing works under the building. It is now on its fourth Heidelberg printing machine. “The first,” Marsh recalled, “was installed in 1968. Its installation on the 12th floor of our Loveday Street office in town was orchestrated by the founder of Heneways Freight, Pat Henegan, who then worked for AJ Keeler on the seventh floor. It must have been the highest 6-ton printing machine in the world – actually a crazy thing to do!” Changes in technology favour media companies that embrace change, and for Now Media the internet has been a magnificent change, he said. FTW’s online sister publication FTW Online now publishes twice daily and has seen a huge escalation in readership. And while our publications in both the freight and travel sectors have garnered significant domestic recognition, the World Federation of Publishers, in its Innovations Report for 2013, recently chose Now Media’s multi-media Digi-Mag Southern African Tourism Update as one of six case studies of innovations around the world. And as we move forward into the next decade and beyond, innovation is what will continue to drive the company forward – drawing on its considerable print and digital resources to package relevant and authoritative industry news for an informationhungry audience. CAPTIONS 1. Dave Marsh. 2. Marry me! Trencor’s Jacqui Nel was not allowing prize-winner of a holiday for two in Mauritius, Leon Athanasellis of Estates in Africa, to get away after he had collected his prize. 3. Lee Botti (Lee Botti & Associates), Carmel Levinrad (FTW). 4. Alwyn Rautenbach (Airlink), G erd von Mansberg (ATC Aviation). 5. Gwen Zarmaos (FTW), Kreason Pillay (M&S Logistics). 6. Hariesh Manaadiar (Diamond Shipping), Adele Mackenzie (FTW). 7. Liesl Venter (FTW), Mike Brews (Associated Marine). 8. Anton Marsh (FTW). 9. Arnold Garber (Compu-Clearing), Paul Lawrence (Ziegler SA). 10. Peter Ehrenreich (Sasfin Premier Logistics), Warren Erfmann (DSV), Sean Moore (Ziegler SA). 11. Paula Snell, Yolande Langenhoven, Jodi Haigh (FTW). Photos: Shannon Van Zyl