The business model of Bloomberg is distinctive and successful because achieving customer value is at its centre. In our opinion this business model is very innovative compared to the business model of traditional media companies like for example Reed Business.There are three activities in which Bloomberg differentiates itself from the competition.

• the focus on a specific customer group;
• a crossmedia offer focussing on the specific need of the target group
• services focussing on the day-to-day work process and the available free time of the user.

In almost 20 years, Bloomberg has become one of the largest and most profitable suppliers of business information. Bloomberg’s competitors, including Reuters, also provide online news and financial information to the financial sector. They focused in their market exploitation on the buyers of their products; the IT manager. The requirement of this group was mainly aimed at standardised systems. When Bloomberg entered the market in the late eighties, the organisation elected to focus on the users of the information; dealers and financial analysts. Bloomberg developed a system that met the wishes and requirements of the users and that made it possible to perform analyses immediately on the information. Bloomberg also addressed the fact that the target group had a great deal of money but but little time to spend it. The organisation realised that the financial markets are somewhat less hectic at certain times. Bloomberg decided to add information and services to its system that addressed the personal lives of the trader. Thus opportunities to order flowers, clothing and jewellery were added, trips could be booked, information could be obtained on wines and property could be sought. The result was that analysts and traders urged their employers to choose Bloomberg.

Through this, Bloomberg evolved into a global financial media company which employs some 8,000 people. Bloomberg has already pursued a multimedia strategy for many years. The business domain comprises activities in the areas of financial analysis, news and information. Bloomberg Professional integrates data, news, analyses, multimedia reports and e-mail in a single platform and provides direct access to more than 3.6 million financial instruments. The benefit for the customer is acquiring support for taking decisions and performing transactions in all currencies. More than 1,000 data analysts are responsible for the analyses and the data input. The service is available 24 hours a day, with 24-hour technical support that is provided by 260,000 professionals in more than 125 countries. Bloomberg has its own news service, a TV broadcaster that offers interactive programmes, a radio broadcaster and Bloomberg publishes magazines and books.

Facts & figures

• 2005 Sales (millions): $4,100
• Annual Sales Growth: 17.1% 2005 Employees: 8,200
• Annual Employee Growth: 2.5%
• The founder owns 72% of the group

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