Innovation Culture @ Time Inc.

How to remove risk, cut cost and ensure the success of new products and services… 

The topic for our July breakfast briefing was how to build an innovation culture. Our guest speaker was Paul Cheal – until recently, the Managing Director of Innovation at Time Inc, the consumer magazine and digital publisher.

Paul’s story is inextricably linked to the decline and rise of consumer media in the digital age. The traditional print media model, where consumers pay for content and advertisers pay for access to consumers, is rapidly giving way to a new digital world with very different economics. Paul’s challenge was to drive the innovation necessary to transform the Time Inc print media powerhouse into a modern digital media business.

Paul explained how…

• The incubation lab slashed delivery timelines – cutting 6-month proof of concept cycles to just 6 weeks.
• Corporate culture shifted to embrace experimentation, question the status quo and make more evidence-backed decisions.
• Success transformed business models – switching focus from the printed page to totally digital product offerings.

This is a fascinating account of how he met and delivered that challenge. To read the full report of those insights and the animated discussion they inspired please click the button below.