Bloomberg

24.02.12

Who better to organise a trip to Bloomberg for the Marketors than our own Peter Phillips who, a few years ago, actually appeared on Bloomberg TV having won an investment award. Bloomberg is a company that provide up to the second news for the financial sector. They supply traders with the global information and tools required to manage their portfolios. A very different world to the one in which most of us ply our trade, but we did not realise how different until we entered their offices in Finsbury Square.  First to the reception and then to the refreshment area which contained every form of snack and lunch time bite you could want - and all free. Then we discovered on each floor a vast aquarium containing fish which were largely colour coordinated to the colour scheme of the particular floor. A dream work environment which was completely open plan with most desks having the customary four screens.

But then down to the serious work. A team of Bloomberg staff took us through their offer, the marketing and the TV studios. The Bloomberg Terminal, which is the core of their services, offers an extremely complex array of information on global companies and markets. However, access to the minutia of information is simple (for those trained in using it) and new features and products are being added daily. You can even follow commodities in real time as they travel around the world and also track weather changes which might affect the final price. As for Marketing, addressing a highly segmented and global market, they are wedded to inter departmental marketing integration, several examples of which were given. And so to the studio where we saw a live broadcast. While small, this TV station has a global reach of over 300 million homes and employs all the latest technologies. A long way from ticker tape and cans of film experiences by the Mistress (Brenda) when she first started work in News.

Bloomberg started in the '80s and has recently been growing at 10-15% per annum. Perhaps a clue to their success is the slogan on their coffee mugs whch reads "process less>>  >> profit more". The one thing we did learn was that staff, who came from a diverse array of professions, were both enthusiastic and delightful hosts. Thanks to them all plus, of course, Michael Bloomberg who founded the company and is currently Mayor of New York.

And so we went on to a local hostelry to reflect on the lessons learnt while of course enjoying suitable refreshment and an amply helping of Fellowship. To our delight, and very appropriately, we were also able to celebrate the birthday of John Wheen our very capable Chair of the Events Committee.

John Flynn
Master Marketor