Leading Time In Critical Times

Laura Lang may seem like a fish out of water.  She was appointed Time, Inc. CEO this year but is not by profession a journalist. She has been a seasoned executive in the field of advertising.  Yet the top people at Time Warner the parent company of Time, Inc. believe she is the right person for the job.

Lang was previously the CEO of Digitas which provided companies with electronic services like online ad targeting and digital ad campaigns that run on social media sites. She helped transform Digitas to its present state from a company that was once into traditional junk-mail marketing.

Lang has a lot of work ahead of her. The previous head of Time, Inc. lasted only 6 months before getting fired.  The aggressive approach used to try to improve the company did not sit well with many of the long time executives.

Lang on the other hand is known as not having a big ego. She has demonstrated during changes in her previous company that she is willing to work with anyone to get the job done. She is also known to fire people who do not live up to expectations.

Time Inc.  publishes Time, People, InStyle and Sports Illustrated among others and its overall revenue has declined by around 30 percent in the last five years. Lang is expected to make the company more profitable again with her expertise in digital media an area where advertisers are now using to reach customers.  She is the first female CEO of the company.