Simba Information’s newsletters, Educational Marketer and Electronic Education Report, provide critical information to top executives in the educational publishing and electronic instructional materials markets.
To provide a closer look at these unique resources, Simba Information's long-time Senior Analyst and Managing Editor Kathy Mickey answered some frequently asked questions about the newsletters. Read on to learn more.
What is the core mission of Simba Information’s newsletters?
The core mission of the newsletters is to provide business news about the companies that market and sell instruction-related products to the K-12 school and higher education markets in the U.S. and to provide information and data about the current and future conditions in those markets to help guide companies’ strategic decision-making.
How long have Simba’s newsletters been in circulation, and how have they evolved over the years?
The first issue of Educational Marketer—then called The Educational Marketer—came out in August 1968 and was billed as: “a newsletter for sales, marketing and advertising executives in educational publishing, materials and equipment companies.” Electronic Education Report was introduced in the late 1990s to take advantage of the burgeoning ed-tech industry, particularly in K-12.
Evolution of the newsletters has involved transitioning from a six-page mimeographed format to total digital delivery, from targeting traditional publishers and very large tech companies to covering a broader universe of providers and influencers, including bookstore operators and professional development providers, for instance, and more information that reflects changing market demand than just the hard business operational data.
In more recent years, the Simba motto became: the intelligence you need for the advantage you want.
Who is the target audience?
The target audience always has been the C-suite executives and department heads—decision-makers—in companies that produce the products used in schools, the investment community that backs those businesses, companies that provide bookstore services and companies that provide services to the school and college market related to instructional materials and tools.
What key subjects do the newsletters cover?
Business data: executive changes, mergers and acquisitions, revenue/profit trends, business strategy changes, partnerships, instructional materials adoptions, new product launches, legislation and market impacts/changes/demands that affect how companies do business.
What topic areas have received significant coverage in the last year?
Obviously, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on market needs and opportunities; changes in how college students are getting their instructional resources, the rise in changing workforce needs and short-course offerings (alternative credentials) in the post-secondary space, mergers and acquisitions, changes in testing needs and demand.
What is the value of bi-weekly newsletters compared to traditional market research reports?
Newsletters offer immediacy—keeping up with change in the market and in company strategy. Reports grow out of that bedrock and provide in-depth broader perspectives on the overall market. One serves as a base; the other keeps you up to date on shifting market conditions, demand and innovation.
Simba's editorial staff have a strong background in journalism with a focus on education and have worked at Simba for an extensive period of time. How does this experience help enrich the content of the newsletters?
Our backgrounds in journalism give us the tools for getting the information and knowledge we need to provide more than just the headlines, and we have a depth of institutional knowledge that improves analysis and provides perspective.
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