Join us for the Frankfurt CEO Talks 2014: The Strategist’s Perspective.
A set of three debates with international business leaders will introduce HarperCollins’ new strategies, Brazil’s leading publishing and bookselling group Saraiva and Axel Springer’s digital agenda.
Consolidation in the publishing industry, emerging economies, educational publishing, digital strategies and the globalization of the book business, are the topics in the public interviews presented by Livres Hebdo, with The Bookseller, buchreport, PublishNews Brazil, Publishers Weekly, and the Frankfurt Book Fair Business Club, featuring the Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry 2014.
Understanding the current change of the international book business, as a complex process driven by the forces of globalization, digital transformation, industry consolidation, with new players and strong innovative impulses on an old trade, comes as a challenge.
This year’s Frankfurt CEO Talks will introduce a series of interviews with three preeminent top executives from three outstanding international publishing groups. Initiated by five leading international trade publications, who can dwell upon to date market insights from their Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry, and organized together with the new Frankfurt Business Club, these events will offer a wealth of current information together with unique insights.
The Frankfurt CEO Talks will be held on three consecutive days, to presenting the following topics and guests:
Innovation at a Global Scale: The example of HarperCollins.
Brian Murray, President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers, will be the sole speaker on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, from 14:00 to 15:30.
Creating tomorrow’s book and learning environment: The example of Brazil.
Michel Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Saraiva Group, and Mauricio Fanganiello, Managing Director of Saraiva’s Publishing Division, will speak on Thursday, October 9, 2014, from 14:00 to 15:00, about their company’s leading position and give an overview of Brazil’s compelling book and educational market environment.
Publishing at the Speed of Silicon Valley: Axel Springer’s digital agenda.
Christoph Keese, born in 1964, is Executive Vice President of Axel Springer SE, Europe’s largest news publisher, on Friday, October 10, 2014, from 9:30 to 10:30, will shed light on his group’s digital media strategy. This talk will be integrated in the Frankfurt Story Drive conference.
All three CEO Talks will be moderated by Rüdiger Wischenbart, and take place in the Frankfurt Business Club at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Hall 4. The events on Wednesday and Thursday will be held in hall 4.0, room Europa, the Friday session will take place in hall 4.2., room Dimension.
About the guest speakers:
Brian Murray is President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers. HarperCollins is one of the world’s largest English-language publisher of consumer books, and has publishing operations in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and India. More than 3,000 new titles are published each year, by 60 branded imprints across all major English language markets. Since being appointed CEO, in 2008, Murray has led the transformation of HarperCollins from a traditional print publishing company to a dynamic print and digital publishing company generating $200M in digital revenues. Most recently, Brian Murray led the purchase of Harlequin, the internationally leading publisher of romance fiction, the latest in a series of acquisitions under his stewardship. HarperCollins being a subsidiary of News Corporation, its book publishing activities are immersed in a broader context of a leading global group that includes diversified media, news, education, and information services.
Michel Levy is the Chief Executive Officer of Saraiva Group, which comprises the largest Brazilian bookstore chain with 114 stores, a leading book e-commerce operation with its own e-book platform, a highly profitable publishing house that operates across all major educational fields, including K12, high education and vocational, and also a growing school system. Levy has broad experience in the technology and telecommunications industries. In the 80s, he founded and ran the CompuMarketing Group, which operated in the IT and software distribution areas. He served as the operations director of BCP Telecomunicacões, and managing director of the paging company of Motorola in Brazil. Before being appointed CEO of Microsoft Brazil in October 2006, where he stayed until 2013, Levy held the position of COO of TIM, one of Brazil’s largest mobile phone operators. Levy has earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of São Paulo, and a Master’s Degree from Stanford University.
Mauricio Fanganiello is the Managing Director of Saraiva’s Publishing Division, which publishes around 500 titles per year and is an important content supplier to the Brazilian Ministry of Education. Saraiva operates across all educational fields, but it is particularly strong in K12, Law and Business Administration books. It also has a trade imprint. Mauricio majored in Business Administration at the prestigious Fundação Getulio Vargas, where he also continued his post-graduate studies. He started his career in the financial markets working for companies such as Chemical Bank and Itaú Bank. He joined Saraiva in 1997. Before being appointed to his current position, Mauricio worked in several areas inside the Saraiva Group, such as planning, investors relations, business development and digital content. He certainly is one of the sharpest minds in the Brazilian educational book industry today and has a very broad overview of the educational market.
Christoph Keese, born in 1964, is Executive Vice President of Axel Springer SE, Europe’s largest news publisher and leading digital media company. He leads the effort to transform traditional and print publishing to digital and define Axel Springer’s position in the new ecosystem of quality web media. Prior to his current position, Mr. Keese was Senior Vice President Public Affairs and Investor Relations. He served as editor-in-chief for the leading Sunday newspaper WELT am SONNTAG from May 2004 onwards, acting in parallel as editor-in-chief of news portal WELT ONLINE from 2006 until 2008 as well as heading the Board of Editors of WELT Group. In 2013, he spent six months in Palo Alto, CA, to study Silicon Valley and find new business opportunities for Axel Springer. His new book will be about disruptive change and its impact on our lives. “Silicon Valley – What to expect from the most powerful region in the world” will be published by Random House on September 22, 2014.