In today’s society consumers are faced with less free time but more choice in all aspects of their lives. Free-to-air television and radio, the Internet, newspapers, pay television and magazines are all forms of media that compete for consumers’ time. Since 1990 the magazine industry has experienced growth of 51% in the number of Australian magazine titles. There has also been growth of 13.5% in the annual circulation of Australian magazines. Compared to ten years ago, today’s market has more major titles attracting high reader numbers, and new titles catering to consumers’ special interests. Almost 90% of Australians are magazine readers. Business Review Weekly continues to be at the forefront of this highly competitive and dynamic environment. Established as Australia’s leading business magazine and one of the highest circulating business magazines, per capita, in the world, Australia’s business community regards BRW as essential reading every week.
	Having developed a reputation as Australia’s leading business magazine, BRW is synonymous with business information and is considered the authority in this field. Over the years, BRW has developed an active philosophy of continuous and controlled evolution in order to stay at the cutting edge of business information services and respond to readers’ needs. The strength of the BRW brand has allowed the publisher to develop a range of other business-related titles and move into the realm of contract publishing. From this strong stable of business titles, a range of online financial services has been established. BRW has made a formidable impact in the world of electronic publishing, developing BRW Online as a major source of general business news. BRW’s flagship issues are regularly quoted in the general media as benchmarks for business success. The BRW Rich 200 receives national television and press coverage upon its release each year. BRW’s journalists and contributors are some of Australia’s best, with many major award winners and nominees among them. They are also frequently called upon by other media to comment on topical issues. BRW enjoys a highly developed subscriber database of international standard.
	Business Review, as it was then called, was launched on April 3, 1981 as a joint venture between The Age and the Australian Financial Review.  Business Review was the brainchild of Robert Gottliebsen.  As the award-winning Chanticleer columnist for the Australian Financial Review, Gottliebsen became aware of a huge gap in the Australian business magazine market. The UK had the Economist, the US had Business Week and Asia had the Far Eastern Economic Review.  Australia had no counterpart. Gottliebsen saw a need by money managers, the business community and investors for a quality weekly business magazine that could be delivered to the homes of such executives on Saturdays for weekend review. The editorial policy for BRW was to deliver a clear and accurate analysis of events and lessons to be learned from the latest developments in the business world. One of the most exciting components of the launch of Business Review was that, for advertisers, it carried a mono and colour advertising deadline of “only five working days”.  It was pitched as a brand new vehicle for the advertiser who wanted, at short notice, to reach a very influential business market in a relaxed environment — at home on Saturday and Sunday. Business Review was launched with a circulation of 13,000 fully paid subscribers, with the expectation that it would settle in the area of 35,000. Since then, the magazine has grown dramatically in circulation and readership to consolidate its status as Australia’s leading business publication. The word “weekly” was soon introduced to the masthead to promote the immediacy of the contents. One year after the launch, the masthead was redesigned and the magazine became known as BRW.
	BRW is owned by John Fairfax Publications and is currently edited by Neil Shoebridge. As Australia’s only weekly business magazine, producing 50 issues a year, it has a growing circulation of 76,427 (ABC Dec ’98) and is currently read by 339,000 people (Morgan Readership Survey, Jan-Dec ’98). Respected among Australian business people for its informative, accurate and timely coverage of the Australian business arena, BRW is written and edited by a team of journalists who are experts in their fields. It is read by an audience of ambitious, intelligent people of whom more than 140,000 are professionals or managers, 17,000 are chairpersons or managing directors and 14,000 are general managers. BRW’s editorial content spans all aspects of Australian business including: people, company profiles, mining, information technology, agriculture, property, management, accounting, marketing, small business and the share market. BRW provides incisive journalism that keeps the business community in touch with business thinking and events, and analyses how businesses tackle their problems, enabling others to solve theirs. BRW’s annual lists are well known and eagerly anticipated by Australian business people. The biggest selling issue is the Rich 200. This issue takes months of research and is produced by a team of BRW journalists. It is eagerly awaited by thousands of business people interested in knowing who has been the most successful creator or conserver of wealth, or conversely, who has lost the most money from year to year. A close second in terms of sales is the BRW 1000 — a comprehensive guide to the top 1000 Australian and New Zealand listed, unlisted and government businesses, ranked according to net revenue.
	Electronic publishing is extending the BRW Media brands on the Internet. BRW and its sister publications, Personal Investor and Shares, each appear on their own hyperlinked websites.  Additional services are being provided online to supplement the print publications and satisfy consumer demand. Electronic publishing is also a key component in the extension of the BRW Media brands into investment facilitation.  Both Personal Investment Direct Access and Personal Investment Wrap Service have a substantial online presence.  The BRW Media electronic publishing team is responsible for the production of one of the first Fairfax Group sites, ‘Money Manager’, which incorporates the personal finance content of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, Shares and Personal Investor. The BRW Media sites have grown significantly over the past year. The number of user sessions has increased by more than 300%. The proportion of enquiries generated for Personal Investment Direct Access via the sites has grown from 10% to 40%, even as the number of overall inquiries has continued to expand. Online advertising revenue has also increased by more than 400%. As these sites gain further exposure through other Fairfax sites, this success is expected to continue.
	BRW is promoted nationally in a variety of ways. Press and outdoor advertising are important media for generating brand awareness via the current branding campaign for BRW — “Knowledge is Power.” Radio advertising is generally used to promote specific covers and stories within a particular issue of the magazine. BRW organises a number of events targeted to the business community, including the annual Federal Budget Breakfast and the Business Achievement Awards. The Corporate Team Triathlon Series, the biggest of its type in Australia, is now in its 12th year and continues to attract thousands of competitors nationally. BRW is also a regular sponsor of high profile events such as the Telstra Business Women’s Awards and the Telstra and Australian Government Small Business Awards. BRW’s website also has an active role in promoting the publication and its associated activities. Direct marketing plays a major role in attracting subscribers to the magazine.
	BRW stands for quality, editorial independence and integrity. BRW’s readers depend upon these values when receiving their business information each week. In an environment that has seen the decline of other business titles, it is these values which have led to its continued success and the development of BRW’s loyal readership base. BRW is essential reading for Australia’s business community. It also provides an environment that is desirable and beneficial to advertisers.

BRW
		The original cover price for a copy of Business Review was $1!
		The richest person in the Top 100 Richest People in Australia (as it was in 1983) was Rupert Murdoch with a fortune valued at $250 million. In 1998 the richest person on the BRW Rich 200 list was Kerry Packer with a fortune valued at $5.2 billion. How times change!
		BRW is heavily involved in the Cor-porate Team Triathlon Series. More than 7000 people compete each year.