As we were headed to press with this annual issue on technology and its impact on the worlds of sales and marketing, the Tribune Media Company, owners of such notable newspaper brands as the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Baltimore Sun, announced it is rebranding the company as “tronc.”
No, that’s not a typo. It’s really tronc — with a small “t,” as in “tribune online content.”
When I sat down to plan the components of this cover feature package many months ago, it occurred to me that technology can be a business leader’s best friend and worst enemy (sometimes in the same day). There is endless talk about digital marketing, marketing automation, customer relationship management and countless other platforms, products and processes that are designed to crank your sales into hyper drive.
All of that talk exists for good reason. These tools can and do perform as advertised. But you can drive yourself batty trying to keep pace with the technology arms race, and you may make some regrettable decisions in the process. The tronc moniker is a perfect example.
The name change reflects a mission shift, explains Tribune Media Company Chairman Michael Ferro. “Our rebranding to ‘tronc’ represents the manner in which we pool our technology and content resources to execute on our strategy.”
The immediate reaction seemed to imply the only thing that shifted was the board’s common sense, which some already questioned in light of its rejection of an aggressive $400 million takeover bid by Gannett.
“I’m waiting for a punchline,” quipped Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser on the MarketFoolery podcast (by the way, the most entertaining 25-minute personal finance podcast out there). “Who greenlit that? It sounds like onomatopoeia — like a basketball hitting the front of the rim from three-point land… TRONC!”
MarketFoolery’s host Chris Hill added, “It’s 2016, do you really need to go out of your way to remind people that you have content online? And by the way, tronc is my favorite Transformer.”
It’s proof that the hullabaloo surrounding technology in today’s business world can cause seemingly smart business minds to make some rather dumb decisions. Our stories on technology in this issue — and there are many outside of the cover package as well — are designed to help you step around that sort of mess.
Gronk is a fun “brand” that I’ll buy into. tronc? Not so much.
