Four years ago, the marketing team at Lincoln Electric, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of welding equipment, recognized the warning sign. Industry trends saw companies losing more than 50,000 welders every year to retirement and attrition, says Craig Coffey, director of marketing communications for the company, adding, "We realized we can either compete for a diminishing customer base or we can try and create some new customers."
The company made a bold decision to launch a new print and online magazine called ARC(as in arc welding) that would share inspiring stories about how people use welding in the real world....