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It's funny that the name Reader's Digest tends to conjure up images of doctors' waiting rooms. Being the most read magazine in Canada, you'd think there would be a stronger relationship by association. But then again, much of what goes on between Reader's Digest Association (Canada) and its 3.1 million readers slips by unnoticed.
To be sure, the association is a Canadian direct marketing powerhouse, a quiet force to be reckoned with over its 54-year history in Canada. Behind tightly closed doors at its head office in Montreal, its 75 marketers wield a database of some 4.5 million Canadians, nurture their own creative talent, and produce more direct mail pieces in-house per week than most companies do in a single quarter-sometimes in an entire year. All this while publishing the most popular magazine in Canada.
In 1996, however, the company hit a wall-hard-when the Reader's Digest global head office in Pleasantville, N.Y. told its publishers in 30 countries to drop some pretty fundamental direct marketing best practices, like direct mail testing. Revenue and profit suffered globally. Reader's Digest in Canada, like elsewhere, struggled to adapt to the changes-which the company still won't discuss in detail. But the 1996 mandate struck such a sour note that it prompted Bernard Poirier, who was then the Canadian vice-president marketing, to retire after 40 years with the organization. It wasn't until head office recognized the error of its ways a year later that strong leadership guided the Canadian operations back to what they do best: direct marketing.
Now, with last fall's appointment of Pierre Dion to the president's chair, Reader's Digest Association (Canada) is forging unprecedented partnerships to sell non-publishing products, which will take effect in May. And while it will still rely on direct marketing, the company is taking a modernized approach that is both relationship-based and integrated.
Dion, the 36-year-old VP-marketing-turned-president, insists the magazine is and will always remain the company's flagship. At first glance, this may appear unusual given that it accounts for just 25% of the company's revenue and profit, which it won't disclose. The remaining payload comes from Reader's Digest's other publishing products, which include books, music and videos.
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Each of these was developed with the same mission in mind...