The most recent Comscore release showed TheHealthy. The company plans to launch additional single-subject websites starting in , using RD. Modernizing a thenyear-old company known primarily for an American general-interest magazine was not easy, said Kintzer. Morale was tremendously low. I think there was a loss of pride that they couldn't be successful. With an aging audience that was dying off, the company had been hemorrhaging profits since as it tried to shake its stodgy image.
Even the ,sq. The Harvard MBA was a promising choice to turn the company around: No stranger to the brand, Kintzer had already served a nine-year tenure at Reader's Digest a decade earlier, as general manager of North America and president of U.
Under her tutelage she was responsible for a number of the company's largest publishing and digital properties, including Allrecipes. In between she served as CEO of Women's Marketing, a media strategy firm serving emerging brands targeting women. Charting a way out of the company's second Chapter 11, Kintzer was convinced that Reader's Digest still possessed two keys for success: Its products were still strong — "Pick up any 'Reader's Digest' or 'Taste of Home' magazine and it was clear the editors had never lost sight of their audience," said the CEO — and there was a floodtide of unmonetized digital traffic: Unbelievably, full swing into the digital age, the company was publishing just a mere one article a day online.
One of Kintzer's first moves was to rename the company. What each title in the portfolio did have in common was that they were a trusted brand. So the new name was something of a no-brainer: Trusted Media Brands. Building a strong management team came next. Vince Errico, a consultant with VCs dealing with publishing companies, was familiar with the company's history. Kintzer immediately brought him on board as chief digital officer.
But because the Digest did not rely so much on its advertisers, its content did not have to be targeted to a market desired by the advertisers, leaving editors free to select articles having the broadest appeal.
In , it expanded this line by purchasing the British magazine Money, which was renamed Moneywise, and by starting up a French magazine, Budgets Famille. The special-interest-magazine line, along with other Reader's Digest books and home entertainment, accounted for the revenues not brought in by the Reader's Digest magazine.
The company's books were either released individually or in series. Series books included such new product lines in the United States as the AMA Home Medical Library, while general individual books included reference books, how-to books, cookbooks, travel guides, and others.
As the global economy was restructured in the s, The Reader's Digest Association made attempts to keep pace. Its products were already well known in 11 of the 12 countries that made up the European single market, although Budgets Famille was suspended in May after six issues because it did not meet circulation or advertising objectives. The company began formulating plans to expand into the new markets of Eastern Europe that were beginning to be important in world trade. For example, when the Berlin Wall was opened in , employees of the Digest started distributing complimentary copies of the German-language version of Reader's Digest and collecting names for a mailing list of potential subscribers.
Then in late , Reader's Digest became available in Russian- and Hungarian-language editions to serve readers in those countries. In this way, the association continued to keep pace with an ever-changing world. In the company boasted record sales figures, despite the fact that it was operating in a weak economic climate due to worldwide uncertainty caused by the Persian Gulf War. Aiding the Association in its success were two acquisitions made that year.
In , as Reader's Digest celebrated its 70th anniversary, the company updated the strategic plan that had been set in place when Grune first took over in Even greater emphasis was placed on expanding into new markets around the globe, with use of the Reader's Digest magazine as an entry tool. The company committed to the idea of releasing at least one new edition of the magazine in each of the following years.
Also emphasized in the newly updated plan were cost control measures which led to a 10 percent workforce reduction at the company's headquarters in Pleasantville in The structure of the company itself was also reorganized into three main operating divisions: Reader's Digest Europe, Reader's Digest U. The corporation's rejuvenation efforts soon began to show evidence of success.
In , after 55 years in the United Kingdom, that edition of Reader's Digest became the area's bestselling and most widely read magazine. That same year, Fortune magazine called the Reader's Digest Association the United States' most admired publishing company. In the United States, the ABC television network aired a special program entitled "Reader's Digest: On Television," which helped the company's books and home entertainment segment begin to flourish once again, after a slump during the previous few years.
Furthermore, in a move designed to coincide with the world's progression into the information age, Reader's Digest began to pursue the development of interactive CD-ROM products. By , James P. Schadt, who moved up from the rank of president upon Grune's retirement to fill the new leadership role, had been with the company throughout its restructuring phase. His position as president was filled by Ken Gordon, a longtime Reader's Digest employee and the head of the U.
Together, the two continued to focus both on strengthening Reader's Digest's business in the United States, and expanding throughout the world. The year also offered unique opportunities for Reader's Digest to participate in cooperative endeavors with other companies. Reader's Digest teamed up with the Meredith Corporation, known widely for its Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies' Home Journal products, as a means of expanding its consumer database.
Other operations of the association contributed to the company's total revenue. These operations included a subsidiary, QSP, Inc.
Indian readers have since early days also been major contributors to the humour in the magazine. In , the business was taken over by Living Media India Ltd. Under the new management the magazine sold over 6,00, copies in The Indian edition is also the largest-selling English magazine in the country. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru must have had a special place in his heart for this magazine and you, our readers.
In announcing that decision, in June , the company said that it planned to reduce its number of celebrity profiles and how-to features, and increase the number of inspiring spiritual stories and stories about the military. Beginning in January , the US edition was increased back to 12 times a year. RDA , became a publicly traded corporation.
From through , RDA reported a net loss each year. In April , the UK arm was sold to its management. It has a licensing deal with the U. RDA offers many mail-order products included with "sweepstakes" or contests. Reader's Digest and the company's other U. A notable shift to electronic direct marketing has been undertaken by the company to adapt to shifting media landscape.
In , 32 states attorneys general reached agreements with the company and other sweepstakes operators to settle allegations that they tricked the elderly into buying products because they were a "guaranteed winner" of a lottery. The settlement required the companies to expand the type size of notices in the packaging that no purchase is necessary to play the sweepstakes, and to:.
The UK edition of Reader's Digest has also been criticised by the Trading Standards Institute for preying on the elderly and vulnerable with misleading bulk mailings that claim the recipient is guaranteed a large cash prize and advising them not to discuss this with anyone else. Following their complaint, the Advertising Standards Authority said they would be launching an investigation.
Although Reader's Digest was founded in the U. Its worldwide circulation including all editions has reached 17 million copies and 70 million readers. Reader's Digest is currently published in 49 editions and 21 languages and is available in over 70 countries, including Slovenia , Croatia , and Romania in In each market, local editors commission or purchase articles for their own market and share content with U.
The selected articles are then translated by local translators and the translations edited by the local editors to make them match the "well-educated informal" style of the American edition. Over the 90 years, the company has published editions in various languages in different countries, or for different regions. Often, these editions started out as translations of the U.
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