Bookspan Reorganizes Package Inserts
Bookspan's package-insert program will have a more streamlined look by the end of the year after the company completes its plan to consolidate the various Book-of-the-Month Club and Doubleday Direct PIPs into three programs based on subject categories.The reshuffling will create larger and more focused insertion programs for its PIP users, letting them target new customers of Bookspan continuity programs specifically, the company said. The consolidation also will give Bookspan cost savings.
Bookspan formed two years ago from the partnership of AOL Time Warner, which owns the Book-of-the-Month-Club, and Bertelsmann, which owns Doubleday Direct.
Bookspan's various PIP lines will merge into three new lines, including:
· The General Interest PIP, consisting of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback and One Spirit, formerly of the Book-of-the-Month Club Adult PIP, as well as the Doubleday Book Club, Black Expressions, The Literary Guild, Doubleday Large Print, Mystery Guild, On the Rise, Outdoorsman's Edge, Rhapsody, Stage & Screen and Science Fiction Book Club, all formerly of the Doubleday PIP.
· The Lifestyle PIP, consisting of The Good Cook and Crafter's Choice clubs, both formerly of the Book-of-the-Month Club Adult PIP, and Country Homes & Gardens, formerly of the Better Homes & Gardens PIP.
· The Families PIP, consisting of the Crossings PIP and the Children's Book-of-the-Month Club PIP.
Bookspan also will be able to identify new customers, those who receive special introductory offers with their first purchase, on each of the PIP lines, allowing marketers to target them specifically. Formerly, this service was available only on Bookspan's Doubleday Direct lines.
The General Interest PIP will issue more than 1 million shipments to established customers and ship to 225,000 new customers each month. The Families PIP will ship to 190,000 regular customers and 60,000 new customers monthly, while the Lifestyle PIP will ship to 160,000 regular customers and 40,000 introductory customers monthly.
Shipping lines formerly located out of Bookspan's facility in Mechanicsburg, PA, will be moved to Hanover, PA. The facility in Mechanicsburg, which formerly handled Book-of-the-Month Club shipments, will remain open as a customer service center and perform other business services, including accounting, for Bookspan.
Singer Management, which previously managed the Doubleday Direct and Crossings PIP, will handle the consolidated Bookspan PIP. Bookspan said it anticipates completing the changes by Oct. 1.
Direct Media, which formerly managed the Book-of-the-Month Club and Children's Book-of-the-Month Club lines, will continue to handle the Doubleday Select PIP line, a separate program from the consolidated Bookspan lines.
