Integrating New Lists Following An Acquisition
How one b-to-b publisher is using his company's new lists to increase revenue for the existing ones.
Back in February, Los Angeles-based b-to-b publisher Canon Communications announced that it had acquired the global assets of Reed Business Information’s Electronic Design News, Design News, Test & Measurement World and Packaging Digest.
Known largely as a medical/pharmaceutical industry magazine publisher, Canon also produces a large stable of events including several that serve the same advanced design engineering sector, as do the titles associated with this deal. At the time of the announcement, Canon had planned to integrate the three electronics titles with its medical device brands and align Packaging Digest with its Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging News brand. But along with the acquisition of the brands came the acquisition of new lists.
In addition to cleansing the lists of any de-dupes, the company will have a few tasks in order to make the transition go as smoothly as possible. “The big thing is to make sure that the opt-out levels match up,” says Leonard Roberto, audience development director, Canon. “RBI’s level was eight, but ours is currently at a four.”
Next, the company has to figure out what percentage of the budget it will take to handle these lists, which represents more than 440,000 postal and email subscribers, and how much revenue they have the potential of bringing in. “These lists have been on the decline for the last three years, so we’re looking for synergies with our own lists,” Roberto says. “We’re also trying to figure out how we can leverage and make new lists according to industry type.”
Canon currently has a total of 120 data cards available based on those looking to connect with mechanical and design engineers, pharmaceutical and other industry types. They combined their show attendee lists with their postal email lists in order to attract new buyers. Although the lists have been on the decline, Roberto is confident that his team’s new strategies—as well as its new lists—will allow revenue to pick up.
We’re tracking every past order to see where we’re at, we’re sending more pieces, and we’re trying to find hidden gems,” he says. “We’re also going after bigger mailers, such as Pitney Bowes and MasterCard. Having RBI’s lists under our umbrella is going to help because there were certain large companies that didn’t want to deal with us in the past because they felt that our lists weren’t big enough. But now we can say, ‘Hey, take another look at us. Our files are bigger.’”
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