In a letter dated April 12, Ingram Content Group executives provided a more complete picture of the company’s new operating structure in the wake of Ingram’s purchase of Perseus Books Group’s distribution arm.
The letter, signed by Ingram chief content officer Phil Ollila, Ingram Publisher Services v-p and general manager Mark Ouimet, and Perseus senior v-p and group sales director Sabrina McCarthy. lays out an intention to “take advantage of the scale of Ingram while making sure that our clients continue to get the service they expect from the distribution companies,” thus resulting in a brand structure that aims to maintain separation between the different distribution divisions. At its top, Olilla is slated to pilot the combined distribution businesses.
Ouimet will run IPS, along with former Perseus subsidiaries Publishers Group West, Consortium Book Distribution, and Legato, while McCarthy will continue to oversee Perseus Distribution. Both Ouimet and McCarthy will report directly to Olilla.
Matty Goldberg, formerly president of publishing, client and sales development at Perseus, will lead acquisition strategies and report to Ouimet. In international sales, former Perseus v-p of international sales and marketing Meredith Greenhouse will report to McCarthy, focusing on growing distribution abroad. Canadian sales have been folded into the international sales group, and Keith Arsenault will serve as sales director for Canada, reporting to Greenhouse.
According to the letter, major account coverage will remain within the five distribution units, with the letter noting that "just about all the same sales people hav[ing] the same roles as in the past."
Jeanne Emanuel, formerly v-p of special markets and custom publishing at Perseus, will take the helm of a new “shared services” sales group overseeing all field sales, gift and specialty, and mass accounts. She will report to Shawn Everson, chief commercial officer of Ingram Content Group. Emanuel will continue to lead gift and specialty group sales, while Elise Cannon will lead field sales for indie stories and Mary Faria will lead mass segments. Cannon’s team will support indie sales for all distribution brands but Consortium and Ingram, and will not sell Ingram wholesale.
The two digital business units, Constellation and CoreSource, will likely merge at some point in the future. Melissa Serdinsky will head the integration efforts, the letter said.
