Since he was appointed v-p and general manager for Meredith's book group last October, Doug Guendel, along with longtime editor-in-chief and publisher Jim Blume, has been creating an infrastructure to position the company for rapid growth. As Meredith Corp. looks to diversify its revenue streams, the book group "has a corporate charge to grow the business," Blume said.
To help meet what Guendel calls the group's "aggressive growth goals," the company has brought in a number of new senior managers. The most recent appointment was that of Linda Cunningham as editor-in-chief, an appointment that will allow Blume to focus on his duties as group publisher. Cunningham, who will be based in Meredith's Des Moines headquarters, has worked at a number of New York publishers as well as at Questia Media, and her background "is a perfect fit for what we are looking for," Blume said. "We do what we do well, but we were looking for some one to help us see what else we can do," Blume said.
Meredith has hired another executive, Todd Davis, whose main responsibility as executive director of new business development will be to evaluate new subject areas that fit with Meredith's core home and family categories. "We are going to be more proactive" in going after new projects such as licenses and authors, Guendel said. A third new executive, Jeff Myers, has been hired as executive director of marketing. Myers has been with Procter & Gamble for the last six years and he is expected to examine Meredith's title mix and see how it can be better aligned to meet consumers' needs. Working with Myers will be two product managers whom Blume is in the process of hiring. Cunningham, Davis and Myers all report to Blume.
The addition of the three new executives reflects Guendel and Blume's strategy to increase market share. "The markets we are in [home improvement, cooking, gardening, decorating and crafts] are very fragmented, and we feel we can gain market share through internal growth, joint ventures and acquisitions," Guendel said.
In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2002, Meredith published a little more than 60 titles and plans to publish closer to 70 this year. In fiscal 2004, the schedule calls for about 80 titles "and we'll go up from there," Blume said.
The book group, which now has approximately 90 people, had a very strong first quarter, led by the release of the 12th edition of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, while Meredith's Home Depot titles have also done well. A revised edition of the first Home Depot book, Home Depot: Home Improvement 1-2-3, is set for release later this year, as is a new edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Decorating Book.
