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AN OVERVIEW OF IPG'S MARKETING APPROACH continued . . . Another example of IPG's aggressive exploration of new markets is its launch into the academic-distribution business in the spring of 2001. IPG acquired Paul & Company (since renamed IPG Professional and Academic), an 11-year-old distributor of university and scholarly press titles. In addition to its general trade catalogs mentioned above, there are now two IPG Professional and Academic catalogs each year, and many special subject catalogs, prepared each year to sell books to the relevant associations, universities, and wholesalers. Many of the traditional barriers between professional, academic, and trade markets have collapsed, which has opened up the possibility of cross-marketing between these segments. Many trade books can be used for college-course adoptions and many professional and academic books will sell quite well in trade bookstores. These cross-marketing policies are not typical of independent-press distributors, and they result in additional services and sales channels that are costly and time consuming for IPG to provide. IPG is happy to provide them because they contribute significantly to the financial health and growth of IPG's client publishers. |
IPG offers more channels through which books can be sold, and more marketing support than any other distributor. By selling through many different sales channels, distributing broadly to many accounts in each channel, and never overselling any account, IPG greatly reduces the market risk of unsold copies and high returns for its client publishers and increases their chances to thrive.
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Mark Suchomel President, Independent Publishers Group Mark has been with IPG since it was acquired by Chicago Review Press in 1987. He came on board at CRP in 1986, as sales manager. Prior to that, he worked for Contemporary Books in Chicago. As president of IPG, he has been named by Publishers Weekly as one of the Eleven for the Millennium—those individuals in the industry who will help shape and influence publishing in the 21st century. In 2006, he was named as a runner-up for Publishers Weekly's Publishing Executive of the Year. He has been instrumental in making Chicago Review Press the successful publisher it is today, and has dramatically improved the performance of many other IPG publishers. Jeff Tegge VP Sales Jeff Tegge has been involved in producing, editing, marketing, and selling books for the past 16 years. From 2004 to 2006 he was General Manager of Quality Books, Inc, the premier distributor of small press titles to the North American public-library market. Prior to that, Jeff spent 4 years as National Sales Manager for libraries, schools, and rights for Sourcebooks, Inc. From 1997 to 2000, Jeff was Marketing Manager for Ferguson Publishing. He began his career in 1990 as Editor for Standard Educational Corporation, where he had advanced to Senior Editor by the time he left. As VP Sales, Jeff works with IPG's sales staff to find new outlets and markets and helps IPG maintain its position as the most innovative and agressive distributor in the industry. Jeff is also responsible for sales through Baker & Taylor.
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