Transcon joint venture goes after blue chip custom publications

Transcontinental Media, Canada's largest consumer publisher and the largest printer in Canada, has gone into partnership with a British firm to launch a custom publishing agency called Transcontinental Custom Communications, operating in Canada and the U.S.

This means that Transcon is going head-to-head with Redwood Custom Communications, the Toronto-based offshoot of Redwood in the U.K., the largest custom publisher in the world. Redwood publishes magazines for Kraft (What's Cooking/Food & Family) and for RBC Royal Bank, General Motors and Sears Canada. [UPDATE: See comments; Redwood may have lost the Kraft account recently.]

The joint venture is with Seven Squared, a U.K.-based player that publishes Sainsbury's, the U.K.'s largest paid-for custom magazine done on behalf of one of the country's leading grocers. (Six of the top 10 sellers among newsstand titles in the U.K. are said to be custom publications).

Seven Squared produces approximately 30 other publications for clients including Fortnum & Mason, Marks & Spencer, the Metropolitan Police Service, Unichem and Waterstone's Booksellers as well as several U.K. government departments. The new agency will offer fully integrated relationship marketing services that include database marketing, research, variable printing, photo studio and premedia tools. Nino Di Cara from Seven Squared's operation in London, England, will manage the Toronto-based operation as Director, Custom Publishing.

"Branded content offers marketers the ability to connect in an engaging and non-intrusive way with their target audience, while providing high value returns," said Natalie Larivière, President, Transcontinental Media, in a press release. "Combining the experience of Seven Squared with Transcontinental Canadian media expertise will provide best-in-class branded content services to our clients' increasingly global integrated marketing strategies."

Simon Chappell,Director, Seven Squared, said: "Building on Transcontinental's established array of media and marketing services to create Transcontinental Custom Communications is a great step forward in our group's evolution," said . "We are looking forward to working with North American clients and showing them how custom publishing and relationship marketing has the potential to unlock great value from a customer base."

Seven Squared is itself a combined entity, formed in April 2007 when Seven Publishing Group combined its custom publishing division with Square One Group. With total revenues of C$63 million (£30 million), Seven Squared has been named "fastest growing custom publishing agency" according to Marketing magazine (U.K.).