St. Joseph Media buys Totem custom publisher from Yellow Pages Ltd.

St. Joseph Media has bought Totem from Yellow Pages Ltd., and plans to roll it under its custom publishing division, Strategic Content Labs. Among the custom publications Totem produces are the quarterly CAA Magazine with combined readership of 4.5 million. Other Totem clients include  The Hockey News and The London Magazine. The company was founded in 2008 as Redwood Custom Communications, and  was for a time owned by TC Media and renamed Totem and sold  in 2008 to Yellow Pages in 2016. 

“We look forward to working with Totem and its clients to not only maintain the great level of service being provided, but to supplement it with the expanded capabilities available through Strategic Content Labs and St. Joseph’s complete range of business offerings,’’ said St. Joseph Media President Douglas Kelly.

Launched four years ago, Strategic Content Labs produces publications in the consumer products, travel, culture, association, university and college, and government sectors. Its clients have included Grey Goose, Greater Toronto Airport Authority, National Music Centre, University of Guelph and Heritage Canada.

St. Joseph Media’s stable of consumer brands includes Toronto Life and FASHION Magazine.

"B2Me" customized magazines capitalize on reader/buyer data

I've been reading about the rise of customized B2Me magazines, print publications tailored or "versioned" to the interests and characteristics of the audience. D. Edward Tree has written in Publishing Executive about a Belgian magazine which has a print run of 150,000 but with no two copies alike. 

"Changes in the advertising market are creating a greater need and opportunity for customized magazines. Programmatic advertising in digital media has demonstrated the power of getting the right message to the right person at the right time, undermining the “spray and pray” approach often associated with advertising in traditional media.

"ZEB, a multi-brand fashion [retailer and] publisher, uses customer data — such as purchase history, age, gender, favorite brands, and place of residence — to customize the text and images on multiple pages of its customer “magazine,” which is arguably a catalog."

There's a video showing how the company does it. 


It's a long way from a belly band or a cover wrap. But part of the thesis is that, while it is expensive, it may be no more so than direct mail.

St. Joseph Media to produce custom pub for Birks jewellers

Spring-Summer 2015 issue

St. Joseph Communications is launching a twice-annual custom publication in September with Birks Group Inc. called 1879 by Birks. That was the first year that Henry Birks opened a jewellery shop in Montreal. 

The new luxury publication will have a circulation of 150,000, of which 100,000 will be in Canada and 50,000 in the U.S. Copies will be distributed in 48  Birks and Mayors stores, mailed to best customers, distributed at cultural events (e.g. TIFF), inserted in selected copies of the Globe and Mail and distributed in hotels and private jet terminals in Florida. 

The content of the magazine will include information about Birks corporate social responsibility program, features about jewellery artisans, photo shoots of jewellery. design, travel and food stories and advertising from high end jewellery and timepiece brands carried by Birks as well as other external advertisers.

St. Joseph is responsible for all content and design as well as advertising sales and printing. The project team includes Maryam Sanati, editorial director special projects for Toronto Life, Nevien Azzam, director of integrated solutions for St. Joseph Media and Tralee Pearce, a former reporter and editor with the Globe and Mail. 

Former Western Living editor to help lead Globe custom content strategy

Charlene Rooke

The Globe and Mail has dipped once again into the world of magazines for talent, this time to drive its content marketing and "branded content" growth.

Charlene Rooke, who was editor-in-chief of Western Living magazine and most recently was executive editor of custom brands at custom publisher Spafax Canada has joined The Globe in the newly created role of group editor, custom content group. She will lead the overall strategy for custom and branded content initiatives, reporting to Teena Poirier, who has been appointed to an expanded role as director, content marketing. Also promoted is  Simon Beck to senior editor. He will continue to be responsible for automotive content. 

Recently, The Globe hired away the founding editor of Swerve magazine at the Calgary Herald, Shelley Youngblut, to become its western editor. 

Transcontinental Interactive wins seven gold in Magnum Opus custom media awards

Transcontinental Interactive has captured 30 prizes or honourable mentions in the Magnum Opus Awards which recognize excellence in custom media editorial, design and strategy. TI includes Totem Brand Stories (formerly Redwood Custom Communications). 

This is the 8th year for the awards, presented by ContentWise and the Content Marketing Institute and were judged by leading custom publishing professionals and professors from the Missouri School of Journalism 

Transcontinental Interactive won seven awards for online content.

"Being recognized by these prestigious awards is yet another reason to be proud of the consumer centric solutions we provide our customers," said Christian Trudeau, President of Transcontinental Interactive in a posting on the company website. "These awards reflect not only the creative results our teams generate for our clients, but also the commitment to being a strategic marketing partner to fulfill our clients needs every step of the way."

Among the awards:

• Seven gold awards for leading North American brands such as Aeroplan, P&G, Sobeys and Geico
• Nine silver awards for print magazine work; electronic publication or websites;  and all-around publication work
• Five bronze awards and nine honourable mentions

This year, the judges considered 560 entries in 217 categories, including 18 interactive product categories for magazines, videos, blogs, podcasts, and use of social media, among others.

To view the complete list of winners for the 2011 Magnum Opus Awards, click here.

Totem lands contract to publish 2x a year magazine for U.S. insurer Geico

Totem Communications Group, the Toronto-based custom publisher (formerly Redwood), has been chosen to launch a twice-a-year magazine called GEICO Direct on behalf of the U.S. auto insurance company. The magazine and companion website will reach more than 7.5 million GEICO policyholders.

Totem was responsible for tweaking the design and editorial of the spring/summer issue of the magazine and now takes over responsibility for it. According to a release on the Totem website:

Readers will be entertained by a look at the drive-in movie theatre, a summer stalwart that's making a comeback as a magical family entertainment option. The magazine also helps readers find the best summer road-trip burgers, the country's biggest gathering of twins, and hidden treasures with just a GPS device and a little sense of adventure.

"We welcome this exceptional new partnership and the opportunity to build on the heritage of both the GEICO Direct program and the GEICO brand," says Totem SVP Business Development Joseph Barbieri.

Totem's Joe Barbieri named to board of Custom Content Council

Joe Barbieri, the senior vice-president of marketing and business development at Totem (formerly Redwood Custom Communications)  has been appointed to the board of the Custom Content Council, the professional association for custom media. Barbieri, got his start in the business as publisher of Eyetalian magazine in Toronto, later worked at the Globe and Mail and then moved to Redwood (now Totem). 

The Custom Content Council runs the Pearl Awards, a national conference and has done a number of industry surveys through Roper Public Affairs. It also publishes Content, a magazine that is sent to 32,000 marketers. 

Barbieri was one of three new members appointed to the CCC board, including Philip De Jong of the Journey Group and Andrew Seibert, president and publisher of SmartMoney, the Wall Street Journal magazine.

Redwood subsdiary rolls out Procter & Gamble custom pub Rouge

Women's magazines that rely on health and beauty advertising will be paying close attention to a new custom magazine that comes from one of their biggest advertisers.

Rouge, a custom beauty magazine designed for Procter & Gamble Co. by Javelin, a unit of Redwood Custom Communications of Toronto, is being rolled out to somewhere between 6 and 7 million U.S. households across the United States. This follows a test in various markets in the U.S. and Canada. The quarterly, aimed at "beauty involved females", contains coupons for brands like Pantene, Olay and Crest and the editorial content is health- and beauty-focussed.

P & G expects the circulation to reach 11 million households by mid-October 2010 -- 7 million in the U.S. and 4 million in Canada, according to a story in Brandweek. The magazine goes to new prospects who the company has identified both as those who request the magazine through various means and those who've shown an interest in beauty as a subject by their subscriptions to other magazine or through beauty-related internet sites.

In its research, P&G—which is known for extensive, consumer-oriented testing—found that 80 percent of readers found Rouge to be comparable to fashion titles such as Marie Claire and Allure in “quality and design.” More than 72 percent of those reading the magazine expressed an interest in receiving it on a regular basis.

Kelowna's airport magazine wins top spot

YLW Connection, Kelowna International Airport’s custom-published magazine, has taken top spot in the Airports Council International-North America 2009 Excellence in Marketing and Communications Contest.

Now in its second year, YLW Connection is published four times a year though Accelerate Communications, with a free circulation of 20,000.

New international custom publishing awards launched

Interesting factoid: 15% of the work done in U.K. custom publishing is online. This tidbit was buried in a press release that says the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA), the trade body for the customer publishing industry, is launching the International Customer Publishing Awards under the theme "do you love editorial?".

For the first time, the APA is inviting entries from abroad and entrants can do so online. Of the 25 awards available, four are online related (Best digital solution of the year (B2B/internal), Best digital communication of the year (consumer),Best digital solution of the year (charity, not for profit, public sector), Best integrated marketing solution of the year).

"The buoyancy of the industry, the rise of digital and the increased interest from international organisations all led to the birth of these new awards, combined with the fact we believe every editorialised content provider should be eligible for entry to continue to raise the bar of customer publishing," [said Julie Hutchison, chief operating offers of a APA]

The inaugural awards will take place at London's Old Billingsgate on November 25.

This new international focus may put these awards in competition with other custom publishing awards that have attracted the often-multinational custom publishing firms -- such as the (U.S.) Custom Publishing Council's Pearl awards and the Magnum Opus Awards

Publishers of Driven to create custom pub for XM satellite radio listeners

Auto Journal Inc., the publishers of DRIVEN magazine and Auto Journal, have announced that they are launching a new, quarterly custom publication to be delivered to subscribers to XM Canada satellite radio.

The first issue will be published June 22 and go to 80,000 XM Canada subscribers across Canada.

“This is exactly what our subscribers have been looking for: a way to link their listening experience with some in-depth information about what they are listening to,” said Scott Williams, Director of Automotive at XM Canada.

Editor of the new publication will be Jen Horsey (above, right),working closely with Auto Journal’s editorial director, Gary Butler. Horsey has worked for The Canadian Press, ESPN, and custom publications Rev magazine and Honda: The Magazine.

Canadian firms win big at custom publishing awards

Custom publishing has a different vocabulary to reflect its goals. Hence its awards reflect those goals, with categories that other magazine awards wouldn't use (e.g. best achievement of corporate objectives; proof of return on investment). Still, in this major, growing, marketing industry, Canadian publishing expertise is making major waves.

Last week, the Custom Publishing Council's "Pearl awards" were made in a presentation at the Rainbow Room in New York City. And Redwood Custom Communications, Spafax Ltd., Transcontinental Custom Publishing and Rogers Publishing Ltd. scored in a number of categories:

DESIGN
Best Opening Spread | More Than 250,000
Silver: Zoom-Zoom, Redwood Custom Communications (Mazda Canada Inc.)

Best Overall | More than 250,000
Silver: Pure Canada, Spafax Canada (Canadian Tourism Commission)
Bronze: Shine, Transcontinental Custom Communications (Dove/Unilever)

Best New Magazine
Bronze: Seasons, Redwood Custom Communications (Ridgetop Communications, LLC)

Best New Newsletter
Silver: RED, Rogers Publishing, Ltd. (RCI)

Best Special Issue
Bronze: Endless Vacation, Story Worldwide (RCI)

Best Use of Photography | 50,000 - 250,000
Silver: EnRoute, Spafax (Air Canada)

Best Use of Photography | More than 250,000
Bronze: Rouge, Javelin Custom Publishing* (Procter & Gamble)

Best Use of Illustration | More Than 250,000
Bronze: New Outlook, Redwood Custom Communications (Sears Canada Inc.)

DIGITAL
Best E-Newsletter
Gold: On Air, Spafax Canada (Air Canada)

EDITORIAL
Best Feature Article/Package |More Than 250,000
Gold: Look Good Feel Better, Transcontinental Custom Communications (The Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation)

Best Overall More Than 250,000
Gold: Acura Style, Javelin Custom Publishing (American Honda Motor Company Inc.)
Bronze: Pure Canada, Spafax Canada (Canadian Tourism Commission)

Best New Magazine
Silver: Mobile, Spafax Canada (Bell Mobility)

Best Tie-in with Corporate Integrated Marketing Campaign
Silver: Shine, Transcontinental Custom Communications (Dove/Unilever)

STRATEGY
Best Achievement of Corporate Objectives | B2C
Bronze: Look Good Feel Better, Transcontinental Custom Communications (The Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation)

Proof of Return on Investment
Silver: Mobile, Spafax Canada (Bell Mobility)

Best Launch or Relaunch | B2C
Silver: Show** Magazine, Spafax Canada (Bell TV)

*Javelin Custom Publishing is a differently branded division of Redwood.
**It was just announced last week that Show is being discontinued.

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.).