Digital Edition of Reader's Digest Magazine

The August 2005 issue of Reader's Digest magazine was also the 1000th issue. The theme for the 1000th issue was a look at what the future holds for us in many areas of our lives. We wanted to share this issue with as many people as possible with, of course, not incurring excessive costs.

The Challenge: Test the Digital Media Waters

Although giving away free issues of the 1000th issue would certainly have achieved the goals of increasing distribution, the costs of doing so would have been prohibitive and may have also cannibalized newsstand sales. Instead, it became quickly apparent that this was an ideal opportunity to test the effectiveness of a digital version of the magazine.

The Solution: Partner with Experts in the Field

While we would be able to achieve more flexibility with a home-grown solution, it wasn't clear if this would make the most sense. And after a fairly extensive search, a vendor with expertise in print-to-digital conversions stood out as the ideal solution for our first foray in to digital distribution of the Reader's Digest magazine.

This project primarily focused on communication and planning including the added effort of vetting and managing a vendor. The results of this effort can still be viewed online.

Here's an introductory article on RD.com that served as a gateway for users to use to access the 1000th issue. Unfortunately, the digital edition is no longer available and so I can't provide a link.

Role

Project Manager

Reader's Digest (2004 to 2006)

Akri Consulting (1999 to 2004)

Silver Systems (1996 to 1999)