The panel discussed managing organizational change in challenging situations. They provided tips for turnarounds based on case studies from Choice magazine and the University of Wisconsin Press. Choice faced declining print circulation and revenues as its market changed. It responded by refocusing its mission, rebranding, and developing new products to better serve librarians and other users. The University of Wisconsin Press addressed financial losses through triage, trust-building, prioritizing strengths, and patience. Both organizations leveraged their strengths and adapted to changing environments through strategic pivots.
2. Sometimes an organization finds itself in a
challenging position. It may have found that the
marketplace has shifted or perhaps it has taken
longer than expected to bring out a new product.
Cash may be tight, owners may have become
impatient. It’s now time for a turnaround or a
change in direction. What are some tips for
managing an organization in this situation?
3. Participants
• Mark Cummings, Editor and Publisher, Choice
• Dennis Lloyd, Director, University of Wisconsin Press
• Pinar Erzin, Founder and CEO, Accucoms International
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“Oooh, look out, you rock ‘n’ rollers
Pretty soon now you’re gonna get older”
6. Charleston Library Conference 4 November 2016 6
About Choice
Publisher of Choice magazine and Choice Reviews (online)
7,000 reviews of new scholarly monographs/websites published annually
Originally designed as a collection-development tool
Database of 200,000 reviews dating from 1988 to the present
Established, well-respected brand
Published continuously since 1964
50% market penetration among US colleges and universities
Twenty full-time staff members; annual revenue < $5MM
Operationally independent of parent organization
“Constraints”
Not for profit, part of member-services organization (ACRL/ALA)
Growth consistent with ALA mission
Brand synonymous with flagship product
Source of friction in brand expansion
Small size
Limited ability to scale
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Facts on the Ground
Declining print circulation
Poorly designed digital product; no corresponding growth in digital circulation
Declining ad revenues in line with circulation losses
Declining royalty income following on industry consolidation among aggregators and
wholesalers
Rising infrastructure costs
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Causes
Lack of Demand
Diminished use of reviews in the collection-development process owing to changing collection-
development methodologies
Approval Plans
“Big Deals”
Materials budgets
Decentralized information discovery and consumption, with increasing role for end users
Demand-driven acquisition
The open web
Diminished gatekeeper and curatorial roles for the librarian
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Contributing Factors
Historical
No clear mission independent of that of parent organization
Structural
Members are not “owners”; interests vested in the larger organization, not Choice
Environmental
Library materials budgets flat or falling: Choice a declining product in a shrinking market
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The Pivot
What do our members and customers believe is the future of the
library and librarianship?
How does their vision of the future role of the library align with
our core strengths and values?
How can we leverage these values to support that vision?
Mission
Brand
Strategy
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Mission
What we did
Focus groups
Professional market research
What we found
Concern regarding decentering of the curatorial role of the librarian
Burden of discovery and selection shifting to end users
Enhanced need for discovery and selection skills and tools
Our goal
Choice will support the information evaluation and selection process
among a broad spectrum of user types and use-case scenarios, both
traditional and new
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Brand
What we did
Retained publishing consultant to advise on repositioning Choice
Retained advertising/design agency for market research, brand makeover
What we found
High regard for brand attributes: trusted, authoritative, objective, high
quality, old friend
Conflation of publishing unit and its flagship product
Mismatch between brand perception and actual product acceptance/use
Our goals
Protect the brand: leverage brand equity to rebuild its value and visibility
in our traditional markets
Extend brand associations and awareness to new users and markets
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Rebuilding Choice is about nothing less than changing
the way people think about us, rebuilding a brand
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Brand Strategy
Expand customer perception: “Not just a magazine”
Develop differential messaging for principal market segments: “Start with Better Options”
VALIDATING THE ROLE OF THE LIBRARIAN:
“You remain the critical link in the discovery and selection chain. Choice makes you more effective by
conducting the crucial ‘first cut’ of resources, giving you the information you need to quickly make
authoritative selections and/or recommendations.”
SUPPORTING FACULTY AND STUDENTS:
“In an information-rich world, the sheer number of resources to be considered is overwhelming. Choice
saves you time by directing you to only the best and most important resources for all major areas of
study."
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Brand Strategy
Create multiple touchpoints in a Choice digital environment; expose selected Choice content
outside paywall to increase customer engagement and drive sales/subscriptions
Website: www.choice360.org
Choice Reviews: www.choicereviews.org
Choice Media Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4AQ1G-u32Y9OX5hRzxdXrQ/
Choice LibGuides: http://ala-choice.libguides.com/c.php?g=382336
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/choice.reviews
Leverage our brand in a suite of new products
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Product Development Strategy
Choice as
Information
Provider
Choice as a
Discovery
Tool
Choice as a
Library
Toolset
1. Strengthen our current
products to maximize their
value to librarians in a
changing collection-
development environment
2. Extend the audience for
Choice content to end users to
serve the needs of students
and scholars
3. Provide professional
development and
analytical tools for
librarians and others to
extend the Choice brand
beyond reviews
COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL
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Product Development
Launched completely rebuilt Choice Reviews (summer 2016)
Reestablish brand credibility among core users
Bring Choice content “in front of the desk”
Target audiences: librarians, teaching faculty, students
Developing CC Advisor (spring 2017)
Review service for academic databases
Collaboration with The Charleston Company
Target audiences: librarians, teaching faculty, students
Developing Choice/ACRL Trends Reports (spring 2017)
Actionable intelligence to support strategic organizational and business decisions
Target audience: library directors, provosts, foundation heads, publishing executives, library service
providers
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Product Development
Planning Open Choice (summer 2018)
Review service for evaluation of open educational resources
Target audiences: teaching faculty, instructional designers, librarians
Expanding Choice/ACRL sponsored webinar program (ongoing)
Professional-development webcasts
34,000 registrations, 14,000 attendees LTD
Target audience: librarians
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Culture Change
Rebranding begins at home
Build capacity through new hires
Revise and expand job descriptions, requirements
Rationalize workflows and job assignments
Look for and encourage “self-selectors”
Encourage collaboration, cross-functional teams
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Mark Cummings
Editor and Publisher
mcummings@ala-choice.org
+1 860.347.6933 x119
Thank you
22. April 13, 1936: University of Wisconsin faculty senate enacts
legislation to “publish particularly meritorious manuscripts as books
using the imprint ‘The University of Wisconsin Press.’”
“Publication is as much a function of the university as teaching or research [and]
an obligation that every great university owes to itself and to society.”
—The University of Wisconsin Committee on University Publications
36. History
1999
Swets
2001 EXTENZA
2004
ACCUCOMS
Launch
SSP in SF
2011
ACCUCOMS
sold to
SWETS
2013
ACCUCOMS
growth
35%-400 %
Sept 2014
SWETS
bankruptcy
Nov 2014
ACCUCOMS
acquisition
Dec 2015
Growth from
38 to 65 staff
Jun 2016
Launch New
Era for
Scholarly
Publishers