The interim manager's client was a publishing house founded in Istanbul. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the world's largest publishing houses. The group publishes more than 200,000 print and digital titles from all genres every year. The interim manager acted in the role of country manager in the mandate.
When the interim manager took on the mandate, the publishing house in Istanbul had already been under the management of the former licensee for two years. During this time, the ambitious sales targets that had been hoped for could not be achieved. The interim manager's first task was to analyze the status of all business processes on site. The analysis revealed several weaknesses:
- The brand image was outdated.
- The positioning of the products was not clear, as the content of the publications was not stringently selected.
- The sales channels (predominantly food retail, kiosks, few bookstores, hardly any online) were not optimally utilized.
- The editorial team was unable to make adequate use of the parent company's systems.
- There were hardly any sales and marketing activities worth mentioning.
Strategy developed for sustainable change
The interim manager developed a strategy to address all areas holistically and bring them into a change process. The key objectives were defined as:
- Significant increase in sales
- Refreshing and repositioning the brand and
- Broad-based sales and marketing measures on the Turkish market
In order to achieve the objectives, it was necessary to set up a new infrastructure to optimize operational processes (sales, marketing, production) and optimize the product portfolio (editorial processes, content).
Marketing activities analyzed and optimized
Since the optimization process included all important areas of the company, the interim manager started by optimizing the product in terms of content and packaging as well as the composition of the product range. In the next step, the sales and marketing activities were analyzed and, based on this, the online and e-commerce opportunities were expanded.
Development of a product and content strategy
After an in-depth analysis of the performance of the product range, the top products to be focused on in the future were defined. The interim manager developed and implemented the necessary product and content strategy in collaboration with the local editorial team and the know-how transfer of experienced international colleagues. In this context, two line extensions were also identified and included in the planning. In addition, the editorial team was trained in the use of the systems. Following this work, design specifications for the new covers were developed for all products so that both content and packaging correspond to a stringent new fresh strategy.
Optimization in sales and marketing
After optimizing the product range, the POS area and the distribution rate in the focused channels were analysed. The result was that the employees in distribution were not supporting the product range sufficiently.
As a result, two new sales employees were hired to accompany roadshows and carry out store checks. Sales promotion measures were also implemented in selected focus regions. These were performance-related non-cash bonuses per sales region, which attracted a great deal of attention and increased sales accordingly. After this successful start, the interim manager negotiated new listing options with the distributor in the retail sector and implemented these on an ongoing basis.
In addition, the interim manager developed an accompanying cross-media campaign with the help of agencies. This included advertisements and inserts (reading samples) in magazines and newspapers as well as press events and press reports. In the online area, the editorial team also generated a lot of social media content, particularly via Facebook and a number of important bloggers, as well as by activating readers.
Development and expansion of e-commerce
At the same time, the interim manager played a key role in the development and expansion of the publisher's e-commerce business. For example, she managed the development and introduction of a new e-commerce platform (Magento online store). She also created the introduction of e-book ranges. She also acquired sales platforms such as Amazon and other online stores that are important for the Turkish market for book and e-book marketing
Cultural differences and long reporting lines
The main challenges in fulfilling her tasks were the cultural differences between the employees of the Turkish subsidiary and the parent company in Canada/America. In addition, the company's reporting channels were very long due to internal organizational circumstances. Contact persons and decision-makers in Turkey, Germany, Poland, America and Canada made communication challenging at times and often delayed decision-making.
Revenue growth of 35 percent after 18 months
The iterative and cross-disciplinary approach in all areas, the extensive motivation and training measures including know-how transfer for existing employees quickly paid off. After around 18 months, sales growth of around 35% was achieved across all optimized areas. Social media is now being used to a much greater extent, both as a customer loyalty tool and for sales purposes.
