This is likely posted here. just in case:
Bertelsmann entering global online retail book business
Chip Austin named President and CEO of BooksOnline Venture
New York,
February 25, 1998
Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's largest media companies, announced today its intention to
enter the global online retail book business. BooksOnline, the working name for the new
venture, is being established under the aegis of Bertelsmann's Book Group, where it will
eventually become a third core book business beside the consumer trade publishing and
consumer direct marketing units. In its initial start-up phase BooksOnline will report to the
Bertelsmann Book Board and will be overseen by Markus Wilhelm, who, as President and Chief
Executive Officer of Doubleday Direct, Inc., is responsible for all Bertelsmann's North
American and European English-language direct marketing book operations. These include the
Doubleday Direct book clubs in the U.S., among them the Literary Guild, the Doubleday Book
Club, and Crossings.
Mr. Wilhelm announced the appointment of Chip Austin, a highly regarded Internet business
builder, as President and Chief Executive Officer of BooksOnline, effective immediately. Mr.
Austin was previously Senior Vice President, Sales, for Prodigy Inc., where he was responsible
for all customer acquisition and subscription revenue. He will be based in New York for
BooksOnline, reporting to Mr. Wilhelm.
Mr. Austin's dual mandate is to further develop Bertelsmann's longstanding direct marketing
consumer book clubs business worldwide on the Internet, as well as to build Bertelsmann's
global online book retailing business. In accomplishing the latter he will explore a variety of
strategic options in both the technology and distribution realms. These include the possibilities
of joint ventures, partnerships, or alliances on a domestic or international scope with existing
Internet providers and retail services as well as other potential marketplace entrants.
Markus Wilhelm described the new BooksOnline venture as "partner friendly" and said that for
Bertelsmann, long one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs of books and recorded
music via its direct mail clubs, "digital retailing is both a natural progression for our
ever-growing international database marketing operations, as well as a potential to be a very
attractive business in its own right. With the surging popularity of the Internet and online book
buying becoming more prevalent, our expertise in how to reach the general interest as well as
the niche consumer book market segments makes BooksOnline an appropriate and exciting fit
with our long-term growth strategy and our assets."
Among those assets are Bertelsmann's huge database of customer relationships with more than
thirty-five million active book and music club members in North America and Europe; its
access to a global inventory of available titles published in a wide range of languages for the
needs and convenience of the international consumer; a well-established editorial and
operational infrastructure in key countries around the world through the existing Bertelsmann
direct marketing clubs; and its close relationship with America Online, Inc. through its equity
stake in the parent company and its working partnerships in Europe and Australia to provide
domestic Internet access service.
In addition to BooksOnline's plans to offer books published by Bertelsmann's publishing houses
around the world they will also sell titles from all publishers internationally in a full range of
languages.
Chip Austin observed "Bertelsmann's BooksOnline will be the first truly global book retailing
service, offering a comprehensive selection of titles in a variety of languages, supported by
locally implemented customer marketing and fulfillment services."
With his strategic, entrepreneurial, and management background Mr. Austin helped to establish,
position, and market Prodigy's Internet service in his nearly three years at Prodigy, Inc. Prior
to joining Prodigy in 1995, while at McKinsey and Company, the management consulting firm
for five years, he primarily worked in New York and Australia with a variety of international
clients, including Bertelsmann, in the media and technology areas, and was a founding member
of McKinsey's Interactive Multimedia Practice. A graduate of Duke University, he has an MBA
from Harvard Business School.
BooksOnline, along with the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. and Doubleday
Direct, Inc. are units of Bertelsmann Book Group North America whose parent company is
Bertelsmann AG. One of the world's largest media groups, with annual revenues in excess of
fourteen billion dollars, Bertelsmann is comprised of companies which are market leaders in
book, magazine, newspaper and audio publishing and distribution, recorded music and video
entertainment, radio, television, new media, printing and manufacturing.
Further Contact:
Stuart Applebaum
Phone: 001-212-782-9623
applebas@bdd.com
|
