By Attila Gazdag*
It was a logical move for the Park Ridge, Illinois-based Albert Whitman & Company to expand into all media platforms with the establishment of Albert Whitman Media. The new company is focused on the development and production of original content, including television series and podcasts, based on the parent publishing company’s vast library of popular children’s book titles.
In addition, Albert Whitman Media will be offering apps and online services that are designed to enhance children’s literacy levels, as well as to teach English as a second language through digital books enhanced with multimedia features. Albert Whitman Media will soon launch its own subscription-based book club digital platform that will serve as a discovery and delivery mechanism for its substantial book inventory.
Like other brand and IP owners, Albert Whitman & Co. recognized that to grow and prosper in today’s ever-evolving marketplace, they needed to position themselves across the larger media and entertainment landscape.
Founded 101 years ago, Albert Whitman & Co. thrived by planning for the future and seeing opportunities in change. As many publishing companies came and went, our parent company was among the pioneering publishers helping to establish the education market while continuing to cultivate all sectors of mass and specialty retail distribution. Albert Whitman & Co. made a valuable contribution to the global children’s book market with The Boxcar Children series, a property the company has been publishing since 1942. Albert Whitman was among the first children’s publishers to create books that tackled issues important to the wide diversity of growing kids and teens.
Serving as the entertainment and ed-tech branch of a successful independent book publisher provides Albert Whitman Media with several advantages for its production partnerships and programming buyers. First, the properties we will bring to the television, film, and streaming markets will be based on popular book brands. Next, our entries will come to the table with broad national and international distribution, both in retail and, perhaps even more importantly, within the educational markets where our books are considered must-reads within schools and libraries nationwide.
Media companies that expand beyond their core business seek to attract and retain new audiences and capture new consumer markets for long-term relationship building. For Albert Whitman Media, the parent company’s solid foundation in book publishing will help connect with existing fans through new formats, while at the same time reaching new audiences.
The diversification model is already resulting in dividends for Albert Whitman Media, as we have partnered in multiple development deals with esteemed and prominent entertainment companies. The upcoming release of the digital book club will deliver not only a significant distribution outlet for Albert Whitman’s titles, but it will also provide the ability to directly manage customer relationships with educators and families.
Albert Whitman Media now joins the ranks of the many consumer-facing companies that employ diversification and expansion strategies beyond their core business to create a new and far broader value chain. After succeeding in our mission to serve the global market as a preeminent force in children’s books, we are proud to take our newly expanded role as a new member of both the entertainment industry and the ed-tech world.
* Attila Gazdag, pictured above, is president, Albert Whitman Media
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