Reader's Digest launches Czech edition - Brief Article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct 1, 1993

In its first test using both newsstand sales and direct mail to target potential subscribers in a new country, Reader's Digest is launching a Czech Republic version this month with a 50,000-copy pressrun. Tests began in July with a direct-mail package sent to names that were supplied by Czech list brokers, according to spokesman Craig Lowder.

Reader's Digest had already determined that the country has an efficient postal service and allows magazines to conduct sweepstakes offers. Reader's Digest Vyber (Selections) follows Russian and Hungarian launches in 1991. Like the 40 other editions worldwide, the newest Reader's Digest will appear in the local language, and will be staffed by local editors, managers and suppliers. The region has proved fertile for start-ups, Lowder adds, pointing to the Hungarian edition's circulation of 100,000: "Our long-term objective is to develop a mailing list and then market our other products to this audience," he says.