Bloomsbury PLC and Public Library Online

In my case study I am analysing Bloomsbury PLC and one of their digital platforms, Public Library Online. 

Bloomsbury's Chief Executive, Nigel Newton, says that the digital age has enabled the company to focus on innovation, inventing new revenue streams and business opportunities where previously there were none. Bloomsbury is moving away from reliance solely on the traditional market for profit and loss through publishing a book, and instead towards an entrepreneurial style of operation with management contracts and business-to-business projects. 

Public Library Online enables Bloomsbury to target an existing market of readers, but direct to the consumer, and it is also an interesting example of working with the 'frenemy', generating revenue by hosting the content of competitor publishers. 

Bloomsbury is in the early stages of the innovation cycle and the idea of collaboration is just one of many new opportunities that the company is taking forward.

As of 2012, the content of fourteen publishers is offered through the platform, including titles from Canongate, Faber, Macmillan and Quercus. Public Library Online is a lucrative enterprise for Bloomsbury, since because it acts as an aggregator with a basic contract between itself and a publisher, revenue is split 70/30 with the majority allocated to the publisher and the remaining allotted to Bloomsbury. However, when the titles are Bloomsbury’s own, the company retains 100% of the revenue.

The platform’s success has encouraged Bloomsbury to initiate more collaborative projects such as Drama Online, "the ultimate online resource for plays, critical analysis and performance for libraries, educators, students and researchers" (Drama Online), a digital content platform being developed in partnership with Faber and Faber Limited. The publishers plan to work with additional competitors to target academic institutions and, like Public Library Online, the platform will use a subscription business model.

 

It is estimated that Public Library Online’s net revenue has increased from approximately £20,000 in 2010 to £60,000 in 2011, which is a 200% increase year on year. Such results may persuade other publishers that innovation in collaboration is the way forward, and Bloomsbury’s Digital Media Director, Stephanie Duncan, will be speaking at the London Book Fair in April to discuss “how publishers are collaborating with each other, with authors, with brands - to expand the market by making the most of their content; and how are they using online communities to achieve this” (London Book Fair).

References

Bloomsbury PLC. Interim Management Statement. 16 Jan. 2012. Web.

     Accessed 28 Mar. 2012.       

<http://www.bloomsburyir.co.uk/html/media/press_releases/160112.html>

“Competition vs Collaboration: Trade Digital Publishing Initiatives Inspired  

     by Working with the Competition.” London Book Fair. Web.  

     Accessed 28 Mar. 2012.    

<http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en/Sessions/257/Competition-vs-Collaboration-trade-digital-publishing-initiatives-inspired-by-working-with-the-competition>

Drama Online. Web. Accessed 28 Mar. 2012. <www.dramaonlinelibrary.com>