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Company: Blue Lake Children's Publishing, Portland, OR
Company Description: Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines for today's children.
Nomination Category: Best Run Sales Organizations
Nomination Sub Category: Education Sales Organization of the Year
Nomination Title: Blue Lake Children's Publishing
How many people are in your organization's entire sales department?
We have three people dedicated to marketing, sales and strategic partners
What were your organization's sales during the eligibility period? If this figure is confidential, simply enter "Confidential" in this space:
Confidential
Describe the nominated sales organization's top 3 accomplishments during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
Accomplishment #1: Tessy & Tab product improvements to magazine: We made some
important changes based on educator/librarian input: 1) Tessy and Tab stories
are now written in the third person, and we incorporate rhythm/rhyme in the
words we choose when possible. We more carefully select language based on
age-appropriate phonetics. Our find activity now includes two words in addition
to four pictures. We strive to put a counting object on every story page.
Accomplishment #2: Online additions for kids: Another way to increase the
credibility of our learning tools is to have more available online. In addition
to coloring pages, we now offer printable activity sheets (vocabulary builders,
count to 100, rhyme matching).
Accomplishment #3: Parent Tools: Perhaps the most important addition is our new
Parent’s Guide to Building Early Reading Skills. This 8-page booklet comes with
the child’s first issue and explains the Six Skills of Early Literacy to
parents, and gives them a year-by-year approach to helping their child gain
these skills.
List the nominated sales organization's top 3 lessons learned during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
• Lesson #1: The 2006 holiday season taught us that traditional paid/direct
marketing is not cost effective and does not yield the results we need or desire.
• Lesson #2: It is more important to show that the business can support itself
with lower cost acquisition approaches than to spend to hit an aggressive target.
• Lesson #3: It was clear that inefficient paid marketing programs would drain
our resources, and it is smarter to get back to bootstrap mode. The good news is
that the most cost-efficient marketing tools are also the most likely to satisfy
the Savvy Mom’s desire for a trusted referral regarding new products for their
kids. The marketing activities that make sense now are:
o Publicity
o Online Presence Building
o Customer Referral Programs
o Strategic Partners
Briefly describe the qualities that distinguish the nominated sales organization from other sales organizations in your industry (up to 100 words):
In a media environment dominated by TV and electronic media, magazines have not
kept up in terms of reflecting today’s world and bonding with children through
compelling characters. They also don’t offer the development tools that Moms desire.
The Tessy & Tab Reading Club uses compelling characters to build a relationship
with the child, modern illustrated preschool experiences to build confidence
through independent reading, parent tools to attract the savvy mom’s attention
and to add meaningful value to her purchase.
Provide a brief biography of the leader(s) of the nominated sales organization (up to 100 words):
Judy Johnston, CEO and Co-founder
An entrepreneur at heart, Judy has co-founded three companies in the last 12
years. Her latest venture, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing, creates magazines
with engaging characters and innovative formats to capture the imagination of
today’s media-savvy children.
Prior to Blue Lake Children’s Publishing, Judy co-founded Kibu, a website
community for teenage girls, and PrintPaks, a children’s software company, which
was sold to Mattel.
Judy spent seven years working for Hewlett Packard before becoming an
entrepreneur. She began her Hewlett Packard tenure as product manager for the
first color HP DeskJet printer and was the Worldwide Product Marketing Manager
for the $3.5B HP DeskJet brand when she left in 1995.She has an MBA from UCLA
and a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Rosie Welch, Co-founder and Creative Director
Rosie has been Judy’s friend and business partner for almost 20 years. She is
the design and creative genius behind Blue Lake Children’s Publishing.
In 1995, Rosie co-founded PrintPaks Inc., developer of multimedia software for
kids, with Judy. When the company was sold to Mattel in 1999, Rosie and Judy
spent two years as executives at Mattel Media. In 1987, Rosie established
StudioR, a successful design consultancy, with clients that included Seiko and
Hewlett Packard. She has a very broad range of illustration and graphic design
experience and is recognized for her attention to detail.
Prior to starting StudioR, Rosie worked as an advertising designer for Fred
Meyer. Rosie studied Fine Art & Design in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a member of
the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Briefly describe your organization's customers, including the industry or demographics you sell to, the job titles you sell to (if applicable), and the products and/or services you sell (up to 100 words):
Our Primary Customer: The Savvy Mom
Secondary Customers: Dads, Grandparents, Educators and librarians, Homeschooling
parents, Gift givers, Relatives of preschoolers
• #1 priority is to give her child the very best start
• 30M in the U.S. spend $1trillion annual
• Focused on early education advantages
• Preschool programs, children’s books, learning toys and educational videos
have grown tremendously in 10 years
PRODUCTS:
The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is a program that builds early reading skills in
children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills of Early Literacy
endorsed by the US Department of Education. Your child will LOVE the colorful,
ad-free magazines that arrive in the mail twice a month. Parents will enjoy
valuable tips and tools as well as online activities that give your child a jump
start in getting ready to read!
Benefits of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club:
• Promotes Independent Reading
• Engaging and Consistent Characters
• Modern Style
• Ad-free Age-Appropriate Content
• Print and Online Learning Activities
• Real Preschooler Adventures
Sold At: www.tessyandtab.com
Blue Lake Children’s Publishing plans to launch two new products in late 2007
and early 2008:
a. Meerkids Monthly: Based on the adventures of five Meerkid characters located
in the African Kalahari Desert, this monthly magazine is designed to stretch the
imagination and geographical skills for children ages 7-11. For more information
visit www.meerkids.com.
b. Clark the Baby Shark: Perfect for the one-year old child, a series of
foldable laminates filled with colorful pictures and basic illustrated
vocabulary. More information is available at www.clarkthebabyshark.com.
Blue Lake Children’s Publishing also offers the following toolkits to help
parents and children learn specialized skills:
• The Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit: Containing an award-winning DVD, five
Tessy & Tab magazines and a parent checklist, this toolkit helps children make
the transition to Kindergarten. For more information visit
http://www.tessyandtab.com/kindergarten/index.htm.
• Preschool Money Manager Toolkit: This toolkit features kid-favorite
characters, Tessy & Tab, who demonstrate how to Save, Spend and Share using
their Moonjar money bank and also provides parent tips and a guide for setting
up an allowance system. Visit www.tessyandtab.com/money for more information.
• Future toolkits: Include Brush Your Teeth and Turn Off the TV!
Briefly describe how your sales department is aligned with your marketing department (up to 100 words):
Because we are a “lean” team of three, it is easy to align our sales and
marketing strategies. They work hand-in-hand. We know that savvy moms desire a
trusted referral regarding new products for their kids. Therefore, our sales and
marketing activities focus on the following:
o Publicity
o Online Presence Building
o Customer Referral Programs
o Strategic Partners
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