Providing Outstanding Customer Service and Adapting to the Changing Media Landscape are Key to 40-Year Success.
MISSION, Kan. (October 1, 2014) — Family Features Editorial Syndicate, an industry leader in the creation and distribution of syndicated food and lifestyle content, celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. In an ever-changing print and digital media world, Family Features is proud to have achieved four decades of providing high-quality, sponsored content for thousands of media outlets and millions of readers nationwide.
Family Features began in 1974, when founder David Selders leveraged his thirty years of advertising experience to develop a unique PR service that merged subtle brand messaging with high quality editorial. By providing free, full-page editorial features to newspapers across the country, Selders created a valuable service that delivered high-impact editorial coverage and allowed sponsor companies to successfully market their products with measurable results and accountability.
The Early Years: Focus on Food
In the beginning, Family Features was rooted in the creation of full-page features designed for newspaper food sections. In the last decade, the company has expanded to provide content beyond food, such as lifestyle and home & garden, which broadens the appeal to a wider mix of print and digital media outlets, including large daily papers, local and suburban papers, regional magazines and hundreds of online sites.
Today, Family Features has evolved to provide not only full-page feature formats, but also short-form mat releases, columns, product roundups and the distribution of infographics. This has been possible due to ongoing operational improvements in the production and distribution process; thus enabling the company to produce and distribute 25-times the number of projects that were created forty years ago.
Small Business Success
In a corporate climate where 25 percent of small businesses fail within the first year, and only 29 percent survive ten years1, Family Features is proud of its longevity and heritage. The company has been with the original owners since its conception, and has remained a staple in the Kansas City business community. Family Features is a certified, woman-owned business, has been recently recognized by the Kansas Department of Commerce2 as a significant contributor to the economy and is a GSA-approved government vendor.
“Our success can be largely attributed to our company culture, which puts great value on work/life balance and a commitment to customer service,” said Dianne Hogerty, Owner of Family Features. “Since the beginning, we have strived to create a collaborative and relationship-oriented environment. At our core, we are a family-owned business whose focus has always been to establish strong brand equity and trust with our sponsor clients and media partners. Our ability to remain strategic and disciplined financially has also enabled us to thrive.”
Plans for the Future
Looking ahead, Family Features is positioned for continued growth, particularly as the digital landscape continues to influence the way people consume content. “The core of what we do has not changed much over the last forty years,” said Brian Agnes, President. “We create informative and entertaining sponsored content that is in high-demand and make it editorially relevant for our media partners and consumers. The biggest difference between today and forty years ago is that people are getting their content today more quickly and through a wide variety of sources and devices. So, we’re continually challenging ourselves to not only think about how people want to consume content but also finding new ways to serve it up to them.”
About Family Features
As the industry leader in food and lifestyle content, Family Features helps brands reach and engage consumers through a network of more than 8,000 editors at nearly 4,000 publications. Providing strategic expertise and resources to its clients and media partners, Family Features received the Highest Satisfaction Ranking among free, sponsored content providers. Celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, Family Features’ exclusive network connects brands, consumers and media. To learn more about Family Features visit marketers.familyfeatures.com or call 1-800-800-5579.
1 Source: Dun & Bradstreet, Small Business Development Center.
2 Kansas Department of Commerce: http://www.kansascommerce.com/DocumentCenter/View/5027.