CDS Global, Inc. is a privately owned, international data management company based in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

 that specializes in magazine fulfillment services for leading publishers around the world. Currently, the company is ranked the top fulfillment service bureau in North America. The company also provides outsourced business solutions to publishers, direct marketing

Direct marketing

Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...

 firms, financial institutions, nonprofits, municipalities, utilities, and product manufacturers around the world.

It was founded in 1972 by a group of employees from Look

Look (American magazine)

Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...

after the magazine ceased publication. The company employs over 2,500 individuals worldwide and has locations on three continents: North America, Europe and Australia. Since 1982, the company has operated as a unit of Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

.

History

In late 1971, Look ceased publication due to factors such as a staggering economy and rising postal rates. Two months prior, the circulation department had completed the development of its new computer system that stored the names and addresses of customers on magnetic tape.

This new fulfillment system gave rise to the idea for a new business, with six Look employees looking for their first client. Edward Downe, Jr.

Edward Downe, Jr.

-Biography:Downe graduated from the University of Missouri’s Missouri School of Journalism in 1952. He worked in a variety of capacities at two Virginia newspapers before joining True magazine. In 1954, he left True to become an editor at the rival magazine Argosy; he later moved into...

, publisher of Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

and The American Home

The American Home

The American Home was a monthly magazine published in the United States from 1928 to 1977. Its subjects included domestic architecture, interior design, landscape design, and gardening....

, agreed to not only be the company’s first client, but also its owner – if the company was named after him. Thus, on April 1, 1972, Downe Computer Services opened with 172 employees and one client.

In 1977, the Charter Company

Charter Company

The Charter Company of Jacksonville, Florida was a conglomerate with more than 180 subsidiaries that was in the Fortune 500 for 11 years beginning in 1974 and ranked 61st in 1984 before it sought bankruptcy protection in late 1984 and spiraled into obscurity....

 in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, started buying Downe Communications

Downe Communications

Downe Communications was a publishing company founded by Edward Downe, Jr. that produced several popular magazines and provided subscription fulfillment services from 1967 to 1978....

’ stock. This led to the buying out of Downe’s stock in 1978, and the changing of the company name to Charter Data Services (CDS).

Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

 acquired two Charter Company properties, Redbook

Redbook

Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...

 and CDS, in 1982. After acquisition, Hearst changed the name of Charter Data Services to Communications Data Services. In 2007, the company’s name was changed to CDS Global.

Specialization

CDS Global specializes in outsourced magazine fulfillment services for publishers across the globe, and is currently ranked the top fulfillment service bureau in North America. In 2009, CDS Global managed 143,611,900 subscriber records, giving the company a 43.14% market share in North America.

Additional Services

In addition to magazine fulfillment services, the company also provides outsourced business solutions to publishers, direct marketing

Direct marketing

Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...

 firms, financial institutions, nonprofits, municipalities, utilities, and product manufacturers around the world. Other services include customer service, integrated marketing, e-commerce, payment processing, and printing and mail management.

International Reach

The company employs over 2,500 individuals worldwide, with sites located on three continents; Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

), Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 (Market Harborough

Market Harborough

Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.It has a population of 20,785 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border...

; Lewes

Lewes

Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

), and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 (Boone, Iowa

Boone, Iowa

Boone is a city in and the county seat of Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area', which encompasses all of Boone County. This micropolitan statistical area, along with the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan...

; Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...

; Harlan, Iowa

Harlan, Iowa

Harlan is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, United States, along the West Nishnabotna River. The population was 5,282 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County.-History:...

; Tipton, Iowa

Tipton, Iowa

Tipton is a city in Cedar County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,155 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cedar County.-Geography:Tipton is located at ....

; West Des Moines, Iowa

West Des Moines, Iowa

West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 46,403; a special census taken in the spring of 2005 counted 51,744 residents and the United States Census Bureau estimated that 53,889 residents lived there in...

; Wilton, Iowa

Wilton, Iowa

Wilton is a city in Cedar and Muscatine Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,839 at the 2010 census. The Muscatine County portion of Wilton is part of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statistical Area....

; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...

; Prescott, Arizona

Prescott, Arizona

Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....

; New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

; Markham, Ontario

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

; and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

).

International Entities

In 1993, the company purchased Tower Publishing Services Limited of England, and in 2007, acquired 100 percent of its stock. In 2005, Tower expanded their reach by opening an office in Sydney, Australia.

INDAS Limited of Canada was purchased by the company in 2003.

In 2010, the company acquired Optima, a fulfillment group operated by Optima Data Intelligence Services Limited in the U.K.