“We make books for everyone because a book can change anyone,” says Hussain Joher, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Penguin Random House UK. The book-publishing industry is inherently unpredictable, but Penguin Random House mitigates risk by publishing 2,000 titles each year in categories ranging from cookbooks to literature, fantasy to history. Its planning must be agile and flexible to reflect that diversity.
The lead time to bring a book to market can range anywhere from nine to 18 months, depending on the scale and complexity of the project. During that time, editors are constantly acquiring and developing new titles to build a diverse publishing pipeline. In parallel, Hussain and his team must generate accurate and timely forecasts, not only to assess potential risks but also to guide investment decisions as new opportunities arise.
Planning and forecasting at the company became more complex in 2013, when Penguin and Random House — each with its own planning systems — joined forces. “The event that prompted us to look at a new planning solution was the merger of the two businesses,” Hussain explains. “We had a list of criteria — including integration with other systems, adaptability, and scalability — and Anaplan ticked all the right boxes.” The company went live on Anaplan in 2017.
Integrating data sources to create the big picture
Today, the team at Penguin Random House uses Anaplan across finance, sales, and distribution. “Anaplan has been instrumental in helping us create an intersection point between different systems within our business,” Hussain says. “We are able to bring all of the information in one single trusted source, allowing us to forecast with far greater accuracy and confidence.”
At Penguin Random House, data from core finance, rights, and operational systems is integrated into a cloud-based data platform, providing a single trusted source for forecasting and decision-making within Anaplan.
Maximizing value
Automated data integration processes have reduced manual effort and improved the speed of financial and sales forecasting, reforecasting, and long-range projections. With Anaplan, Penguin Random House can analyze sales patterns more effectively, identify gaps in the publishing schedule, and make informed acquisition decisions to strengthen its portfolio
“It is very important for us to have a clear view of potential gaps in our publishing schedule over the next three years,” Hussain says. “Previously this used to be a very time-consuming process, but with Anaplan, we’ve been able to bring data from different sources to manage it in a more streamlined way.”
Other teams at Penguin Random House also use Anaplan to ensure that their efforts deliver maximum value. One Anaplan model built for the sales team enables them to track committed initial orders for each title, align them with planned promotional activity at retailers, and monitor the associated marketing spend. “Planning lets us ensure that we have the right books at the right time in the right places,” Hussain explains. In addition, sales teams combine Anaplan output with third party data from Nielsen to benchmark the effectiveness of their marketing investments with retailers.
The ability to automate aggregation of multiple data sources in Anaplan underpins all of these activities, Hussain reiterates. “Anaplan has helped us take the manual element out of our processes,” he says. “That allows finance professionals to focus their time where it adds the greatest value for Penguin Random House.”
