 Zondervan ‘humbled’ by interest and orders for revised best-selling translation
This month’s arrival in stores of the updated New International Version (NIV) marks the culmination one of the most high-pressure Bible publishing projects ever undertaken. The widely anticipated revision of the best-selling modern translation, the focus of a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, debuts with more than 150 SKUs prepared in just a few months. The hot-off-the-press updated NIV comes to a Bible market more crowded than when the previous translation was released in 1984, and with a residue of controversy, but Zondervan has been pleased by its initial reception. The company was “humbled” by demand warranting a first print run of 1.4 million, said Senior Vice President and Publisher for Bibles Chip Brown. “All but one of our retailers are taking in significantly more NIVs than they sold in the same period last year.” Acknowledging the fast-track schedule—which saw the company recruiting additional help from former employees to ensure hitting the tight deadlines—Brown told Christian Retailing: “Updating so many book blocks and bringing to market so many Bibles on this aggressive timeline is a large investment, but it is the right thing to do.” Zondervan began production as soon as the revised manuscript was received last fall, but had been readying for the new version for more than a year, including work on new packaging intended to help consumers more easily select the right edition. Marketing, understood to be around
$5 million, centers on a “Come Closer” campaign, backed by a “Bibles for Everyone” program promoting special-price deals on copies for churches, evangelism and overseas distribution. The NIV launch tips a hat to the King James Version, whose 400th anniversary is being celebrated not only by main publisher Thomas Nelson but also by other Bible houses welcoming this year’s heightened general public attention on God’s Word. Leading up to the March 1 NIV print arrival was a 400-hour countdown during which a full download of the entire NIV text was to be available online at www.youver
sion.com. That digital promotion followed the text’s publication online in the fall and the sale of e-book editions of the updated NIV from Christmas. It sold more units in its first month than any other Zondervan Bible in digital or print format, Brown said. Among the first print releases will be all text Bibles, including Thinline, gift and award editions. Fall will bring an additional 180 products, includes study and audio Bibles “and some new product lines,” said Brown. NIV editions licensed to other publishers will also be released through the rest of the year. “One improvement that benefits nearly all of our SKUs is ‘readability,’ ” Brown said. “We know from research that there are over 100 million people in North America alone that need help with physiological readability—that is, they literally have a hard time actually seeing the letters on the page. Things that affect that are font selection and size, opacity of Bible paper. ” As part of the revision rollout, Zondervan has been helping stores manage inventory as they sell through current text editions, helped by promotional pricing. “This strategy will be ongoing for some time as we continue to convert backlist titles over the next year or two,” Brown said. The new packaging, created following nationwide research on how consumers learn about, shop and select Bibles at CBA stores, includes icons and features information. Zondervan’s retail support includes an updated Bible translation chart, updated Total Bible Solutions signage and an NIV-specific merchandising kit complementing the look and messaging of the national media campaign. During the last few months, Zondervan has introduced the new translation to academics, pastors and retailers during conferences and personal meetings. The company had one of the largest footprints on the modest-sized exhibition floor at the Christian Trade Association International’s convention in Atlanta, held Jan. 11-13, to present the NIV to the important overseas market, which accounts for about 7% of sales. Brown said that he did not believe that the revised NIV would be impacted at all by criticism of a previous revision, 2005’s Today’s New International Version (TNIV), which drew complaints about some of its gender references. The TNIV has been discontinued as part of the NIV updating. The NIV text—about 5% different from the 1984 version—had been available for scrutiny for several months “and we’ve not seen any serious concern,” he said. Discussions about the updated NIV at the Web site where the text had been made available had been “much more constructive and gracious than the rhetoric about the TNIV.”
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