Kobo Names Michael Tamblyn Chief Content Officer
TORONTO, ON, Feb. 12, 2013 – Kobo, a global leader in eReading, today announced that Michael Tamblyn has been named Chief Content Officer. Tamblyn is responsible for Kobo’s content acquisition and sales, publisher and industry relations, and localized merchandising experiences across all of Kobo’s online and mobile services.
As the eReading market evolves, innovation continues to be a top priority for Kobo, with its goal to encourage more people to read more often. Through its recent acquisition of France-based Aquafadas, Kobo is well-positioned to provide its customers with the best selection of rich media content—magazines, academic works, comic books, kids’ books, and more. Tamblyn, who has been a driving force in bolstering Kobo’s content offering since the company was founded, has quickly expanded the Kobo library, which now gives readers access to more than 3.2-million titles across 68 languages. In addition to overseeing the company’s online merchandising and content management, he spearheaded the launch of Kobo’s self-publishing service, Kobo Writing Life.
“Our goal at Kobo is to revolutionize eReading by providing people with the best experience and most comprehensive content offering. We achieve this by hiring the most talented and enthusiastic people, building a strong, passionate culture,” says Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo. “Michael Tamblyn’s leadership in the industry and his hands-on approach to working with publishers and authors has been instrumental to Kobo’s success. In his new role, he will continue to grow our existing catalogue and drive Kobo’s expansion into new content categories.”
Prior to joining Kobo, Michael was the founding CEO of the supply chain agency BookNet Canada, where he launched the national sales reporting service BNC SalesData and authored the publishing technology call-to-arms, "Six Projects That Could Change Publishing for the Better." He also co-founded Canada's first online bookstore, Bookshelf.ca, which was purchased by Indigo Books & Music in 1998. At Indigo, he launched Indigo.ca and served as Vice President of Online Operations.
“Getting the right book into a reader’s hands instantly – that’s always our goal. But even more than that, we want to create experiences that enrich and expand a customer’s reading life, always pushing technology to make reading better,” says Michael Tamblyn, CCO, Kobo. “In this new role, I’m looking forward to bringing that passion not just to books, but to every other kind of content that a reader may want at their fingertips, in any language, anywhere in the world.”
For more information, please visit www.kobo.com.
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About Kobo Inc.
Kobo Inc. is one of the world's fastest-growing eReading services offering more than 3.2-million eBooks, magazines and newspapers. Believing that consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device, Kobo has built an open-standards platform to provide consumers with a choice when reading. Kobo has expanded to 190 countries, where millions of consumers have access to localized eBook catalogues and award-winning eReaders, like the Kobo Touch. With top-ranked eReading applications for Apple, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows products, Kobo allows consumers to make eReading social through Facebook Timeline and Reading Life, an industry-first social experience that lets users earn awards for time spent reading and encourage others to join in. Headquartered in Toronto and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten, Kobo eReaders can be found in major retail chains across the globe. www.kobo.com
For further information:
René d’Entremont
[email protected]
416-977-8737 x 3587