Summit Publishing Company last week hosted a one-day event called “Beyond Advertising” for its advertising clients that introduced the publisher’s new network package and sales calculator.

“We’ve launched so many new products in recent years that we wanted to find a way to go to market next year with a network,” Packaging World vice president and publisher Joe Angel told FOLIO:. “We felt we had to relaunch a lot of our products to make it easier for customers to buy.”

The Packaging World Network serves four main functions according to Angel: custom programs; online lead generation; reach across all Summit brands; and flexible payment plans for advertisers.

About 100 advertisers attended Beyond Advertising at the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare (while the event was obviously free to attend, advertisers picked up their own travel costs). Angel kicked off the program by discussing the value of interactive marketing, which was followed by editors talking about their areas of expertise and Summit vice president of e-media Dave Newcorn offering presentations on lead generation and lead nuturing. The event has already yielded “a couple commitments” for 2010 and the Summit sale staff is currently on the road following up with other clients interested in the network.

Introduces Salary Calculator and Flexible Payment Plans

Summit put together a calculator to demonstrate the network’s reach. “Everything works as a platform so you’ve got a certain amount of money when the discounts start kicking in,” Angel said. “You don’t have to buy print and online, you can just buy online and the discounts will still apply.”

Angel said Summit will still offer a la carte pricing, but advertisers can see big savings through the network pricing. “If you bought six pages in Packaging World at $7,100 net and wanted to add on sponsorships for our channels or Web sites, as well as add in newsletters, which range from $2,900 to $4,200, based on reach, if you add those a la carte, that could be $60,000,” he said by way of offering a broad example. “But with the networks, the discounts could be as significant as 25 percent or 30 percent per company.”

Summit is also offering a flexible payment plan in which advertisers can pay monthly or quarterly.