Dear Valued Customer:

I wanted you to be among the first to know that Skyline Media Packaging, LLC has purchased the assets and operations of The Form House, a recognized leader in graphic finishing for the publishing, printing and advertising industries.

This is a very exciting acquisition for the company. The Form House has been an industry leader for 57 years. The acquisition will continue to strengthen The Form House as a leading provider of graphic finishing and innovative packaging solutions for the media and entertainment industry.

The Form House’s core finishing capabilities will continue to include specialty magazine covers and inserts, magnastrip and bindery hanger affixing, signature tipping, product sample, card and label affixing, over-wrapping, shrink-wrapping, mailing and fulfillment.

The Form House’s core packaging capabilities include the design and manufacturing of music, movie and game entertainment packages, rigid box products, book style packages, slipcases, case made book covers, albums and game boards.

e-Patch helps Advance Magazines' Flexibility

The following excerpt from an article entitled "New Technologies Advance Magazines' Flexibility" appeared in a Special Advertising Section of Ad Age, September 8, 2003 issue.

…Other work that is allowing marketers to reach magazine audiences in different ways includes a better way to affix a CD or DVD to a magazine insert, reducing the risk of its getting caught in the binding process. The Form House, a company that describes itself as specializing in affixing things to other things, has introduced a new process that places a clear plastic protective patch over a CD or DVD for an insert that can easily be bound into a magazine.

"The hardest thing to bind is anything that's not flat and that has edges that can get caught and stick up in the binding process," says David Luke, New York sales director for The Form House. "Any time you can have something enclosed that can be protected on all sides, lie smooth and not slow down the bindery, [that] is important in the production of the magazines."

Chrysler Corp. used the process to include a DVD in magazine ads introducing its Crossfire sports car, and Home Box Office included a teaser on a CD for its new fall series "Carnivale."

BBDO Detroit, the agency of record for DaimlerChrysler Corporation, has enlisted the expertise of The Form House, a division of Diam International, to help in the advertising launch of the all-new Chrysler Crossfire using its innovative bindery solution, called “e-Patch.”

e-Patch, a patent pending, transparent label application over a CD/DVD, which affixes securely to a page for binding and mailing promotions, allowed the Chrysler brand to integrate an interactive CD-ROM into a preprinted insert which appeared in four consumer magazines-Wired, GQ, Automobile and Fortune-as part of the vehicle’s new advertising campaign.

“The transparent e-Patch enables full visibility of the CD/DVD, providing branding opportunities within the publication’s distribution channel,” said Warren McKinney, VP Sales and Marketing for The Form House. “CD/DVD promotions are successful because they target a publication’s lifestyle database and reduce the cost of distribution through direct-to-consumer channels. e-Patch is a win for publishers who want to maintain automatic binding without machine slowdowns and a win for marketers who seek to maximize their branding with a lower cost solution.”

The CD provides an in-depth, interactive profile of the Crossfire, from designer’s conception to the head-turning reality of today’s low-slung sports coupe. Because the CD is linked to a website, the Chrysler brand can easily measure the effectiveness of the promotion as well as track usage results by publication.

"BBDO Detroit's Production and Creative departments were looking for a way to package the CD to guarantee that it would remain intact throughout the magazine production and mailing process, be unobtrusive to the creative design and provide a place for consumers to house the CD after it was played,” said Sandra Curtis, Associate Director, Print Production, BBDO Detroit. “The Form House's e-Patch fulfilled all of those requirements perfectly."

“The e-Patch generated a lot of interest from our clients,” said Rich Sheridan, Production Director for Fortune Magazine. “Advertisers are looking to maximize impact and the e-Patch does just that."

e-Patch was developed by The Form House for Time Inc. as a low cost way to distribute AOL CD’s in Time Inc. magazines. When using e-Patch, the paper sleeve or primary packaging and polybagging can be eliminated, thereby reducing weight, adding flexibility and maintaining a single mail stream, which saves cost and ties the CD/DVD graphics directly to the advertising message.

Since the introduction of e-Patch, a variety of applications have been employed. For example, because it is sealed on all sides, e-Patch can be affixed over product samples to the outside cover of a catalogue for standard mailings at automation rates and demonstrates tamper evidence. Its versatility and simplicity is a win-win for publishers, marketers and consumers.