PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 10 -- The Reader's Digest Association and McMurry Publishing have joined forces to offer clients in the U.S. high-impact marketing solutions through superior custom publishing services. "Custom publishing is a fast-growing marketing tactic that gives businesses complete, cover-to-cover control over their own private-label publication,'' says Joanne Katsch, Director of Custom Publishing for Reader's Digest. "Reader's Digest has a long history of producing content that is informative, engaging and entertaining. People associate our brand with trust and direct marketers know that our 100 million-name worldwide database is unsurpassed. This is a logical extension of our business.'' In this partnership, Reader's Digest will contribute its brand strength, global infrastructure, content development expertise and superior database and targeting capabilities. Building on their existing infrastructure and strong reputation in the custom publishing arena, McMurry will provide turnkey management of projects including editorial, design, circulation, fulfillment, account management, production management and advertising sales. "Custom publishing allows companies to deliver product-related information in a way that is enjoyable and valuable to a targeted audience,'' says Chris McMurry, CEO of McMurry Publishing. "We can utilize a variety of formats -- from brochures and magazines to electronic newsletters and CD-ROM -- to help clients establish brand differentiation and loyalty, create new revenue opportunities and attract new customers.'' To date, the Reader's Digest custom publishing client list includes major pharmaceutical companies, such as Mead Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline.