History
Dawson Media Direct (DMD) began life supplying flights in and out of London Heathrow airport. The centralised nature of the service worked for both airlines and publishers, and as passenger expectation for topical reading grew, the service expanded to other London airports and subsequently nationally across the whole of the UK.

In 2001, recognising the increasingly global nature of publishing and in tune with the needs of passengers – particularly frequent flyers and business travellers - DMD set out to create a worldwide service.

Brussels became the first European hub, and quickly grew to supply every international carrier at Brussels international airport. In 2003, British Airways contracted with DMD to provide gate services in 86 airports in 31 countries throughout Europe. By 2004, DMD was supplying 60 airlines across Germany, from a new hub in Frankfurt.

2005 saw the all-important move into the US, with east coast offices opened to serve the international needs of major publishing companies including Condé Nast, Hearst and Hachette. DMD now provides a worldwide service to American Airlines, Lufthansa and BA from the US.
Most recently, a new hub in France has been opened to provide services to Continental, SNBA, Emirates and South African Airways, while running all of Air France’s international publishing relationships. New offices in Dubai are about to open, providing coverage in the fast growing Middle east sector, and there are advanced plans to open a new DMD hub in Hong Kong to service the Far east and Australasia.

Through this expansion and established partnerships, DMD now provides a global partnership for both publishers and airlines, helping to grow circulations and meet the needs of passengers worldwide.

Philosophy
DMD’s mission is to develop global partnerships with publishers and airlines, delivering worldwide solutions from a single point of contact.

From a publishing perspective, this makes the global growth of circulations both cost-effective and logistically possible. It creates opportunities to create sophisticated and highly targeted campaigns and offers opportunities for circulation growth and subsequent advertising revenue growth, awareness building, sampling and the creation of new revenue streams.

From an airline perspective, the DMD global approach enables carriers to match differing passenger requirements on each route with appropriate reading material, to enjoy reliable supply to the highest standards and to use innovative supply methods inflight, at the gate and in lounges, to ensure that passengers have the best possible experience.

Innovations
Dawson Media Direct is proud to be an innovator in its field, constantly developing solutions to improve the level of service to both airlines and publishers. Recent development include:

• The creation of a unique traceable distribution system that enables airline copies to be included in audited circulation figures
• The development of airline gate services, enabling airlines to distribute highly targeted publications to meet the demographics of each specific flight, while reducing the time input for airline staff
• The introduction of pay-on-board media services for low-cost carriers, opening up a new revenue stream on even the shortest of routes
• Implementation of digital printing units, capable of providing passengers with the latest news from their favourite newspaper at the touch of a button