NPS Media Group

in partnership with

Hachette Partworks

US Market Digital Acquisition

A 12-month strategy & media management engagement across five Hachette Partworks collections in the United States.

Prepared for

Luise Mulholland

Marketing Director (Interim)

Hachette Partworks

Prepared by

Natalie Sorge

NPS Media Group

Chief Marketing Officer

Date

August 3, 2026

12-month engagement

Valid 30 days

Submitted in response to proposal request, dated July 23, 2026

01Executive Summary

Five collections. One US growth strategy.

Hachette Partworks has built one of the richest catalogues in collectables publishing, working across some of the world's most recognizable brands — Disney, Marvel, Warhammer, Doctor Who, and now 2000 AD's Judge Dredd. Warhammer has already proven the US market will respond at scale, with Combat Patrol driving 10,000+ subscriptions and Stormbringer 3,000+. But The Dalek and Disney Paint By Numbers fell well short of target and were paused, and three new collections — Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection — are entering the US market for the first time with no performance history to build from.

NPS proposes a portfolio-wide US acquisition strategy built collection-by-collection rather than as a single generic media plan. Each of the five collections gets a channel mix, audience strategy, and creative approach matched to its category — model builders, crafters, tabletop gamers, book collectors, and comic fans are different audiences requiring different targeting, creative, and platforms. Spend is deployed in a disciplined test-then-scale sequence so each collection earns its way to the minimum budgets specified in your brief. All five collections report through one shared measurement framework, so a winning creative angle or audience segment on one collection can be tested on another within days, not months.

Under this proposal, NPS manages a combined minimum of $510,000 per month in digital media investment across the five collections, supported by per-title retainers totaling $14,750 per month, dedicated creative production, and weekly performance reporting. Our objective is direct: bring The Dalek and Disney Paint By Numbers back to target CPA, launch Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd in the US at target CPA from day one of scaled spend, and give Hachette Partworks a repeatable US acquisition playbook it can extend to future launches beyond this portfolio.

02Understanding

What we're solving for.

01

Inconsistent US performance across the catalogue

Warhammer's US results prove the partworks model converts here, but The Dalek and Disney Paint By Numbers fell well short of target — 630 subscriptions at a £76 CPA over 16 months, and 511 at £78 over just 4 months before being paused, a result you've flagged as disappointing. The gap isn't the model — it's that audience targeting, creative, and offer-to-media pairing haven't yet found the right response for these two collections in the US.

02

Three collections launching in the US for the first time

Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd carry no US performance history, each with a $130,000/month minimum ad spend and a tighter $20–$30 target CPA than the re-launches. These need a strategy built for cold-launch conditions: fast audience discovery, creative testing at volume, and an early read on what's converting before we commit to full budget. Spearhead does benefit from transferable Warhammer audience learnings from Combat Patrol and Stormbringer.

03

A portfolio-wide need for a repeatable acquisition playbook

Five collections, five distinct audiences, one shared subscription mechanic. Hachette Partworks needs collection-specific targeting alongside a consistent measurement framework so that learnings — winning creative angles, audience segments, offer structures — move across the portfolio instead of starting from zero on every launch.

04

Scaling spend without losing efficiency

The minimum budgets in your brief represent a significant step-up from what these collections have spent in the US to date. Deploying five to ten times prior spend on day one typically raises CPA before it lowers it. The strategy needs to earn its way to full minimum budget through a disciplined testing-and-scaling sequence, not deploy it all at launch.

05

An agency with direct-response and subscription expertise

This is a job for a partner who understands partworks-specific media mechanics: dispatch-based key coding, subscription-first funnel measurement, and continuity-offer economics. It is not a job for a generalist media agency applying an e-commerce playbook to a subscription product.

By the Numbers

5

collections in scope across three sectors

$510K+

combined min. monthly US ad investment

13,000+

US Warhammer subs already proven

03Goals

What success looks like.

  1. 01

    Return The Dalek and Disney Paint By Numbers to target CPA ($100–$150 and $25–$30 respectively) at the minimum monthly budgets specified, reversing prior underperformance.

  2. 02

    Launch Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd in the US at target CPA ($20–$30) using a proven test-to-scale sequence.

  3. 03

    Build a collection-specific channel strategy for each of the five collections, matched to its category audience.

  4. 04

    Establish one shared measurement and tracking framework across the portfolio for apples-to-apples reporting.

  5. 05

    Test audience-driven placements and creative formats tailored to each collection's community, building on Warhammer's existing US fan base.

  6. 06

    Deliver a phased 12-month media plan that scales spend to the specified minimums without sacrificing CPA efficiency.

04Media Strategy

Our approach across the portfolio.

Channel Strategy & Rationale

Each collection is assigned a primary and secondary channel mix based on its audience and creative format, not a default platform list. Model-building and tabletop audiences skew Meta / YouTube / Reddit; craft and gift audiences skew Meta / Pinterest / Google Shopping. Search runs across all five; retargeting builds from day one.

Audience Strategy — Targeting, Retargeting & Geographic Coverage

Prospecting starts with interest and behavioral targeting per category, layered with lookalikes built from Warhammer's proven US subscriber base. National US coverage from launch, spend-weighted to metros showing strongest early response. Retargeting from week one across site visitors, video viewers, and cart abandoners.

Why this approach: Each collection's audience lives in a different community — Doctor Who model builders, Disney crafters, Warhammer tabletop gamers, book collectors, and 2000 AD readers. Interest-based targeting lets us reach those communities at scale without relying on fragile pixel data alone, while lookalikes from Warhammer's 13,000+ US subscribers give cold-start audiences a proven conversion signal. This is especially valuable for Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd, where early converter data will be limited.

Geographic coverage: We cover the full US from day one because partworks audiences are interest-driven rather than locally concentrated, and the subscription mechanics are nationally consistent. Spend is weighted toward the metro/DMA markets showing the strongest early response, with DMA-level budget optimization beginning in Month 3. Retargeting is active from week one across all site visitors, video viewers, and cart abandoners to capture the long consideration cycle typical of subscription products.

Budget Allocation — By Channel & Awareness vs. Conversion

Phase 1 (Mo. 1–2, Testing): ~60% upper-funnel prospecting / creative testing, 40% conversion + early retargeting. Phase 2 (Mo. 3+, Scale): shifts to ~70% conversion / 30% continued prospecting.

Why this split: Cold-start and re-launch collections need upfront exploration before efficiency can improve. The 60% upper-funnel weight in Phase 1 funds the audience and creative discovery required to find winning combinations. Once winners emerge, we reallocate toward conversion-focused tactics and retargeting, where every dollar is directed at audiences with the highest probability of subscribing. This prevents premature scaling of unproven creative and protects the target CPA during the transition to full budget.

Channel mix rationale: Meta is the primary prospecting layer across all five collections because of its reach and granular interest targeting. Google Search/Shopping captures existing demand, especially for gift-driven Disney titles. Niche channels (YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit) are matched to the communities where each audience already congregates: YouTube for model-building and hobby content, Pinterest for craft and gift discovery, Reddit for tabletop and comic fans. Retargeting is deployed consistently across every collection to convert the long consideration window typical of subscription products.

CollectionMeta (Prospecting)Google Search/ShoppingNiche Channel(s)Retargeting
The Dalek45%15%20% (YouTube)20%
Disney Paint By Numbers40%15% (Shopping)25% (Pinterest/YouTube)20%
Spearhead40%10%35% (YouTube/Reddit)15%
Disney Mini Books40%15% (Shopping)20% (Pinterest/YouTube)25%
Judge Dredd40%10%30% (Reddit/YouTube)20%

Awareness, Consideration & Conversion Optimization Plan

StageObjectivePrimary TacticsKey Metric
AwarenessReach cold, category-relevant audiencesMeta reach/video-view campaigns, YouTube pre-roll, broad interest + lookalike targeting, scroll-stopping static/video creativeCPM, video view rate, reach
ConsiderationEngage warm audiences who've shown interestRetarget video viewers & page engagers with deeper content (build process, unboxing, testimonials); carousel/testimonial creativeCTR, landing page engagement rate
ConversionDrive subscription starts among high-intent audiencesPurchase-optimized bidding (Meta Purchase objective, Google Smart Bidding tCPA), dynamic retargeting to cart abandoners, urgency/offer-driven creativeCPA, conversion rate

Creative Strategy

Each collection launches with 4–6 initial ad sets (static + video/motion) built around distinct hooks. Video assets include direct-response cuts (15–30 sec) and longer product-demonstration edits for consideration-stage retargeting; static assets cover carousel, single-image, and collection/offer graphics. Structured A/B tests on hook, offer framing, and format every 2 weeks in Phase 1, narrowing to the top 2–3 directions before Phase 2 scale spend.

Testing Roadmap

PeriodFocus
Month 1Creative & audience testing — 4–6 ad set variants per collection, broad interest targeting, hook/format testing (static vs. video)
Month 2Narrow to top 2–3 creative directions; begin offer/price-framing tests (free gift emphasis vs. price-per-issue); expand lookalikes from early converters
Month 3Scale winning combinations to full minimum budget; test retargeting creative (dynamic vs. static); begin DMA-level budget testing
Month 4+Ongoing quarterly refresh — new creative every 6–8 weeks, continued offer testing, evaluate secondary channel expansion

Tracking Requirements — Ads & Channels

GA4 and platform Conversion APIs (Meta CAPI, Google Enhanced Conversions) configured per collection at onboarding, tied to the dispatch/key-code structure. UTM and key-code standardization across Meta, Google, Pinterest, and Reddit so channel-level performance is directly comparable, plus server-side tracking to protect measurement accuracy against browser-level tracking loss.

Measurement Framework

One shared Looker Studio dashboard covers the full portfolio with collection-level drill-down, updated weekly, plus a monthly cross-collection strategy call and quarterly portfolio business review. Each collection is measured against its own target CPA rather than a blended portfolio average.

Competitive Analysis

Benchmarking against direct partworks competitors (DeAgostini, Eaglemoss/Hero Collector legacy titles) and category-adjacent DTC subscription competitors — tabletop/hobby boxes for Spearhead, craft subscription boxes for Disney Paint By Numbers, comic subscription services for Judge Dredd.

05Collection Strategy

Five collections, five plans.

Forecasts assume target CPA is achieved at the stated minimum budget and are illustrative, not guaranteed.

3.1

The Dalek

Re-launch, turnaround

Sector

Build-Up

Min. Budget

$65,000/mo

Target CPA

$100–$150

Audience

Sci-fi and Doctor Who fans, model builders, skewing male 25–54.

Channel Mix

Meta (Doctor Who/sci-fi collector interest), YouTube (model-building content), Google Search, retargeting.

Creative Angle

Lead with the build itself — 1:2 scale replica, in progress imagery, 3 free gifts as a value hook.

Phase 1 · Testing

$32,500/mo @ $150 CPA → ~217 subs/mo

Phase 2 · Scale

$65,000/mo @ $125 CPA → ~520 subs/mo

3.2

Disney Paint By Numbers

Re-launch, turnaround

Sector

Arts & Crafts

Min. Budget

$55,000/mo

Target CPA

$25–$30

Audience

Craft/DIY hobbyists and Disney fans, skewing female 30–60.

Channel Mix

Meta/Instagram (craft & DIY, Disney fan communities), Pinterest, YouTube, Google Shopping, retargeting.

Creative Angle

Test fresh creative/offer framing — process/relaxation vs. finished-artwork/Disney-nostalgia — before Phase 2 scale.

Phase 1 · Testing

$27,500/mo @ $30 CPA → ~917 subs/mo

Phase 2 · Scale

$55,000/mo @ $27.50 CPA → ~2,000 subs/mo

3.3

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Spearhead

New US launch

Sector

Comics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Min. Budget

$130,000/mo

Target CPA

$20–$30

Audience

US tabletop gaming audience proven by Combat Patrol and Stormbringer in the US — lookalikes built from that base for a first-time Spearhead launch.

Channel Mix

Meta (tabletop gaming community), YouTube (painting & hobby creators), Reddit (r/AgeOfSigmar), Google Search.

Creative Angle

Lead with the 12-army collection scope and the hobby/painting community angle proven by Warhammer in the US.

Phase 1 · Testing

$65,000/mo @ $30 CPA → ~2,167 subs/mo

Phase 2 · Scale

$130,000/mo @ $25 CPA → ~5,200 subs/mo

3.4

Disney Mini Books

New US launch

Sector

Collectables/Books

Min. Budget

$130,000/mo

Target CPA

$20–$30

Audience

Disney collectors and gift buyers, skewing female 25–55; strong Q4 gifting overlap.

Channel Mix

Meta/Instagram (Disney fan pages, collector & gift audiences), Pinterest, YouTube, Google Shopping, retargeting.

Creative Angle

Emphasize the compact, gold-detailed collectible format and gift positioning.

Phase 1 · Testing

$65,000/mo @ $30 CPA → ~2,167 subs/mo

Phase 2 · Scale

$130,000/mo @ $25 CPA → ~5,200 subs/mo

3.5

Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection

New US launch

Sector

Comics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Min. Budget

$130,000/mo

Target CPA

$20–$30

Audience

2000 AD and Judge Dredd fans, longtime comic readers, skewing male 35–55.

Channel Mix

Meta (comic fan pages, 2000 AD community, nostalgia targeting 35–55), Reddit (r/2000AD), YouTube (comic review channels), Google Search.

Creative Angle

Lead with the display-piece hook — spines forming a panoramic illustration when complete — plus unpublished bonus art.

Phase 1 · Testing

$65,000/mo @ $30 CPA → ~2,167 subs/mo

Phase 2 · Scale

$130,000/mo @ $25 CPA → ~5,200 subs/mo

Portfolio Forecast — Phase 2 at Full Scale

~18,120 subscriptions / month

At $510,000/mo combined spend. Dalek ~520 · Disney Paint By Numbers ~2,000 · Spearhead ~5,200 · Disney Mini Books ~5,200 · Judge Dredd ~5,200. Illustrative math tied to stated assumptions, not a guarantee.

06Services

Proposed scope of work.

4.1

Meta (Facebook/Instagram/Threads) Campaign Management

Strategy, in-house ad creative and copy, audience targeting, and acquisition campaigns across all five collections.

  • —Collection-specific audience strategy and lookalike modeling
  • —Weekly dashboard reporting and monthly strategy calls
  • —Ongoing creative and audience testing cadence
4.2

Google Ads (Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and YouTube) Campaign Management

Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and YouTube management, with collection-specific CPA goals.

  • —Branded and category search coverage per collection
  • —Performance Max, YouTube, and Shopping for gift-driven collections
  • —Full setup through ongoing optimization
4.3

Pinterest & Community Channel Management

Pinterest for craft- and gift-led collections, plus Reddit/community placements for tabletop and comic audiences.

  • —Pinterest campaigns for Disney Paint By Numbers and Disney Mini Books
  • —Reddit and community targeting for Spearhead and Judge Dredd
4.4

Creative Development

All ad creative — static and video — for each collection's testing roadmap and ongoing campaign needs.

  • —4–6 initial ad sets per collection at launch, mixed static/video
  • —Video clips and creative developed off of existing b-roll, videos, brand imagery, and stock graphics
  • —Structured A/B testing on hook, offer, and format every 2 weeks in Phase 1
  • —Up to three full rounds of edits per creative set included; additional work billed at $75/hr
4.5

Conversion Infrastructure & Tracking Setup

GA4, Conversion APIs, and key-code integration tied to your dispatch and fulfillment structure.

  • —Meta CAPI and Google Enhanced Conversions per collection
  • —Order-level attribution tied to campaign, ad set, and creative
  • —Coordination with your fulfillment vendor on key codes and reporting feeds
4.6

Data & Analytics / Reporting

One shared Looker Studio dashboard with collection-level drill-down.

  • —Weekly updated dashboard: orders, CPA, spend pacing, channel performance
  • —Monthly cross-collection strategy call
  • —Quarterly portfolio business review
07Scope of Work

Roles & responsibilities.

NPS Will Provide

  • ›Collection-specific media strategy, buying, and optimization across all five collections
  • ›Creative development (static and video) and structured testing roadmap
  • ›Tracking and conversion infrastructure setup (GA4, CAPI, key-code integration)
  • ›Weekly dashboard reporting, monthly strategy calls, and quarterly portfolio review
  • ›Audience-driven creative testing and platform-specific placement strategy
  • ›Ongoing competitive monitoring across the partworks and adjacent DTC subscription category

Client Will Provide

  • ›Platform ad account access (Meta Business Manager, Google Ads, Pinterest)
  • ›Brand assets, product photography, packaging imagery, videos and b-roll footage per collection
  • ›Dispatch/key-code structure and fulfillment data feed for attribution
  • ›Timely creative and campaign approvals
  • ›Direct funding of ad spend to platforms per the agreed monthly minimums
08Investment

Pricing & structure.

CollectionRetainer (post-discount)Min. Ad SpendMonthly Total
The Dalek$2,950$65,000$67,950
Disney Paint By Numbers$2,950$55,000$57,950
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Spearhead$2,950$130,000$132,950
Disney Mini Books$2,950$130,000$132,950
Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection$2,950$130,000$132,950
Portfolio Total$14,750$510,000$524,750
  • › Standard retainer: $3,300/mo per title
  • › Portfolio discount: $350/mo per title for engaging all five collections
  • › Bundled post-discount rate: $2,950/mo per title ($14,750/mo total)
  • › Bundled rate saves $1,750/mo vs. standard $16,500/mo retainer
  • › Ad spend paid directly to platforms; NPS does not mark up advertising costs
  • › Creative revisions: up to three full rounds per set included; additional work $75/hr
  • › Monthly invoicing, itemized by collection, Net 15
09Contract Terms

The fine print, in plain language.

Term12-month engagement covering all five collections under one master agreement. Net 15 payment terms, monthly invoicing itemized by collection, start immediate upon signing.

FlexibilityQuarterly business review with ability to reallocate budget between collections within the approved portfolio total, subject to client sign-off.

Optional Add-OnsNone at this stage — full scope proposed across all five collections per the brief.

10Next Steps

Let's get started.

  1. Week 1

    Contract execution, onboarding kickoff call, and platform access granted across all five collections.

  2. Week 1–2

    Tracking and CAPI setup, audience research, and creative briefing for each collection.

  3. Week 2–4

    Creative production, first-round assets, and campaign build across assigned channels.

  4. Week 4

    Phase 1 (testing) launch — Dalek and Disney Paint By Numbers re-launch; Spearhead, Disney Mini Books, and Judge Dredd new US launch.

  5. Week 6–8

    First performance read, creative and audience optimization, scale toward minimum budgets.

  6. Ongoing

    Weekly dashboards, monthly strategy calls, and quarterly portfolio business reviews.

11In Closing

Proven brands.
Five paths
to scale.

Hachette Partworks doesn't need to prove the partworks model works in the US — Warhammer has already done that at real scale. What's needed now is the same discipline applied collection by collection: the right audience, the right creative, and the right pace of spend for a Doctor Who replica build, a Disney craft collection, a comic archive, and a gift-ready mini-book set that each convert differently.

NPS brings 30+ years managing direct-response and subscription acquisition, including the partworks-specific mechanics — dispatch-based key coding, continuity-offer economics, subscription-first measurement — that a generalist media agency won't have out of the box. We're ready to bring that expertise to all five collections in this portfolio, turn around the two that underperformed, and launch the three new collections at target CPA from the start.

Ready to move forward?

Contact Natalie directly.

nsorge@npsmediagroup.com