Advertising Sales

Beat 'Print is Dead' With 'Free iPod' Threat

Ron Wall, SVP of publishing at Canon Communications, shares a great story of how he beat a "print ads are dead" objection raised by a client by making him an offer he had to refuse.

The client told Ron that print ads were not responsive and therefore of little value. Ron countered by offering a free spread in his magazine. But there was a catch. The ad had to make an offer, have an 800 number, and anyone who called even just to inquire about the offer would get a free iPod.

The offer of a free spread got Ron's client thinking. What would the offer be? How many callers would buy as result? How many iPods would he have to give away? Whoa! A lot of free iPods!

As the client did the math and considered the number of people who might call to get a free iPod, he realized it could run into hundreds or thousands. The client started backing off from Ron's offer. Then Ron, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "But wait a minute, didn't you just say print advertising is not responsive?"

Ron's point, that the right print ad can be very responsive, had been made. Print is not dead, and print ads can generate response as long as they are designed with a compelling offer. Great story. Thanks Ron!

Explaining Scaling Back Print to Advertisers

On Friday, FOLIO: reported that Penton had decided to significantly scale back the print version of Remix from a monthly to a quarterly, positioning it as a "Web-first" brand.

Here's how publisher Joanne Zola described the shift in an e-mail to advertisers:

Dear Advertiser,

In January, Remix will shift 100% to a “Web first” property.

Remix will continue to serve the growing market of emerging music producers, engineers and artists, and the facilities and services that feed them. But we will now focus our content where this market consumes media: online and at our regional events. As a media company, our top priority is to deliver information to our readers in the most effective possible format.

In 1999, I helped launch Remix magazine to complete the EM and Mix portfolio. Our advertisers were looking for a way to reach the next generation of music producers, engineers and artists. The response was strong from both the manufacturer community and the readers. A brand was born. Today, Remix remains the only property in the industry addressing technology and music for that 20- to 35-year-old professional.

During the past eight years, growth of the Remix audience has been tied directly to the growth of the Internet. 50% of all Internet users are between the ages of 15 and 34 (500 million users overall), meaning one in two users on the Web is 100% in the Remix target demographic. In parallel, the Remix Website has been one of the top five fastest-growing Penton Websites six years running (Penton has over 160 sites), increasing traffic more than 25% year-over-year.

Our events business has also been on the growth fast track, with Remix Hotel attendance climbing 20% each year. Major technology companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Avid and Sony have sponsored Remix Hotel events to reach the emerging artist pool and interact with them one-on-one. The live interviews, panels, product demonstrations and master classes at each Remix Hotel make these must-attend events for our audience.

With Remix’s evolution to a “Web first” brand, we will not only refocus our content to the Internet but also restructure the Emeryville editorial department to include a dedicated Web content team. Editorial emphasis will shift to an information exchange centered around a new online product database and expanded rich media content. This team will produce content specifically for the Web, leading the way with technology-focused editorial, video content, artist interviews, tutorials and product reviews. In addition, Remix will have the support of the full Penton new media team (70-plus employees) and a dedicated Web developer in the Emeryville office.

The print edition of Remix will live on in quarterly issues coinciding with Remix Hotels. Each issue will feature new technology, application pieces and artist interviews—as well as exclusive interviews with Remix Hotel special guests.

Remix is poised to be the premier source of news and information for the pro-audio and MI markets. We believe that the energized brand will offer the most complete marketing offerings to reach our readers—your customers—in print, online and events. But you are not alone in this new environment: Our sales and editorial teams are available to discuss your needs and help design a dynamic plan that suits your products and expands your customer base.

We thank you for your support these many years, and we look forward to working with you in 2009 and beyond.

Sincerely,

Joanne Zola

Group Publisher, Mix, EM, Remix
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What’s the Average Age of Seventeen’s Reader? Answer: 27*

* [EDITOR'S NOTE: See updates below ...]

While analyzing the results of Mediamark Research Inc.’s Fall 2008 survey, I came across a weird stat that has got to be troubling to the publishers of “teen” magazines and others catering to the youth demographic:

In terms of age reach, just seven magazines—Teen Vogue (at 25.8, not exactly teens), Seventeen (26.9, or 9.9 years older than the name implies), Vibe (28.6), Game Informer (27.2), Blender (27.7), Maxim (29.1) and OK! (29.3)—have readers with a median age under 30.

Putting aside the Vibes and Maxims and OKs for a second, let’s talk about the teen category. The average age of Teen Vogue and Seventeen readers is … 26?!?! To borrow a phrase from the teenaged vernacular, WTF?!?!

No wonder ElleGirl and CosmoGirl and Jane folded—they weren’t being read by the “girls” at all. They weren’t attracting the young audience they once had. Instead, they were being read by the young women who read them when they were legitimately “girls.”

Maybe they should change their name to Twentyseven.

UPDATE: Hearst, which publishes Seventeen, points out that the MRI survey targets adults (18+) and doesn't include magazine readers under 17. The most recent TeenMark study (measuring teens from 12-19), Hearst says, shows that Seventeen's median age reader is 16.2. I'm waiting for MRI to send over the combined average, and will update this post accordingly.

UPDATE #2: When combined with MRI's Teenmark study of readers 12 to 19, the median ages of the readers of the magazines above are as follows: Teen Vogue (18.4), Seventeen (20.6), Vibe (26), Game Informer (20.6), Blender (25.9) and Maxim (28).

It’s not just the “teen” category that is plagued with the aging reader. It’s the entire industry. Overall, the average age of a magazine reader was 45.1—up from 44.8 in 2007.

A Break-Up Letter, From Editorial to Advertorial

Dear Advertorial,

I don’t know how to say this nicely but ... it’s just not working.

I’ve tried for years to include you in my circle. I’ve never made you play the uncomfortable host, I’ve sat you in between features and ads and even given you your own tagline: “Special Advertising Section.”

But no matter what I do, you always seem to either want more or blend in covertly and then start passing your card around in the middle of dinner.

It wasn’t until this past week when you mimicked my department style that I realized it wasn’t you, it was me. I should have never trusted you to begin with. I should have kept my editorial editorial and my advertising advertising. We’ve had some good times—the ad cloaked as a story about our trip to the Virgin Islands, the business opportunities in India where I let you interview your friends and those photo-styled dinners we cooked in the new condos on the West Side (remember how we soaked up real estate money when the market was hot?)

All good memories, but times have changed and my analyst says I need to clean up my act and start setting some boundaries. Everyone always told me you were a little shady, a little “local coupon magazine-ish.” I guess they were right.

Best Wishes,

Editorial

What Will the Control Packages of the Future Look Like?

Some of you subscription direct mail wonks may remember the highly regarded copywriter Bill Jayme and his design partner, Heikki Ratalahi (from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s). Mr. Jayme and Mr. Ratalahi are credited for having created a record number of subscription control packages for such magazines as Smithsonian, BusinessWeek, Psychology Today and Life.

The copywriting was smart and very funny, which was Bill Jayme’s trademark style. My personal favorite was the outer envelope copy he wrote for Psychology Today:  “Do you close the bathroom door even when you’re the only one home?” Or the one for Personal Computing Magazine: “The boss’s daughter: How to keep from marrying her.” Genius stuff!

Now that we are becoming masters of multi-channel and email marketing I have to wonder if we are putting the same thought into creating really smart copy and design for our current online direct marketing efforts. Do we even have the time or budget to devote to it? Or, more importantly, would it actually increase response if we did?

One thing working against us is the whole nature of e-mail sort of sanitizes the creative process:  You have 50 characters for the subject line but the first 20 characters count the most. What will the e-mail look like in the new version of Outlook? You need to “hook” your recipient in the preview pane which is only 1 ½ inches! Not to mention, beware of words that are “spam triggers."

I think we are so overwhelmed with the technology limitations and worry of spam that we are losing the real art of how creative direct marketing can be and how that creativity has driven the success of some of our iconic magazines.  Some of Mr. Jayme’s copy was literary genius, but I suspect even he would feel constrained by all of the restrictions that technology has placed on our direct marketing creative.

So how can we push the creative “envelope?"  My goal for next year is to create a really clever viral e-mail campaign or a very effective embedded video. Both of these e-mail marketing techniques have a way to push outside of technical restrictions and actually embrace what this marketing channel can do for us.

I think if Bill Jayme and Heikki Ratalahi were working in today’s subscription marketing environment, they would embrace this technology and show us all how creativity is not bound by how many characters you can have in a subject line.