Debating the Value of Public Place/Sponsored Circ

Circulation Management, Jan 1, 2004

Byline: KRISTINA JOUKHADAR

Which type of circulation is more valuable: "Qualified, Nonpaid" circulation - where many of the copies are "Non-Direct Request" (names come from lists and directories) - or "Public Place" - currently referred to in the ABC audit report as "Sponsored Sales" - where copies are sighted and picked up by potential subscribers due to their interest in the magazine?

Circulators have been addressing questions like these in their efforts to counteract what they see as a direct attack by adertisers on the quality of the circulation as set forth in their Publisher's Statements. And Public Place copies have recently come under scrutiny on the audit reports in ABC's latest moves to make the reports ever more accurate and granular.

Part of the auditing debate centers around the percentage of copies that are allowed to be Public Place/Sponsored Sales. Depending upon the circumstances of the sponsored sale, any sponsored copies over 10% of "Average Total Single Copy Sales" could be labeled NonQualified and NonPaid - therefore assumed to be circulation that is undesirable to advertisers.

But is this an accurate assumption? The question is certainly being actively debated.

If you want to know how advertisers feel about "Public Place" copies, said Linda Thomas Brooks, executive VP, managing director, General Motors Media Works, in the consumer magazine panel discussion at ABC's November meeting, just look at AOL. "AOL drops disks all over the planet. Some distribution makes sense and some doesn't. I'm not saying all Public Place is bad."

According to Ava Seave, principle of Quantum Media Associates, magazine circulation is all about "how to get attention for your magazine." Public Place copies have the potential to reach a lot of eyeballs. At the FOLIO: show panel on Cost-Effective Solutions for Circulation Marketing, Seave specifically mentioned the value of Public Place circulation: "The cost effectiveness of circulation is in the eye of the beholder."

"The very success of Public Place is that it is distinguished from general subscriptions," said Seave. For example, "a children's magazine might be distributed to pediatric dentists or pediatricians' offices." She suggested the use of tip-ons or subcards as a separate run for these copies, with promo copy on them. The main thing is that you make the copies stand out.

Another very important point in the question of the value of Public Place/Sponsored copies, is whether or not the copies have what has affectionately come to be called "wantedness."

An overview of the results of the Northwestern University "Magazine Reader Experience Study" - which was comprised of 4347 surveys conducted on 220 questions - was presented at the ABC meeting in November, and there were some very interesting findings on wantedness. The most important one is that there is no correlation between the reader experience of wantedness and the way the magazine was acquired by the reader (whether it was purchased or not; whether it was a subscription or single copy; or whether it is a pass-along copy).

The study basically supported what many circulators already know about Public Place/Sponsored circ. Says Bridget Wells, director, partnership marketing, Agency & ABC Services, Hearst Magazines: "It helps build readers per copy. And we sell it. If it's in a beauty salon and 50 people see it, why not? We'll keep on supporting sponsored bulk."

Despite the good things circulators are saying about Public Place/Sponsored circ, Thomas Brooks gave a different explanation from the advertiser's point of view at the ABC consumer magazine panel. "The price per copy has a relative value over time, and if it's going down, that could mean readers aren't willing to pay as much for their copy."

She said the debate on Public Place copies having more wantedness and involvement on the part of readers, is great. But "until you can link between the price paid and how many people are viewing your ad or buying from your ad, the statistics are not useful."

Cautioned Thomas Brooks: "If you think getting phone calls from your advertisers is bad, just remember that not getting phone calls is worse. We're trying to quantify the value of magazines to our management, our shareholders...TV gives you the number of people who watched your commercial last night!"