Business-to-Business Magazine Winners

Circulation Management, August 1, 2004

Their June 2003 BPA Statement was the first to include the subscriber purchasing data, which had a tremendous impact on ad sales efforts.

GOLD

MSI

Reed Business Information

MSI has done substantial re-branding and repositioning since 2001 in response to changes in the marketplace. It began by changing its name from Manufacturing Systems to MSI, as well as its editorial focus and design. They also aggressively repositioned the magazine as the leading provider of information technology in the manufacturing sector.

MSI's strategy was to reduce overall circulation and improve quality, but also to add more subscribers with greater buying authority and maximize coverage at larger companies.

Circulation was decreased in June 2003 when all non-buyers were eliminated. Next, the buying authority data was improved by refusing to qualify individuals with limited purchasing power.

An exhaustive search identified companies with annual revenues greater than $50 million. Strict qualification requirements increased the percentage of subscribers at these companies from 43% to 57%.

Through these efforts, circulation spending was reduced by 25%, mainly through aggressive negotiation with telemarketing vendors and a heavy emphasis on obtaining email addresses.

In 2004, MSI is working on a new strategy to increase the percentage of one-year subs from 85% to 100%, increase IT circulation from 23% to 31%, and change its audit cycles from December to June. So far this year, MSI acquired over 21,000 new IT names, a 10.5% conversion rate, with all qualification criteria exceeded.

UP TO 49,999 CIRCULATION

GOLD

Game Developer

CMP Media

Game Developer had 3 primary objectives, all of which were based on leveraging the strength of the brand in the gaming industry.

Their strategy included leveraging traffic on the companion Web site, Gamasutra.com, expanding a partnership with the International Game Developers Association to increase membership subscriptions, and expanding penetration into the top tier game companies.

They created a web site qualification form for the magazine, which generated 17% of the annual subscription goal with no acquisition cost. They also used pop-up renewal forms for subscribers with databased email addresses. Over the past year, 10% of renewals came via their Web site at no cost.

Game Developer's partnership with the International Game Developers Association has grown to include over 5,000 members with a subscription to the magazine.

To expand penetration into top-tier companies, Game Developer created a target list drawn from editorial, external and internal research. They were able to increase top-tier names by 60%.

The judges applauded use of these partnerships, which resulted in acquisition savings. And in the most recently completed cycle, 27% of the magazine's promotion budget was returned to the bottom line.

GOLD

Semiconductor International

Reed Business Information

The three main objectives of Semiconductor International were to expand into the IC packaging market to support launch of a new supplement, maintain Semiconductor/IC Manufacturing circulation numbers despite a depressed industry segment, and launch a digital edition.