Real-World Solutions

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Nov 1, 2002

CIRCULATION

Cheap, and Proud of It

No one can accuse Budget Living of not practicing what it preaches. The new title - out to prove that cheap is chic - didn't go for chichi subscription marketing tactics such as costly direct mail. To drum up subs among its price-conscious demographic, the mag went bargain hunting. The first stop on the sales rack? Client calls. Company president Eric Rayman convinced advertisers to try a little creative marketing, Budget Living-style. And so in October, JetBlue Airlines handed out 10,000 copies of BL to its passengers, complete with stickers that read, "Finally, a magazine that thinks like JetBlue." Bed, Bath and Beyond, the home-supplies superstore, packed a free copy of the debut issue in 5,000 of its biggest mail orders. Sure Fit, the country's largest maker of slipcovers, e-mailed more than 1 million of its customers the Web links to a $9.95 BL subscription offer. Looks like the penny-pinching paid off: At launch, the magazine already had 200,000 subscriptions. And, says Rayman, "We didn't advertise, we didn't do direct mail. We haven't even had a launch party yet."

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Copycat Contests

Does this storyline sound familiar? A budding music journalist is offered the opportunity to shadow a rock band during a concert tour and then write about it in one of the country's top music mags. Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous," right? Wrong. It seems that the 2000 movie inspired the brass at MTV to go out and create an almost famous experience of its own. Early last winter, MTV approached Spin about cosponsoring MTV's Ultimate Spin Contest, a competition that would select one young aspiring writer to follow the band Papa Roach on the road and then write about the escapade in the December issue of the magazine. MTV will chronicle the action for a program set to air this month.

Nearly 1,000 (mostly college-age) scribes entered the contest after it was advertised on the music channel and in the July 2002 issue of Spin. The contest has generated to-die-for exposure for the title, says editor Sia Michel. And it comes at a time when the magazine is in need of major buzz, now that Blender and a revamped Rolling Stone are attracting so much media attention. "The contest puts us out there in front of this massive television audience, including some young people who might not be familiar with Spin," says Michel.

The contest, however, makes one wonder why Spin, not Rolling Stone, is the MTV cosponsor. After all, Rolling Stone was the magazine featured in the movie. To which Michel replies, "We were perfect for [the contest]. We have a younger readership than Rolling Stone, and MTV's demographic is very young right now." Those searching for fresh promotion ideas might also look to Hollywood, says Michel. Silver-screen fantasies have a way of grabbing reader attention.

EDITORIAL

Taking It to the Streets

Fast Company goes the extra mile - make that 1,800 miles - for editorial development and its reader-response efforts. For the past four years, associate editor Heath Row has embarked on a grass-roots campaign, canvassing readers and local business leaders for emerging and innovative management ideas. This year's six-week Company of Friends Road Show - called "Leading in the East" - began in Richmond, Virginia, on September 23 and rolls to a stop in Burlington, Vermont, on the fourth of this month. Visiting about 75 companies and executives in 18 cities, Row attends meetings in search of editorial contacts, material for daily Web postings, and, of course, new readers. His other mission: revving up interest for the tour's exclusive sponsor, Volkswagen USA. The client provided a new Passat Wagon for the trip. The tour requires almost no budget, says Alexa Wilson, sales development manager for FC: The mag forks over the cash for gas, food, and promotions, but the events are coordinated by members of the magazine's Company of Friends network - a 44,000-member reader group - and Row stays with a different member each night. The Road Show also boosts readership, says Row. The network now accounts for about 5 percent of FC's circulation.