circulation

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

sport diver 's miller: ride the wave of partnership marketing

For years, circulators have been touting the potential of partnership marketing. These alliances not only generate new subscriptions, they can act as value-adds for advertisers. But publishers don't have to limit themselves to partnering with just advertisers or other magazines.

In January of 2000, Sport Diver magazine, which is published by the Florida-based World Publications, partnered with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). Given that the group certifies 80 percent of the divers in the world, a partnership was natural, says Bruce Miller, vice president of consumer marketing for World Publications and the president of Miller Marketing.

Sport Diver's alliance with PADI has resulted in a number of benefits, Miller says. First, the association provides the magazine a continuous source of new names. "PADI certifies 140,000 to 150,000 new divers in the United States every year," Miller says. The magazine has also been able to go to a unified pricing model (association subscriptions are $29) and has tripled its introductory direct mail price, from $9.99 for a subscription to the magazine to $29 for membership in PADI.

The new opportunities do present a couple of complications, admits Miller, including increased fulfillment and extraneous expenses (such as membership kits). But the unique relationship has allowed Sport Diver to find new prospective readers at a time when many magazines have been struggling.