Audit Bureau drops coupon promotion test

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March, 1989

Audit Bureau drops coupon promotion test

Schaumburg, Ill.--The Audit Bureau of Circulations decided in December to drop a test program that allowed coupon values to be advertised on magazine covers, but at least one magazine, Woman's Day, plans to petition for an extension of the test.

In 1988 the ABC relaxed its rule that prohibited publications from promoting coupon values, but has since ended the test period and left its original rule intact. "The ABC board did not feel that coupon promotion was anything that anyone felt strongly about," says Barbara Govednik, a spokesperson for ABC.

Woman's Day felt otherwise, noting that magazines that rely heavily on newsstand sales would benefit from an extension, according to Ken Schoen, circulation director. Schoen concedes that not many magazines were likely to participate during the test period, simply because they need to carry substancial coupon value in order to promote effectively. During 1988, Woman's Day promoted coupons less than half a dozen times, he says.

But, he adds, one year of testing is not enough to evaluate if promoting coupon value affects single-copy sales. Given the amount of regional advertising and other factors that vary from issue to issue, Woman's Day does not yet have enough examples of test issues and other similar issues to make a comparison, he explains.