As magazines continue to struggle, some are treating subscribers the way Tommy Boy does biscuits that represent Callahan brake pad sales contacts. Take Rick, who was good enough to pay upfront for two years of Reader's Digest, and now must field offers from the company to renew the four-month-old subscription:
Just imagine how much money these companies waste sending the renewals out to recently subscribed customers. I get them all the time from magazines I subscribe to. It is good enough reason for me not to renew.
ReplyDeleteThe offer was not only to renew his subscription, but to name someone else to receive a "free" subscription. After starting thier subscription, the recipient of the "free" subscription would start getting promo mail just like the original subscriber.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tried and true and very common method to drive up sales and subscriber numbers, especially in a time when print magazines are having a hard go at it.
Everything I've read shows that magazines subscriptions are at record numbers, particularly the 18-34 y/o market demographic... who said they are struggling? That's newspapers that are struggling.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the magazines have been doing this for years. Better Homes and Gardens got me years ago. I kept thinking that maybe I hadn't paid the rewewal so I kept paying it. I was paid ahead for SIX YEARS!
ReplyDeleteNow, I look at everything very carefully to make sure none of the "get me" again.
This matters very much.
ReplyDeleteEver read a Readers Digest recently? It's sad to see how much that title has gone downhill. I chose not to renew my subscription a year ago.
ReplyDelete933
ReplyDeleteu must had a lot of money to burn. Your expiration date for magazines is typically on the address label.
I've been so disgusted with the way subscriptions are handled, I've quit any new subscriptions. As my current magazine subscriptions run out, that's it! The magazines are getting thinner and thinner, and I'll be surprised if the magazines outlast the subscriptions.
ReplyDelete