Don't fail to trumpet the really good news!

My wife became a charter subscriber to Rachael Ray's new magazine (the Food Network's Princess of Perky).

The rate was $18 for a 6x/year magazine so I guess the decision was made to test the waters at full price rather than try to bring in many more subs at $9 (probably plus $3 S&H) who might be less likely to renew.

I sent a bill-me order and before I had paid, I received another notice. "Jeez," I thought, "gimme a minute, I just sent the order." But upon closer reading, while the format was identical to an invoice, it appeared this was an offer to extend for an additional year for the same price of $18. Just where's the deal here?

Dan Capell, publisher of Capell's Circulation Report for magazine circ directors, counsels that every communication with a subscriber should include an opportunity for an advance renewal. He even includes acknowledgments of address-change requests and responses to complaints.

If I were on Rachael's marketing team, I would have held this second mailing until payment for the initial order had been received. I suppose it's easier to set it up to drop xx days after receipt of the order, but the possibility for confusion or even irritation of the subscriber seems fairly large.

Anyway, we paid for the initial year. And recently along comes another mailing--this time the carrier is headlined "Last Chance." I smiled, thinking of the late, great Bill Jayme who suggested that there is no better copy platform for the first notice in a renewal series than Last Chance or Final Opportunity (for the special early bird discount rate or the two-year deal, etc.).

Seven months out not too early

It's not too early to begin a renewal series seven months out, I suppose, because we have received three of the six issues of the initial term. (One thing I've taught my wife over the years is how to read the subscriber label to see when the expiration date actually is.)

This time the offer is not to extend for another year for $18, but the Last Chance (also the first chance) to get a two-year deal for $29.98. OK, they're staying under the presumed $30 price point, but here's the stunner. It is announced--no, my point is that it is not announced but rather is just stated "2 years (20 issues)" in two places.

The current issue we have at home is dated August/September, and I can't find anything about the increase in frequency.

How can you expand your publication frequency 67 percent, from 6x to 10x, without shouting it from the proverbial rooftop?

It is stamped ONE YEAR FREE, although actually the discount is better than that, 62 percent off the newsstand price, not 50 percent. Another missed promotion opportunity.

I've seen studies that show that the most effective presentation of this pricing deal is "HALF PRICE" which seems to be more attractive to prospects than "SAVE HALF," "50 PERCENT OFF." or "ONE YEAR FREE!"

Anyway, I would have made a big deal of that. Trumpet the good news! "Reader response to Rachael Ray's Everyday has been so tremendous that we are expanding from six issues a year to 10."

Premium or no premium?

Rachael's people offered no premium. To separate the fickle consumer reader from $30, I might have included one. Rachael's got about a half-dozen cookbooks now, and the wholesale cost is such that it might seem worthwhile to offer one for a paid two-year (or even three-year) deal.

However, I lost this argument once before as a consultant on baseball guru Bill James' short-lived newsletter. MacMillan was publishing both the newsletter and books, but evidently the book people in a different division could see no reason why they should "give away" potential sales to promote a newsletter being sold by folks on another floor.

Two more grace notes

I liked the superscript on the BRE provided. "First Class Postage Compliments of Every-Day with Rachael Ray"--and finessing the "dated deadline" offer: "Response Requested by 08/25/06," meaning, I assume, "but we'll still take your order if it comes at Thanksgiving."