February 2000

Bulletin

NEW YORK STATE CIRCULATION
MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.

A Letter From The President

Dear Circulation Friends,

Welcome to the Year 2000! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that the New Year brings with it much success for all.

The beginning of the year is a great time to plan the year ahead. Let me share with you what we have planned for NYSCMA for this year.

Let's start with our Spring Training session. This session will take place on March 3, 2000 at the DoubleTree Hotel at Syracuse Airport. Mark Vinciguerra (The Syracuse Newspapers) along with help from Tad Kilgore (Ithaca Journal) have put together this training session that will cover Single Copy Sales, Retention and District Manager Training. To register or for more information, please contact Mark Vinciguerra at the Syracuse Newspapers at (315) 470-3114, or visit the NYSCMA web site at www.NYSCMA.com.

Next, let me bring your attention to NYSCMA's 84th annual Sales and Marketing Conference. This year's conference will be held from Sunday May 7, through Wednesday, May 10th at The Sagamore on Lake George. This is such a wonderful setting for a conference and Claudia Hartz is putting the final touches on a great program that you just can't afford to miss. Our early bird registration mailing will be out to you soon, so mark your calendars now!

As long as I am on the subject of the conference I want to make all of you aware of one important change to this year's program. This year, the Hot Ideas Session will be moved from the last day of our conference to the first day. Of course, this session will only be as good as our submissions, and as of now we have only one entry. Please plan on sending all of your Hot Idea's by April 1, 2000 to Mark Vinciguerra, Single Copy Manager, The Syracuse Newspapers, P.O. Box 4915, One Clinton Square, Syracuse, NY 13221, and make this the best session of the conference.

Plan on saving $25 off your NYSCMA Sales Conference registration by using Hot Ideas above all entries into the annual Promotion Awards Competition. You will soon be receiving a flyer with all the details for the 1999-2000 NYSCMA Promotion Awards Competition in the mail. Like last year all entries will be judged in advance of the conference and printed in NYSCMA Promotion Award "Best Ideas" booklet. Contact Julie Cardinali, c/o The Syracuse Newspapers, Clinton Square, P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221, if you have any questions.

One last important note that I must pass along, recently, I accepted the resignation of one of our board members, Mark Kukiela from The Citizen in Auburn. On behalf of the association, I would like to wish Mark the best of luck as he accepts the Circulation Director's position at a newspaper in Maryland. Kevin Hinterberger (The Buffalo News) has been appointed to fill the remainder of Mark's term on the board of directors.

If you have any questions about anything I have mentioned or if you are interested in getting involved with the association in any way please let myself or any of the board members or committee members know.

Best Regards,

Will Kustyn
President, NYSCMA

The Sum of Add-On Program Is Success

By Michael L. Straley

If it costs as much as 20 times more to get a new customer than it does to care for an existing one, why not start early to cultivate that relationship with your newly-acquired customer?

When the Public Opinion (evening 21,537) in Chambersburg, PA acquires new customers, we send them a welcome packet. A component of that packet is an offer to extend their subscription-at full price. The offer generally is tied to a premium of a random-drawing contest.

The objective is to have at least 5 percent of our new subscribers each month extend their subscription terms. Since the program was launched in February, 12.5 percent of Public Opinion's new customers have taken advantage of this offer.

The idea is not really a new one. The magazine industry has used it - and refined it - over the years. The Public Opinion's program resulted from a direct-mail seminar that I attended last January in Harrisburg, PA. Simply called "Add-on," the program helps stabilize home delivery.

The important components to the Add-On program include:

  • Mailing promptly - Public Opinion mails its welcome packets with the extension offer that day after it obtains and verifies a new telemarketing start.
  • Monitoring response - Subscribers take, on average, two weeks to respond to the offer. The response rate has been as high as 16 percent and as low as 8 percent. Every month, however, we have exceeded the 3-to-5 percent that the direct mail expert who addressed the seminar said to expect.
  • Making payment easy - We include a postage-paid envelope in the welcome packet for pre-payment of the subscription extension. As a result, we have not had any extensions come in without prepayment.
  • Offering an incentive - In the first month of the program, 9.2 percent or 67 people, extended their subscriptions with a free cookbook as a premium. The second month, we discontinued the premium offer (the free cookbook) and instead, gave subscribers a chance for a $200 gift certificate to any local store. The response reached an all-time high of 16.7 percent or 103 customers. The third month, we made the same offer and saw a slight decline in response rate, at 13.3 percent or 95 customers. But 29 of those customers added on a full-year's subscription to their initial 13-week subscription.

Through the first four months of the program, we offered eight-week, 13-week, and 52-week extensions. After four months, we discontinued the eight-week extension and added a 26-week offer.

We also have tweaked our premium/prize offer somewhat since the beginning. Today, customers who opt for a 13-week extension get one chance to win the gift certificate; those who extend for 26 weeks get two chances; and those who extend for a year get three chances and a 40-page dining and recreation discount coupon book. Yearly subscriptions have accounted for 13 percent, or 65, of the 467 total Add-Ons.

Establishing an early rapport and getting an extension on a subscription with prepayment "add" up to an effective retention tool.

 

Want to Grow Single Copy? Consider the Power of Partnerships

By Ann Fabry

Based on positive results at many newspapers, it's time to revisit a strategy that many circulation sales departments have experimented with, but few have mastered - creating partnerships to improve single-copy distribution and sales. At The Journal News (morning circulation 150,532) in Westchester, NY, the single-copy marketing team set out to explore partnership opportunities and grow volumes.

The first program the team developed was a partnership with Dunkin' Donuts, a key retailer in many markets. The chain had 39 locations in the distribution area, and The Journal News was present at 29 of them. With that in mind, the team designed a partnership to secure additional locations. In exchange for providing access to additional outlets, the newspaper chain donated, in Dunkin' Donuts' name, a portion of the profits of each newspaper sold to the organization of the retailer's choice, in this case, a local children's hospital. To promote the program at store level, The Journal News provided custom vending-rack decals and other point-of-purchase materials that incorporated Dunkin' Donuts' logo.

The results of the program continue to be impressive. In addition to enhancing both companies' images in the community, The Journal News also was able to secure 10 additional Dunkin' Donuts locations and dramatically increase sales. At last look, daily sales at Dunkin' Donuts' stores were 28 percent above the market trend and Sunday sales had increased 30 percent. In another example, The Journal News partnered with 7-Eleven and Dairy Mart to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The newspaper's objective was to generate incremental sales at participating retail outlets via secondary rack

placements within each store. For a four-month period leading up to the national telethon, The Journal News donated a percentage of the profit from the sale of each newspaper to the MDA. It gave the participating outlets additional counter racks to be used at secondary locations within the store. It also provided the stores with point-of-purchase materials promoting the partnership. In addition, The Journal News ran ads every week during the promotion encouraging readers to frequent participating stores.

This partnership also netted positive results. Twenty-seven outlets participated in the promotion, with daily sales at these locations exceeding the market by 6 percent. A key benefit to the newspaper was the ability to maintain secondary locations beyond the promotional period.

Finally, The Journal News sought to increase awareness of its product among frequenters of the Food Emporium, a local supermarket chain. With the ultimate goal of generating incremental sales, the newspaper partnered with another worldwide organization, The Lupus Foundation. The details of the program were similar to those mentioned above including the availability of complimentary newspaper promotional space to the retailer. Ultimately, sales exceeded the market by 11 percent daily and 5 percent on Sunday.

Based on these results, The Journal News has committed more resources to building partnerships in the future.

The basic strategies the single-copy team implemented can work for any newspaper in any market as long as one key principle is not overlooked: Understand the goals of your potential partner and design a program with the objectives of both organizations in mind.

The Journal News was successful because the team created programs that increased foot traffic and ultimately sales for our partners. We provided point-of-purchase materials that were both useful and attractive, and as a result, retailers were enthusiastic about using them. The result was real growth for The Journal News and en enhanced relationship with key retailers.
THE   RACE IS ON...

for the 1999/2000 NYSCMA Promotion Awards Com at the 84th
Annual New York State Circulation Managers Association Sales Conference.

THE LOCATION:
The Sagamore Hotel and Conference Center, Lake George, NY

GATE 1

What's new?

  • ONE-TIME $25 REGISTRATION DISCOUNT -
    per newspaper if at least one promotion entry is submitted by the deadline date.
  • NO ON-SITE JUDGING - a judging team will select winning entries prior to the May event.
  • BE PUBLISHED - all winning entries will be showcased in "New York State's Best Circulation Ideas" booklet.
  • FIND IDEAS! - all entries will be transported to Saratoga and will be displayed.
  • ADVANCE ENTRY DEADLINE - all entries must be mailed in advance and postmarked no later than March 31, 2000.
  • MAIL TO: NYSCMA/Julie Cardinali, c/o Syracuse Newspapers, Clinton square, P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221-4915

GATE 2

The Program:

  • CLASSES:
    There are 3 classification sizes, based on daily circulation. Determine classification size by combined daily circulation if your newspaper has morning and evening distribution in the same city.
  • CLASS 1: Under 20,000
  • CLASS 2: 20,000 - 100,000
  • CLASS 3: 100,000+
  • CATEGORIES:

1-Subscription Sales & Promotion: Includes youth and adult carrier sales, telemarketing sales, and any efforts directed at subscription/home delivery sales. Include premiums and all related materials.

2-Retention Programs: Any program/campaign designed to build subscriber retention. Include related promotional material. Examples: internal/external customer service programs, incentives, etc.

3-Single Copy: Any program, campaign or readership game designed to increase single-copy sales. Include related promotional material such as point-of-purchase materials, rack cards, etc. If other media are used to promote this campaign, include them here.

4-Newspaper in Education: Include any NIE promotion, whether it generates sponsorship, promotes NIE to teachers, garners subscriber donations or is curriculum material.

5-Special Projects: Includes any public relations or special events program or promotion driven by or sponsored by the circulation department that affects the community or the internal staff of the newspaper. Examples: co-sponsorship of events, new media/audio-text projects that are part of circulation sales, employee newsletters, etc.
One First Place and One Second Place will be awarded in each classification group within each category.

GATE 3

The Rules:

  • WHAT QUALIFIES?
    Your best ideas

 

 implemented and used between January 1999 and March 2000.
  • MAXIMUM OF 2 ENTRIES PER CATEGORY PER NEWSPAPER.
  • JUDGING BASED ON STRATEGY, CREATIVITY, DESIGN, AND RESULTS! Entries will be judged in comparison to other entries in the same category and class. Generally, one first and one second place will be awarded in each circulation group within each category. In some cases, judges may omit awards, designate additional award winners, or recognize entries with an honorable mention.
  • ENTRY PREPARATION: Each entry must be displayed on 22" x 28" white illustration, mat, poster, or foam core board. Number particle boards (1 of 2, 2 of 2, 3 of 3) and attach with heavy tape in tri-fold fashion. Complete and affix provided entry labels to upper left-hand corner of display. Include the goals, objectives and results of the entry and how they were met.
  • QUESTIONS? Call Julie Cardinali (315) 470-3122.

 

GATE 4

The Results:

  • We'll have one first place and one second place winner in each class within each category.
  • Winning entries will be showcased in our first NYSCMA Promotion "Best Ideas" book.
  • All entries will be on display at the May 2000 conference.
  • We'll all share our most creative circulation promotion ideas!