Building Circulation for New Magazines (933 words)

Last year was a tough one for magazine circulation. Direct mail response rates, stampsheet performance and newsstand sales were down in 1998, according to the 1999 CircTrack industry survey published in August by Capell-Jones. Yet CircTrack deals mostly with established magazines. How does a new magazine gain a foothold in this tough environment?

E. Daniel Capell, editor of the report, says, "There are really two ways to launch these days: Try it on the newsstand or do acquisition mailings."

In June 1998, publisher Steven Brill (of The American Lawyer magazine and Court TV fame) launched Brill's Content. Its start-up strategy comprised many media, with a heavy emphasis on direct mail—"the most expensive route," notes Capell. (See illustrations on p.128.)

Finding Lists That Deliver

Steven Brill was quoted in a January 25, 1999, article in The New York Times ("Brill's Discontent" by Alex Kuczynski) as saying that his audience consists of media "enthusiasts," not just media professionals.

Paradysz Matera & Co. and The Millard Group are the Brill's Content list brokers. The current data card from Millard, the magazine's list manager, describes it this way:

[Brill's Content] is the bible of the information age. It covers all that purports to be non-fiction...

While billing itself (for instance in the direct mail package) as a media watchdog publication, a year after its launch Brill's Content features newer departments such as Tools, which details new multimedia products, and general reviews called Stuff We Like.

Stuart R. Jordan, president of Circulation Specialists in Westport, CT, the clearing house for Brill's Content's circulation efforts, points out, "Brill's Content was conceived at the beginning as a broad consumer publication. Our target reader is well read with a strong interest in the events going on in the world. They are highly educated, affluent and very active in the new technologies." Jordan knows because, "To date, we have done both focus groups and surveys to better understand our readers."

What kinds of lists did Brill's Content rent to build its house file?

Jordan explains, "Our list focus has been on [what] can best be described as 'readers.' This includes a wide variety of lists including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Book of the Month Club, The Atlantic Monthly, Wired, Fast Company. We have also had success with book-buying lists and fund-raising lists," he says.

Linda Bridson, managing director of list management for The Millard Group, says of Brill's Content's list, "The file is doing well for mailers, we have a broad spectrum—newsweeklies, fund raisers, mainstream publications—that are using the list. We're trying to break into mainstream consumer, that's in the testing stage right now."

Incidentally, Brill's Content includes a privacy disclosure under its masthead which follows The DMA's model almost to a T.

Buzzing, Branding, Big Names

For magazines, as with most products, the higher the media profile gets, the stronger the brand becomes in the public mind. Does it boost the sales numbers?

Capell opines, "Media buzz on a magazine doesn't really move the circulation needle at all. There are two exceptions: Tina Brown and Martha Stewart."

In the cases of Brown and Stewart—and Brill—a recognizable personality contributes to branding success.

News flash: Tina Brown, legend of London and New York publishing, launched Talk in August. The launch involved release-day newsstand sell-outs and limited initial city distribution, which created more interest: scarcity breeds curiosity.

The same effect was achieved with a mysteriously late and selective direct mail campaign. Dan Capell didn't get a direct mail piece from Talk, nor did many media heavies. "They seem to be testing," Capell remarks. It got people talking.

For its part, Brill's Content made an early splash with its premiere issue, whose cover story pointed the finger at Kenneth Starr as a leak to the press. Steven Brill then did the talk-show tour.

The Story on Direct Mail

Jordan tells the Brill's Content direct mail story: "We originally tested the concept in September 1997. We launched the magazine with a 3.5-million-piece drop in March 1998. We [did] a small follow--up mailing in July 1998 to coincide with the actual launch of the magazine. We did major drops in December 1998 and March 1999. Since the launch, we have alternated between two control packages.

"We currently are rolling out a new package that tested well in the last mailing," he says.

"Subscription efforts have been primarily direct to publisher sources," says Jordan. "In addition to direct mail, we use space advertising, insert cards, gift promotions, TV and Internet promotions."

In the direct mail packages, both Brill's Content and Talk flatter the prospects—especially in the letters—that they must be pretty special (savvy, sophisticated) to rate this "invitation." Both time-limit their soft offers and require a token transfer to the BRC. Inside, both use folded, glossy circulars which juxtapose intriguing images with short bursts of copy.

Rolling With the Flow

Jordan reports that Brill's Content was launched with a rate base of 150,000. In 1999, it is 225,000. "We anticipate growth next year of at least 20 percent," he says.

Jordan has the following advice for circulation directors of start-up magazines: "The secret to launching a new product is to be quick to analyze and quick to act. No one knows all of the answers before a product goes live. The best that you can do is to take your test data and move ahead with your eyes and ears open.

"Then, you keep a close eye on your results. Look for trends. And move quickly to adapt your plan to the market's reaction to your product," he says.