Summary
To reinforce The Grocer’s brand leader position, the marketing team initiated a bold step forward with a fresh’ subscription campaign that would achieve cut-through and secure more subscriptions to its printed magazine – all the more pertinent during economic downturn.
To successfully communicate with a broad target audience and ultimately persuade them to subscribe, Mabox created a sophisticated two-pronged direct marketing campaign comprising DM and email, in conjunction with personalised URLs (PURLs).
The innovative and impactful campaign used dynamic technology to create a personalised communications. Using The Grocer magazine as a DM tool was powerful, allowing the quality of the content speak for itself. In utilising the magazine as the vehicle but personalising the cover so that the content and the offer was highly relevant to the recipient, the campaign brought a unique approach to the publishing sector.
Beyond subscriptions, this approach and the use of PURLs created an industry buzz, reinforcing The Grocer’s position as the agenda-setting market leader.
Effectiveness was measured and analysed in real-time, with a live dashboard’ allowing agency and client to login anytime, accessing email/PURL open rates and download rates. The campaign achieved an overall conversion rate of 1.44 per cent and ROI of 57.76 per cent, surpassing previous
efforts.
Brand
William Reed Business Media, The Grocer
Agency
Mabox
The client company
WRBM is the UK’s leading business information provider for the food and drink industry. Family owned and managed since 1861, it boasts a portfolio of magazines, websites, directories, conferences, exhibitions, events and data services.
The Grocer magazine, first published in 1862, is WRBM’s flagship publication. Voted no. 1 media trade publication by Business SuperBrands in 2010, it leads the market as the only paid-for weekly magazine serving the food and drink retail sector. The Grocer enjoys readership of 112,000*, spanning growers, food processors and manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers, key opinion formers and the national media. It is also available online.
*NSM Research – Publisher Statement 2010xNSM08
Objectives
The objective was to generate subscription acquisitions at a greater rate than the previous campaign (0.1 per cent), with a lower cost per acquisition (£70).
The challenge was to achieve cut-through and persuade the audience of the value for money and insight that The Grocer offers, especially during recessionary pressures.
Strategy
Technological change and economic downturn are having a combined impact on the magazine publishing industry, with the recession affecting both subscription sales and advertising revenues.
The Grocer needed to develop more strategic marketing campaigns to boost subscription acquisitions. In addition to promoting the quality of the magazine content and the value it brings to the reader, WRBM needed to reinforce specific benefits of the print magazine over online access.
A six month BOGOF campaign run by The Grocer, commencing February 2009 (subscribe to the print magazine and receive online subscription free), achieved reasonable conversion rates. However, more strategic campaign with effective use of segmentation and targeting to resonate with recipients was required to secure greater ROI and boost print subscriptions.
Target audience
The Grocer services many sectors, job functions and uses. The target audience is broadly divided into:
- Food Manufacturers
- Retailers
- Wholesalers
- Suppliers/Consultants/Agencies
- Other Business Services (Generic)
To achieve maximum impact and resonance from the personalised nature of the campaign, the audience was segmented into:
1. Lapsed Subscribers -subscribers whose subscriptions had lapsed;
2. WRBM Subscribers – subscribers to other WRBM titles;
3. Online Subscribers – subscribers to The Grocer Online, but not the printed magazine;
4. Exhibition Attendees -Food & Drink Expo attendees;
5. Prospects – a range of individuals, with no warm’ contact but prospective subscribers.
Segmentation was designed to provide an insight into the recipient’s current relationship with The Grocer and identify any sector-specific concerns they may have.
Media channels or techniques used
To successfully communicate with the broad target audience, Mabox created a targeted and highly personalised, two-pronged direct marketing campaign comprising DM and email, in conjunction with personalised URLs (PURLs).
Using segmentation as a basis for insight, relevance was achieved through personalisation of copy, images, industry articles, and offers to communicate the overarching market proposition: succeed when you partner with The Grocer.
The hero’ of the campaign was a variprinted personalised magazine cover wrap to a current issue of The Grocer – a creative way to place the latest issue of the magazine in people’s hands, while personalising it to the individual, their company, and sector relevant copy headlines. The result was a high-impact piece of DM, which addressed the individual’s business situation and allowed them to experience the value of The Grocer for free – a taster’ of what they could receive weekly.
Using dynamic technology to create personalised communications was an innovative approach, never before used in the publishing sector. It allowed personalisation of the tone of voice, imagery, subscription offer and, crucially, copy-led sales messages relevant to each individual recipient.
Several offers were trialed: £20′ off, 7 free issues’ and Upgrade your online subscription and receive the magazine for just £25.50 more’.
The personalised cover wrap was the first communication received by targets, achieving maximum impact and engagement. To follow-up, recipients were sent an HTML email, with the same message and continuous look and feel. A prominent call to action on both communications directed recipients to their PURL. Alternative ways to subscribe – phone or post – were also provided.
Recipients’ PURLs were designed to mimic the personalised magazine for complete continuity. The user saw their exclusive offer and the chance to download free industry articles as a thank you’ for visiting the PURL. They could check their contact details (pre-populated for convenience and one-click’ conversion), select a free supplement and subscribe. On clicking to subscribe, the user was redirected to WRBM’s ecommerce site to complete their order and download their free supplement.
Timescale
Planning and creative origination commenced in late June 2009 and the campaign went live 15 weeks later. First personalised issues of magazines hit recipients’ desks on 10th October, followed by emails on 14th October.
Recipients were divided into weekly waves’, with DM pieces landing on the magazine’s issue date (Saturday), and emails the following Tuesday. PURLs created for recipients in each new wave went live prior to the DM land date. The campaign ran until end March 2010.
Budget
A target cost per acquisition (CPA) of £70 was set. Total campaign cost to WRBM – to be recovered over time – was £55,376 for 60,000 DMs, emails and PURLs.
Results
Subscription acquisitions were measured by tracking promotional codes on the DM, emails and PURLs. 57,651 contacts were targeted over three months.
The final CPA was £66.56.
During the first phase, an overall conversion rate of 1.44 per cent was achieved (14 times greater than previous efforts), representing a ROI of 57.76 per cent, compared with -68.32 per cent on the client’s previous budget.
Live campaign analysis recorded conversion rates by segment, which meant that efforts could then be focused on targeting those segments with the highest response rates. Subsequently, response rates as high as 6.91 per cent were achieved from Lapsed Subscribers.
Overall, open rates were 4.5 pre cent for emails and 3.7 per cent for PURLs.
These impressive results have resulted in the development of a year long Phase 2 campaign.
Client testimonial
“This campaign was unique for our sector and provided a good mix of new and traditional methods to make our brand and magazine stand out. Crucially it worked with a low CPS and high ROI.” Paul Joyce, marketing director.
