In recent weeks a growing number of magazine publishers have launched significant price reductions to lock in readers.
BBC Magazines is slashing up to 50% off the cover price of a range of its leading titles in an attempt to increase its subscriber base. In a campaign that will run until the end of December, magazines including Radio Times, Top Gear, BBC Good Food, BBC History and Match of the Day will be sold for up to half their cover prices. The company is hoping that people will buy a subscription as a Christmas gift.
BBC Magazines subscriptions director Jess Burney said that annual subscriptions now account for a significant proportion of sales: 'Subscribers will usually be the most valuable customers a publisher has, and the resulting database generated by that enables the publisher to cross-selling other magazines, or non-magazine brand spin offs such as exhibitions, shows, books, clothing and other merchandise.'
The Economist newspaper also offers extensive subscription-based promotional deals including its ongoing '12 issues for £12' campaign. Yvonne Ossman, Publisher of The Economist, said that a significant proportion of the title's 182,539 average weekly sales are subscriptions. 'Our strategy is to focus on bringing new readers to The Economist through the newsstand - where they are free to trial, or dip in and out - and then convert a proportion of those readers to subscription.'
She added that subscribers represented a committed reader base. 'They tend to be strong brand advocates, they talk to each other on Facebook, they talk to us - another advantage of subscription for publishers is the direct contact with the reader - and they buy gift subscriptions for their friends and family.'
Consumers in older age groups are more likely to take out subscriptions than the young, who remain erratic magazine purchasers, according to research from the PPA.
Last week the Sunday Times Travel Magazine launched a loyalty card offering subscribers access to discounted deals with various brands. It followed similar moves in recent weeks by the News International title, which launched a high-profile loyalty card for its Culture magazine called Culture+.
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