Case Study: Subiesport leveraged digital editions to find new subscribers

MediaSpigot Publishing focuses on niche titles that appeal to auto enthusiasts. Ryan Douthit, owner and publisher said the company is in all the major newsstands and has a large subscriber base.

The company’s products include Subiesport Magazine (Subaru), Mazdasport Magazine (All-Mazda), and Forever MX-5 Magazine (Miata-Specific) amongst others.

Subiesport launched a digital edition in December 2004. The title is small, but profitable, with 10,000 paid subscribers. The newsstand is a high sell-through with an average of 55 percent. Subiesport is the leading title in make-specific magazines. The average reader is net savvy. Customers and are between 25-45 make more than $70,000 annually.

Subiesport has been active in online promotions with YouTube and Subiesport.com. Subiesport has been leveraging the power of social networks including Myspace and Facebook to build a community around the title because it is free marketing for events and promotions.  The company has more than 4,000 friends on Myspace.

Subiesport also creates digital content products such as blogs, email newsletters and as of December 2004, the digital editions.

MediaSpigot Publishing wanted to successfully leverage the digital edition of Subiesport.

Subiesport approached the idea of a digital edition with the mindset of, “What are our subscribers going to get out of it?”

The magazine decided there should be no additional cost for their print subscribers.

Additionally, the decision was environmentally conscious. This decision meshes well with Subaru brand values because the company prides itself on being environmentally sound.

Subiesport thought the digital addition would be a strong product for international readers especially for the U.K. and Australia because there are large groups of Subaru enthusiasts.

The ability to preview the issue appealed to the magazine because potential subscribers were able to preview a subscription before decided to subscribe. It gave Subiesport the option of having a free trial subscription without being bogged down by postage delays. This, in turn, kept subscription costs reasonable.

The publisher anticipated the following benefits on their behalf:

The company could expand readership without generating more waste.

Subiesport wanted to increase customer satisfaction and retention because subscribers don’t want to wait for their publication.

Advertisers wanted a cost effective option to gain more exposure.

Since Subiesport prides itself on being “report junkies” the company wanted to find out which articles people are interested in and can tailor the editorial to suit the demographics.

After reviewing all of the pros and cons, they knew they needed to find a company that would fit their final requirements.

The company had to have a non-subscriber preview option with the ability to share issues electronically. It had to have a payment processing option.

The digital edition had to be available offline for Mac and PC users and Subiesport wanted to find a company that would fit well into their existing workflow where they could upload a PDF Press File and still maintain a $2,000 per issue budget.

• Advertisers loved it because they received additional exposure with no additional money.
• Advertisers considered “spiffing up” their digital ads. They wanted to know how they could better use that tool.
• The “ma and pa shops” wanted to learn how to increase their ad values to grab readers’ attention.
• Subscribers loved getting the digital addition as a supplement to the print edition.
• Existing subscribers gave away passes to forum friends.
• Subscribers enjoyed the rich “magazine like” experience.
• Postal delay complaints were reduced.
• Sold 25 straight digital editions without promotions.

• For digital only subscribers, Subiesport learned it need to make the transaction process to be smooth. There was no way for subscribers to look up their own status and it was hard to troubleshoot errors because we used a hosted solution.
• Few isolated log in issues were reported.
• A few cases of subscribers have received the digital edition and then expect the printed edition to arrive promptly thereafter. Subiesport learned it needed to educate customers about the process.
• Learned they were aiming for new subscribers, not conversions.
• Product needs its own unique promotion.
• Need to reassure customers they will receive a print edition also. It’s a constant education campaign.
• Looking forward, the company is thinking about adding digital editions to other magazine under the publishing umbrella.
• A new digital edition magazine is in the works.

• Subiesport was able to find a company that would fit well into their existing workflow where they could upload a PDF Press File and still maintain a $2,000 per issue budget while receiving an unexpected 25 requests for digital only versions of the magazine.
• Subiesport was able to appeal to advertisers because they received additional exposure at no additional cost while postal complaints were reduced because readers were able to receive their content promptly.
• The magazine was able to obtain information of what articles grabbed readers’ attention so they could better customize the publication and tailor it to suit the subscribers wishes.

Note: This study was excerpted from the 2008 Gilbane Report. Click here to view the Webinar.