Advertising Bumph in the RYA magazine today

I was at a meeting a year or so ago with the head of marketing for an organisation with 200,000 members. He was very, very excited about all the bumph he was able to stuff into our magazine. I asked him how many readers read the bumph - don't know came the reply so I asked for a show of hands in the room and not one went up. This type of marketing does not work sadly the marketing people need to learn that lesson.

I read the RYA mag in about 3 seconds, zero interest for me.
 
This type of marketing does not work sadly the marketing people need to learn that lesson.

On the other hand, if they do learn it then they will a) find something more intrusive and b) stop funding publications we (presumably) want.

Perhaps best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Pete
 
This type of marketing does not work sadly the marketing people need to learn that lesson.

Afraid you are wrong there. It might not work with you, but marketing men (and women) despite what you may think are not stupid and do not waste money on things that don't work. It is a very low cost way of directing your message at a large number of people.

Work I did for an insurance company many years ago on the subject showed a very low cost per qualified enquirer compared with other identifiable media. Responses are coded by source and it is relatively easy to monitor success or otherwise.

Like you and many others I just dump such material, but not everybody does and the returns are sufficient to justify doing it from the advertiser's point of view.
 
Afraid you are wrong there. It might not work with you, but marketing men (and women) despite what you may think are not stupid and do not waste money on things that don't work. It is a very low cost way of directing your message at a large number of people.

+1

Sticking an insert into a mag, that is going to be mailed anyway, avoids the cost of postage and the advertiser has managed to select a group of people with a specific interest that they believe puts them into a group that contains some potential purchasers of whatever it is they are flogging. With such a low cost per target potential customer the advertiser can accept a very low hit rate.

I noticed that one company has inserts put into issues of Yachting Monthly, the RNLI mag and the RYA one - so I get it three times! All 3 go in the bin.
 
... marketing men (and women) despite what you may think are not stupid and do not waste money on things that don't work ...

I don't disagree with your message, but that bit reminded me of the quote by Lord Leverhulme "I know half my advertising isn't working, I just don't know which half." :)
 
I don't disagree with your message, but that bit reminded me of the quote by Lord Leverhulme "I know half my advertising isn't working, I just don't know which half." :)

That is exactly why inserts are so popular - you can tell if they are effective because they are targeted and if designed properly are traceable to the enquiry and sale. Some advertisers use them (perhaps wrongly) as general advertising, but most use them specifically to get enquiries. They have a place in the hierarchy of advertising media.
 
That is exactly why inserts are so popular - you can tell if they are effective because they are targeted and if designed properly are traceable to the enquiry and sale. ...

Quite so. Monitoring of advertisement effectiveness, and consequent targeting, has come a long way since Lord L said it - but a nice quote in its day.
 
Afraid you are wrong there. It might not work with you, but marketing men (and women) despite what you may think are not stupid and do not waste money on things that don't work. It is a very low cost way of directing your message at a large number of people. w.

You are right in the case of the flyers but it is more to do with having a healthy budget than a solid method of generating lots of sales for the boss, if the product is unique and comes with a sales code then its easy to track.

Marketing people waste money all the time, they come up with strategys that dont work and cost millions. A quality marketing strategy comes around as often as a quality purchase of shares that suddenly sky rocket.

The people behind Fabreeze marketing spent millions and millions marketing the product and the marketing company became a laughing stock because no one was buying. The last resort was to change their approach to who they sold the product to.

Instead of using it for bad smells, use it when you finish cleaning. That latter point became a habit for millions across the USA and a product that was designed for smokers/pet owners etc became a multi-billion dollar world wide product used through habit of just spraying a room once it had been cleaned whether it smelt or not.

Marketing people waste loads of money until they find out what works remember marketing people are 'sold' opportunities to market products through magazines. Could that money not have been better spent, sure but the reason you see the flyers in Magazines is because the marketing team have a healthy budget, the next step is radio then TV.

Dont forget we live in a world where people give millions of usd to people claiming to have access to raw materials or what ever in Nigeria.
 
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Don't complain - it's all revenue for the RYA so they can spend that money and not come to their members for it. (Ducks and waits for scornful comments).
 
Don't complain - it's all revenue for the RYA so they can spend that money and not come to their members for it. (Ducks and waits for scornful comments).
As a member they may lose my membership next year. :o I wonder how much that will cost them?
 
As a member they may lose my membership next year. :o I wonder how much that will cost them?

Are you suggesting that you will leave the RYA simply because they stuff the mag with bumph or are you really thinking you might leave for other reasons?

The former may, assuming you are not alone, suggest a flaw in their strategy for maximising overall income but does to me seem a little like chucking the baby out with the bathwater.

The latter has nothing to do with the mag's revenue strategy.
 
Are you suggesting that you will leave the RYA simply because they stuff the mag with bumph or are you really thinking you might leave for other reasons?

The former may, assuming you are not alone, suggest a flaw in their strategy for maximising overall income but does to me seem a little like chucking the baby out with the bathwater.

The latter has nothing to do with the mag's revenue strategy.
It is an option ;)

I've yet to see any benefit of my membership apart from a quiet place to have a cup of coffee at the LIBS last year. Yes I know they do lots of stuff behind the scenes - but so far not had the fortune or misfortune to use those services.
 
Don't complain - it's all revenue for the RYA so they can spend that money and not come to their members for it. (Ducks and waits for scornful comments).

Well that came back and bit me on the bum in no time at all.

"From 01 October 2014 RYA membership fees will be subject to an increase.

The new membership fees will be:
Family membership - £68 by Direct Debit or £75
Personal - £43 by Direct Debit or £50
Under 25 - £23 by Direct Debit or £30
Youth - £13 by Direct Debit or £20
Junior - £8 by Direct Debit or £15

David Strain, RYA Head of Finance said: “Historically the RYA have increased fees in line with inflation biennially (this stems from a time when the RYA held a lot of printed stock and changing the fee more often was impractical)."
 
RYA legal services saved me £2500. They sorted out a dispute before it went "bad" simply by offering to step in for me.

I think that pays for a few years membership, probably for the rest of my life. Which they also had a hand in helping prolong by providing a high quality training syllabus and ensuring that the sailing school that I used was properly regulated.

They have probably also had a hand in keeping our sport lightly regulated - which I also find helpful.
 
I tipped it straight into the waste bin without looking at it, the magazine followed about ten minutes later after I read the one article of interest

I told them several times to stop posting me magazines. They ignored me.

I just chuck the whole thing in the bin without opening it. It takes me very little time to do so, but one can't help thinking what an inordinate amount of waste, even if it is recycled, is generated by direct mail. I would estimate that 95% of what is put in my post box goes straight in the bin, unopened. And I have registered with the services that are supposed to stop unsolicited mail.

Perhaps I am fooling myself by playing the game and binning it. The post office deliver the darn stuff and seem happy to do so as they are paid for it. If I had a post box nearer I would stuff the whole lot in there, even if it is illegal. Perhaps they would get the message eventually.

If I want to read anything the RNLI put out I go to their website.
 
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