Opera (in)House

The recent commotion over the WH Smith range review and the "will they, won’t they" nature of the debate has led lots of worried publishers to look closely at alternative routes to market; specifically subscriptions. Publishers of niche titles are looking afresh at the whole area of subscriptions – how they market them and how they manage them.

One such publication is Opera magazine - a specialist title with impeccable pedigree. Launched in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood it is a monthly A5 magazine read by opera enthusiasts around the world. Billed by its publishers as the best opera magazine in the world it features top quality articles and reviews, penned by the leading arts critics in the business. 65% of its circulation is mailed on subscription and the remaining 35% sold via the newsstand. The current one year subscription price is £51.90 for thirteen issues (retail cover price is £4.20).

WH Smith’s draft range review prompted much debate in their Chiswick offices. Marketing director Alice Lindsay is particularly concerned about the move to delegate more of the stocking decisions to local branch managers as she is convinced this will lead to shelves full of computer mags and porn! Whilst subs have long been the dominant route to market for Opera, Alice knows that for many readers (casual samplers, readers who don’t want every issue as well as those who would prefer not to part with £51.90 up front) the newsstand is still the preferred route. Alice thinks that the writing has long been on the wall regarding threats to newsstand sales and over the last few years greater emphasis has been put on marketing single copy sales through specialist outlets such as the Royal Opera House shop and Wigmore Hall and in promoting subscriptions.

New system required

Up until 2001 the subscriber database had been managed very well for twenty five years by a small bureau run by Mavis Turner. She managed the circulation on a piece of software which she had purchased and then hacked about with and generally knocked into shape over a number of years. Alice felt that with the retirement of Mavis, the old software probably had to retire with her. Alice and her team were then faced with a difficult decision and were unsure of the options and where to run for help. Her gut feel was that the database should be managed in-house because of what she saw as the need for exceptional and informed levels of customer service. "Our subscribers are unique – passionate, obsessive and knowledgeable and expect the person answering the phone to be the same," says Alice. The advertising sales for Opera magazine had been handled for some time by Cabbell Publishing, who use sales management software provided by The Publishing Software Company (PSC). Alice spoke with Andrew Todd, Cabbell’s managing director, who suggested that PSC's Laurence Cope might have a subs module. The call was made …. the module existed … and to cut a long story short, Opera magazine has been managed on PSC’s software for the last three years and is now under the control of subscriptions manager Megan Jackson.

Subs up by 9%

The use of the new software has coincided with and been one of the factors behind significant subs growth for Opera; up 9% over the past year. The functionality of the system has given Megan greater flexibility and enhanced marketing options. Consequently Opera has been able to tweak some of its subscriber marketing to good effect. The old two shot renewal series (first shot one month prior to expiry and the second shot two months after expiry) has been replaced with a five shot series starting four months prior to expiry and running monthly thereafter. Opera’s renewal rate which was always healthy is now an enviable 95%. Also, whereas Mavis’ old system had been very restrictive in terms of being able to set up and manage different marketing offers the new system can hold virtually limitless marketing offers with a combination of rate / term / source / renewal option variations.

Another key factor in the subs growth is their strategy of converting newsstand purchasers to subscription. Currently each issue runs a full page, early in the magazine, promoting subscription and back issue sales. They are also running full colour inserts in all newsstand copies with aggressive offers. A 25% discount is featured prominently and the offer for new subscribers includes not only the two free supplements each year but also two free books and a CD! The very high renewal rates and consequent high lifetime value of Opera subscriptions justifies the heavy incentives.

Managing their subscriber database in-house is proving a positive experience for Opera. The pluses and minuses of the in-house approach are well known. In a nutshell; the plus is complete control and the minus is complete responsibility. An in-house system in the hands of an IT competent, conscientious and imaginative individual can be a wonderful asset. In the hands of the wrong individual then it is a question of battening down the hatches. Mercifully for Opera Megan fits into the first category and Alice will need to try to keep her in this country (Megan is Australian) for as long as possible!

With most specialist publishers now seeing subscriptions as a potentially business-critical area, the question of how subs are managed is no longer the marginal one it perhaps once was. What advice would Megan have for other niche publishers wanting to manage their circulation in-house? She had a number of tips and I have thrown in a couple of my own for good measure.

Tip 1. Choose the right staff

Your in-house system will be a dangerous waste of space if you do not manage it properly. The manager needs to be comfortable with computers, tenacious and methodical. A sprinkling of marketing nous wouldn’t go amiss either.

Tip 2. Training

Don’t skimp on this. It will be a false economy. A new manager needs to be trained by two different people. Firstly, if it’s possible, by their predecessor and secondly by the software supplier. You don’t want your new manager starting off hamstrung by poor advice so fork out the few hundred pounds and do it properly.

Tip 3. Work closely with your software supplier

This relationship needs working on. As a publisher do not let it deteriorate into a "them and us" scenario. Try to maintain good relations at all times and be reasonable. You should ask questions, always report bugs and error messages and use the help desk whenever you’re struggling.

Tip 4. Use the system to the full

In-house systems are BIG. They have lots of functionality, not all of which is immediately apparent. So don’t assume that the system can not do what you want it to. Wrestle with it, explore it and if you still can’t find what you’re after then put in a call to the help desk. Tell your software supplier what you are planning or trying to do. The chances are that the system will be able to do it for you and he will point you in the right direction. Also take advantage of the software supplier’s experience. Often they will have multiple publishing clients so will have come across most scenarios before so can probably give you good advice. One tell tale sign of an under utilised system is a clutter of spreadsheets and mini home-made databases built up around the main system to manage parts of the fulfilment process (eg back issues, response analysis, product sales etc). The chances are that these satellite operations have evolved because the manager has not worked out how to do the work on the main system.

Tip 5. Love your data.

Question – which is a valid postcode? DA4 0EJ or DA4 OEJ. If you answered the former then you are right, if you answered the latter then you are wrong, if your response was "who cares" then please back away from the system now. Caring about data quality is essential.

Tip 6. Use the system to drive your marketing efforts

Look beyond the administrative functionality of your system and look at what marketing opportunities the system presents. Most of the main systems nowadays are fully "marketing enabled" and should allow you to broaden your marketing horizons.

Tip 7. Reliable data backups

Is this too glaringly obvious to mention? Unfortunately not and horror stories of lost data still do the rounds. There are three main components to this: firstly back up regularly (daily is best, weekly is a minimum), always hold a recent back up securely off site (in case of fire / theft etc) and thirdly validate your back up procedure. Does your back up procedure actually work? Just because you hit "go" and it makes a whirring noise doesn’t necessarily mean that it does. Periodically send a back up tape to your software supplier for a health check: are the correct files being backed up properly and can the back-up tape be used to fully restore your system in case of disaster.

Tip 8. Choose the right system

Choosing the right system is an article for another time, but suffice to say it’s important. There are less than ten (that I am aware of) good systems out there. My advice is: do your research, talk to as many people as possible and always visit a couple of current users of whichever system you are thinking of purchasing.

Where next for Opera magazine? Compared to some of their competitors, they escaped relatively unscathed from the WHS range review although this reprieve will not stop Alice and Megan heading further down the subs path. They have just increased the cover price and are looking to use the system to handle more and more of the fulfilment workload. Publishers can never afford to rest on their laurels but from what I can see, the marketing and management of Opera’s subs is in a very healthy state and is helping them escape the trauma of this summer’s range review.