COVER GIFTS - THE NEGATIVES

Cover mounts have probably been the greatest development in the Thailand magazine industry over the past couple of years. As a rough estimate I would say about one in five magazines on the shelves right now have some kind of cover offer - whether a free gift or, in the case of Elle Men (pictured), a coupon.
The problem here, as I see it, is that the client can easily measure the response rate of the offer and in turn make an educated guess as to whether future advertising with this, or any magazine, is a sensible investment.
To make this kind of buy-one-get-two offer you, as the publisher, have to be extremely confident of your circulation numbers. I would guess very few readers will take up the offer so you need a very strong reader and subscriber base to undertake this kind of promotion.
That said, good luck to Elle Men, the Thai licensed edition of which is celebrating its second birthday this month.