It’s worth caring more about subscriptions

I agree that the demise of the Smash Hits just weeks before the ABCs was an ominous omen for the magazine market (MW February 9).

It is particularly ominous since Smash Hits, although declining, maintained healthy ABCs, had huge brand recognition as a result of the annual Poll Winners party and kept up with the times for 28 years in a notoriously fickle and judgmental market.

EMAP said the title has been canned because it was losing money. However, little emphasis was placed on subscriptions. The most recent ABCs show that only 1.3% of total sales are through subscriptions, a small figure when you consider Vogue’s 20% subscription rate.

Forward-thinking publishers are placing more emphasis on subscriptions marketing to secure stability, customer loyalty and positive cashflow. Subscriptions provide a guar

anteed number of readers for a certain length of time and allow publishers to collect data on their readership – data that can then be used to communicate effectively with their customers and build on the reader relationship with the magazine.

Caroline Worboys

Chief executive officer Broadsystem

Chalfont