At my local Fitness First gym yesterday was a display stand with free copies of The Saturday Age newspaper for anyone who wanted one. The display was messy because someone had taken the news section and left the rest messed up on top. There was a bulk unopened on the floor next to it.
Asking about the promotion I was told I could take as many copies as I wanted since they didn’t know what to do with them. It was late in the day and the majority of what they received appeared set to be wasted. They also said that they would have The Sunday Age today.
One off the people behind the counter was saying that The Age must be desperate for sales. It turns out that he gets a cheap home delivery through his AFL club membership.
Giveaways and cheap deals are a good way to attract new customers through sampling your product. However, there is a tipping point when your freebie and discounting campaigns devalue your brand in the eyes of consumers. If the guy at the gym is anything to go by, some people have reached that point with The Age newspaper.
Did you grab the bundle to include with your returns Mark? LOL
Yeah, the gyms get em for free, the hotels, the sports stadiums, the teachers and their schools, anyone with just about any sporting club or gym membership, the cafes, the “businesses”. It seems the only poor bastard in the neighbourhood who’s paying anything substantial for the newspaper is the newsagent!
And we have to lose money home delivering them!
Is it not simply about increasing circulation numbers to keep the advertisers happy and justify the expense of advertising ?
Surely most of the big advertisers realise much of their advertising $ ends up in the dumpmaster without a page being turned.
I can’t really see how getting an occasional copy for free is going to convince me or anyone else to buy or subscribe to a longer term.
Con ?
It just shows you how desperate they have become at The Age. Stickers and advertising covering their masthead and lead stories.Freebies to boost their lagging circulation.No one wants to read the paper even for free
They are in the same predicament as all print newspapers, their current customers are literaly dying off and there is nobody to replace them.
I have an offer for delivery of the Age seven days a week for $99.00 a year from my Footy Club and $52 a year from Farmers Direct and I can go to my local coffee shop every day or my Gym and take one home for free also. Makes you wonder where they – The Age make a profit ?? YET I know customers of ours who pay $9 a week everty week.
Just had a long term SMH subscriber call by the shop to “apologise” that they will not be renewing. Reason? They can generally always get it for free at the local gym!!! Very frustrating!!