Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Good Way To Get Advertisements For Magazine?

Posted by Anonymous on 10/9/2012 at 12:22 AM ET 500 Points
Hi all,

We are doing a hard push to sell advertising pages in our magazine. Right now, we have a low readership (2000), but we are making a push to increase our readership to 10,000 between now and June.

To get the attention of potential advertisers in the local market, I want to give FREE advertising away to big-name companies (At&t, General Motors, Creme Savers, etc etc - Not necessarily these companies, they are examples).

So my question is: Would this be okay from a legal standpoint?

I don't see why any company would turn down free advertising, but I just want to make sure I'm in the clear.

Not really interested in any other implications besides the legal ones. I think the idea is sound in the sense of, if he sees that American Idol (again just an example) is advertising in my magazine, then Joe's Bar up the street will beat down my door to pay for an ad.

Thanks in advance.
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  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 10/9/2012 at 1:01 AM Accepted
    Your logic is flawed in many angles.

    FIrst to answer your question- -you can do this legally, there is no issue. What would be your concern?

    2nd just cause its free doesn't mean the advertiser doesn't ahve associated costs with placing the ad. They also have criteria of where and how they'll place an ad. Yes they will refuse a free ad.

    Next, the connection with local Joe's bar jumping on the bandwagon if they see American Idol may not be sound. Why does it mean to Joe's bar that American Idol has an ad in your publication. Whats in it for them?

    Lastly, how does this advertising drive subscriptions?

    Anyway, as you stated you aren't interested in anything other than the legal issue. From what I see, I see none. But neither I or anyone else I've met on this forum, we are not lawyers and don't give legal advise.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 10/9/2012 at 3:03 AM Member
    Carol got it right. Why are you posting a question about "from a legal standpoint" on a marketing forum? What do you mean buy legal? Are you asking if it's possible for somebody to file a civil law suit against you?

    My advice is to ask a lawyer about any legal questions.

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 10/9/2012 at 8:54 AM Accepted
    It's not so much a question of legality, more so, it's one of relevance, both to potential advertisers, and to potential readers. Joe's Bar up the street will NOT beat down your door to pay for an ad just because someone else is buying an ad.

    Whether you're interested in points of view other than legal ones is also, not the point. What IS the point is that the success of advertising in magazines or newspapers depends a good many more things than simply having an ad IN the publication in question.

    To generate revenue you'll need income that covers your production costs and that gives you some profit. If you're giving ads away and you if you fail to make the readership numbers (which, by the way, really needs to be subscription numbers NOT readership because without sales of subscriptions you're unlikely to HAVE readers) your revenue won't cover your costs.

    Simply because you are offering free advertising it does not follow through that people will beat a path to your door.
  • Posted on 10/9/2012 at 11:04 AM Accepted
    I think we're seeing a pattern here.

    Let's start with your target audience and what drives them. What kinds of readers/subscribers do you have? What's the editorial environment for them? And then why would a major advertiser want to reach that target audience this way?

    If they are really major advertisers, your circulation of 2,000 or 10,000 is likely to be insignificant for them -- unless they are truly prime prospects for the advertiser. The price (free or otherwise) is not the primary reason someone might want to advertise in your magazine. It's the match between their target audience and yours, and the editorial environment.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 10/9/2012 at 3:53 PM Accepted
    FYI, a lawyer has access to any case law that may apply to a potential legal matter. A lawyer could tell you how advertising space is viewed under the Robinson-Patman Act. If it is considered to be relatively fungible. If it is considered to be price discrimnation and just as injurious. If a civil lawsuit could be filed. If a potential planiff could be exposed to costs and penalities of meritless or frivilous complaints in your jurisdiction. Lawyers think differently than marketers. Lawyers ask different questions than marketers.

    Point being, general business folks have general knowledge about how the law applies to various business areas. And probably this sort of overview of the law is often correct enough. But I wouldn't take general business advice about the law to the bank.

    As a marketer, I have no idea. You could fill an ocean with what I don't know about the law (even after many years of experience as both manager and adviser to several law firms and legal organizations).

    I agree with the others on the marketing analysis of your situation. But should you still decide to go forward with your plan, ask a lawyer about it.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 10/9/2012 at 9:05 PM Accepted
    It is legal to give away ads. And common for start up magazines.

    I wrote a blog post about selling ads in magazines, which can be read at: https://expandabroad.blogspot.com/2011/06/ads-in-new-publication.html. It is related to the experiences I had with a magazine I started. At the bottom it also references a book on starting a magazine you may want to read, if you haven't yet.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 10/10/2012 at 12:36 AM Member
    Interesting post- -but if "price discrimination" is a legal point- wouldn't anyone at risk be for offering any kind of discount?
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 10/10/2012 at 2:43 AM Member
    The questioner stated "I want to give FREE advertising away to big-name companies". That might imply he does not plan to give FREE advertising to everybody. Does this matter?

    Over 20 states have price discrimination statues. Does this matter?

    "In the late 1960s, in response to industry pressure, federal enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act ceased. Since then, enforcement of the law has been driven largely by private action of individual plaintiffs. In the mid-1970s, there was an unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Act. On the other hand, over 20 states have price discrimination statutes similar to Robinson-Patman." Source: Wiki

    What does "is it legal" really mean to a lawyer? Can a lawyer file a civil lawsuit based on case law in a given state? Can a lawyer have more than one motivation for filing a lawsuit?

    I think the answers to all of these questions is "it depends".

    I'm really not trying to make an argument for any legal position on this matter, or better yet this hypothetical matter. I just think this post, and some previous posts, illustrate that simple legal questions are not always that simple to answer. As marketers, we frequently say "it depends". It is my experience that lawyers also frequently say "it depends".

    When it comes to legal questions, the lawyers process is the better path to getting the right information.

    I hope this helps some folks.
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