For Pub 629- Magazine Circulation, we were placed into groups in order to create a direct mail campaign for a magazine. The group consisted of myself, Brandon Longo, Dan Shao, and Noelle Webster. As a group, we chose to implement a campaign for Rolling Stone. 

The directions given to us by Professor Baron were to create a direct mail letter, a letter for an e-mail blast to potential subscribers, and a business reply card. We also had to decide how many lists we would use and alternative subscription sources for Rolling Stone and why they would be valuable to the magazine, along with outlining our anticipated mailing size, expected response rate, and acquisition costs budget. As a group we decided the best way to complete this project was to split the tasks among us and allow ourselves enough time to discuss and put together our presentation for the class on February 29th. 

The tasks were split as follows:

Direct mail letter and E-mail soliciation letter - Noelle

Business Reply Card - Dan 

Lists and Alternative Subscription Sources - Brandon

Mailing size, expected response rate and acquisitions cost budget- Jennifer (me)

The group section on Blackboard was extremely useful for our group. We were able to upload our parts for the project through the file exchange section, which gave us a great opportunity to review each other's work and get a better idea of how we would explain our project come presentation day. I put together all the pieces for our powerpoint presentation. 

I really enjoyed reading Noelle's direct mail letter and e-mail. I think she did a great job using a friendly voice that is essential to enticing people to subscribe to Rolling Stone. I think it kept in tune with their relaxed image. 

Dan did a really great job with the business reply card. She used the latest issue of the magazine, as you can see on the left side of this blog, and was able to create a banner across it, to help grab new subscribers and emphasized that they would receive 4 issues for free at the great price "we" as the magazine were offering. 

Brandon came up with a great amount of alternative subscription sources, specifically seeking the names of concert attendees and such that venues like Madison Square Garden keep and using them to our advantage for enlisting more subscribers. 

I enjoyed researching what the possible costs of a 1,000,000 piece mailing could be for a magazine. It was interesting to see how much a magazine might have to spend to gain subscribers and everything that goes into a mailing as far as marketing, rental fees for a list, ways to keep the costs low, and what times of the year are best to send out a mailing for a better response. 

Overall, the group experience was a good one. I believe we all worked well together and were able to provide the class with an effective presentation.