Rodale Inc. will do more extensive testing of freestanding inserts this spring to promote translations of some of its health books in Spanish-language newspapers.
Beginning this month, the Emmaus, PA-based publisher is expected to place 150,000 FSIs in Latino newspapers in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami, New York, Chicago, Orlando, FL and San Francisco to advertise a newly translated version of its book, “The South Beach Diet.”
And in April, Rodale hopes to plug its Spanish translation of “Alternative Cures” in the same markets with 500,000 68-page magalogs.
All this follows several 10,000-piece tests of a magalog the company sent out last spring in several Hispanic markets to publicize the Spanish version of its book “Growing Younger.”
Rodale feels FSIs are a good way to reach this market. Even though these inserts are less expensive than direct mail, Latino prospects might be more responsive than their English-speaking counterparts, says Rodale director of book marketing Roger Baran.
“In some of our tests we got better results among Hispanics than from our regular prospects for these books,” he says. “This market probably isn't as used to getting offers.”
Some of the tests involved adding a magalog to the newspapers. Why is Rodale using such a large insert for this campaign? “When you're selling a book for $20 or $30 people are going to want to know a lot about it,” says Baran, who hopes these efforts will help Rodale add to its 1 million-name Hispanic database.
Rodale's other FSIs are all standard 8-1/2 by 11-inch format. For example, the one promoting the alternative cures book showed a doctor holding an apple in one hand and a bottle of apple cider vinegar in the other. The Spanish headline read, “Clean your arteries with apple vinegar!”
Below that, a cover line speaks of “new and more amazing home remedies from doctors,” and others speak of lowering cholesterol with nuts.
On the bottom right-hand corner of every page of the magalog is an ad for the book along with a free offer for another book on eliminating certain types of dietary fats for ordering the alternative cures volume. The call to action was a detachable business reply card bound into the magalog.
Alternative Response Associates Inc., New York, assisted Rodale in these campaigns.
