The death of Bill Jayme heralds the end not only of an era, but of a style of writing.
Like his mentor Frank Johnson, Jayme wrote literate letters that could be read for sheer entertainment value. But just around the time Time Inc. stopped mailing Jayme’s "Cool Friday" letter in the mid-1960s, magazines turned from those classic three-pagers to short, computer-generated letters. And what did they highlight?
Sweepstakes.
Ugh.
And it’s been downhill ever since.
This has new meaning now that the Audit Bureau of Circulations is thinking of waiving its 50% rule.
Spelled out, that means publishers will no longer have to collect half of the basic rate for each subscription. With premiums taken into account, prices could go as low as 25% for some subs.
That may be good news for magazine circulars with a rate base to make. But it’s dubious that it will do anything for the level of creativity. Get ready for a raft of true junk mail.
There’s no question publishers are desperate. Research shows that Internet users now read print magazines less than they once did, and that newsstand sales are down.
What’s more, with the collapse of American Family Enterprises and declining response rates in general, magazines have lost access to ever-popular stampsheet subscriptions.
But that doesn’t mean they should pad their lists with cheap, transient subs, courtesy of ABC, which will vote on the rules this month. One option is automatic renewals, as delivered by New Sub Services. Another is affinity partnerships.
Anyway, maybe it’s not all bad. As circulation guru Gordon Grossman sees it, publishers can sell "shorter-term subs at a lower price, and if they’re smart about it, renew and get up to a sensible price."
And Grossman isn’t worried about another proposed ABC change: That magazines now disclose the price paid for subs. (Some publishers fear this will hurt them with advertisers.) "The disclosure rule is nonsense because I never met an ad guy who can read an ABC statement," he recently said.
Right. And who knows? Maybe this will even lead to the emergence of a new Bill Jayme. But we doubt it.
And since we’re on the subject, can anyone tell us why the DMA, which has never shown much a sense of humor, is only now putting Bill in its Hall of Fame?
