Weekly magazine American Profile has turned its feature stories into shopping excursions that keep its fulfillment house humming.
The weekly magazine, distributed in rural counties via local newspapers, has honed a “promotainment” model similar to product placement in TV shows and movies. It has sold CDs, DVDs, books, and gardening supplies by printing an offer next to a related feature story. For example, a July 2 offer for American flags was pegged to a profile of a New Jersey flag manufacturer. Publishing Group of America CEO Dick Porter calls it a “click to buy” format for print, similar to TiVo’s advertising model and suitable for products too small or esoteric to get shelf space in Wal-Mart.
Steve Minucci, Publishing Group’s director of business development, looks at upcoming stories for American Profile, then taps publishers, music catalogs and others for relevant products. Its biggest seller so far was from Big Idea’s Veggie Tales, an offer for a CD/DVD combo or a 10-DVD set (for $100) that accompanied a cover story on the producers of the Christian TV show for kids. Publishing Group directed orders to Big Idea’s site; orders outpaced projections by 20% for the pricey 10-DVD set.
A story profiling Jimmy Rogers, the “Father of Country Music” who died in 1933, triggered heavy traffic for an exclusive two-CD set of Roger’s music. “It’s not something you could get at Circuit City or Wal-Mart,” Minucci said. “Music catalogs would have it, but that’s not where people in our markets are shopping.”
A story on Elden, IA—home to the house that’s in the background of Grant Wood’s American Gothic—included an offer for a small, matted print of the classic painting. Publishing Group bought the prints from The Art Institute of Chicago, then handled fulfillment itself.
Roughly 75% to 80% of all offers are handled through fulfillment house CBO (which stands for Christian Book Outlet), Harrison, AR. The remaining 20% to 25% of orders are directed to suppliers themselves; Publishing Group gets a cut of all sales that come through American Profile, with percentages negotiated individually.
Minucci, a Readers’ Digest veteran, taps Publishing Group’s relationships with music labels in its hometown of Nashville, with some book publishers directly, and with book distributors, who ship orders that are taken by CBO’s call center for niche items that sell in small numbers. Big-sellers are handled completely by CBO through phone, mail and http://www.americanprofile.com/store.
Minucci occasionally suggests a story idea to American Profile’s editors, but they decide what’s worth writing. “They ask, ‘What’s the angle? Why should we do it?’ There have been enough good stories that I can find enough things to fit,” he said.
Not everything sells well. An offer for a CD of patriotic songs and Ronald Reagan speeches accompanied a story on American leaders (including an 18-year-old mayor in Michigan) fell flat. “I really beefed up on this and had extra product on hand; but it didn’t do that well at all,” Minucci said. “Now I’m less certain when it comes to political issues.”
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