TV Guide has increased its prospecting budget, allowing the weekly to mail 18 million pieces this year, an increase of 2 million pieces over 2003.
Thanks to a series of analytic efforts that boosted its response rates and overall efficiency, the magazine has halved its cost per acquisition from $20 per subscription five years ago to $10.
Not long ago, TV Guide only mailed 10 million pieces annually. The push to data-focused marketing started in August 1999 with the formation of the magazine’s database marketing group. The group started with an immediate advantage: Its files contained customer data stretching back more than 10 years.
The magazine unit then hired Hairong Crigler, currently the director of database marketing. Crigler was an advocate of bringing sophisticated analytic tools into the company, and replacing what essentially was a flat transaction file with a more powerful relationship system.
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