API's Circulation Execs Take a Page from National Geographic

What does a newspaper have in common with the National Geographic Society?

Plenty.

Both are well-established brands, both want to appeal to a younger audience and both work hard to retain their subscribers.

The 27 participants of API's Circulations Executives: Best Practices for Increasing Readership, Retention and ROI seminar spent a morning at National Geographic Society's downtown D.C. headquarters discussing these issues and more.

National Geographic Society (NGS), a non-profit established in 1888 to increase geographic knowledge, is struggling with many of the same issues facing newspapers — how to reach consumers, particularly younger consumers — who are bombarded with so many media choices. Statistics show that while consumers are spending more time and money on media, they aren't necessarily choosing to spend it on print media.

From 1998 to 2003 the time consumers spent on media increased by 343 hours per year per person, but the time they spent reading print decreased by 38 hours per person per year, said Mary Donahoe, NGS vice president/director of marketing services. Similarly, from 1998 to 2003 consumer spending on media increased by $212 per year, but their spending on print media increased by only $1 a year.

That, says Donahoe, has the staff wondering how NGS can stay relevant today. When consumers think of NGS, they think of the magazine with the bright yellow border that their parents or grandparents subscribed to, she said.

Karen Rice Gardiner, director of creative services at National Geographic Society, says subscribers receive 13 renewal notices plus a phone call. Photo by Jim Kirby.

NGS is more than a magazine, said Donahoe. It publishes four other magazines, owns international and U.S. cable channels, publishes books, creates films and videos, funds research and exploration, produces maps, atlases and globes, operates a Web site and online store, offers leisure travel expositions, publishes materials for schools, provides lectures and exhibits and offers licensed products, including a line of furniture. "Who would have thought 10 years ago we'd be making furniture, " Donahoe admitted.

Leveraging a Heritage Brand

In 2002, NGS did its first-ever brand study because it was about to launch several new TV channels and it wanted to understand how the Society was perceived, said Karen Rice Gardiner, NGS director of creative services. "We felt we needed a coherent brand strategy, " she said.

The study found that NGS has universal brand awareness in its category and that 74 percent of its category consumers recognize its yellow-border logo, said Gardiner. NGS shares many of the same core strengths as newspapers, including credibility, trust and objectivity, said Gardiner. Other NGS core strengths are its photographic/cinematography legacy and highest quality products.

Like newspapers, NGS is a heritage brand, meaning it is well-known, trusted and has been around for generations. While there are benefits to being a heritage brand — your product is trusted, has name recognition and well-established relationships, Gardiner says — there also are drawbacks. "You can be viewed as stogy, old and irrelevant, " she said.

"The key for a heritage brand is to be innovative, " said Gardiner. Innovation is the cure for an image that's perceived as "your father's Oldsmobile, " she said.

One of the changes NGS made to update its image was to use a sans-serif font with the Society's famous yellow-border logo.

"No one notices the difference, but it's definitely more contemporary, " said Gardiner.

To help manage its brand, NGS established a brand/design steering committee with two rotating co-chairs and representatives from each of its divisions. The Society also created a brand management Web site for internal use, instead of a printed style guide, that provides identity guidelines, a brand page that explains core values, advice on how to use its graphics and logos as well as the use of color and typography. The site includes 70 images that are uniquely National Geographic's that are available for NSG advertising and communications.

"A publisher needs brand management because the marketplace is competitive and you can't survive without a clear, consistent perception, " Gardiner said. "A clear strategy for your brand will help you make the choices to strengthen your brand. If you're going to extend your magazine or your newspaper, you need a well-thought out plan that's going to make sense to your customers. "

Reaching a Younger Audience

Participants of API's Circulations Executives: Best Practices for Increasing Readership, Retention and ROI seminar spent a morning at National Geographic Society's downtown D.C. headquarters discussing how to leverage a heritage brand, attract younger readers and retain subscribers. Photo by Jim Kirby.

Like newspapers, the toughest audience for the Society to reach is 18-to-34 year olds. NGS's Adventure magazine was started with them in mind, Gardiner said.

The magazine has more than 1.2-million readers and it has grown 75 percent since its 2001 launch, said Donahoe.

The median age of its readers is 37 years and the median household income is $72,490.

In comparison, the average age of a National Geographic Magazine subscriber is 56 years and the median household income is $81,700, said Donahoe. The average number of years they have been a subscriber is 15 years, said Gardiner, and three in 10 have been subscribers for 20 years.

Retaining Subscribers

Gardiner admits NGS is aggressive about direct mail, investing almost $30 million a year in it.

NGS sends out 13 renewal notices and also calls the subscriber. The first renewal is sent six months prior to the subscription expiring. It's sent with the magazine and urges the subscriber to renew now to save NGS time and money on additional notices, which will allow the Society to put more money into exploration and research, said Gardiner, who added that 40 percent of subscribers renew at the first notice.

Gerry Krochak, director of reader sales and services at The Leader-Post in Regina, SK, Canada, asks a question during the Wednesday morning session at the National Geographic Society. Photo by Jim Kirby.

Newspapers can do something similar by focusing on their role in the community and what they offer — information, entertainment and sports, said Gardiner. There would be more opportunities for targeted appeals if the newspaper knows which subscribers are interested in cooking, sports and other sections of the paper.

After the first renewal notice, appeals increase in urgency, said Gardiner. Once a subscription expires, the renewal message will point out what the reader missed by not subscribing. "We find 12 ways to increase urgency, " says Gardiner. After 13 renewal offers and a phone call, NGS gives the subscriber six months off and then the former subscriber begins to receive mail from NGS again.

The hardest task is getting a first-year subscriber to sign up for a second year, says Gardiner. But with each subsequent year, it gets easier to get the subscriber to renew.

"It is cheaper to get a renewal even with 13 efforts than to get a new subscriber, " said Gardiner.