Subscriptions to Equestrian Magazines and 'Free Gifts'

Z

zoeshiloh

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I used to religiously subscribe to the 'Big Four' - Horse and Hound, Horse, Horse and Rider and Your Horse. I then found that many had exactly the same articles in, just worded slightly differently. They all seemed to interview the same riders at the same time, and cover roughly the same topics. Now I just get 'Horse and Hound'.

Recently I have been buying 'Horse' but have found it quite hard to get hold of. Our local PO is listed as a distributer but they never seem to have it in. A nearby petrol station stocks it, but they seem to get it two weeks later than everywhere else. Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose, WH Smith etc - none of them seem to stock it. So I thought about getting a subscription.

Why is it though that the magazine you want to subscibe to has lame offers compared to other mags? Horse and Rider, which I am not a huge fan of, give you a free lightweight Amigo rug when you subscibe. Yes, it's another £15 a year to susbcribe, but for a rug that is not a huge difference. Other mags offer leather headcollars, polypads, jackets/gillets, brushing boots etc, so why not Horse?

The xmas subscription they are offering is appealing, but it doesn't seem to include a 'free gift'. I saw in their magazine they were offering a sub with a webbing headcollar as a free gift, but I can buy those in my local tack shop for £6.95 so that wont entice me.

Am I just really shallow or are free gifts important to magazine subsricptions?
 
I know what you mean - I wish I had subscribed to H&H when they were offering macwet gloves as I use them all the time. Don't know what stopped me - I buy the mag every week and would prefer to subscribe. At HOYS they were giving away a fleece rug with subscriptions, but I have 2 already and don't want another... I'll just hang on a bit longer!
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From a Marketing point of view they'd offer free gifts to gain more sales.

So, they are either getting in the required number of sales without the offer, or they don't have a big enough budget to afford the freebies.

The basic Marketing rule is that is costs more to gain new customers than it does to keep them.... even just the database side of things, adding the new customer, ensuring more mags go to print etc, and the postage, without the added cost of a free gift (which has to be bought and posted).

Maybe free gifts haven't been cost effective for this mag?
 
Ha, ha, ha. I too, used to get them all and I found that I would be reading the same thing over again. I am not keen on Horse and Rider at all (though will buy it if I am bored somewhere) But I subscribed to Horse last time at Your Horse Live and got a free feece. Now they are offering a rather cheap looking headcoller. And who doesn't already have a head coller??

I used to Your like Horse but that's too boring now and doesn't cover much. Horse is my favourite so maybe they will read this and offer a really good gift to all subscribers like a coolex or turnout boots! lol
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TBH I would rather pay a bit more for a magazine and get a decent free gift
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I have often found in the past that the magazines like Your Horse and Horse and Rider are more geared up to people without their own horses. I am really enjoying the new look 'Horse' but I'm hanging on in there for a good subscription offer
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It was always a big 'bug bear' of mine that it was cheaper to take out a new subscription than to renew an existing one. I now cancel a subscription at the end of the first year as a matter of principle!
 
That's a good idea, I subcribe to Horse and I have been letting it roll on automatically (whilst inwardly grumbling about the lack of gift). I will stop that now, so I get the free gifts I think!
Have also been thinking about subscribing to Horse and Rider. Have read it a couple of times lately and its not been bad - much better than Your Horse, which I don't think has much content for the price!! One horsey mag a month just isn't enough
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Hello,

Thanks for your posts - really pleased to hear from those who are enjoying the new-look Horse!

Horse often gives away free products with new subscriptions - over the past few months, we've offered a headcollar (as mentioned), a gilet, and a Dublin fleece top. We have offered rugs in the past and I'm sure we'll be giving away other products in the coming months after the Christmas discount offer ends. Keep an eye on our website - www.horsemagazine.co.uk - for future offers (click on the Horse front cover image on the left hand side)

Thanks

Horse
 
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