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DuPont Registry’s Buyers Gallery of Fine Automobiles is the perfect example of a publication where both the newsstand print and the online digital versions of every issue are equally in demand by a core group of readers—and each version serves a unique purpose.
There are $2 billion worth of cars represented in every issue, and the buyers are just a phone call away. “Our magazine is geared to the high-end auto trader,” says Kit Jeerapaet, president, who is responsible for both the print magazine and the Web site. “It’s the only auto magazine with virtually no editorial.”
But just because there are no articles does not mean there is no content. On every page there is a phone number, and that is one of the most important pieces of content, not only for the magazine’s 100,000 paying readers, approximately 85,000 of whom buy the magazine on the newsstand every month, but also for the advertisers.
And it is this contact information that explains why many of the same readers who buy the newsstand product download the free digital edition too. Each ad contains both a phone number and in many cases, a link to the advertiser’s Web site. Advertisers like it because they get immediate feedback from the readers. Readers like it because they get first crack at buying the cars.
When asked how the availability of a free online digital version of each issue (along with free online archives of previous issues) has impacted the sales of the print magazine, Jeerapaet says that although they were expecting a negative impact, it really didn’t happen.
The print circulation has basically remained constant, he says, despite the fact that every registrant for a digital issue on the Web site is asked if they want to receive an email notification when each new issue is posted, so they can read the issue for free.
Jeerapaet attributes the lack of negative impact on the paid print circulation to the habits of the consumer in this particular market. “The habits of a consumer on the Web are different from that same person when they pick up a magazine. One medium does not replace another. There are pros and cons for each format.”