Gifts for new subscribers - Time vs. IHT

I keep getting in the mail all kinds of irresistible offers for magazine subscriptions with all sorts of freebies offered in return. Usually I simply throw them to the waste paper bin right away as I have way too many things to read already. But from time to time some of them make it through my mailbox firewall and I do get a chance to see what is on offer. And so here is an opportunity to compare how valuable new subscribers are to Time Magazine and International Herald Tribune. These are also the examples of promotional products or business gifts that do not have to be branded.

Time Magazine offers free binoculars with either 12 or 24 months subscription. The 12 months deal costs HKD702 (around USD90), 24 months HKD1,350 (around USD175).

I know this particular model quite well. The binoculars are not too bad, actually better than they look on the order form. Pretty handy and compact piece of equipment but not exactly professional stuff. But comparing to some gifts Time Magazine featured in the past, this one is quite an improvement. I would say a fair deal for someone who spends 90 dollars for a magazine, but not really a motivation to sign up for 2 years.

International Herald Tribune’s Order Form (click to view) offers 362 issues (12 + 2 months) for HKD2,850 (about USD367) or 90 issues (3 + 2 months) for HKD974 (about USD125). There is no gift with the 90 issues subscription but IHT offers a Waterman Hemisphere ball pen with the 362 issues deal.

It is not exactly clear form the photo what version of Waterman Hemisphere is the one offered, but I would suspect it would be one of the cheaper ones that retail between USD30 - USD40 a piece. This is a gift that comes with USD367 subscription.

So who does better job here ?

Time is offering a decent but a no name and non-professional product, IHT a nice pen from one of the most reputable pen manufacturers.My vote would go hands down for IHT and the Waterman Hemisphere pen. Although the pen is more expensive than the binoculars the difference is not as big as it may seem. What is very different however is the perceived value for the recipient and here Waterman definitely wins.

I think Time would be better off offering higher value brand name gifts in return for longer subscription period (at least 2 years) and have some simple souvenir ready for those who choose shorter periods.

But as I mentioned above these binoculars are a step forward. I remember a year or so back Time Magazine had a very cheap radio as a gift. Few weeks later they got slammed by one of their readers in the “Letters to the Editor” for that **** piece of plastic producing static and noise only … Well, that is what one gets for being cheap .

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