As a former east coaster who has been living in Hood River, Oregon for 15 years, I can’t totally detach myself from New York. I LOVE Oregon but there is something about New York City that is unlike anywhere in the world. We’ve been getting the New Yorker to give us a weekly fix on all things New York!
I was surprised to see this full-page, color ad in a December issue. It seems like Yogi tea has made quite an investment into mainstream advertising. I spent over an hour online trying to get the rate sheet to see how much Yogi tea was willing to pay for such exposure. I was unable to find the information online, which is quite shocking; I found that their circulation is 1,069,000 but no rate sheet. I’ve sent out an email to that department waiting for a response. I called 3 different phone numbers which had been listed as “advertising” with no success. I waited on the phone for over half an hour, waiting for a human being who finally told me to call the number I had called before with no luck. He suggested I request the operator – which I did, but was then disconnected. I tried yet again with the same result. Am I in the twilight zone perhaps? So I ask you, how do large companies manage to stay in business when it becomes so challenging to actually speak with a human being and get initial information? I finally got a response from Risa Aronson who told me the cost for the printed magazine: One full page would be $60,000. I must confess that I expected it to be higher than that. She said the circulation was 1.2 million.
We know that the growth of tea has increased substantially year after year with recent statistics showing the U.S. as the 4th largest tea-consuming country in the world. Now that’s impressive. I know that traditional advertising seems to have taken a hit as social media sources have become al- important. It’s a brave new world out there, and savvy retailers have to get on board or be left behind.
So how much would you be willing to pay for a full page ad in your favorite non-tea related print magazine? Which magazine would you target for the best customer reach?
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It does not come off to me as an extravagant investment for a brand with nationwide distribution. Tea publication or not, as a marketer I am mostly interested in understanding how many impressions I’m going to deliver to my target audience and the expected conversions. They probably identified that a large enough segment of the subscribers fit their target demographics. I am certain they didn’t pay the list price of $60K to advertise, you can always get a discount. My back of the napkin math tells me that they only need to convert 1-2K repeat customers to break even on this deal. It looks achievable with a circulation of 1.2 million.
Very interesting. Thanks for the insight Francois.