tcook052

So if an advertiser has a contract to have their message appear before x-number of eyeballs i.e. all AC passengers system-wide for one month by mailing copies only to elites who represent a fraction of total passenger is AC holding up their end? I appreciate that by mailing copies out AC is doing its best to get the ad seen by as many eyeballs as possible as there really aren't any other better solutions given the circumstances.

And where would the tipping point be for AC to end the mail-out campaign? When capacity returned to 50% of pre-COVID levels? 75%?

YWG-RO

Got mine Friday. Nice move AC. First time in memory with no upcoming flights. App looks very odd and depressing with no forthcoming travel.

BlondeBomber

Also got mine yesterday. Thought the covering letter said it was for SEs but that could have been my misremembering since I just scanned it and didn't read it carefully.

Was looking forward to reading it on my flight to PHX last month but that obviously never happened. Getting it in the mail yesterday was the second best way to read it but thanks AC. I need to go make one of those AC omelette breakfasts now . . . (getting restless)

24left

The difference in how we evaluate these decisions is really a mix of money spent or not, readership gained or lost and nuance. I am not sure if Symmetre and I worked in the same business or the same side of the business, but my far too many years in this rodeo taught me some things and gave me a lot of insight. That said.....

A make-good in broadcast is a replacement spot for a commercial that did not run as it was scheduled too (e.g. didn't not run, ran in wrong time-slot etc). Simple examples of compensation can be in the form of another spot to be aired later on in the same show or if it's not available, multiple spots in other shows to guarantee the same audience or a make-good for the future or cash back on the invoice. The are other more detailed examples.

In print, a publication is selected because it was determined to be a good environment to reach the client's target audience. How I chose print environments was based on the theme or topic plus the audience it could provide based on demographics and psychographics. There are various research data available that give us info about the average daily or monthly readership as well as who the readers are.

In enRoute's media kit, there is this bit of info. I generally work with far more than this, but for this purpose, it's an example.


When we book space in publications on behalf of clients, we and the clients can accept the data available that tells us they print this number of copies - which can be verified, and also that each copy has 14.1 readers, thus potentially delivering an average audience of 1,684,000.

There really isn't a guarantee at the best of times of exactly who sees the commercial or ad. All media have very different measurement processes and tools.

We've had clients choose to pull ads when the readership of a publication drops significantly, but if the publication chooses to reduce the print run, thus reduce the readership, then compensation is due the client in whichever format they agree to - some money returned or additional ads later or etc. Or if the reduction is known in advance, the cost of the ad space can be reduced as well.

I've read how some other airlines have stopped printing their in-flight magazine. I did not look into the reasons. But they have their own contracts with the printers in their own countries. If the ads for all the other clients do not get seen because the magazine is not being printed, make-goods are issued or contracts are revised. Most if not all the clients I ever worked with did not pay in advance for their ad to run. They pay when invoiced by the media, usually within 15 or 30 days afterward (as actual copies of the magazines were shipped to show proof of appearing.

I can't answer the tipping-point question. The publisher would have to advise all the clients that the magazine will not be seen by the audiences they promised. Then the clients can choose to stay with the smaller audience, cancel if possible or take a make-good etc.

AC and the publisher had obviously made the choice to run the issue that people are receiving in the mail. Going forward, I can't speak to what AC and the publisher will do with future issues yet to be printed, or, if they choose to print future copies, how they will adjust ad costs based on reduced audience. And of course, the magazine also has a contract with the printer which has to be dealt with in whichever way.

BTW, there will always be clients who continue to advertise throughout this period of limited travel for a variety of reasons.

Apologies to those who work in industries where exactness is the norm. The explanation I provided is not black and white because the industry itself is not black and white. And yes, it is far easier to pull a broadcast commercial or an online ad than it is to stop presses for print media. But, there is a lot of flexibility in the business and there are always solutions.
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Adam Smith

I hadn't even noticed the package and hadn't seen that there was a letter in there. It says "Dear Air Canada Altitude member". Here it is in full:




Thanks for another interesting and informative post

​​​​​​​I hadn't noticed the 14.1 readers per copy. Perhaps keeping up the average readers per copy would be a good reason to send only one copy per household?

jasdou

Does the number of copies give us an idea of the number of SEs? If they only have 120,375 copies available, no wonder only SEs are getting it.

24left

Not from any publicly available info.

The readership measurement is done by research companies. Having booked ads in enRoute years ago for a variety of clients, the estimated readership is based on pax loads versus typical magazine readership measurement.

AC knows how many SEs there are based on Altitude and AC generally knows where these SEs live , so easy to mail a copy.

I agree with AC sending 1 per household, versus 1 per Altitude member. What we don't know is are they also mailing copies elsewhere - corporate executives, VIP clients, business partners in other divisions e.g. cargo.

WoodlandCreature

No copy for this SE in YYZ as of Friday 1 May.

Symmetre

Not being privy to Spafax's ad contracts I can only speculate, but in general terms, if they sell an ad based on, let's say 100,000 eyeballs seeing the ad, then they need somehow justify that approximately that number of eyeballs would have been exposed to it. With no one flying right now, that won't happen through copies left in seatback pockets, so they might pick out 50,000 households and mail one copy to each. If they assume 2 people read each copy, their obligation is met.

There are obviously a ton of variables here, but that's roughly how they would be able to satisfy an advertiser. Tipping point is subject to whatever agreement was made with the advertisers to begin with ... we can only speculate.


Thanks for taking the time to type all of that out, in that sense I'm glad you beat me to it :-)

Have worked on both sides of the table ... both as a rep and as a buyer ... that's a very good explanation in rough terms. Nice.

Jumper Jack

I would be grateful if any FTer here would be willing to mail me their Enroute post read (happy donate $10 to any reasonable non-profit of your choice for the hassle)
This edition looks to be winner and I hate reading these things on digital.

RangerNS

SE near YHZ, got mine May 5.

cedric

I got a copy delivered with my Globe & Mail this week.

Adam Smith

So not addressed directly to you, just lumped in with your copy of the Globe that day?

nomadic.relief

AC didn't send me a copy. But WestJet sent me their inflight magazine and it made me very sad.

cedric

That's right. Arrived this week, but was the April edition.