Hot while the mail strikes

In every crisis, opportunity. Many mainstream magazine publishers are desperate keen to get readers onto their digital editions, in which they’ve invested a lot of money for (so far) pretty low readership returns.

Conde Nast, however, have sensed an opening with the postal strikes in the UK. They recently emailed subscribers thusly:

Dear XXXXXXX

Royal Mail industrial action means that your copy of the December edition of WIRED may be delayed. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience; we are doing everything possible to ensure delivery in good time.

In the meantime, a digital copy will be available in your private page on our subscription website. You will get exclusive access to this page using your subscriber number and surname; you can also amend your details.

Followed by a reminder of the subscriber number, and a link. A smart move, and a sensible one too, not only because it might get some readers to opt for digital-only subscriptions come renewal time, but also because it might persuade them not to seek out their technology news elsewhere on the web instead. After all, imagine what would happen to the remains of the printed newspaper industry if they couldn’t get papers out to newsagents for a week or two.

The only misstep, in my opinion, is in making it subscriber-only – with the sudden boost in interest, they might have picked up a few impulse purchases too.

For now, the strikes seem to have been postponed until the new year. If they start up again in January, I’d expect digital magazine strategists to be better prepared with more offers and unique content. And if that happens, could it be the game changer the industry has been waiting for?

(Thanks Mr B.)