Advertising: it's my fault!
Right, OK, here's your chance. I am the person responsible for all the ads in Fortean Times and I thought it was time I poked my head above the parapet given the strong feelings my 'input' causes on this site and elsewhere. It does go on a bit but I thought I should deal with as many of the issues in one go as possible to give you as good an idea of what and why as I can.
Over the last 3 years I have come to appreciate that FT is different in many ways to almost any other magazine. Largely this is due to the very close 'relationship' its readers (you) have with the mag which is borne out by this website, word of mouth, results of the reader survey etc etc. As you all know, much of FT is provided by its readers from Strange Days to the letters and many of the features themselves. Whilst the readers are any magazine's lifeblood, I believe this is even more true in FT's case. So my first point is that I do not work in a commercial vacuum and do have some understanding of FT's history and readership.
OK onto the ads. My job is to maximise revenue from advertising (display, classified, inserts and online) and in so doing bring in an agreed amount of money. In order to do this I have 13 pages give or take to fill each issue. The money I generate is a fundamental part of the magazine's yearly income which consequently is fundamental in producing the product you enjoy so much. Sadly adverts are a necessary evil for FT to continue in its present format.
However it is also very important for me to find advertisers whose products are relevant to the readers and whose copy makes the ad pages as attractive as possible and which enhances the overall look of the magazine. In that regard I do feel that since August 2001 I have improved the overall quality of ads in Fortean Times and have removed the majority of the most unsuitable ones especially the sex lines. Certainly our esteemed editor, David Sutton, thinks so.
Clearly there are exceptions and occasionally one does slip through the net (most recently the t-shirt ad in 180). I have a working agreement with David as to what is and isn't suitable for FT's broad readership. In any event any ad with the word 'cunt' in it should not appear and the t-shirt ad was a genuine mistake.
As far as the Faces of Death ad is concerned opinion on this site appears split. I agree that for many people what they are offering (not that I have seen it) would not constitute entertainment in any way and I spent a good deal of time considering whether or not it should run. As one correspondent on this site pointed out, the popular Strange Deaths section in Fortean Times would seem to point to an interest in the macabre which presumably is why the advertiser thought the product might be relevant in the first place. All I can say is that, whilst I am not in a position to watch use or play every product that appears in FT's pages, I will continue to monitor ads as closely as I can to ensure they remain as suitable as possible. Please also bear in mind that what people find suitable or appropriate and conversely what people find inappropriate or offensive is totally subjective. One person's lifestyle choice is another person's satanic ritual.
So how do we find the people who do pay to advertise in FT? There are a number of key factors that advertisers are concerned about when listening to the likes of me selling a magazine to them: the circulation, the reader's demographic profile and the editorial environment. Cost is also a consideration but if you can score with any of the above it is rarely the deciding factor. Fortean Times has a (comparatively) small circulation, a very diverse reader profile and incredibly broad editorial range. The circulation rules out the majority of mainstream, mass market advertisers (drink brands, computers, ISPs, telecomms, financial services, etc, etc) who can find far more cost-effective ways to reach 70,000 people. It also makes it very difficult to find advertisers who are looking to target a specific demographic or even advertisers closely related to the subject matter. With car mags you can speak to car companies, photography mags camera companies, Fortean Times - ?. Almost every area that Fortean Times covers has a magazine that is devoted specifically to that subject area or no companies that are likely to advertise. Where should I start with cryptozoology? Vets? Clearly I have only mentioned the negatives but hopefully they illustrate that our job is not an easy one.
The two areas where there are reasonable ad budgets, good looking ads and an overlap with Fortean readers are film / DVDs and computer games which consequently are our biggest ad sectors. Beyond them we start scratching around and end up with the likes of t-shirts and hydroponics who get a large enough response from FT's readers to warrant the expenditure and need to market themselves consistently. The only obvious area we have so far failed to crack is books mainly because their ad budgets (especially for books of a Fortean bent) are non-existent. We have tried charities, 'green' companies, telescope manufacturers, political organisations, real ale brewers, computer retailers to name but a very few and all with no success. Given the team I have I do not believe that it is due either to a lack of effort or a lack of sales ability.
So what are the options? We could take all the ads out and double the cover price. I know some of you would be happy with that but we would have to persuade over 28,000 people too and I do not believe we could do that. Also I do not think this would encourage new readers to try what we all agree is a fantastic mag.
Also taking the ads out would actually upset quite a few people. Advertisers would not advertise if they did not get a response and so whilst some people are complaining others are buying and this will to a large extent also dictate which advertisers we get on a regular basis.
Alternatively Fortean Times changes completely and reverts to a home-produced 'fanzine'. This though is not a decision for me and so far it has been decided that for the greater good of the magazine and its readers our current path is the one we will take and we will do our best to keep the adverts as appropriate and relevant as at all possible given the commercial constraints in place.
The last option, which for me would be the most helpful, is for you to suggest new companies or sectors whose adverts you would like/prefer to see in the magazine or even to persuade your own companies to put their hands in their pockets and take out an advert. Every nice looking new advert means one less horrible one.
I think that's it. If you've got this far, sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I will be more than willing to discuss any of the points I have raised above or any new ones you would like to introduce.
Anthony White
