The Economist launches interactive subscription drive in Sydney with free coffee give aways
The Economist has launched a Sydney-centric subscription drive giving away free coffee in interactive cups to encourage people to trial the product.
The business magazine has embedded near field communications chips into the cups which when paired with a mobile phone leads to a story about coffee beans, and gives the reader an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the digital edition.
They are then invited to purchase a one-month digital subscription, with people doing on the spot sign ups given a free book published by The Economist called ‘Megachange – The World in 2050’.
The campaign follows on from a successful drive in the Asian market, where the public also sampled items relevant to content featured in the magazine.
Mumbrella Asia reported the publicity push in Singapore earlier this year, where The Economist drew criticism from animal welfare groups for serving up cups of kopi luwak – a controversial type of coffee made from the droppings of palm civets who were fed a diet exclusively of coffee beans.
The Economist’s circulation & group marketing director, Asia Pacific, Grace Hahn said in a statement: “We wanted to create an experience, centred around our content, to engage with potential readers that would be meaningful and memorable.
“The Economist experiential campaign offers people the opportunity to interact with The Economist brand and get a taste of the type of thought-provoking content they can expect from The Economist.”
Location updates will be available daily via The Economist Asia Facebook page.
Danielle Sen
The margins are there for digital but it has been shown that a lot of the appeal of print beyond the feel and ease of read is status. People who buy more print are more likely to own a more expensive car and in fact there is a direct correlation.
Even accounting and law graduates who can’t afford a Merc or BMW want to be seen to be successful… I can’t tell you how many of my PWC cadet friends spend more on magazines like The Economist or New Yorker than they do on rent.
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Article says they used “NFC chips” but the image suggests QR codes (completely different technologies). Embedding NFC chips into disposable coffee cups would be quite an expensive exercise I would imagine?
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