I keep getting emails from MR telling me things like "Biggest discount EVER on MR", and today: "Roll the Die, get bigger Discounts". Well, I "rolled the die", and guess what? The "discount" is the same it's ALWAYS been! Every email add that suggests "Maximum discounts" is always the same: $29.95 per year...Do the folks at "Model Railroader" think that us "model railroaders" must be just a little DAFT?
Mike C.
Unless there is a yet bigger discount the messages are literally true: biggest ever and maximum are true unless some even larger discount is lurking out there. So it isn't false advertising. If the (needlessly) breathless nature of the announcement attracts someone's interest then it has worked and presumably has done no harm.
Dave Nelson
Hey they havn't offered me that rate in awhile!
Absolutely no harm done! I just find it funny that they keep trying more and more "sensational" adds for the SAME price.......as if I had forgotten? Then again, maybe they ARE trying to be "funny"! Hadn't thought of that....
rrebell Hey they havn't offered me that rate in awhile!
here:
http://mrr.trains.com/marketing/2014/08/RolltheDice?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MRRList_Dice_P23351_140811_Final&utm_content=
now you too are a winner.
Jaime
After my subscription ended in August I got an e-mail from them one week later with a discount of only paying $30 then $43. In early September I got my magazine.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Are these actually from Kalmbach, or some other magazine wholesaler?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Two lines come to mind while reading this thread: ''Never give a sucker an even break'' or ''Smarten up a chump". W C Fields.
Take Care!
Frank
OP needs to take a Marketing 101 course.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Hobby Lobby had a bunch of stuff on the end of the isle marked 'Clearance Priced' and guess what, it was 40% off, just like their 40% coupons they give out every single day of the year!!
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
wobblinwheelI keep getting emails from MR telling me things like "Biggest discount EVER on MR", and today: "Roll the Die, get bigger Discounts". Well, I "rolled the die", and guess what? The "discount" is the same it's ALWAYS been! Every email add that suggests "Maximum discounts" is always the same: $29.95 per year...Do the folks at "Model Railroader" think that us "model railroaders" must be just a little DAFT?
It isn't just model railroader. Every place always has "THE BIGGEST SALE" (since last week).
At least they're not pulling the "Going out of business sale! [since our store moved in]" ruse.
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
trainboyH16-44 At least they're not pulling the "Going out of business sale! [since our store moved in]" ruse.
Or that old late night TV pitch line.
Order now and if you order within the next 10 minutes we will send a second one free-just pay shipping and handling.
Hurry! Supplies are limited!
Operators are standing by to take your order!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
All of these offers are better than the one from a magazine (NOT a model rail magazine and NOT from Kalmbach) that renews your subscription automatically and you cannot cancel the renewal unless you follow a cancellation procedure in the fine print exactly to the letter, to a separate address from the publisher and the regular circulation department. They send a bill and if you ignore- OR if you say you didn't order it, they tag you with a bad credit report and refer to a collection agency.
By comparison, Kalmbach is a "model" business.
I'm not trying to ne insulting to folks from other countries with this post, so if it comes off that way, please accept my apology up front.
We Americans tend to be a very materialistic bunch. As such, nothing is more attractive to us than the thought of getting a great deal on something, or of purchasing a bag of rhinestones and finding a real diamond mixed in. Our advertising caters to this bias. Ad men tell us constantly about lowest prices, big savings free this and free that. And because our society is so fast paced, advertisers deliver it like bullets from a machine gun. It's not Kalmbach so much as whatever marketing firm they've hired to help them.
Since this phenomenon is so much a part of American culture, most of us are rather de-sensitized to it. I can imagine that, for people not so used to it, American advertising can be bewildering. And it's kind of a vicious cycle -- because we are largely desensitized to it, marketing firms are forever thinking up new ways to make you believe that this company or that company really has come up with the best deal ever. They also try to make you believe that you really must do this today or miss the opportunity forever (perhaps because they know that if you stop to think, you'll recognize it for what it is: hype).
FWIW, about every other month, one (non-Kalmbach) magazine I subscribe to sends me a notice HURRY, ACT NOW, TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION. Yeah, right. I still have 18 months on my current one. In fact, I think that's the reason most magazines DON'T automatically renew your subscription: so they can use all these marketing gimmicks on you to get more of your money sooner.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Thank goodness I am not receiving any of this type of "machine gun" advertising. The folks at Kalmbach seem to recognize the cultural differences when it comes to marketing.
I must admit that I was flabbergasted by the sheer unlimited use of superlatives in advertising when I first hit American soil 42 years ago. Everything seemed to be the biggest, best or whatever in the entire world. Reading George Mikes (pronounced "Meekash" - he was from Hungary) famous book "How to Scrape Skies" helped me to understand the advertising cultural of the US (and a few other things as well).
Gee, only $29.99/year?
The BEST Kalmbach has offered me since I dropped my subscription is $49.95 as a "Great Deal"!
Gee, thta was what I WAS paying before I dropped the subscription!
They do, however, send me envelopes with "last chance" or "the Train is leaving the station" or "Come back at a big discount" stamped all over it, to find the same $49.95 deal inside, AND I keep getting these "last chance" mailings in my mailbox about once every 4-6 months consistantly!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
i had model railroader 1 year subscription during 2012 and i was not impressed at all with them. My subscription ended with July 2012 issue and by October 2012 issue was still getting notices from them i was in arrears for issues after july. told them my subscription was july 2011 to july 2012, and i was not paying for issues which were past the subscription period. Model Railroader is a good magazine but too expensive even for 1 year subscription. I only pick up at walmart an issue which has something interesting like how to feature on modeling modern shortline.