Controlled Circulation
Controlled Circulation is a sales model for magazines that can be applied to trade magazines and special interest media. The subscription is free of charge for the reader, but the subscription requires belonging to the target group defined by the publisher. A “CC magazine” is therefore financed exclusively or largely through advertising revenues. The model is also referred to with the less common German term “target group magazine”, which was developed because of a competition law problem.
As a rule, the subscriber to a CC magazine is required to qualify for a subscription with extensive information on professional status and consumption or investment intentions. The detailed self-disclosure replaces the subscription price; in critical terms, the reader buys the subscription by disclosing personal data. The sales of advertisements is promoted by the resulting database with the exact determination of the readership.
Related sales models
In the revenue model, magazines with Controlled Circulation are reminiscent of advertising papers , but differ from these in the definition by the addressing by name and the qualification requirements, in practice by the higher quality equipment and the target group categorization (professional target group versus geographical target group).
In corporate publishing , there are mixed forms of controlled circulation with normal sales concepts, for example when customer magazines are sent both free of charge to a qualified group of recipients and - usually in small numbers - are sold individually or by subscription. The two traditional sales channels can be used with real revenue intent, but the theoretical sales price can also only serve to increase the perceived value of the other recipients.
Controlled Circulation Magazines
In Germany, for example, the specialist magazines Telecom Handel ( Neue Mediengesellschaft Ulm ), Computer Reseller News ( WEKA Holding ), ChannelPartner ( IDG ) or CIO ( IDG ) are wholly or partially distributed in the controlled circulation model.
Competition law issues
The unrestricted use of "Controlled Circulation" as a term to identify a distribution edition by publishers is opposed to the risk of confusion with "Controlled Edition" in the sense of an indication proven by an independent audit: If "Controlled" can be understood as a synonym for " IVW control", the use may constitute a violation of competition law. According to a ruling by the Hamburg Regional Court (416 O 249/04 of January 25, 2005), the CC circulation in advertising material must therefore not be compared with the number of paid subscriptions to other magazines. However, CC journals can be checked regularly by the IVW, and the "widespread circulation" is then proven.