A March test package from Hachette Filipacchi's Elle is a departure for both magazine and publisher on several fronts, starting with a new premium: An intriguing cross-promotion for sibling title Elle Decor.

Functioning like a mini-trial, three free issues of Elle Decor are given with a 12-issue for $12.97 sub to Elle — a move that drops Elle's one-risk-free-issue soft offer in favor of a straightforward hard offer. While several HFM combination offers have been reported in recent months, including a renewal effort for Road & Track tied to a Car & Driver trial, this is the first new business piece tracked that uses issues of one title as a premium for subscribing to another. In theory, this should allow skipping the prospecting process for many trial subscribers, moving directly to a renewal series for Elle Decor as the gift issues run their course.

The test piece, dropped to 20,000 prospects, used an in-house designed “Statement of Benefits” format — which, in previous soft-offer testing, lifted response by 20 percent over Elle's standard carbon-voucher format. But the new format didn't boost response this time. “Even though we offered three free issues as an incentive, it depressed gross response by almost 20 percent,” reports HFM VP, circulation David Leckey. “We tested this offer concept with six of our titles. Four saw a 15- to 20-percent depression in response; the others were flat. It could be that the public was skeptical of the offer, thinking that it was too good to be true.” Conversion to Elle Decor would have to be “huge” for the publisher to retest the offer in the future, according to Leckey. Still, HFM may test a similar offer in September, using the term “including” in place of “free” in the copy explaining the additional subscription. Not only will this change qualify the offer as a combination sale under ABC's new rules; the issues from the additional sub will be counted as paid circ, he notes.

Seen in the Mail items are identified by MarketRelevance.com, an online direct mail and email promotion tracking resource offered by ParadyszMatera. CM staff conduct the interviews and edit the items.