Apparently direct mail is a growth industry?

I received no less than four competing direct mail offers for newspaper subscriptions this week. Oddly enough, only one of the papers actually publishes in New Hampshire – and it was not mine. (Yes, I do already have a subscription to my own paper.)

I found the coincidence of timing, and the various pricing strategies interesting. Each paper structured their offers differently, but basically:

7-day subscription (5 for WSJ)
Union Leader – $2.25 /week
Boston Globe – $7.75 /week (12 week special)
New York Times – $7.40 /week
Wall Street Journal – $2.30 /week

Weekender
Union Leader – $2.00 /week (Thu-Sun)
New York Times  – $5.20 /week (Fri-Sun)

Sunday Only
Union Leader – $1.00 /week
Boston Globe – $2.50 /week (for $3.24 includes Globe Reader)