Ladbrokes puts customer magazine on hold

by Alison Donnelly, Marketing 04-Nov-08, 14:48

LONDON - Ladbrokes has pulled the winter edition of its award-winning quarterly betting magazine 'Close Up' as it reviews its future.

Ladbrokes is thought to be considering pulling the magazine as part of marketing cutbacks although the bookmaking firm said it was still reviewing it status and may yet decide to produce the magazine every six months.

The Close Up magazine is mailed to 35,0000 of Ladbroke's best customers and was also available in the company's most prominent betting shops. It won Launch of the Year in 2006 at The Association of Publishing Agencies (APA) customer magazine awards and earlier this year it won Consumer Magazine of the Year at at the Independent Publishers Awards (IPA).

The magazine is produced by Aspect Media who also created daily direct marketing email shots for Ladbrokes during the Cheltenham Festival and National Hunt season.

Ladbrokes is currently on the hunt for a new direct marketing agency to work on its retail direct marketing account. It works with Saatchi and Saatchi on above-the-line marketing.