“Scott has really helped put more teeth in The Beaver’s newsstand performance, providing immeasurable support to our marketing and circulation efforts around the re-design. Constructive, supportive, and result-driven, he's become an invaluable member of our team.”

Deborah Morrison, Publisher

The Beaver, Canada's History Magazine, celebrated its eighty-fifth anniversary in 2005, and is the second-oldest continuously published magazine in Canada. 

The first task was to conduct a comprehensive Cover Analysis. The findings have helped inform decision-making on cover themes and treatments ever since.

The process is highly collaborative, with the art director, editor, and sometimes the publisher contributing suggestions, and the cover evolves during a series of development stages.

The results speak for themselves…

Five of six issues published in 2005 outsold the same issues in 2004:

• Apr/May 2005 was up 20%
• Jun/Jul 2005 was up 75%
• Aug/Sep 2005 was up 22%
• Oct/Nov 2005 (85th Anniversary Issue): sales up 86%
• Dec 2005/Jan 2006 ("Silk Trains"): sales up 172% (Best seller in 85 years, i.e. #1 of 510 issues published). It was shortlisted for the Canadian Newsstand Awards.
• An increase for 2005 issues of 69% overall

And 2006 was a banner year for The Beaver at the newsstand. All six issues outsold the same issue in 2005:

• Feb/Mar 2006 was up 164%
• Apr/May was up 96%
• Jun/July was up 70%
• Aug/Sep was up 104%
• Oct/Nov was up 61%
• Dec/Jan was up 27%

Overall, sales were up 66%. Sell through efficiency improved. The Dec/Jan issue was the Best-Selling issue in the magazine's history, and it was awarded Best Cover (Mid-Size Circulation Category) at the National Newsstand Awards.

Plus, we were able to raise the cover price from $5.95 to $6.95, a hike of 17%, effective with the Jun/Jul issue. This resulted in newsstand revenues jumping by 87% in 2006.

In 2007 the sales story continued to improve. Five of six issues outsold the same issue in 2006, and the other was the 2nd best-selling issue ever achieved by The Beaver.

• Overall sales increased by 15.1%
• Revenues increased by 49.6%
• August/September issue was a finalist at the Canadian Newsstand Awards

In 2008 the records just kept piling up.

• The Feb/Mar Quebec 400 issue is the best-selling issue The Beaver has ever achieved, selling 13,585 copies, or 670.1% more than the same issue last year.
• We raised the cover price to $9.95 from $6.95 which resulted in revenues jumping by $122,910 or a 1002.5% increase. This one issue earned more money than all of 2007 issues combined.

The Quebec Special was the winner of the 2009 Award for Circulation Excellence in the Retail Category at the CMC luncheon at MagNet 2009.

• Feb/Mar unit sales up 670%
• Apr/May unit sales up by 30%
• Jun/Jul up by 45%
• Aug/Sep up by 12%
• Oct/Nov up by 18%
• Dec/Jan up by 13%

Overall, units were up 97% and revenue was up 138%

Since working with Circ3 twenty of twenty-two covers have been Record Breakers!

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