Exciting Changes for the Watchtower! (page 6)

erandir

ks:

Here's a thought. Are the publishers now expected to make double the contribution they would normally make since the society is putting out two issues of the same magazine?

hmmm...i'm so glad i stopped contributing money after my first year for any magazines or books that i got from the counter. No one ever said anything directly...maybe an occassional hint here or there. I had heard a suggested donation, or what people used to pay years ago before they were "free" from one of the older ones who noticed how i never donated anything after picking up my literature requests. also there was a part on the meeting about it. they seriously expected the publishers to pay the same price for a cd or book the same as you would pay for a cd or book at a store.

jh1:

I hope they keep that "fantastic artwork!" in the study Watchtower. For many bored youth, it is the only thing to look at during those long, ~~intense~~ boring studies.

ha ha...i remember how my wife and i would always draw mustaches and make other "modifications" to the artwork during the wt study. we put curly-cues on jesus a lot. sunglasses on c.t.russel. giggling and nudging each other. no one said anything cuz we were the highly prized newly baptized couple for a few years in our congregation. we could do no wrong, it seemed. i made sure i added a "shush" here or there and pretended like i was trying to pay attention every once in a while. then 10 min later, we'd turn the page and do it all again. mmmm...the gold ol' days.

adding captions to the pictures was a favorite pastime, too. i need to go to our downstairs book shelf and pull out some of the "studied" watchtowers that we saved and have a laugh.

Mariusuk.

I don't view it as cost cutting, more fund raising

Think about it, by making a more public friendly version of the WT they will have more chance of the general public buying erm contributing for it. It is merely a marketing spin. Don't forget the WTBTS is primarily a publishing corporation. As as already been pointed out with a public edition they can filter out some of their .......strictness and beliefs that could put potential converts off

greendawn

Why did it take them so long to decide that they need two different WTs for JWs and non JWs? I also like the spin they put on things to persuade the drones that this change is indisputably good and beyond the need for any questioning lest any doubts arise.

Instead of having an inquiring spirit over it they will be excited about how good it is.

erandir

greendawn:

Instead of having an inquiring spirit over it they will be excited about how good it is.

Exactly...as is evidenced by the comment my wife made as she handed the article to me...*sigh*

JW83

This does make the Awake sort of redundant, doesn't it? Do you think someone eventually realised that the WT was irrelevant & off-putting to potential recruits, but still wanted to stick to the good old formula of offering two magazines at a bargain basement price? I often wondered why we didn't just go door to door with paradise tracts & the bible, which would have been a lot more user-friendly. Which begs the question, does the Society actually want new recruits, or does it just want its members to waste time peddling unattractive wares that didn't force them to justify their faith using the bible or actually interact with the householder on a more equitable basis?

It definitely seems like the main purpose of this is to make Witnesses feel even more special than usual.

Boring and Boring-er :)

willyloman

Think about it, by making a more public friendly version of the WT they will have more chance of the general public buying erm contributing for it.

I see your point, but that's not how it works. The number of contributions from householders for magazines, and specifically the amount of such donations that make it to Brooklyn, is a drop in the bucket. The WT does not make money from the general public. The WT is a magazine publishing company with a unique internal marketing model - all their money comes from inside the organization, from donations made by the members who are taught that it is their sacred duty to provide funds for the operation of the group. This is classic multi-level marketing with one twist: the people who sell the product do not expect monetary gain. Their anticipated payoff is non-material and deferred.

But you are correct that this all about marketing and cost control.

zeroday

Since the subjects and the style of writing will be directed toward the public, a non-Witness should enjoy reading the magazine from cover to cover.

In my 28 years in the inside I rarely read the Watchtower cover to cover.

Mariusuk.

Willyloman

That is my exact point, with dwindling numbers of members in the western world the income must be dropping. This must be counteracted somehow, trying to sell to the general public would be an obvious step in income generation

AGreenmachine

New to this forum. New to using a posting format.

I see this new gimick by the WBTS as a desperate effort to bring new one's into the fold. There is an obvious obsticle to overcome in the preaching work in trying to explain the concepts in the watchtower regarding the JW doctrine. I also will predict that the version printed for the JW masses will bring brain washing to a new level.

Oh, yeah. So will the one printed for householders. Why don't they streamline things for bums and homeless people? Not everyone is a house holder!

Island Bro

Since the JW's get the magazines in advance, how soon will they get them, like September? maybe in New York?

Exciting Changes for the Watchtower!

Share this