Madison, Notebook and Real Living and the three new magazine success stories from 2005 as far as I am concerned. Alpha just misses out based on my criteria. I’m looking for titles which grow the category, which are easy to sell and which deliver sustained sales. It is in this last KPI where Alpha fails in my book. But, hey, it’s only issue #2 so it may pick up from here. Refer my previous posting on Alpha.
Madison sales are strong and we’re several issues in. Issue 2 of Notebook has been out for two days and newsagents I speak with are already declaring it a winner. Real Living, while only at the end of issue 1, has outperformed in each location I have checked.
This all tells me that the magazine category is alive and well at the top end, where good in store promotional materials are provided and where the title is well supported with advertising.
At the bottom end things are ratty. Newsagents could lose 200 titles and their bottom line would improve. None of these titles are promoted other than by newsagents putting them on the shelves in the hope they will sell. The capital tied up in this dead stock is wasted when there are new titles to promote.