Month: February 2008

On the way to the airport this morning I heard Todd Woodbridge, yes, the now-retired doubles tennis champion, talking with Neil Mitchell on 3AW about trashy magazines. Woodbridge was billed by Mitchell as a new social commentator on his show.

Over the course of the eight to ten minutes I heard Woodbridge did not engage in much commentary about magazines. He made fun of the medium and queries why anyone would buy them. Mitchell agreed with him.

What was billed as social commentary was lightweight fluff, not unlike the some of the magazines they criticised. Maybe Mitchell would say it has to be light to keep it moving. If that’s the case, don’t bill it as social commentary.

Magazine are important to Australia and Australians. Sales per capita are strong and browser interest even stronger. Women’s weekly magazines – the category in the cross-hairs of today’s discussion, are an important component of entertainment for many people.

Woodbridge seemed to not like the print medium because at one stage he asked why women who buy these things don’t go online and look at the pictures and read articles.

What could have been a worthwhile discussion was wasted.

Newsagents playing in the convenience space ought to read the Neilsen Convenience Report 2007. It’s made available by Neilsen and Australian Convenience Store News – an excellent resource for anyone in the convenience space.

Page 22 has some interesting data on magazines – men’s magazines account for 47% of sales, Zoo Weekly is the top selling title. I suspect that Newsagents will find the rest of the magazine results fascinating – they underscore a point of difference non-convenience newsagents can embrace. They also highlight opportunities for convenience focused newsagents.

We’re running a get fit campaign at our busiest counter with this display of men’s fitness and muscle magazines. We also have packs of the Fit Deck – a fitness exercise program which benefited from some coverage in the herald Sun a few weeks back – on the side of the stand.

We figured that with life almost back to normal – school holidays over, work under way etc – it was a good time to visit men’s fitness. We were curious, however, to find more titles in the fitness category for women than men. We are currently looking at other titles with which to expand the segment.

By counting stock and controlling replenishment we track its effectiveness over the regular location.

We have taken a different approach to promote the start of Logies voting in TV Week this week.

Rather than one big display we have gone for two smaller ones. TV Week as an impulse purchase so a counter display makes sense (see photo).

This location has been successful in promoting a range a of product – a different ‘story’ every week from stationery to lotteries to magazines. It works because regulars are not blind to the promotions, since they change.

The other display we have done for is above the Herald Sun and The Age on our main newspaper stand. This is also a successful magazine promotion location for us.

In each case we’re promoting outside what we’re told to do by the publisher. The key will be whether our approach drives the sales expected. While the displays themselves are not pretty, all that should matter is the sales result.

Since we took over Quayside Newsagency in Frankston we have introduced two additional magazine promotional spaces. The photo below shows how we are currently using one of the display. A check of sales data today shows its value. We have sold 34 copies of Melbourne Wedding and Bride since it went on sale on January 18. Over the sale number of days following on sale for this title last year the newsagency sold 14 copies.

What I especially like about the display is that Rhonda made it about more than just the Wedding and Bride guide. She added bags, ribbons and other wedding related items we sell.

In newsagencies limited to display space it is hard to support one off titles like this. ACP and Pacific titles get first bite at the good space because they have the top sellers. This is why in each of our newsagencies we have created space for our use alone, to promote titles and categories which say something about value proposition.

We measure the success, or otherwise, of each display and learn from the results. There is no point in a pretty display unless it works commercially for the business. This is business after all.

Check out the size of this special edition of Harpers Bazaar. It takes double the usual space and looks out of place in our traditional magazine fixturing. The price is also a concern: $39.95. Some newsagents will not put the title out because of fear of theft.

I don’t mind carrying titles such as this but I’d like a means to do it professionally and to be rewarded for the additional space and risk.

I’d expect the latest issue of Empire magazine to sell out quickly given the Heath Ledger cover showing him in full costume from the new Batman movie.  Inside there is an interview done on the set.  One only has to look at the activity on eBay to understand the interest from collectors in Ledger.  I’m sure Empire will sell out.

We have been opportunistic and placed Empire in our high traffic women’s weekly section as well as with film titles.   We’ve done this because some Ledger fans will not browse the film section.  I figured we’re better off putting it where they shop and selling out early.

An ad on Melbourne radio station Gold 104 last night was promoting the Australian Women’s Health Diary.  This is a title which newsagents were asked to return today.  Even more odd is that a call to Network Services, the distributor, reveals that stock is not available for two weeks.   Odd that.

As I predicted a couple of days ago, the cut in supply of Take 5 in the same week they are doing a major marketing push has backfired. We’re just about out of Take 5 and therefore not able to perform to our potential. A frustrating outcome forced on us by shortsightedness by the publisher.

This matters because newsagents are only short supplied on popular titles which are sold elsewhere. It’s the unpopular titles where we’re over supplied.

Starvation can be terminal folks.