A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Day: September 16, 2009

Newspaper of the year or sell out of the year?

smh_sep1609.JPGI was shocked to see The Sydney Morning Herald in the photo for sale in Sydney this afternoon.  Above the masthead, the publisher proudly proclaims NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR yet they have sold an ad to cover the word Sydney in the masthead.  Shame.

This is one of the worst acts of desecration of a newspaper masthead I have seen.

I wonder what the editorial team thinks?  I wonder, too, what brand experts think.

My uneducated opinion is that selling masthead space demonstrates a profound lack of respect for the brand and a belief that cash for the ad is important than the brand and all it stands for.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Check your Notebook diaries

Inserted in the front of the 2010 Notebook diary is a subscription flyer. Subscribe and save 28% on a 1 year subscription to Notebook magazine it proclaims.  Publishers do this all the time and I usually let it slide.  Using a low margin diary supplied on mediocre terms this is poor form by the published against newsagents.  The flyers in the Notebook diaries in my newsagencies have slipped out.

Our channel is a valuable resource.  Suppliers ought to respect this in their actions.

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Diaries

Promoting Time with newspapers

fhn_time_sep17.JPGWe are promoting Time magazine at our main nespaper stand this week.  The ethical consumer cover story is something we feel will interest our customers.  Time is one of those titles which needs to be featured when it has a good cover since it is not often a destination purchase – certainly in our newsagencies at least.

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magazines

Promoting free seeds with That’s Life

fhn_tl_sep1609.JPGWe are promoting That’s Life in our prime counter position from today, replacing New Idea (which has sold well with the free chocolate), because of the free seeds which come with this issue of the magazine.

We will leave That’s Life in place at the counter until Friday.  The seeds are a good giveaway given the low cover price of That’s Life.

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magazines

More newsagents selling home delivery runs

I am hearing of more newsagents selling their home delivery runs to concentrate on retail.

My own experience is that the separation of two different and competing businesses is good for both.  They have different labour and capital demands and separation allows for more appropriate allocation.  Retail has less regulation whereas home delivery is highly regulated.  Retail can pull revenue from a broad range of categories whereas home delivery is challenged in this area.

The separation of home delivery from retail continuesd to be the most significant structural change in our channel.  It is great that newsagents are achieving this for themselves.

Retaining customer traffic in retail after selling the run is easy with good PayPoint technology which lets the retailer act as if they are the distribution newsagent when it comes to payments, stops and starts.

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magazine distribution

My Shop is Your Shop UK

Today is National Walk and Shop Day in the UK – an excellent promotion of local shopping supported by independent retailers, including newsagents, suppliers, local councils and consumers.  This is part of the My Shop is Your Shop project.

the campaign for National Walk and Shop Day is built around reducing emissions CO2 emissions, buying local for today to avoid waste and saving petrol costs.  All good messages which local shops can pitchto their local customers.

This is an opportunity for newsagents and similar independent retailers in Australia.

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Customer Service
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