We Put Think Big with newspapers last week because of the Michael J Fox cover story. While not a big success sales wise, I saw customers stop and look at the title. They would not have done this had we just left it with our business magazines. We place several titles a week based on the cover image alone.
Newsagents in South Australian have organised for themselves a meeting this Friday, December 18 between 2pm and 5pm, to discuss the News Ltd distribution and retail contracts. Click here for a copy of the flyer announcing the meeting and detailing concerns expressed by newsagents in relation to the contracts.
Speaking at this important meeting, in addition to newsagents, will be:
Newsagents in other states ought to consider attending this meeting. While the South Australian situation is different to the Eastern States, many consider it to be the trial location for a new distribution model.
News Ltd has had some time to work through its various state based publishing businesses to develop the new contracts and to consider what the future of newspaper distribution may look like. Newsagents have not had such an opportunity. Hence the importance of this newsagent well organised meeting. I hope that News Ltd does not make any moves to block the meeting.
Many newsagents attending have already been deeply engaged in this matter thanks to the newsagent-led action in SA. They are handing out questionnaires to customers, talking with members of parliament, gaining media coverage and talking with fellow newsagents. The meeting is likely to provide an update on this considerable ground level work.
I am grateful to the organisers for passing on details so that I may promote the meeting at this blog. I am hoping to be there as well.
You can read some more about activity by newsagents in SA on this by clicking here.
The snow globes and magnetic wooden Christmas ornaments are selling like hot cakes. Given their location only at the sales counter, they are purchased on impulse when finalising the sale. Adding between $1.95 and $5.95 to a sale is a terrific bonus in a newsagency. That said, in most cases we sell more than one in a sale. These items not only extend the value of the basket, they also improve overall sale margin thanks to good buying. Our margin is above 50%.
The snow globes and magnetic wooden Christmas ornaments are located at the counter without competing products nearby. It is important that customers can see counter offers, understand what they are and know the price right away.
Further to my post two days ago, we have now received 198 applications via Seek from 623 people who have viewed the ad. This is just in two days. We have received another 25 or so direct. We’re now turning the ad off because we have a shortlist of 20 candidates for five positions. Having spent hours reading resumes and application letters, I am impressed with the quality of candidates, especially those who get past the initial cull.
The Barack Obama 2010 calendar which we bought for our calendar range is set to be the dud of the season. We’ve not sold a single copy. Indeed, calendars of fanous people and celebrities are less popular than calendars of animals and places of interest. I think more people buy calendars for nostalgia than those who buy for idolisation. The Michael Jackson calendar is an exception. Anyone want a Barack Obama calendar?
The publisher of 50s Brotherhood magazine has put the title (the world’s only mini bike magazine) and associated trademarks for sale at ebay. Click here to see the ad (it expires later today). eBay is an interesting place to sell a magazine title.
Thanks to a colleague for tipping me off to this ad.
The old XchangeIT platform used by newsagents for receiving invoices from magazine distributors will close in just over two weeks. Only the new XchangeIT Link platform will work. The impact on a newsagency of not receiving invoices electronically is significant. This is what will happen in newsagencies which have not migrated to the new magazine distributor controlled platform. If you are not sure about the new link, Tower Systems has a free video any newsagent can watch to learn more about complying with the new XchangeIT Link.
The line above the masthead of the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper today sets newsagents up for a rugged day once their allotment of fre. Tear off the token and hand it to your newsagent it says. The colleague who alerted me to this promotion this morning received one DVD for each newspaper. No backup stock for the customers coming from supermarkets, petrol outlets and convenience stores looking for their DVD.
So, what does the newsagent do? Give out one DVD for each newspaper sold? This would see them abused by customers who have walked all the way to their shop to collect the DVD. Or, do they give our DVDs to every newsagent who presents with a coupon. This would leave them without stock for existing customers and subject to certain abuse.
This is a good promotion, certain to sell newspapers. The problem is the management of the DVD. If you want newsagents to be the collection point then supply enough stock to enable them to represent your brand professionally. One DVD per newspaper supplied to the newsagent is not enough in many situations for a popular free DVD.
We say this ourselves with the Herald Sun give aways last Saturday and Sunday. The abuse from customers ran most of the week. We were damaged and the publisher was damaged.
This is not rocket science. Publishers and retail newsagents could work together to make these promotions work. If only publishers would talk with us before setting us up for retail rage.
We are promoting the Christmas edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly at the counter this weekend – from yesterday. Sales continue to be strong for this issue as we had three days spare at our premium counter position. Selecting AWW was a no brainer based on the sales performance of the issue. We kept a selection of marketing collateral for exactly this opportunity.
The other key titles we want to promote this weekend Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, Dolly, Cosmopolitan and Family Circle all have good positioning elsewhere. AWW had come from its front of shop display earlier this week.
Our display and similar displays in other newsagencies are an example of the difference between newsagent support for magazines and the support from supermarkets and other retailers. Here we are well into the on-sale and we are working the title. We are doing this because we are specialists. Most other retailers would only do this if required because of commercial terms between their head office and the publisher.
The Tiger Woods story continues to move magazines. New Idea benefited the most earlier this week. Now, Who and OK! are benefiting. Who probably more so than OK!. We have all Tiger related titles co-located to drive better sales. This tactic is working. While I feel for the pain he is in from the worldwide attention, I appreciate the contribution he is making to magazine sales.
Asics may want to review their magazine advertising strategy. I was moving a stack of magazines at one of my newsagencies yesterday morning and these catalogues fell out. Seriously. There was not much friction between their catalogue and the pages of the magazine – hence their easily falling out. Since I am not being paid a cut of the advertising I didn’t take the time to put the ads back in. I am not one of those newsagents who does around removing advertising inserts but if they do fall out I won’t labour over getting them back in place.
With a 12% sell through in four weeks we are taking the latest issue of the Simpsons comic off early. We need the space and the cash would be handy. I am sure that I am not alone in experiencing poor sales numbers. Comics are struggling from the benchmark data I see and publishers don’t appear to be cutting back on their print runs.
The ANF has sent out an email to newsagents this afternoon about the News Limited contracts. The QNF and NANA has this information out to newsagentsin their states more than two weeks ago. Others communicated similar advice at arou d the same time. Tthe ANF has come to the table late and from what I can see is not offering anything new to the advice provided already by others.
The Kyoto range of diaries from Collins Debden is selling well in this week of the Copenhagen climate talks. We have them well displayed to connect with the extensive news coverage of the climate talks.
Given the carbon offset message on the cover, this range also connects with the Emissions Trading Scheme news which has dominated news here in Australia in recent weeks.
The Kyoto range is an excellent opportunity for newsagents to do something different with this range of diaries. By embracing the opportunity, we can drive extra business.
I often hear newsagents talking about deals – they want great deals, as if price is all that matters in the equation. Sometimes, the best ‘deals’ are sitting on the floors of our shops and waiting for us to see the opportunity and engage. The Kyoto diary range is one such opportunity. We have purchased the stock at a good price – not a brilliant price but a good price. Moving them faster creates the ‘deal’ many are chasing.
Treating the Kyoto range as any other diary right now is blocking access to better sales.
Editor & Publisher, the much respected and leading journal of the newspaper business in the US, is closing after 125 years. While the publication announced its death on its website, the editor, according to a report in Wired, frist announced the move via Twitter. Analysts say, in hundreds of reports already online, that Editor & Publisher is a victim of the decline of US newspapers.
While some of the challenges faced by US newspapers are different to our Australian situation, many are the same if somewhat delayed being experienced here.
Alan Mutter provides an indication to the implications fo the closure of E&P at his blog:
With the pending shutdown of the authoritative trade magazine and the reduction in the last few years in the number of securities analysts covering publishing, there will be scant independent reporting and commentary on the troubled industry at a time it most needs objective and honest feedback.
In four hours yesterday our online ad for staff for a new newsagency I am involved with generated 73 applications. What particularly interested me was that 17 of the applicants have current newsagency experience. This is a higher proprtion that I usually see. The pool includes some candidates with excellent resumes. We should find the team we are looking for.
Time has named Motorola’s Droid smartphone the #1 gadget in its Top 10 Gadgets of the Year. One feature which stands out for reviewers is the screen. It is crisp and easier for reading news and other content usually found in print.
Maria Rodale, Chairman and CEO of US publisher Rodale has penned an article for the Huffington Post on why magazines won’t die. Her thesis is summed up in this paragraph:
The Internet is a technology that enables people to go out in SEARCH of things. I’m all for that and love it to pieces. But sometimes, I just want things to FIND me. Sometimes, I am just tired of looking and typing and seeking, and I just want to sit on my comfortable couch and be surprised when I turn the page.
While I agree that consumers enjoy the surprise of magazines, some content does fare better from an online only platform.
Google has launched Living Stories, an experimental new feature designed to deliver news stories, updates, editorials, and multimedia focusing on specific topics – all on one single Web page. The launch has been done with the New York Times and the Washington Post. There is a buzz among news sites online. There is also some cynicism – check out Newsweek. I like the look of Living Stories. It’s an innovative way for showing how online news can be structured.
I don’t think Google is making this move to appease the newspaper industry. Google is making this move because it good for Google.
In keeping with a tradition of Christmases past, the creative team at Tower Systems has created a poster for promoting magazines as Christmas gifts. This is available free for all newsagents to use. Click here for an A4 version. Click here for an A3 version.
With more newsagents using Tower Systems newsagency software than the combined customer base of all other software companies, Tower is committed to helping newsagents cultivate healthier and more enjoyable businesses. The Christmas poster and other free collateral is a resource any newsagent is welcome to use.
Disclosure: I am the owner of Tower Systems.
Yesterday, three days after the Olivia Newton John Christmas CD was given away with the Sunday Herald Sun, we continued to experience retail rage from customers who came in expecting we would have a CD available for them.
I have been getting my newspaper home delivered for 18 years one customer spat at our retail team in a tone which accused them of personally letting them down.
The CD was a huge success yet it was a failure too by giving customers a reason to be rude and offensive.
The intensity of retail rage, in my experience, is the inverse of the value of the product or service being raged about.
We are promoting Better Homes and Gardens in the mall at the front of our newsagency. This is a pretty basic display – nothing visually fancy. We figured that the magazine speaks for itself.
We also have a full waterfall display in the usual location as well as two pockets in with our women’s weeklies titles. Better Homes and Gardens performs well with co-location. We will leave it at the front of the shop for a week but co-located in-store for the full on-sale period or for as long as we have stock.
