Around six years ago, the MPA (Magazine Publishers of Australia) produced some excellent resources on magazine layout in newsagencies. They also provided in-store resources to facilitate a relay of the magazine department to fit with what the MPA considered best practice.
Today, the MPA is more focused on pitching the magazine medium to advertisers.
In diverting focus from how magazines are represented at retail to attractive advertisers, the MPA is missing an opportunity.
Australia is unique in having magazine specialists like newsagents. By not offering resources to this channel to drive best practice risks the further breakdown of the channel.
I’d like to see the MPA get back into the space of developing magazine department layout standards, offering newsagents resources to learn and embrace these and facilitating the promotion of newsagencies as the go-to retailers for magazine range.
Chasing advertisers will be a wasted effort if the channel selling 50% of all magazines in Australia is left to drift.