Network Services earlier this month announced the launch of a digital services platform for serving digital editions of print products in the portfolio. The Network press release opened provided a bold positioning statement:
Network Services becomes Australia’s first distributor to offer its publishing clients access to a suite of digital solutions. Following on from the recent announcement of the Magshop Digital Newsstand, Network Services is pleased to announce that it is now in a position to start working with its clients to capitalise on the position that the Magshop Digital Newsstand is quickly establishing in this emerging market place.
Some are saying that the Network announcement is a catch up to the previously announced initiatives from Gordon and Gotch in the digital space. Who knows? What I do know is that the two magazine distributors in this country are racing to leverage the digital opportunity.
The closest we come to playing in the digital space is selling the iTunes cards. Oh, and offering a free Kobo reader to a lucky Mother’s Day shopper.