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Judging magazine covers for The Maggies

I was thrilled to participate as a judge for the shortlisting of magazine covers for this year’s 2012 consumer awards, The Maggies. We had close to 200 magazines covers to judge last Friday in Sydney to select a shorlist in eleven categories.

This year was the first time a newsagent was represented on the judging panel. It was fascinating hearing what magazine publishing and other media experts looked for in a good cover design. The day also provided an excellent opportunity for networking and, from my perspective, talking about the value proposition newsagents offer over other magazine retailers.

I urge newsagents to VOTE NOW for their favourite cover. Voting is open to anyone.

Click here to see the maggies shortlist announcement.

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  1. Megan

    Thank you for alerting me to these awards and the opportunity for voting, Mark. You may be disappointed to learn that everyone who votes is offered a $5 gift voucher to spend at iSubscribe – which takes potential customers away from newsagents!
    Megan

    6 likes

  2. Amanda

    Another great promotion by our industry “partners”.

    Your article should be of rage, because of the arrogance industry partners have concerning newsagents.

    “The Maggies”, and those responsible for its organisation, have chosen to promote iSubscribe as their preferred magazine destination….ahead of Newsagents.

    Instead it was a softly, weak, thanks for boosting my profile article.

    Nice work Mark!

    9 likes

  3. Mark Fletcher

    The Maggies is funded by iSubscribe. It puts a spotlight on magazines. Yes, voters get a gift of a $5 gift card. So what? It’s their initiative. Newsagents could have taken this initiative years ago. Instead, we spent out energy arguing with ourselves and many not ignore the magazine opportunity.

    Amanda and megan I am not sure what research you have done into subscriptions here in Australia. I have and am happy with the mix of subscriptions in the overall magazine model.

    Newsagents still account for close to 50% of magazine sales. What we all should ask ourselves is – what we are doing today to grow our magazine sales. The Maggies supports all channels.

    1 likes

  4. Alicia

    I have to stick with the girls on this one.

    A week or so i read your blog on how newsagents need to make themselves a more compelling channel for publisher’s.

    There were quite a few comments, and now you clearly state above how Newsagents still acount for close to 50% of magazine sales.

    So what is more compelling than that figure alone?

    NO newsagent has the ability to discount magazine prices to the consumer. iSubscribe and Magshop and other online retailers and discount sites have that opportunity.

    I ask Mark, if you were in the market for a new car every year. The local dealer offers the car at RRP every year with great customer service and a smile. Might even get to know your name.

    An internet dealer comes along and offers that same car with a 30-60% discount.

    Where do you buy the car from?

    This is the position newsagents are put into by puablishers. The discounts / commissions are there. Why are newsagents not getting them?

    8 likes

  5. Derek

    I feel relaxed. I think Amanda’s mind is synced with mine. I find it refreshing to see different points of view. I’ll just keeping liking her posts.

    2 likes

  6. Mark Fletcher

    Alica, the figure is not compelling as it’s not something consumers know. If you number declining, is our market share declining. Yes.

    The Maggies promotes the medium. This is good for us. What are we doing, beyond average, to promote the medium?

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  7. Alicia

    What can we do to promote the medium beyond the average under the current commission structure?

    Over the next 6 weeks I am spending approximately $5k promoting 6 different ranges of giftware products. How can i do this? Because the commission / margin is there with such products.

    Why do i not do this for magazines? Because I would be promoting every single outlet you can purchase a magazine whether it be a servo, supermarket, discount store, nursery, hardware store, health food, or even online store or any other bloody store who sells that title of magazine.

    Let’s say Frankie magazine was exclusive to Newsagents, no other retail or onlinre outlet could stock this. I am now interested in not only supporting the title, but with a higher commission structure I would have funds to push on my facebook page or other forms of promotion.

    Let’s face it publisher’s got greedy and subscribed to the theory if their product was in more outlet’s it would sell more.

    The reality is this theory not happen, and all it has done is devalue the magazine product in what is the biggest retail sector for magazine sales…the common newsagency.

    An old saying, “don’t bit the hand that feeds you”…….

    You have mentioned newsagents need to do this and newsagents need to do that….this is true…but the tables have turned…Publishers need to do some of the “doing” also, and make their product attractive to newsagents.

    7 likes

  8. Mark Fletcher

    Alica, I disagree with you re magazines. There is plenty you can do and plenty I write about here regularly.

    Magazines are vitally important to you and every newsagent. Treat them poorly at your peril. It is wrong to harp on about the 25% when their value to your business is considerably more than this.

    Publishers do plenty to promote our channelL: I see our channel promoted on TV, in print and in social media. The spend is considerable naming newsagents.

    The challenge for publishers is the diversity in the channel. 100 newsagencies = 100 very different businesses, 100 different standards and 100 different value propositions. Whereas visit 100 Coles outlets and you get a consistent offer. I don’t like this but accept that it’s reality.

    1 likes

  9. rick

    but the coles offer for mags is crap, small range, often late out, poor displays yet they command and get the best terms. nobody is bagging mags, just the conditions we have to accept to have them on the shelf. to name a few, oversupply, poor credit terms, lots of manual handling (ie returns), poor use of technology (ie xchangeit)
    i could live with 25% if they used my sales data (my xchangit compliance is 100%) to eliminate any returns, to supply correct amount of product, and credit terms should be only pay for what i sell and min 30 days.
    i wonder what coles trading terms are? and how often they get a letter or phone call from network.
    what publishers and distributors need to realise is that they are screwing their biggest retail outlet and speeding up the decline of print product.

    10 likes

  10. P

    50% now and heading south what is their real value to us

    1 likes

  11. Paul

    I agree fully Rick ! The majority of the publications out there won’t get a better deal than us yet either because of the publisher or the deistributor we get screwed over repeatedly to the point where many seem to be questioning their commitment to magazines as more and more look to other lines to anchor and provide better GP returns to their businesses.

    How many other people this morning received spikes in the quantities received for certain publications (People & The Knot to name two) which mysteriously only seems to occur on end of month delivery days ?

    2 likes

  12. Paul

    Oh..and Derek your post @5 made me chuckle so hard one of my staff thought I’d gone off of the deep end. Thanks for putting some levity into the subject ! 🙂

    1 likes

  13. Jenny

    Alicia, if Frankie or any other magazine was exclusive to newsagents you shouldn’t need a higher commision, we would have back the great sales that we had before publishers got greedy.
    I find it frustrating when we put a lot of work into magazine promotion and customers come in pushing their trolleys with magazines from supermarket to just check their lotto ticket!

    2 likes

  14. Mark Fletcher

    There are titles where newsagents have been offered higher commission for greater engagement and it has not worked, newsagents have not engaged – not always but certainly the majority.

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  15. P

    What decides a good magazine cover- the more they sell the more advertising they cram in
    for the record Outback wins every time
    real people

    1 likes

  16. Mark Fletcher

    The criteria was quite strict. I was there to add a retailer’s perspective.

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  17. SHAUN S

    Jenny , it is very frustrating seeing a trolley come in to check lotto and you see mags sitting on top .Try offering a magazine loyalty card . . The offer could be i see you have already purchased your mags did you know you could earn a free magazine if you had purchased them from here .. In the past just to get them going with the card i have even started the card off counting there woolies purchased mags and more often than not you score them as a magazine customer from that point on .

    2 likes

  18. Alicia

    Mark counter displays and positional product placement are something we all try with different levels of success.

    Your blog offers some valuable tips and displays which newsagents can incorporate or attempt. This blog has helped many a newsagent leverage incremental sales from magazines I am sure.

    Bottom line is though, we are all feeling the effects of rising costs. And we are all better equipped to evaluate the REAL costs of a category due to the constant improvements in our newsagency software. We are all evaluating the return for space each category of our stores are producing. You have encouraged us to do so, and we are becoming more professional.

    All I am saying is that there IS better commission to have. If publishers offered a blanket rise across the whole sector, than the real estate magazines take up will be financially more viable. It would discourage a newsagent from trimming 25% of pockets to make way for a more profitable line.

    In the end it is in the publisher’s interests. Otherwise you will be blogging about the poor Journo’s at magazine mastheads much like poor Mr Brown at THE SMH.

    3 likes

  19. allan wickham

    What is this world coming too…? I just logged onto the “blog” and seen that this post has 17 “responses” so far…..and was thinking…gee must be something good to about Magazine Covers…better have a look. All I have seen is 13 responses bagging a bloke for his passion about Magazines….(an essential item to ALL of our stores) and ONLY 1 response offering somebody a positive about a situation (ShaunS in post 17).

    Well done to Shaun S on a positive comment to a fellow Newsagent on something we in shopping centres see much too often and well done to Mark Fletcher for his love of Magazines.

    5 likes

  20. Mark Fletcher

    Alicia, cover prices increase and this delivers better margin dollars.

    While I would like a better margin, I have met with plenty of magazine publishers who say there is not enough room to do this and some other publishers who have tried and said it fails.

    I think the best way for us to extract a better margin is for us to make our businesses more appealing. I know I have written this before but there are ways. The problem is that there are not enough newsagents prepared to do this I suspect.

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  21. Jenny

    Shaun, we have just started using mag loyalty cards to tackle this, but thank you for your tip on counting their woolies mags on the card, will definately try this.

    0 likes

  22. Derek

    Al

    Personally I don’t think its bagging Mark, I am dissapointed that Mark chose to be part of a competitors promotion but that is his choice.

    I dont think anyone denies Mark’s contribution to the Newsagency channel.

    Your opinion has merit however if one cannot express their opinion or business pain or their frustration with Magazines within their own business it does not do this blog justice.

    In my opinion a cross section of opinions are needed to show the true picture of Print in general.

    5 likes

  23. allan wickham

    Derek,

    Everything you say is true, we need a cross section of opinion and that is why i love this blog. I just thought that with everything Mark gives to us in the “Newsagency Blog” some have gone off the track a bit with this post. This post is about Mark being invited to judge on a Magazine cover….something i believe EVERY Newsagent should be grateful for…….as Mark himself said….This year was the first time a newsagent was represented on the judging panel. It was fascinating hearing what magazine publishing and other media experts looked for in a good cover design. The day also provided an excellent opportunity for networking and, from my perspective, talking about the value proposition newsagents offer over other magazine retailers”.
    I am all for a better deal from the publishers/distributors etc etc…..but that was not what this post was about…..sometimes it frustrates me how a thread gets soooo twisted…..

    All for varied opinions, just on the right post is all.

    0 likes

  24. allan wickham

    I would take a Newsagent being invited to something like this every day of the week and hopefully be able to speak on our behalf of the things that are wrong with the channel than have no representation at all…….

    2 likes

  25. Paul

    Allan, I don’t think too many of us are actually bagging Mark as such but just voicing different opinions on the magazine situation at the moment. I think magazines and how we are treated by various ,though not all parties involved with them, is a very passionate subject for alot of people at the moment as evidenced by the other magazine related thread from last week. Now the emotions that passion for the subject has engendered are very different but it does show the gammut of people feelings on the subject. Personally I feel that all parties, Newsagents/Publishers/Distributors, should be looking at what we can do together and perhaps give and take between one another a little more than each party has been. If not may well pile all of those magazines up into a big pile and form a funeral pyre for large parts of the industry as it can’t keep going the way it is now for much longer surely ?

    3 likes

  26. allan wickham

    Fair enough, maybe “bagging”was too strong a term.
    However, we need Mark at these things…(and every other thing Magazine related)……think of Colonel Hogan visiting Colonel Klinks office everyday……..

    1 likes

  27. Mark Fletcher

    Derek it’s a magazine promotion. Newsagents are petty when it comes to who should sell what they sell. It eats away – did me for a time – and it makes is think we deserve more than we actually deserve.

    There is one publisher I know of who has used ex subscriber data to drive newsagent traffic. Benefits roll our way too.

    If newsagents, all of us, make our channel more compelling we will be in a stronger negotiating position.

    2 likes

  28. Derek

    Al, I agree to disagree as it sends the wrong message in this case however I respect your views.

    Mark, while this promotion is trailblazing I quote” The concept is initiated and developed by iSUBSCRiBE” from the above link. Gosh no wonder some of us get frustrated.

    Petty, I am sure their could be a better word for it. When a person/family invests a sizeable amount of their life and money into a business such as a Newsagency and sees competitors eat away at their print customer base it does as you say eat away at you. I feel Newsagents deserve a better deal but its a different world and a smaller world.

    2500 titles and adding more according to isubscribe.

    50% of magazine sales are outside of the retail Newsagent, one key element of that statistic is what percentage of that 50% are from Magazines in the top 50, these competitors take the cream, we do deserve more Mark.

    3 likes

  29. peter stewart

    i have to agree Outback mag is always a beautiful cover, and the current issue of Frankie is awsome.
    if someone is looking around the fashion/womens titles, we will suggest Frankie, and always get them to feel the cover of this current mag, 75% of the time they will bring it to the counter.

    known customers with fashion or art background, someone with a 20 something daughter/granddaughter, the 30-45 woman with kids who used to buy vogue/elle/cosmo, these are all people who will be impressed with frankie enough to buy it.

    my pick for cover of the year would be the current Frankie

    3 likes

  30. Mark Fletcher

    Derek we deserve what we work for. This is an open and competitive market and has been now for thirteen years. Supermarkets are taking more of our customers than subscriptions, many more.

    Our Points of difference are: ease of shopping, customer service and range yet we do not leverage these. Instead we carp and moan about competitors.

    How do we feel about Coke in other outlets? How do we feel about lotteries online? How do we feel about stationery in Officeworks?

    Competition surrounds us. We will be defined by how we compete rather than any achievement we bring to bear in regulation.

    This is a free market. Our future is up to us.

    The Maggies is good for magazines. I sell magazines.

    3 likes

  31. Gregg

    Mark
    It is good to see someone promoting magazines and iSubscribe is entitled to do so for their business.
    But your comment this is a free market is partially correct, a free market would give the Newsagent the ability to decide what quantities and titles they require from the distributors, you finally get it right then all of a sudden its back to oversupply or undersupply or mags you do not want.
    Whatever happened to the trial being run by NANA where magazine subscriptions would be available through the local newsagency?

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  32. Mark Fletcher

    That’s a fair point Gregg. It’s the magazine distributors who deny us fairness but I don’t see any newsagents challenging that legally.

    Many newsagents offer subscriptions today through iSubscribe gift cards.

    0 likes

  33. Gregg

    Mark,
    Why don’t the Associations jump on this as it is regular topic. Maybe if everyone was to resign from the associations they might start to hear the message.

    0 likes

  34. Luke

    80% of magazine sales will come from the top 20% of titles ( I’m using the old 80/20 rule WD, AWW, NI) and these are the titles targeted by the supermarkets. without these the niche titles are not profitable as these are offered by subscription for a fraction of the rrp.

    As for free market, where do you get this from, since when has the we been in a free market?
    This a term Coles/Woolies use to muscle in and then rip the heart out of small business not just newsagencies. We do not get the terms they get or even close to it yet we are supposed to compete.

    The only thing that keeps me sane is it is not just us they are flogging it is bottleshops, friut and veg, bakers and now chemists, they dictate terms and the suppliers follow like lambs to the slaughter only to be spat out once they come up with an inhouse version.
    Call it a whinge, call it being petty, call it a frog in a top hat but it not a free market.

    4 likes

  35. Mark Fletcher

    Gregg the challenges are the associations are: they have no mechanism of compliance over newsagents and they are, the main, not controlled by leaders.

    0 likes

  36. Derek

    Mark, I have posted my views, if you think we carp & moan well that is your opinion.

    I am dissapointed that you see it in this context.

    On the surface Maggies is about promoting magazines, the philosophy behind it is to Isubscribe and you got caught up in it.

    If you want to talk about Coke, Office works & Lotteries I think it is a great idea.

    Leverage the magazine specialist point of difference is a great idea, then the Isubscribe sign up promotion falls out. Publishers have no right to complain, enticing the customer away from the Newsagency specialist after buying the magazine from them. Newsagents must do what is right for their business.

    Their are at last count 179 Newsagents for sale on just one website, lets get some real research done and understand why.

    2 likes

  37. Mark Fletcher

    Derek, I didn’t get caught, I made a considered and conscious decision.

    Newsagents do carp and moan about competitors. There are 1,000+ comments here on many posts doing this.

    My challenge to newsagents is: okay you have a right to complain – but what have you done in your newsagency to deliver an above average magazine shopper experience? What have you done to make shopping for magazines in your business memorable?

    It is a free market. Yes, imbalances, but free nevertheless.

    The only complain I hear from publishers is when actions are taken to block certain sales of their titles in newsagencies.

    No supplier owes us anything. Our future in the magazine space is up to us.

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  38. P

    I think maybe you did Mark but in saying that it is good promotion for your business either as a newsagent or software supplier

    0 likes

  39. Derek

    Mark

    in my small little business I am doing all the right things with the customer base that I have.

    Magazine space must pay its way.

    I find it ludicrous for a Newsagent to be selling Isubscribe Gift cards.

    1 likes

  40. Mark Fletcher

    P, this has nothing to do with software whatsoever. As for whether you think I got caught up you can judge that.

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  41. Jenny

    I have only been reading this blog for a short time and have found interesting info on many topics. It’s great hearing other newsagents thoughts and opinions.
    The subject of magazines does bring out a lot of complaints and wingeing – I’m guilty, I am passionately anti Woolies and Coles but I do accept that they aren’t going to go away so it’s probably a waste of time and energy complaining about them.
    I do believe that we are lucky to have the range of magazines that only newsagents have, it still is one of the main reasons that brings customers come into my shop and to be honest if I had a product to sell and the supermarket wanted it I’d be stupid to say no. At the end of the day we are in business to make money.
    Magazines are over supplied and generate a lot of work but they are sale or return so it’s up to us what to keep.
    And while customers keep coming in for their lotto or papers or mags we can stock and sell anything else that they will buy.
    We chose to buy newsagencies and even though things aren’t as good as they were years ago, a lot of us are still better off than many other small businesses – butchers, delis, fruit shops etc – that have closed down over the years.
    Count your blessings guys!

    2 likes

  42. Amanda

    Following on from some Derek and Mark trading blows!!!…

    Let’s put a few facts onto paper….

    A “free market” would indicate i could sell magazines outside of my territorial boundaries, and that I would be able to negotiate my own terms and commissions, whether that be as an individual, part of a marketing group, part of a regional group or part of a nationwide group.

    Supermarkets rely on sheer volume of customer traffic and product positioning of magazines at the checkout capitalises on this.

    News Link stores too are positioned in high traffic sites, but are unique in that they utilise the consumers need to “fill-in time” whilst travelling.

    Service stations rely on convenience.

    Online retailers use discounts beyond the commissions newsagents receive to get magazine sales.

    Mark, you have proclaimed newsagents need to provide an above average shopping experience for magazine purchases, and make the experience memorable.

    This is the theory which the Mag Nation brand had hoped would be successful, yet they have struggled to expand in Australia.

    You have acknowledged these other retail channels mentioned above receive better terms than newsagents, yet none of them provide a better shopping experience for the purchase of magazines than a newsagent. Yet they still negotiate better terms!

    These outlets dictate what they sell and negotiate the commission structure. You will NEVER see People or Picture being stocked at a national supermarket chain.

    The problem is (and always will be) that whilst their is people within the newsagent industry (and worse still..leaders within our industry) who are satisfied with the commission newsagents currently get, then Publishers will NEVER entertain the thought of a rise in commission, because we hold no threat.

    2 likes

  43. Mark Fletcher

    Amanda,

    No one is trading blows here. It’s a discussion between people who happen to disagree on a point or two. Debate is healthy.

    You can negotiate your terms. You can sell what you want where you like in the context of any contract you freely sign.

    I won’t comment on Magnation as It’s up to them to share details of their commercial performance. It would be wrong to assume anything about where they are at or how they are doing.

    I’d also note that Magnation is very different to a newsagency.

    Supermarkets negotiate better terms for most of what they sell because they have built models that product manufacturers desire. This is what I am calling on newsagents to do. Not proclaiming as you label it – just encouraging newsagents to get commercial rather than complaining.

    I think you are wrong to make this about margin. It’s not. It is about newsagents looking at the world today as if they deserve something when they don’t. Our channel has a considerably higher operational overhead and performance failure than others publishers deal with.

    There was a time when I’d agree with you on margin. Now, having gone in to the offices of publishers of all sizes and unpicked the costs associated with dealing with us (in and out) I can understand why it’s 25% for most titles. It’s even less in many overseas markets.

    Coles has one account for whatever number of stores. We have 4,000 accounts for 4,000 stores. Not complaining – it is what it is.

    The most common position newsagents take on margin is to complain. Business people would take it on as a business challenge.

    0 likes

  44. allan wickham

    Nicely said Jenny.

    0 likes

  45. rick

    im not complaining, just expressing an opinion on how uneven the playing field is. The number of comments on magazine subjects reflects the concern about the profitability of the channel. No one is asking for it to go back to the good old days, or asking for any kind of special deal. Just seeking to find a way to voice our concerns as we see them on the shop floor. Maybe its a reflection of our disjointed industry that we feel we have no mechanism to address these very genuine concerns. I do a pretty good job managing my magazines, maintain acurate data, all im asking for is to be treated fairly and equitably by my business partners.

    1 likes

  46. Mark Fletcher

    Rick it is uneven, and frustrating. Those of us who manage magazines well and chase growth for the category are doing the best for the channel.

    1 likes

  47. Richard

    There is too much worrying about the Supermarkets. Why do the two major Bakery chains have shops outside Supermarkets? They don’t spend all day worrying. They focus on their customers and innovate quickly with new products. In the one near us the young Franchisee added value by getting Coke to put in a cooler because if the customer buys something for lunch they will probably buy a drink. Her sales have gone up. Our business is no different. As has been said many times keep moving and work on growing where you can.

    1 likes

  48. Lisa

    A publishers perspective:
    We at Vintage Caravan Magazine were absolutely delighted with being selected as a finalist in the specialist category at the Maggies. What an honour it was to be selected from such a fine panel of industry experts! Although we lost out to Choice magazine, just to be there and meet so many amazing people in the industry was a real treat.
    Although the incentive of $5 off a subscription was not actually taken up by many of our readers who voted for us, the fact that voters had to vote for a cover in each of the categories brought attention to the magazine to a wider audience who otherwise may not have even known about us existing. I just wanted to say that since the awards I have been absolutely inundated with requests from customers wanting to find their nearest newsagency. Even today on a Saturday after having just returned home from a 4-week 5,500km caravanning trip, God forbid! And our Facebook likes are increasing at a rate of 100 new likers per day!
    So, I have to agree with Mark on this one, any exposure for the industry is welcomed here and it makes no difference to how customers choose to buy their magazines. Some people will prefer either to subscribe or get their copies form a newsagent despite a $5 off lure and I know a lot of our customers who say that they prefer to support their local newsagency. I am all for that and happily give them the link to our list of stockists whenever they ask and let them know who the distributor is if they want to get their newsagency to order the magazine in.
    My 2.2 cents…
    Lisa

    0 likes

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