GNS has loaded their 2013 back to School TV commercials to YouTube. Check them out:
It’s good to see the four versions.
Newsagents who have been looking for change from GNS need only compare these TVCs with those from the company in recent years.
GNS has loaded their 2013 back to School TV commercials to YouTube. Check them out:
It’s good to see the four versions.
Newsagents who have been looking for change from GNS need only compare these TVCs with those from the company in recent years.
I am not a fan of it sorry . I do not go by the back to school prices , we offer other deals but yet GNS have decided this year to do a mail out on our behalf with our store name on it .
A few good special is all we need. Not a whole catalogue. I am outside the delivery area for catalogues so none delivered for me. Yah!
It’s working fine for us and the Spencil book covers are really doing well with lots of interest from customers seeing them on TV and in the catalogue. We can’t complain about the advertising power of the majors and then whinge about GNS promoting us. When we buy at the catalogue prices we must support the catalogue. This provides us with the unity and presence that every one commenting on this blog desires but we also want to dour own thing when these opportunities arise. Go figure….
Yes i want to do my own thing this is why i choose to be indepenant .If i wanted to be like everyone else i would join a group , and my newsagency would look exactly like a few hundred other ones . Not saying that is a bad thing but just not for me .
And therein is one reason I say the newsagency shingle is dead.
Not sure what you mean Mark
I think he’s criticising you Shauns
the newsagents of Oz are too diverse a bunch for the shingle to effectively promote itself. Good try GNS – much better than other years but why so many pages with so many discounted products?
I am afraid the net effect of this promotion (1000 brochures delivered locally) will be a lower GP on all those items in the catalogue that we elected to go with. Any extra sales will not compensate I fear.
My experience is that if you break even on the brochure distribution (GNS, ink cartridges or anything else) youve done well. The supplier gets to move heaps of stock and hopefully the retailer covers costs.
Newsagents say they want this and that and talk about the size of the network sometimes when they make these calls. The thing is, the network can only expect and hope for leverage of its size if it demonstrates even a semblance of commercial unification.
GNS has run TV campaigns in the past. Shat is different about this year is that the campaign takes a fresh approach. it focuses on a limited number of products leaving newsagents to play their own BTS game if they wish.
Sure, be independent. But don’t expect GNS to be able to leverage network mass on your behalf all that much.
I’m a big fan of what gns has done this year. Will we make more $$ selling at brochure prices compared to everyday prices? Not sure. The fact that our brand is advertised on TV and distributed to every letter box via the brochures is, In my opinion, priceless.
Given the state of siege newsagents live in, I would have thought that any effort by a supplier to broadcast a message of unification should be applauded.
When, as an industry, we give tacit approval to taxpayer-subsidised discounting by Australia Post and their licensees by letting our associations and members of parliament get away with doing nothing about it we demonstrate to the world that we are fragmented and largely driven by dinosaur thinking.
When, as an industry, we let our associations get away with effectively doing nothing when News Ltd announces its latest attack (T2020) we showcase our weakness for the world to see.
When, as an industry, we let Gotch and Bauer get away with screwing us unmercifully while our associations sit on their hands (except when they are out there pushing some questionable commercial deals), we demonstrate to every one of our competitors be they supermarkets, convenience stores or petrol sellers that we are easily subjugated, ripe for the picking, etc, etc.
Yet when industry-owned GNS has a good go at pushing the unification message we cry foul.
No wonder we are where we are!
Well said Jim.
I too applaud the GNS ads and think they look fresh and relevant. The ads and the mailout have certainly hit a chord with my customers. We have to be seen to be offering good discounted lines if we are to be front of mind with customers. If it means taking a hit on profit occassionaly to achieve that then so be it.
Good on GNS for having a go.
Even though we don’t do GNS BTS I think these ads are fantastic and can only be a positive for all newsagents.
As a News Xpress store wouldn’t,t you want to separate yourself from say news power . Each customer in your area would have received the same flyer with all different names on it . In my town there would have been 3 different ones maybe four going out to the same house hold with different business names on it .where is the point of difference here . Anyway I seem to be the only one that didn’t,t like it or maybe just the only one that was game enough to say so !
GNS did say they had a number of phone calls but obviously none that read this blog .
Jenny so when a customer walks in with the flyer with your name on it what do you do ?
Jim
my understanding is the law has changed so that once where we had the right to band together with our associations and speak as one voice has gone. If you want to collectively bargain as a whole then approval form the ACCC is needed. If the group bargaining with us wants to work with us individually and not as a group or a collective it is up to them even if we have the right to collectivity bargain. If the supplier chooses top ignore our collectiv bargain right then they can and the collective bargaining right is stuffed.
The real problem was deregulation it made might is right which suited big business who after all paid political donations to the Liberal Party so that they could be assured of the outcomes they wanted good for them but at every one elses detriment.
Jim while I make want to agree with you it is no longer possible under todays laws. Really the Question is do we now need associations as they are now toothless tigers. Though I do believe any representation is good and useful.
Good to see GNS have a go. Now how about fixing your electronic data (Invoices) so that they are correct and not riddled with Barcode and qty errors.
One example is Pilotape. Each time I Import it off an electronic Invoice I have to import it then delete and again reimport it so that it is correct.
Thermal Cash register rolls, some come in boxes of 24 consisting of 6 slices of 4 rolls. GNS sends it as 24 rolls on the barcode used by the slice of 4. I sell 3 different sorts of thermal rolls and they are all different how GNS deals with them but none come in a way that I can sell with out having to delete and reimport. A lot of extra work.
I can see why Mark states the Shingle is dead.
My understanding Shauns was you had to opt in for the brochures? We chose not to; just to run our usual BTS specials, and no flyers were sent out for us.
Mark has always stated the shingle is dead , hence the newsagency of the future that he always mentions , but then criticises me for being different and having a go .
Vicks we did not opt in for it and this is where I am not happy ,they were sent anyway . If my name was not on it I would have said yeah great effort from GNS for those involved and be done with it .
Shauns, as far as I know there are no flyers with our name in them as we didn’t order them. I don’t want to make cents on BTS. When Customers come in with the Newspower brochure (we are not in this group) and we send them to the appropriate newsagency. We will do the same if any come in with the GNS brochure.These customers coming in often buy other products that they see in our shop so it isn’t always negative. Being near Big W our BTS consists of what they DON’T stock so we still do ok. I see Big W as my competiion not other newsagencies.
Peter – I agree with you that the associations are basically irrelevant and don’t have a role under current legislation but is there any impediment to them becoming lobbyists and doing what they should have been doing all along. If that is not possible, then they don’t have any future and we should all vote with our feet and leave.
I believe the current management of GNS (at least in Vic) is working hard to rectify what they acknowledge is a big problem in terms of data integrity are they are certainly willing to rectify the types of problems you highlight (although the problem with Pilotape has been around for years despite many requests to fix).
Bottom line for us is that all stock is manually invoiced in and although it costs time at least I know my data integrity is maintained.
Shaun – I don’t think this is about making stores look alike. My store is vastly different to most others be they newXpress, Newspower or Nextra but at the end of the day we all carry pretty much the same (large) range of core stationery products. I think this is about telling the world at large that we are more than competitive on price, we carry a wide range of branded product, we have product knowledge and we are everywhere.
As Vicki noted, brochures were an opt in.
Jim I did not opt in so maybe this is a once off ,if I had opted in then I wouldn’t,t have a problem .anyway moving forward . My back to school is up on this time last year . This is the best part of the year for us so discounting back to just about cost makes no sense to me . Maybe I don,t know what I am on about but year on year growth says something is working
Shauns, the ONLY reason a customer walks into your store with a brochure with your name on it is that you have ordered the BTS packack INCLUDING brochures whic are mandatory to buy at the discounted prices. If you do not want to support the promotion then don’t order your stock through the promotion. Sure, you won’t buy at as good pricing as the brochure specials but that is the idea of the whole thing. Support it fully and benefit from the catalogue or if you are so single minded about doing your own thing (and that is your right), buy at the normal prices. In this instance by buying at catalogue prices but not supporting the catologue you want it all ways. This weakens the promotion and the network.
To get the back to school price I have to buy the catalogue true , but I do NOT have to distribute it ! Get the point I did not distribute the catalogue ,end of story .
For many years newsagents ordered brochures to get the BTS price and then dumped the brochures. Shame on them.
Shaun I have not criticised you for having a go
Well put Jim.
Agreed.
Mark your comments elsewhere to day on EDI files are relevant here though.
Yes: Tell suppliers who do not provide you with an electronic invoice that you will cut them off – they are costing you time.
Errors in GNS data is a considerable time waster and makes auto reording on affected items impossible.
So you bought the catalogue but didn’t opt in Shaun, as I said you are either in or out of these promotions but you want a bit each way. Not fair on GNS, suppliers or agents who engage the promotion. Seriously, think about it. By the way, Gns were very clear with us that they were distributing the catalogues so I don’t see a problem ther either.
It really did give us BIG KICK 40% over last year , we buy from stationers but met the prices that we needed to, did find stationers had a better price in my mind.Order by 9am had the stock by 4.00 in the store or to our out post.WE will as it gets to school start we will do 2 or 3 orders a day ,80% of our stationery is sold early jan to mid feb ,this looking like a bumper back to school as office works is not cheep
BrEndon, they may have been very clear with you and I am happy for you on that one . Back to school for us starts early November we are a farming town that shuts down once the mill closes for the year so we go in early before the family money runs out , I am pretty sure but will have to check we do not even have the catalogs at that point of time to do these prices to start with . Problem for me is when they do come out I look as though I have ripped every one off which I have not because as I have mentioned at that time catalogs are still not out yet ( correct me if is am wrong on the timing -I am sure someone will)
Yep the brochure is a January one Shaun S. I think your comments about how customer purchasing behaviour works in your particular area illustrates the difficulty for the whole newsagency shingle; and the almost impossible task that GNS have taken on in trying to promote the newsagency shingle at this time. Too much diversity.
The difficulty is a one size does not fit all – we see that in recent comments. I say well done to GNS for running this promotion and having the flyers available for those that want flyers or who are trying to build their BTS business.
However, I have built my BTS business over the last 13 years to be a very big event for us. We do not need or want flyers due to the huge hit in margin we have to take to sell at the advertised prices when our history shows with absolute clarity that we can sell big volumes with higher margins.
I say bad move on the part of GNS linking wholesale pricing with flyer participation. Flyers should be available to those that want them, and the rest can leave them alone. Wholesale prices should not vary depending on whether or not you are using flyers.
I purchased 4,000 display books as part of my 2013 BTS order, and I object to having to pay more for them than someone who orders 100 simply because they participate in the flyers and I didn’t. My total order from 4 suppliers came on 16 pallets. If GNS want a share of this next year then pricing needs to reflect quantities purchased and not whether or not my name is on a flyer in someones letter box. I see the role of GNS first and foremost being a wholesaler providing us stock at the best possible prices all the time, not as a marketing body.
Newsagents need to understand the bigger commercial perspective. For example, GNS could not get on TV without spplier support. Suppliers will offer better prices and catalogue and TV funding for products.
The channel has no future unless it embraces this … let alone thinking about the shingle.
I would have to agree with Glenn totally.
GNS is a wholesaler, not a marketing body.
Our store has gone in the opposite direction to Glenn. Four years ago we had Officeworks open up nearby. Add to this the already competing BigW, Coles, Woolworths and The Reject Shop within our shopping Centre. In the years since Typo, Smiggle and Kikki K have popped up.
For two years we attempted to match what they were doing via continuing to support the GNS discount model and supporting school lists. It was a lot of work.
Unfortunately, sales disappeared. Both for BTS, and day-to-day stationery in general. Consumer shopping habbits had changed. And I blame this largely to the predictable GNS catalogue and the lack of new and exciting product from GNS. I also blame myself for the reliance on GNS I once had.
We remodelled the business. Stocked product we wanted, and priced it to what we thought we could sell it for. THe result was although we now sell much less BTS stock, we actually make more money!
GNS once upon a time was our number one supplier after publishers. It is now outside the top ten. If they had taken this approach several years ago, I would have been on board. But the horse has bolted for me, the business model has changed (we now do gifts), and i can no longer do BTS.
Shingle-where do we get that word from to describe ourselves
If GNS ran the promotions for BTS properly with the best pricing and delivery service the commercial success would follow to enable supplier support for getting on TV. The commercial reality is that if GNS are at the top of their game they will get newsagent and supplier support alike.
I have an order that has been “in the queue” at GNS for a week and a half whilst it moves through the system – at the busiest time of the year. I understand GNS are busy, but so are we and we put on extra staff specifically for the event to manage our customers requirements. I ordered some goods from North Dakota in the USA and I had them in 72 hours!
It is a 2-way street. The channel will embrace our industry supplier if they have the best price and service, and if they can do this then the rest will follow. I wholeheartedly support the flyer concept for those that can use them, but these should not be linked to pricing.
The flyers and better pricing go hand in hand. Those of us supporting the flyers are flying the flag against the Majors and our agreement to sell at the catalogue prices is what warrants the discount buying prices we receive. If you are buying at the catalogue prices but not supporting the catalogue the this is an abuse of the promotion. If you are able to sell thousands of an item at full retail that is great and you don’t need the discount prices that are and should only be available to those of us who support the promotion. This promotion along with the TV advertising is to show the public that we can and do compete with Office Works, Big-W and co. and those selling at full price do so to the detriment of these promotions. The lack of cohesion and consistency this shows the public hurt our channel.
what warrants the better prices is the fact that at least a few thousand newsagents stick with GNS instead of going else where this alone should give them exceptional buying power . Brendon if you want all that do not do the flyers to pay full price i am sure they will go else where and you will be paying top dallar as well .
For our store it does not suit the business model anymore. For 20years the support was there for GNS, but they did not move with the times and adjust their business model accordingly.
I would ask of those knocking people not participating in the GNS pricing how many of those people buy Ink from GNS and not direct from Tonnex or Dynamic Supplies?
Not a good comparison Amanda as Tonnex, Dynamic and others were offering ink before GNS got into this space.
Brendan,
To say someone who buys at discounted prices and does not retail at catalogue prices is abusing the promotion is crazy. I too am flying the flag against the majors, but I know I do not need to do it at ridiculously low margins with a flyer. In my centre I have 4 majors, all doing BTS. Within 3kms of my centre I have Officeworks, Office National, Jacksons and several other smaller BTS focused retailers. My BTS outpost is 50 metres from the front door of Big W and 30 metres from Woolworths.
Retail price is not the primary motivator for winning the business nor the sole factor in competing with Big W etc. Service and product knowledge gets it 9 times out of 10, and that has a very real dollar value associated to it for suppliers and manufacturers, every bit as much as doing a flyer. I know I am more expensive than Big W and so do my customers, but they cannot sit down and have a coffee and get the kids lunch or new shoes whilst Big W sorts out their school supplies and helps them through the process. I do not discount our specialist knowledge and high service level.
To suggest that someone who can sell thousands of an item at full retail can afford to not get special pricing is insane. Why should someone who sells a lot of an item have to prop up special prices for those that cant? That statement defies all business logic I am used to.
If I have to pay a premium to GNS simply because I do not have flyers, my business will go elsewhere. If too many newsagents do the same your buying power and market influence is significantly diluted.
A great effort by GNS – much improved over previous years. Any promotion of NEWSAGENCY to the public is a plus I think. But why so many lines? Why not a smaller catalogue of say 15 key lines that are very very competitively priced and let the individual newsagent sort out the rest.
great to see by GNS, however we do need to watch our margins, sometimes GNS goes a bit too far, xmas toys for example, and we may be super competative, but not make any money. Our service and expertise must have a premium attached to it.
I support GNS promos, but sometimes wince a bit when i see how slim the margins are
the best part of the ad for me was it is good to see the marketing groups working together for a change instead of all pulling in different directions. To see the groups put thier branding together at the end of the advert was great as it shows that we might finally have gotten the point of having a central statonery supplier capable of offering a uniform promotion accross all groups.
Luke, GNS included the groups without reference to the groups.
Are you saying it is a bad thing Mark?
No I don’t think I said that in my comment Luke.
It was a question Mark, I thought it was great that the groups got together to promote one of the biggest seasons for newsagents but you were quick to point out that the groups were not asked. Again it is great that we are showing a unified front on a major promotion, or it was a major promotion.
im with you Luke great to see it promoted as a unified front.Who cares if the groups were not asked.Lets promote newsagencies not particular groups
So many whingers and so many experts and yet so many poor retailers. This thread is sad because it is public.
Reading through this post over the last few days gives me mixed feelings of both hope and dread based on some of the content. I thank you all for your feedback on our business but also struggle to understand some of your opinions. Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion yet some of these are largely not fact based which concerns me even more….
Therefore some points of clarification if I may:
1. Any marketing or franchise group who participated in the promotion was given the opportunity to be tagged in the TVC. Only one group approached declined the offer. All groups were fully aware of the tagging. We had to obtain permission to use their respective logos as part of the process.
2. No Newsagent would have had brochures sent to consumers unless they expressely participated in this program
3. None of this TV commercial including production and airtime was funded by GNS suppliers. It was funded totally by GNS with the intent to dispel the largely held public opionion that Newsagents are expensive. The investment into this campaign alone was over $330,000 and I sincerely hope it works.
4. The pricing on some items is purposely intended to attempt to compete with the big box retailers. Newsagents complain that you cannot compete and yet when we try to position product in order to do so that doesn’t work for you either….
5. Clearly this is not as I have said before a “One Size fits all solution” I understand this and we will review our offers for future campaigns.
6. Yes, we are a wholesaler yet if we don’t take a level of responsibility to create demand for YOUR business I sincerely doubt we would still be trading today.
7. We are working very hard to provide new and improved products, marketing campaigns to set us apart from what we have done in the past and with what our mutual competitors do today with much bigger budgets and much bigger returns.
8. We are not the competition yet so many of you see that we are. We are only seeking ways to make our customers more profitable and drive consumer behaviour to increase your business. If this works we both should win.
9. We are meeting early next month to revise our BTS and other programs to improve our offers and hopefully give solutions that are relevant to your businesses. Stay tuned….and lastly…
10. I offer now as I have in the past if anyone would like to discuss any of these issues with me or anyone in the GNS team please do so.
I think GNS have done a great job this year. I personally think they are heading in the right direction. Us newsagents should be supporting our major supplier. The one thing i think we should be whinging about is OFFICESMART ! now they need some serious work. The officesmart quarterly catalogue is a disgrace, same products year in year out with the exception of maybe 5 items, oh, and how about the catalogue promoting coffee and milo ?
Good onya Alex Stewart. I have some complaints regards GNS but they are less than they were and I look forward to the improvements as you move forward. Rome wasnt built in a day.
murray
no issue with coffee and milo, its part of the office supplies market we should be chasing, i also like the addition of the cleaning products for the same reason. dont have to carry it on hand as most business customers expect to place an order and pick it up (or have it delivered) a few days later