Author: Mark Fletcher

We are promoting The Essential Guide to iPad with the full cover of the magazine on show thanks to our ideal front pocket placement. We wanted to make the most of the opportunity of the free iPad cover which comes with this issue. We have been able to place the title so that the promo header does not cover the title behind too much.

Newsagents are struggling to connect commercially with the iPad user. This title and other iPad titles provide us with an opportunity of some sort of connection at least. I think this is the type of title we need to promote.

We are promoting the latest issue of New Idea magazine which is packaged with free Pantene shampoo and conditioner in several places in-store including this prime counter position.  While the package is a challenge to display, we have made it work to leverage the opportunity for maximum sales … and sell it has!  This counter location works the best because of the sep shelving we have in this position.

Unlike supermarkets where magazines are whacked into a pocket, we have thought about how to treat not only New Idea but other titles with gifts so that we can maximise sales and respect the product.

I was in a Woolworths supermarket yesterday and a Coles this morning and could not see the Whitney Houston Woman’s Day tribute issue which came out Friday.  After some searching I found it (in each store), leaning forward in such a way as to completely obscure the cover.  This issue comes with a free gift of a make up stick of some sort.  The gift made the top of the magazine more than twice the thickness of the lower part. When the title has been placed in the pocket no one had thought to do it in such a way as to allow the cover to be seen.  While I will never know, I suspect that this will hurt sales – in this supermarket at least.

Supermarkets don’t like to have to manage magazines. They want to be able to put out all the stock they receive and leave it there for the on-sale.  In our newsagency if we received this stock we would put less in the pockets and ensure that the full cover could be seen. We would then top up the pocket as the week goes. I suspect that this is what m oct newsagents would do.

In the supermarket they see a magazine as a SKU. They expect the supplier to care about merchandising and replenishment of the shelves. This is where our channel is different. I wish that all of our suppliers would take more note of this. Newsagents would have derived more value from this gift than the supermarket I visited yesterday.

As for the gift itself, I don’t begrudge ACP placing it on supermarket product and not ours. Newsagents get gifts with Woman’s Day when supermarkets do not.

We are giving the latest copy of Australian Healthy Food Guide some time in the sunshine with this prime positioning in among our food titles.  Being a low volume and physically small title it is easy to overlook. I wanted to get it out front to show our food title shoppers that we cater to healthy eating as well as more indulgent eating.  This is one of those titles which could easily fit in two sections of the magazine department: food and health & fitness. We give it a shot in both even though they are located in the same aisle. I am hopeful that this issue of Australian Healthy Food Guide will work particularly well because of the words weight loss on the cover. They can be magic for sales.

We are promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine from Pacific Magazines with this high profile display in among our sports titles. We are also giving the magazine a run next to newspapers this week to attract impulse purchases as it is the type of title which is easily picked up and purchased off location.  This type of additional promotion an be done right through the on-sale as Men’s Health, for us at least, sells right through.

Here is how another of my newsagencies is promoting the range of Whitney Houston related cover stories. This display is located behind the counter.  It’s support Who, Woman’s Day and OK!.  This behind the counter support is in addition to displays with newspapers and in-location for each of the magazine titles.

I could be wrong but I suspect that interest in Whitney will pass quickly given today’s news cycle. That’s why promotion this weekend is vital … it’s the biggest opportunity we have with the story.

One of my newsagencies is promoting the Woman’s Day Whitney Houston tribute issue on the column at the front of the newsagency facing into the shopping mall.

I love the treatments like the stars included to draw attention to the display and reinforce the special nature of this issue of the magazine.

Going above and beyond for this special issue is a way we newsagents can own the opportunity and the moment. No supermarket would do this.

Sales on the first day have been good.

We are promoting the latest issue of frankie magazine with this display on a column seen by shapers as they enter the newsagency.  We are confident of selling out and are chasing more stock – but Gotch says they are out so we have gone to the publisher.

With this display, our in-location display and a growing pool of shoppers purchasing frankie we know we will sell out of stock.  I want to make sure that we have enough stock so we can reach our fullest potential. this is vital for us and for the title.

We are promoting the latest issue of Madison magazine with this high profile positioning.  We are not a Connections Emerald newsagency in this location and have only received limited collateral so we have gone for showing off the product benefit with the FREE summer tank gift and letting this speak for itself.

Everyone leaving our women’s magazine aisle faces this display.  We also have this issue of Madison in a waterfall disk;lay in its usual location.

Newsagents in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland (but not FNQ) have an opportunity tomorrow to drive incremental business with the special edition of Woman’s Day covering the passing this week of Whitney Houston.  We have prepared for the opportunity by deciding to place the special issue at the counter, next to newspapers as well as next to the current issue of Woman’s Day in our women’s weeklies section.

Who is out tomorrow nationally with a Whitney Houston feature as well. Friday is the usual on-sale for the title. We will have Who placed next to the Woman’s Day special at the counter and with newspapers as a Whitney fan is likely to purchase both titles.  Who is a strong seller for us and certainly a traffic generator on Friday and the weekend.

Special issues like what we will see tomorrow present newsagents with an opportunity to not only drive incremental sales but to also compete successfully with other retailers of magazines. Supermarkets, petrol outlets and convenience stores all operate off planograms. This limits how they can respond to special issues.  Our newsagency channel does not suffer from this rigidity. We can demonstrate the importance of our channel to suppliers through our actions tomorrow.

FOOTNOTE: Newsagents may need to check with their software company for handling the Woman’s Day special issue as the data will be out of cycle for the usual. Newsagents using newsagency software form my Tower Systems company were emailed advice early this morning.