Author: Mark Fletcher

Sales of Take 5 and That’s Life dropped this audit by 7.10% and 6.22% respectively.  This is not ideal for newsagents given that these titles anchor our Wednesday traffic and magazine sales. We need to be actively engaged with publishers in helping to arrest the situation as the mid week traffic bump is vital not only to the sales of these titles but sales more generally in our newsagencies.

Of the titles themselves, I’d like to see them become more relevant to the target shopper. While I am no publisher I think this is done by way of content rather than giveaways and promotions.

Check out the report of Mumbrella for more on the performance of Take 5 and That’s Life and other weeklies. It’s vital reading for any newsagent who considers themselves to be a magazine specialist.

The sales of Zoo dropped 26.94% in the latest circulation audit to December 2011 while sales for People dropped 25.65% and Picture 23.76%. With the titillation offered by these titles so readily available online and through handheld devices, why pay? That’s what I am wondering at least. We we will continue to carry the titles, they are actually loss making when you look at the cost of retail real-estate and the labour required to manage them.

With a circulation of just 29,834, People must be the title under the most pressure.

While I am no publisher, it seems to me that the only upside for these titles is for them to offer something not available for free online. I’m not sure what that is but this must be the challenge for the titles to regain relevance.  Browser time is always an indicator of title success.  It was just a few years ago that our soft porn section would be busy on the weekend. This is no more. I suspect that the guys who stopped off for half an hour or so instead go find a quiet place for some time on their smart phone.

Frankie magazine continues its sales growth run with an increase of 13.87% in the latest audit results to December 2011.  As I have noted here several times, Frankie is enjoying tremendous sales success. This is a title newsagents could drive further.  It’s easy: give Frankie prime positioning, if you sell out order more, use it to attract younger girls … they will purchase other items.  Frankie offers newsagents a traditional win win – all it takes is a bit of work.

If we are the magazine specialists we see ourselves as we should act like it and be driving the sales growth of these successful titles like Frankie.  The thing is that we are not as much as the forefront of growth as we should be and that is a problem for the future of the newsagency channel.

Caravan & Motorhomes magazines from EMG increased sales in the latest audit to December 2011 by 15.91% … no thanks to newsagents.  yes, many of us early returned this title despite the publisher delivering to us bonus commission. The publisher sought to engage with us on valuable commercial terms and we flipped them the bird and disrespected the title.

Supermarkets grew sales of Caravan & Motorhomes more than newsagents.  I discussed this with the publisher yesterday and while they are frustrated at the early return behaviour of some newsagents, they will continue to support the channel.

Check out how you have been treating Caravan & Motorhomes.  Is it in prime position with your caravan titles? Have you been early returning?  The audit results tell you that you can achieve growth. The question if this us a sure thing, why not embrace it?

Sales of Game Informer magazine increased by 54.97% in the latest audit to December 2011.  That is a massive increase for what is for newsagents a special interest title.  This growing popularity, ahead of the pack of other growth titles, means that we need to take more notice of and care with Game Informer. Give it hero treatment and this will help us drive sales even more.

I see titles delivering excellent sales growth as low hanging fruit opportunities – they will be easier for us to grow sales in our stores.  So the success list is a target list for me.

Masterchef magazine lost 33.42% of its circulation in the audit to December 2011. This is the second biggest decline in the audit.  For a title connected to a successful TV franchise this is a dreadful result for the publisher.

As I have noted here previously, Masterchef has lost its way. It does not play to the TV show connection and, in my view, does not make itself appealing enough to be sought out from the excellent range of food titles we have in Australia.

The title will either be need to be dramatically overhauled.  Given the publisher’s marketing in 2011, I fear that the overhaul will come at the cost of newsagency sales.

Newsagents would not be surprised to hear that FHM magazine has dropped 50% of its sales. We have seen this in-store.  mUmBRELLA has the story.

This whole space continues to be a challenge.  My sense is that publishers are not offering a lad’s mag which caters to the Australian marketplace.

More broadly, the mUmBRELLA article includes this from Matt Stanton, CEO of ACP magazines:

“ACP is progressively offering new ways for readers to engage with our magazine brands.  We currently offer 36 digital editions of ACP magazines, and the growing number of people interacting with our mastheads on those applications and platforms is not yet reflected in circulation figures.

“Our digital distribution strategy will allow our readers to access our content when and where it suits them, enhancing their engagement and enjoyment of our magazines, attracting new readers and strengthening the brands themselves.”

It’s been a tough audit for a bunch of publishers.  I’ll pick on some more titles in the next few posts.

We are giving the latest issue of RUSSH high profile treatment with this prime position display among fashion titles.

We have ensured that the full cover of RUSSH can be seen as this is key in getting shoppers to browse a title like this.  Our goal is to maintain this half waterfall support for at least the next week.

Based on recent sales of RUSSH I have no doubt that is a sales growth opportunity for us and probably plenty of other newsagents. … how are you promoting the title.

We are promoting the latest issue of Weight Watchers magazine from Pacific magazines with this aisle end display at the cap of our women’s magazine aisle.

We also have a pocket of the title with our women’s weeklies titles as well as the usual location with women’s health related titles.

All this activity for the first week of the on sale pays off every time … sales of the title are growing above average for us.

We are promoting the latest issue of Motor magazine from ACP magazines with this aisle end display which points into our men’s magazine space … this is a space where guys have room to browse titles likely to interest them without interruption or jostling.

The aisle end displays here work a treat for us, delivering excellent sales – based on the inventory counting we do off the display. I mention this because the display is at the rear of the store and is often regarded by others as second class space. Given that this it is the guys space it is premium for the target customer.

Check out the placement of Melbourne Wedding & Bride which has worked so well for us that we had to get more stock in – the third delivery of stock of this title.

This placement of Melbourne Wedding & Bride along side our Valentine’s Day cards is working a treat … this makes sense really when you think about it.

I’m so thankful that we were able to get more stock as this is enabling us to see what we can really achieve for the title.

The latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine features on this display facing shoppers as they head toward our sales counter.  While we have the title featuring in among our fashion magazines, this display provides a second look at Cosmo to shoppers either leaving or heading to the counter with their purchase. This display will run for a week as demand on the space is high.

We are promoting the latest issue of Prevention magazine from Pacific Magazines at the entrance to our women’s magazine aisle, the busiest magazine aisle we have.

This display and the strong in-location display are certain to deliver excellent sales.  We are backing ourselves by ordering extra stock now so we don’t sell out early in the on-sale. we don’t usually make this call so early but this issue looks particularly appealing.

We are promoting the just released season opening 2012 AFL Record with this aisle end display facing onto the dance floor and toward the front of the newsagency.  We also have a stack with newspapers.

I think we have around 10 days to maximise the opportunity with the AFL Record – hence our two high-traffic location placements.

Our goal is to increase sales on last year by more than 10%.  I think it is important for us to set sales targets for special titles such as this … it gives us all something to word toward.