Author: Mark Fletcher

We have created a power-end display to promote Annette Sym’s Symply Too Good To Be True range at Forest Hill. Our goal is to drive sales of multiple books in each purchase. The display is directly in front of our cookbooks and health section – meaning it should connect with browsers. We picked up the marketing collateral at the newsXpress conference last week.

For newsagents new to Annette’s range, newsagents are the exclusive retailer and the books are available through Network Services.

Zoo Weekly is a feature magazine with the ACP Connections program this week.  Based on our past experience at Forest Hill, we have gone for a promotional display next to our main newspaper stand.  This leads to a better sales lift than a power end display – especially since we are chasing the irregular Zoo consumer who is probably visiting to purchase a newspaper.  Also, we have had complaints from some of our older customers when we display Zoo on a power end.

Healthy Food magazine comes with a sample bag worth $10.00 which we are featuring at the counter of our newsagencies. There is no point in making this display too pretty as it is all about the bag and magazine. If the bag works like last year we will be out in a couple of days.

We found another space this morning for featuring a magazine we want to push.  We took an old acrylic display unit, freshened it up and have the display for Money from ACP Magazines you can see in the photo.  We will feature a different title each week.  We will select titles based on their suitability as an impulse item – something someone can see at the counter and say – I’ll take one of these too.  Money works this week because of the economic situation and the world banking news.  Next week it might be a sports magazine connected with football finals.  The keys are: topical; known brand; good value; easy decision.

I know that other retailers are paid a fee for locations such as this.  I am not them.  I’d rather have control over how I use this space as this enables me to best serve the needs of my customers.

We have created a display at our sales counter for Better Homes and Gardens this weekend to support the launch of the new Saturday morning radio show.  Thanks to this new radio initiative and the TV show on the Friday evening, Better Homes and Gardens generates excellent sales on the weekend.  A counter display, in our premium location, helps people to remember to buy the magazine when they have come in for a greeting card or a newspaper.  We also have BHG is its usual location with magazines as well as next to the weekly – for the first two weeks especially this co-location is essential to reaching full potential with this popular title.