I am concerned at what feels like a trend more magazines in Australia being given away as gifts and add-ons to the purchase of other items. Maybe it’s just me but it feels like I am seeing more single issues and mini free subscriptions being given with other purchases.

Publishers I speak with say they do this to get their title sampled by people bot currently purchasing the title. While this may be the case, I’d prefer to facilitate the sampling through a retail network that supports and benefits from the sale of magazines.

Publishers need to value their titles more. Give fewer copies away. Discount subscriptions less. Sell them through fewer retailers. Publishers of good content will find that shoppers seek them out. Magazines with less valued content will need to give copies away, discount subscriptions more and have them placed in more retail outlets.

I don’t want to see Australia go the way of the US where heavily discounted subscriptions and product tie-in deal account for a sizeable portion of circulation.

Some giveaways don’t make sense. This is particularly the case in the US. It cheapens the magazines.  I purchased a couple of tickets to a broadway show on Saturday and immediately after my credit card was processed, a screen popped up advising that I could select three titles and for each I would receive a three month trial subscription.

I have been contacted by several newsagents about the Street Machine Mystery Triple Pack – received from Bauer this week. Between them, they were unhappy that it is thick – more expensive to display, discounted – challenging the premium magazine offer and a mystery – likely to lead to being opened in-store.

This is the kind of package Bauer should ask newsagents if they want to carry it. It’s our retail space, our labour and our money for the stock at risk.  This mystery pack is outside the usual and therefore should be approached differently.

The Bauer (Network) accounts department has a reputation for being the toughest and rudest in the newsagency channel. I’d agree with that. Often, despite having a security bond covering debt, they chase newsagents aggressively – hurting people who felt helpless in controlling magazine supply.  It is unfair, in my view, that they do not provide newsagents with reasonable mechanisms with which to better manage our level of indebtedness, better controls for stopping a title like Street Machine Mystery Triple Pack before it is sent to us.

Several publishers have had out of the ordinary packs, titles and offers over the last few months that they have put to newsagents on an opt-in basis. This is what I prefer for such opportunities.

To the Bauer folks saying that I have a vendetta against them, I don’t. I had no control over the allocation of this title to newsagents. This post has been written on behalf of newsagents who wanted the issue aired.

Bauer announced yesterday that it would close Madison magazine. This is not unexpected because of the performance of the title. Nor is it unexpected in terms of Bauer cleaning the ACP house. I expect that once they are done shutting and adjusting titles we will start reading about launches.

I hope that Bauer treats newsagents reasonably with Madison supply in the lead up to closure.  I.E. not like Grazia.

I’ve been talking with three publisher representatives over the last few days about counter promotions. In each case, the titles were not high volume with sales per store expected to be below 10 and often closer to 5. In each case I’ve declined the opportunity. 25% margin for a low volume title doesn’t cut it for newsagencies in shopping centres and other high-rent locations.

Magazine publishers used to ‘buy’ counter space by giving us a professional perspex unit for displaying their title. Newsagents took such units because they looked good.

Today, the world, our newsagency world, is different. We have access to counter products more than double the GP of magazines.  Magazines have to compete with higher margin products for counter space. Publishers need to understand this.

messenger COLLECTIVE launched earlier this month and from what I have seen newsagents are treating it as a fashion title. Despite the cover shot, this is anything but a fashion title. It’s a magazine with stories about business, about entrepreneurs.

I’d encourage newsagents to check where they have the title. If it’s with fashion, as it was where I took the photo, consider co-locating with business and inserting a book mark: this is not a fashion magazine.

messenger COLLECTIVE defies categorisation. It is worth taking the time to read it. from this you’ll better understand how to pitch it to your shoppers.