There is a push in the UK to have the covers of lads magazines covered. However, as the Press Gazette reported a day ago, newsagents don’t want to foot the bill for the cover up. Fair enough too.
While I have had customers complain about covers of Zoo Weekly, they do have to stray away from more genteel titles before they are faced with the bulging girls.
Magazine publisher Morrison Media has launched a newsagent focus group and is seeking proactive newsagents to participate.
The publisher of frankie, Surfing Life, Slam Skateboatding and Rip Tide is keen to connect with newsagents and get their feedback. The focus group will be conducted via email – meaning no time out of your shop.
This is an excellent initiative. I urge newsagents to participate. Click here to sign up.
We placed the latest issue of Women’s Health & Fitness between New Idea and Woman’s Day earlier this week. It was not selling in its usual location and this current issue should given the free Carman’s breakfast bar which comes with the magazine.
I selected the space between the two popular weeklies on this co-location magazine unit which caps our magazine department in an effort to support the title. I also chose this location so that shoppers can see the value proposition with this issue of the magazine. We will give it this additional space allocation for a week.
The challenge for this issue, I think, is that shoppers cannot see the free breakfast bar. There is a card sticking out of the magazine promoting this but I doubt that shoppers read these cards when browsing a sea of colour and text in the usual newsagency magazine display. That said, I do not have a better option for showing off the free bar.
It is good to see the US Senate permitting the US Federal Reserve to move on credit card processing fees charged by the banks as reported by USA Today.
Newsagents and other small and independent retailers in Australia face an unfair EFTPOS processing regime thanks to the decision by EPAL, the organisation controlled by the major banks plus Coles and Woolworths. Newsagents need to engage to fight for a fairer playing field.
Click here for a copy of the briefing paper which the ANF has given permission to publish.
Click here for a copy of a letter developed by the ANF and which which you can personalise and send to your local member of parliament and senators for your state or territory.
Click here for a list of house of representatives members and here for a list of senators. With this information you can easily, call, email or write to your local parliamentarians and get them engaged on this issue.
The competition in magazine distribution being offered by Integrated Publishing Solutions, a Fairfax company, will be welcome by proactive newsagents and publishers with a model based on sold copies rather than distributed copies.
Giving newsagents the ability to control supply around some simple business rules is an excellent move on the part of IPS. It demonstrates a trust between IPS and newsagents. It also recognises the imperative that magazines need to sell to be viable in the newsagency channel.
If enough newsagents and publishers embrace the IPS model it could bring about valuable changes in other magazine distribution businesses. They will have no choice but to react commercially.
For too long, the excuse of early return has been used to appease newsagents who complain about oversupply. Early returning is no solution at all given the labour and freight cost as well as the waste.
By engaging the newsagent to set supply gives us the opportunity to make business decisions around magazine range and supply. I welcome this and look forward to IPS coming on stream with XchangeIT later this month and inviting more newsagents to establish direct supply accounts.
The new IPS model could be the best news for newsagents and magazine publishers in decades.
We have been promoting Diabetic Living, Cooking for Diabetes and Dealing With Diabetes with this display behind the counter at one of my newsagencies. Connecting the three diabetes related magazine titles is designed to drive sales, ideally of two or three of the titles in one sale.
I’d encourage newsagents to try promoting titles like this behind the counter. It works. I saw it myself at the weekend when a customer came to the counter with a greeting card and a newspaper. They purchased one of the diabetes related titles on impulse from the behind the counter display … nice incremental business, delivering a more valuable basket in this instance.
This type of display is easy to do. All it took was to bring the titles together and create something which is visually eye catching and at a good height to attract shopper attention at the counter.
I’d note that it is through displays such as this that newsagents can show off their point of difference. You will not see displays like this in supermarkets or convenience stores.
The My Kitchen Rules cookbook from Pacific Magazines has been a huge success for us, selling considerably more than the initial allocation and proving, once again, the power of the food category. The work we put in tactically with the title paid off in excellent impulse business.
We knew the title would be a hit and did everything possible to leverage it to the max.
Not all newsagents did this. I was talking with one newsagent who early returned the title. Their arguments were that they thought it would not sell and that space was tight. I was shocked to hear this. The TV show was a runaway success. The cookbook launch was promoted heaving during the show. The only space needed was a simple stand next to newspapers. That’s why we did and it worked a treat.
Newsagents need to have a process in place for managing early returns. Yes, we need to early return some titles which are failing or which have been oversupplied. But beore you do this, check your data. Don’t cut yourself out of business and it is only your bank balance which suffers.
One way to better manage early returns is to consider the publisher. Some publishers publish better titles than others. Some operate a model based on sales while others operate based on copies distributed. Get to know the difference.
The new Apps from Fairfax for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are better than the News Limited Apps, much better in my view. Indeed, I rate it as the best Australian newspaper App at the moment.
I like the navigation. I also like the attention to photos and video (although there could be more of this) – this is a great way to show off the difference between the iPad platform and print. I had scanned the print edition yesterday before looking at the App and there is no doubt that the App was more enjoyable because of more consistent production quality.
The technology bells and whistles aside, the future of any news App will come down to the value perceived by the consumer. If Fairfax produces content which reports without fear of favour, which does not try and run political agendas itself (like Fairfax is currently doing with Vic. Police matters) and which leverages the flexibility and immediacy of the digital platform then I am far more likely to be drawn to it over print and over any App from a publisher not ticking these boxes.
I still rate the App from APN for The New Zealand Herald as my favorite newspaper App but The Age App is a close second.
I’d encourage all newsagents with an iPad to download the currently free App and play, check out the competition.
Will I pay for a subscription? Hmm, too early to say. However, I’d note that I do not currently pay for any newspaper or magazine Apps as I am not using my iPad for this type of content. The only content I am purchasing is music and books.
On the Apps more generally, I wish they would use digital media to grow their audience than using the already challenged print medium.
We are promoting both covers of the latest issue of Slam Skateboarding magazine with next to each other pockets. The goal is to draw more attention to the title.
Slam Skateboarding is more than another skater magazine. Giving this title prominence demonstrates a commitment to the skateboarding community, a community of which the magazine is an important and supportive part. There is further excellent information abut the title at the Morrison Media website.
We will continue to seek out Australian titles with good connections to their special interest community around which we can build a better connection to our community.
I am grateful to the colleague newsagent who suggested this approach to displaying the latest issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. By placing the back cover next to the front cover we have a display which is more compelling and a display which is attracting more browsers. It gives me a buzz when I see someone notice the display from across the mall and walk across to browse the title. Getting a shopper to change their route is a core goal of any display, especially one out the front of a retail business, facing into the mall.
On this issue of AWW itself, it is traveling well. A Royal Wedding related cover was going to be a challenge given the rapid decline in interest among shoppers. The quite different look for AWW is helping position it away from the event itself to browsers.
We are promoting the latest issue of Prevention magazine with this aisle end display facing onto our dance floor.
The larger format magazine, now regular size, is helping Prevention achieve better placement in-store based on what I have seen in my travels.
In addition to this aisle-end display, we have Prevention located in its usual location with women’s health related titles. Once this feature display comes down, we will co-locate the title, probably with weeklies for a week or two.
Apple’s new iIOS 5 operating system includes a new newsstand feature which: organizes your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in Newsstand: a folder that lets you access your favorite publications quickly and easily. Click on the image for more details on what you are going to be able to do on your iPad and iPhone.
While Apple has come late to the newsstand space, it’s here now and on a mission, just as it was six years ago on the iPod device platform.
Newsagency franchise group Supanews has submitted a bid with the Administrator of REDgroup Retail (Borders, Angus & Robertson and Calendar Club) to purchase the Angus & Robertson franchise
network and related Angus & Robertson assets including corporate A&R stores, website and intellectual property.
Supanews has written to A&R franchisees to inform them of the move and note that they would not move on the offer unless at least 40 A&R franchisee stores agree to transfer to the new network.
My understanding is that the proposal is contingent on Supanews buying back the share of Supanews which is currently owned by REDgroup Retail.
While newsagents would benefit from the ultimate collapse of Angus & Robertson, I’d note that a takeover by Supanews makes sense for both A&R and Supanews. They have been kind of corporate colleagues for some time. They are also both full franchise operations.
The letter sent to A&R franchisees yesterday is inviting in the financial and other terms it indicates would be on offer should the proposal to the administrator be successful.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Given the announcements last week from REDgroup Retail administrators, there is not much time to cut a deal.
We are promoting the latest issue of Australian T3 magazine with this tactical counter impulse purchase display. It is a simple display designed to be seen by newspaper purchasers – it is located where all newspaper shoppers in our store will see the title.
Australian T3 is the a terrific gadget magazine, appealing to fans of smartphones, TVs, Blu-rays, music, apps, computers and games. We figued that promoting the title was a good way to connect with these popular products which are purchased outside the newsagency space.
We know from retail sales data that gadgets are popular with consumers. Canon Digital Lifestyle Index tells that Australian consumers spent $6.8 million on gadgets in 2010. This suggests that a gadget magazine in the right location should sell well. Hence our placement at a high impact impulse purchase location.
I encourage newsagents to dig out the new issue of Australian T3 (on sale yesterday) and place it in a good location.
We have Miley Cyrus Forever on display at the counter, between two register positions, in the location from which we sold a ton of the Justin Bieber magazines.
From Pacific Magazines, the same publisher as for the successful Bieber title an timed to coincide with Miley Cyrus tour fever, this title should go off like a rocket.
In addition to this prime counter impulse purchase location, we also have the title with Girlfriend and Dolly, the destination location for what we think would be a Miley Cyrus interest shopper.
The counter location is designed to drive sales to parents and young girls with their parents. The co-location is all about the destination shopper.
We are promoting the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine at the counter. We have Bob Dylan fans who would not venture down to the music maagazine section but who might just treat themselves to a impulse purchase – hence this counter placement. We deliberately have it next to one of our EFTPOS terminals so that shoppers can;t miss the opportunity.
newsXpress has announced the first ever year-long commitment by a newsagency marketing group to television advertising. More than 4,000 commercials will run in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth exclusively promoting newsXpress newsagencies. Click here for more details at the newsXpress blog.
At newsagency industry events and in meetings when questioned by newsagents and newsagent representatives, newspaper publisher representatives say that the iPad and similar devices represent a new channel through which they can drive incremental business. They say that print is here to stay and that this is why they need newsagents as their distribution partners.
I can understand why publishers say this. The last thing they want is a revolt in the low cost and reliable distribution channel run by newsagents. They need this channel for at least some years yet, maybe longer for who really knows how the mobile device and sexy newspaper app marketplace will play out. We are in a game without knowing how far in, certainly not far enough to predict where it will turn.
What is frustrating is the disconnect which appears sometimes between what newspaper publishers say and what they do.
Imagine how newsagents felt yesterday when they say the wraparound covering The Sunday Age lauding the arrival of the iPad App for The Age. I am guessing The Sun Herald from Fairfax in Sydney ran a similar promotion.
The pitch was simple.
The iPad edition brings Melbourne’s best journalism to your fingertips. Doesn’t the print edition do that too?
The Age on the iPad is RICHER, DEEPER, MORE INFORMED. Yes, I can see that. Is the implication to the print reader – migrate?
Then there is this: Combining the convenience of digital with the in-depth features and analysis of print, the Age iPad App offers a reading experience that’s second to none. Ok, better than print but built using the print writers I have come to trust. The message remains – migrate.
I was left wondering how long the headline of Enjoy the best of both worlds will apply.
The approach being taken by Fairfax makes sense. They need to leverage their regular print to drive traffic of the iPad App. They need to do this and risk losing print readers. It makes sense. Except that they have continually told newsagents that it is business as usual, digital platforms will not affect print and yes please continue to invest in your distribution businesses.
Life is not that simple for newspaper publishers. None us know where this will end up. Given this, publishers ought to stop telling newsagents that it will be business as usual. They ought to let their investment in digital platforms and their promotion of these on the pages of their print product speak for itself.
Based on calls and emails I have received, newsagents are angry at what to them appears to be a sacrifice of the print product in favour of print with the wraparound for The Sunday Age yesterday. News Limited is not much better.
Newsagents need to look carefully at their businesses and consider thoroughly every investment. Now is the time to carefully and thoughtfully diversify, to bring on new traffic generating categories and to connect with your local community in a new and long-term focused way.
There are excellent opportunities for newsagents – restrictions from some of our suppliers notwithstanding.
I am not concerned or surprised about moves like the Fairfax iPad Apps. I am concerned, however, that many newsagents do not see the changes happening around them.
Folio has reported that Us newsstand magazine sales (revenue not units) are down 6% for the first quarter of 2011 based on data gathered by MagNet. This is no indicator for Australia because of the significant difference between channels (retail and subscription) between the two countries. Nevertheless, the numbers are worth knowing – especially the categories which grew and those which declined:
Celebrity titles, however, dropped 8.5 percent in share of market, per MagNet. Gainers include Food/Wine (3 percent), Home (8 percent) and Home/Garden (3 percent).
The same categories are performing in a similar way here.
We are promoting the new ACP cookbook – Cooking with Diabetics – in several locations including on an impulse purchase stand at the entrance to the aisle with food magazines.
We are taking the same approach with this title which worked so well for the Little Squares and Slices cookbook … we quickly sold out of our initial allocation.
Where many newsagents leave the ACP cookbooks in their usual location, we hunt customers down with a campaign of perpetual movement of co-location displays while retaining a strong permanent position next to food magazines.
I was thrilled to be among 120 attendees at the The Tasmanian Newsagent Industry Awards for Excellence 2011 last night at Wrest Point in Hobart. Besides the recognition for nominees and winners for the Awards, the night itself was a hoot. This was a room full of people who genuinely enjoyed each others company.
Often at award events the room empties not long after the formalities end. Not last night. People were talking and having fun long after the night was over. Like I said, it was a hoot, a terrific night. The ANF ought to be proud for putting on such a good night. It was good to be among Tasmanian newsagents and suppliers enjoying socialising together.
The winners are: Distribution Newsagent of the Year: Beach Newsagency, Retail Newsagent of the Year: Longford Newsagency. New Technologies Award: The Mall Newsagency Devonport. Employee of the Year: Heather Tew of New Town Newsagency. Promotion of the Year: Longford Newsagency. Industry Representative of the Year: Tim Sloan of Tattersall’s. Best Performing Western Union Location Award: Glenorchy Central Newsagency.
Nick Sherry, the Minister for Small Business delivered a short speech calling for us to embrace change and to prepare for more business moving online. he also mixed with plenty of newsagents.
I was there representing my software company, Tower Systems, a Platinum sponsor.
More copies of the current issue of frankie magazine are available from Gordon and Gotch. I’d urge newsagents who have sold out to request more stock. We have for one of my stores. With two more weeks of the on-sale we are bound to sell more copies of the current issue. The publisher has made sure that previous sell outs are be avoided by allocating more floor stock at the warehouse – for newsagent reorders. remember, this magazine achieved a 35% increase in sales in the December audit.
We have been running a Toy Sale at the front of the newsagency for the last week. It has done a terrific job attracting shoppers in from the mall … generating good sales from the sale and from other departments – cards, magazines and stationery.
We don’t have a shop window as such – these displays we create facing into the mall are our window. We obsess about creating displays designed to pull in people who are walking past the shop. We go for displays which position us outside the mainstream newsagency display because we don’t want people shopping with us with their expectations of what a newsagency would offer.
Click here to see the display which has been running alongside the Toy Sale display.
As for the Toy Sale itself. We purchased well known brand toys at excellent prices. Our margin is healthy even though we are selling the toys at below their usual retail price. The display is a mixture of amazing deal prices and higher. We are following the pricing approach of the majors.
Notice the placement in relation to cards. People can pick up a gift and a card in less time than it would take to shop in a major … and they can see that the pricing is competitive.
The masthead of The Age newspaper today is again, unfortunately, partially covered by a post-it note type ad. This advertisement for Skinny Cow and Woolworths is more important to Fairfax than promoting their exclusive investigation about Patriots & Traitors.
The newspaper has invested in fresh and original content and then takes money to cover the promotion of this on page one.
Sometime in the future, marketing experts will look at this type of behaviour and its role in the newspaper brand.
Related – I am told that The Sydney Morning Herald today has a folded corner as part of a promotion and that this is confusing shoppers – they are looking for an undamaged copy.
Newsagents are more likely than other businesses to review employee hours to keep wages within budget in response to the wage rise announced by Fair Work Australia yesterday..
The Fair Work Australia decision assumes that businesses have the levers with which to respond to increased costs.
Newsagents do not.
Think about it:
I do not begrudge employees fair pay for their labour. However, such increases must come within a framework which enables the employer to respond in a proactive way.
Yesterday’s decision reinforces the need for newsagents to evolve their businesses so that they have more control over their businesses. This means more products selected by newsagents, products for which they can set their own sale price.
I do think that some newsagents will respond to the wage decision by cutting hours from the roster. No one wins from that but I can understand the necessity of it.