I am fascinated by differences I am seeing in magazine titles supplied to the two newsagencies with which I am currently involved.
The differences in titles supplied to Forest Hill, in the east, compared to Watergardens, in the west, are considerable – more than expected.
While the Watergardens store is only a couple of weeks old it surprises me how prejudiced the magazine supply is. We have not requested any particular categories, leaving it to the magazine companies. They have gone with what I would call a typical western suburb mix and I suspect sales will become a self fulfilling prophecy as a result.
I am sure that the mix of titles is based on what the magazine companies sees as selling in our area – but I wonder if they have played outside the square to see what is possible. I think that demographics are less geographic today than, say, ten years ago. In eastern suburbs as in the west there is considerable social, economic and cultural diversity. Hence my concern about possible prejudiced or skewed data driving magazine supply to the new business.
In the card department we have gone for a broad range, covering every conceivable caption and grouping. This diversity shows a breadth of interest from our customers which the magazine companies would be well to research. In a month or two we will have better to share with our magazine partners to help them adjust their scale out to what is possible rather than what is average.