Thanks to the folks at Network Services, we have been provided some excellent collateral to enable us to promote the new Mindfood magazine. This is the type of material I was referring to when I first blogged about Mindfood.
Since this is a title which could work in several locations, we have decided to go hard at our Frankston newsagency and promote the title at our main newspaper display. Watching customers approach the display shows it’s working in that the title is noticed. Every so often someone picks up a copy. We also used the newspaper location because every other magazine feature space was taken with another title being pushed.
Promoting new titles from independent or small publishers is a challenge. For newsagents to draw attention to the title we need help. That’s where collateral like posters and cover run-one are essential.
We have developed a one page strategy for new titles, regardless of whether sufficient collateral material is provided. The strategy does considerably more than placing the title on the shelf where the publisher or distributor requests. it engages us as retailers in a number of ways to get the most from the title. It also has some KPIs which, if not passed, lead to a decision to remove the title.