Waterstones, the High Street UK bookshop chain, has launched an initiative to encourage budding writers who want their short stories published. Given the breadth of product catgeories covered by newsagencies, we could launch similar competitions for people to:
- Design greeting cards.
- Write for a magazine.
- Invent new stationery items.
- Design new gift wrap.
- Write Australia’s best letter.
- Find the best use for recycling newspapers.
The Waterstones competition is good because it focuses on their core product category of books and connects with a popular aspiration. Newsagents could take a similar approach with a competition and drive media attention on categories primarily linked to us. It is the kind of feel good story which could get a run on the right day.
If I had to choose one idea, it would be design a card. It works on a number of levels and given that we own around 50% of that market, such a promotion would serve us well.
I would love to see a promotion along the lines of a write a story for a magazine. Lets chat to Mew Idea/Womans Day et al and get them on board and lets get a real story about real people. It would connect us back to our customers and drive magazines back to where they are rooted, in the living rooms of Australia. (I was going to write working families then and had to correct myself – amazing how the spin doctors get into your head)