Primped is the latest Australian title to launch in the Australian beauty market. But you will not see this new title in newsagencies. In fact, you will not see Primped in any retail outlet. It is an online site and it is free. It is from Michael Hannan’s Independent Digital Media. Hannan owned federal Publishing before that was sold to News Limited last year.
What is happening here with Primped and hundreds of other online titles is real. It will impact on our businesses. Newsagents and some association Directors can continue to ignore this (to our peril) or we can sieze the opportunity and chase a bright future. It all comes down to how we react to change. Now is the time for us to invest in our businesses, individually and collectively.
Mark, I’ve been trying to decide whether this means (for us, anyway) moving away from the traditional newsagency focus or creating a new newsagency channel. What is your opinion on the future of the newsagency channel – should we be bringing it into the future or reducing the news focus to accommodate other products in our stores?