The ANF has recently been pitching advertising in its yearbook, N-View to newsagent suppliers. The pitch includes:
The industry yearbook, N-View is an invaluable resource for the newsagency channel; distributed to newsagents, suppliers and new newsagents joining the industry. It is the who’s who and what’s what of the industry and includes best practice advice and practical information. This prestigious reference guide provides essential data and statistics in book form and online.
I don’t think N-View is invaluable to the channel any more. Newsagents and prospective newsagents are using other more up-to-date and transparent resources.
The respect for and influence of the ANF has faded. Leadership missteps by the Board, a revolving door of CEOs unable to guide the Board and a failure to faithfully serve newsagents has left the ANF less relevant than ever and, by association, its publications.
Newsagent suppliers are asked regularly by associations for financial support. This support needs to deliver measureable outcomes for it to be sustainable – it is newsagents who ultimately pay for the financial support privide to association projects such as N-View. Every $ given to an N-View ad or something similar is a $ less available to newsagents.
If I were able to influence the future of N-View, it would be to take N-View to an online only offer. I’d pitch to suppliers how much the ANF would invest of its own funds into the online model. I’d establish an independent editorial Board to ensure transparent editorial coverage of industry events and suppliers based on value and not what they pay. I’d create a website which is the go to resource for the channel, not because this is what I call it but because it is. This is the kind of leadership the ANF Board needs to deliver for N-View and other ANF publications to be relevant.