Media Factory and Network Services have some questions to answer following a review of The Essential iPhone Guide (3rd edition) published last year (on the left of the photo) and The Essential guide to iPhone (6th edition), published this year (on the right of the photo).
The content on twenty-nine pages of The Essential guide to iPhone appears to have been lifted from The Essential iPhone Guide. This is odd since the 2011 publication claims that its content is “fully updated for 2011”. I wonder what the ACCC or Fair Trading would make of this claim with such a large amount of old content. I am surprised that Network Services did not pick up on the recycled content.
Go to pages 92 and 93 of both titles and the content is so close to identical that it is not funny. The same on pages 94 and 95, 96 and 97 … on twenty-nine pages of this.
Besides duplicate content across the two titles, the content itself is, well, mediocre. It is what I would expect from an overseas content factory where you pay as little as US$7.50 for an original 500 word article. Certainly not essential or valuable content.
As I have written previously, Media Factory and Network Services have a track record of recirculating under-performing Media Factory titles to unsuspecting newsagents, sucking up cash and space, causing us to incur costs for freight (for returns) and to carry the risk of theft.
This looks to me like a never ending line of credit model with newsagents as the bankers. There is a constant recycling of cheap content, keeping a valuable chunk of newsagent cash flowing to Media Factory through Network Services. As I said, a never ending line of credit.
Network Services has legal and ethical obligations to newsagents. They control what we receive. Their decisions incur expenses which we cannot avoid. Their supply actions play a role in how we are perceived by shoppers. Personally, I don’t think that they should be distributing these titles.
These two Media Factory titles look to me like recycled cheap junk. Given the quality titles available in this same space, I do not see any merit for newsagents or consumers in the distribution of these titles.
Newsagents – go and check your shelves and see if you have these titles. I am not receiving them, thankfully. If I did, I would be returning them and requesting that Network cease supply of all Media Factory titles.
I knew as soon as i processed invoices and seen a “new title” that it would be rehashed junk…….straight into the returns box. Can we request that of network Mark? and if so with what sort of success rate?
Mark, i had a conversation this morning with a publisher that was very very interesting. I rang to tell them i have been having trouble ordering their Magazine for a customer and explained the troubles i was having with the distributor. The person was gobsmacked at the trouble we have had to go through and still with no result. This person was more than just interested with what i had to say but was very upset with how the distribution model is working. A bonus to come out of the conversation was that this person now thinks that Publishers and Newsagents need to have a better relationship with which to acheive the same outcomes…..i.e. sell more magazines. I got to thinking this morning that maybe when we are disgruntled with the distributors we go straight to the publisher and see if they can get things sorted, i think the person i spoke with will be doing just this.
Cheers
Al
P.S. before the knockers jump on this i provided my full details to the publisher to use if they want to….i have my facts sorted and am not trying to hide, if i get cruelled from MR Distributor for this then so be it.
Allan, try this request with Network and let us know how you go. Newsagents should be able to control their risk. sadly, when it comes to magazines, this is often not the case.
Th magazine i mentioned above turned up this morning…..we didnt even have to ring to try and order it again. Might have to ring publishers directly in the future….they certainly sorted G&G out for me.