Caravan & Motorhomes magazines from EMG increased sales in the latest audit to December 2011 by 15.91% … no thanks to newsagents. yes, many of us early returned this title despite the publisher delivering to us bonus commission. The publisher sought to engage with us on valuable commercial terms and we flipped them the bird and disrespected the title.
Supermarkets grew sales of Caravan & Motorhomes more than newsagents. I discussed this with the publisher yesterday and while they are frustrated at the early return behaviour of some newsagents, they will continue to support the channel.
Check out how you have been treating Caravan & Motorhomes. Is it in prime position with your caravan titles? Have you been early returning? The audit results tell you that you can achieve growth. The question if this us a sure thing, why not embrace it?
what works for some does not work for all . I have sold 3 in 12 months it is not a seller for me . There are way to many caravan mags out .Others do sell but not this one
We received more stock than normal when they did the increased commission trial and we early returned the additional stock only as this was an oversupply of the titles. We rang EMG to tell them this and they had us email them with the qty that we require. We support any trial but not the continued oversupply of magazines as suppliers have our sales data.
Cannot give this title away even with prime position for the first few weeks.
I cannot afford to give up real estate for a niche title when I could give it to a better seller.
We did not early return but will in the future if I get oversupplied again.
It’s all well and good to say supermarkets have increased sales but it is an increase off a low base.
Come on Mark are we to give up prime real estate to promote tiltes that sell say 2-3 copies per month, or WD,NI or TV week that sell a few 100 per week, I’m sure coles did not move Fresh to put up this title?
It’s part of a strong representation of caravan titles and is helping is drive double digit growth in this space.
Happy to support EMG in their current program but we are not magicians, we have a finite number of pockets & a finite budget for stock. Some things EMG can do to help their own cause:
1. Stop bagging stock & trying to sell product using dvd’s & bonus (old) mags.
2. Produce quality publications & distribute them in a form that allows our customers to browse & make buying decisions based on content.
With these changes we will be able to hold more mags per pocket & be less inclined to early return. Magazines will also stand or fall based on their quality.
James there was a time I would have agreed with you. I have been to the EMG facility and met with their Chairman and Circulation Director. I have also seen the sales data for the bagged issues and DVD issues. These strategies work. It’s why I have agreed to take stock of every EMG title for three months and to then assess. We are two months in and sales are up.
I see in the latest newsletter from network that EMG is going to stop using back issues in the bags, and instead offer other titles? It will be interesting to see what they do. At least they are trying.