In a galling extension of the News Corp support of supermarkets over small business newsagents, News in NSW has emailed requiring they engage in a Woolworths marketing campaign:
On Thursday 29 October, 2015 The Daily Telegraph will give readers the chance to collect a Free Woolworths Tote bag. The Tote bag is free with purchase of The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 October.
Most Woolworths stores have also be allocated stock of bags. Where you currently deliver The Daily Telegraph to a Woolworths store you will be required to deliver the Woolworths Tote bags to these stores with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday 29 October.
Newsagents will be paid a distribution fee of $0.20 (inc GST) per bag. This fee is payable for both Newsagent and Woolworths stock.
20 cents is not enough for this. The compensation needs to be more than 50 cents. That aside, requiring small business newsagents to support Woolworths is an offensive impost on newsagents in my view. Here is part of what one newsagent emailed me today:
I have emailed my News Ltd rep and have let him know that there is no way I am promoting Woolworths actively in my shop.
If News was true to what it publishers it would support small business newsagents more.
Can newsagents refuse to engage in the campaign? News would say no to this. While I do not have a News contract in front of me, I expect a case could be made about the fairness of supporting a major competitor. It is a question those representing newsagents should have been on the front foot on days ago.
There is no Woolworths in this small town….
So News want us to promote retail leakage to nearby larger towns? I don’t think so.
Now if they’d promoted Foodworks…
i will use it for throwing rubbish
Same in Qld – its a real insult to Newsagents..
Mark I put a comment on one of you other blogs, but this is nothing but a complete abuse of the Newsagency channel by News Limited.
Do News really care about Newsagents or have they decided their future is with the big supermarkets?
After the complete disaster of the current DVD promo where we undersupplied ( as where other agents around me) I wonder why we even do these promos.
I for one will be telling our Rep that we are seriously thinking about not participating in future proomtions from News and she can take the Tote bags and shove them up Ruperts jumper where the sun does not shine.
How does News Ltd think that Newsagents would be willing to hand out Woolworths bags in store? I hope every newsagent responds to this by contacting their rep from News Ltd and rejecting the promotion. There is no obligation to be part of a promotion that will benefit a direct competitor. 20c or even 50c is never enough to hand out Woolworths bags as the mentality of the promotion is to breed loyalty.
Yes, Chris. The more newsagents who take a stand on this the better in terms of making it clear to News they will not tolerate News using them as slave labour to promote the big competitor.
We have contacted both ANF and NANA about this.
NANA responded saying they are very concerned and are chasing it.
ANF yet to respond
Either way, we won’t be handing it out. Neither are newsagents in our area.
Most newsagents in this area are no longer contracted to News anyway. For this, and many other reasons
I really don’t think that News see this as an abuse of the Newsagency channel as blatant as it obviously is.
They will see it as simply Newsagents supplying a grocery bag for a grocery store and wonder what the fuss is about wrong as that obviously is to anyone in retail.
To balance things out I’m not holding my breath waiting to see if Woolies will be handing out the same bags branded with the Newsagency channel on it!!
Good point Angelo , hell would have to freeze over before Woolies would hand out bags branded with another competitor .
In SA the fee for distribution is only 10c
One gets the feeling that this arrangement with Woolworths was just a misjudgement by someone somewhere in NewsCorp. Too hard to back out of and incredibly difficult to manage. None of it makes sense.
Woolworths Rewards Bags
Distributor Communication
Dear Distributor
On Sunday 1st of November, The Sunday Times readers will be able to receive a Free
Woolworths “Rewards” tote Bag with the purchase of The Sunday Times at
participating Woolworth’s outlets.
Each Delivery Agent will receive a $0.20c handling commission for each bag
delivered to Woolworths.
Allocations/ Delivery Details
Bags are only to be provided to Woolworths as per label delivered on Thursday night
with The Australian.
Delivery Details
The bags will be distributed on Thursday night with The Australian.
What is the returns procedure?
Returns will not be required to be sent back to The Sunday Times.
Today we received 100 Myer Catalogues that they’s like us to sell for them – really, c’mon which newsagents would even consider this. Just on hold asking them to take them back at their cost – I’ll let you know how I go!