Last week newsagents were asked by News Corp. to hand out Woolworths bags, this week some have been asked to hand out a Myer Christmas catalogue. The Myer catalogue promotion is through the Bauer Connections program. I am surprised as this sounds like a dumb move and they know the channel well enough to know it is a dumb move no matter how it is pitched.
Did those who pushed this onto newsagents check the contents of the catalogue? Did they think about whether newsagents would want to promote a competitor? Did they put themselves in the shoes of newsagents? Did they ask any newsagents?
Myer is pitching cards, wrap and gifts in this catalogue – all items newsagents sell. Why would we promote this competitor? Of course we should not as Myer would not promote us. We have to fight for every dollar we win against them in a range of categories.
One newsagent I heard from received the catalogues and no explanation. If true, this is a botched campaign.
I suspect many Myer catalogues will end up in recycle bins.