News Corp’s South Australian outpost is supporting Newspower stores with an AFL promotion.
This is unfortunate as Newspower outlets in SA are limited – 63 in the suburban area from what I can tell. Locals tell me the Advertiser is available in four or five times more retailers than this.
When you unpack the information, this appears to be an odd promotion: get your paper from location a but to get the value offer for the Footy16 magazine you have to get to a specific store. It is as if they wish to ration access to the deal. The alternative is they think the deal is so compelling it will result in a flood of people to Newspower stores.
When promotions are developed by companies like News Corp. they are well thought through with a specific outcome as the goal. This ensures all actions are deliberate and focussed on the goal.
It would be good to see the data for engagement yesterday at Newspower outlets, to understand what was in this for News and for the retailers.
Did News expect this promotion to drive traffic to Newspower stores compared to other retailers selling the Adelaide Advertiser? If so, what is the point? If not, what is the point?
I could not find any support from Newspower for the promotion. Usually with a supplier / marketing group promotion there is promotional activity from both sides, to maximize value.
News Corp. in SA has tended to run its own race when it comes to these things. This has not resulted in the Advertiser performing particularly better than other News Corp. titles so the going it alone approach does to seem to deliver commercial value from what I can see.
Non Newspower newsagents have every right, in my opinion, to be frustrated with News for this promotion.
Here is the promotion as it ran in the paper yesterday:
I may be wrong, but I am guessing this is one of two things:
1. A low key market test to see if there should be a full acceptance of this magazine in SA,
or,
2. An attempt to reduce unsolds at The Herald-Sun.
There is none of the usual POS provided for Advertiser promos.
On sale is 3 days only.
The cover states “With purchase of Herald-Sun.”
The cover is not designed to attract SA buyers with Paddy Dangerfield the lead. 🙂
In either case, yes, there is rationing as there is insufficient stock for all Advertiser outlets. For example, I received only half the number of copies I would usually get for an Advertiser promo. How much more frustrated would Newsagents be if they only received 5 copies?
As to my 2 above –
What were the on sale dates for Victoria?
Was the magazine available at every Herald Sun outlet, or just Newsagents?
Mark, you often tell retailers to forget about ANA/VANA etc as they don’t provide value for money.
This relationship between Newspower and The Advertiser is one way that Newspower in SA works to provide competitive advantages for its members in a crowded marketplace. Long may it continue.
Just my 2 cents (+GST).
David if this has provided you with value then that it good.
Hello David,
Re: “This relationship between Newspower and The Advertiser is one way that Newspower in SA works to provide competitive advantages for its members in a crowded marketplace. Long may it continue.”
I’m an ANA member, but, as far as I know, I’m not a Newspower member. What should my response be if it were to occur in a neighbouring Newspower newsagency? (David this is intended as a genuine question, not a rhetorical assertion and is asked respectfully.)
Henry, I hope your response would be a measured one, based on what is best for your business.
I would hope that you would not fire bomb my shop, but that you would tackle The Advertiser as I have done in the past when I felt hard done by.
We are all trying to find our place in this crowded market and should use all the tools at our disposal.
I have discovered that that number of copies of this magazine is far less than would be needed for an equitable distribution to all outlets, thus the decision to go with Newspower, a group that has a long and successful relationship with The Advertiser. I think that relationship is unique among all the News mastheads.
This is not the only promotion that is an Advertiser/Newspower exclusive.
It is leveraging supplier relationships like this that makes being part of a buying group / banner worthwhile.
BTW, I still have a few copies left if anyone would like to pop in, buy and Advertiser and get their book to see what all the fuss is about. 🙂
Without considering any particular group that is beneficial from any newscorp promotions, and I use the term beneficial very loosely as the benefits are microscopic, the loser in all of these promotions is the newsagency channel as a whole.
Sales of newscorp papers comes from coles, coles petrol, woolworths, woolworths petrol, independent petrol stations, iga, foodland, smaller independent supermarkets, 7 eleven, on the run, corner delis, independent newsagents, nextra newsagents, newsXpress newsagents , newspower newsagents, the butcher, baker and candlestick maker.
In addition the newscorp papers are given away at airports, sporting events, major functions, to delis at times $1 a week for X amount of copies, given away at malls trying to entice subscriptions, can be read at the hairdressers, doctors, dentists, chiro, physio, car workshop etc. etc. etc.
To the consumer the newspaper is an extension of everyday life but is worth nothing to them, it’s just an add on that is a throwaway and is not a necessity. Those selling them, the sales are diluted so much they are beneficial to no-one, the majority of consumers don’t care where they purchase it from, and if they wait long enough they can find one to read for nothing(most delis, mcdonalds etc) or find a free one to take home!
A promotion, especially one exclusive to only one of the 15 or more sales channels mentioned above only adds to the noise and the confusion in the sales chain.
Nett losers are the traditional outlets, the newsagents.
Hello David, I have no angst against marketing groups, to the contrary. When you wrote,”Mark, you often tell retailers to forget about ANA/VANA etc as they don’t provide value for money.”, I thought you were attributing a good deal to ANA. But if they are separate entities, there’s no problem. However, if the ANA were to broker a deal for a marketing group, then members of the ANA not in that particular group or no group would be entitled to ask the question.
If such a situation were to arise, I would have no ill feeling the newsagent, but the ANA would be well advised to increase their security for fear of the firebomb you mentioned.
If by ANA you mean ANF, this deal is not an ANF deal. While News Corp. promotes Newspower, Newspower is doing nothing for News Corp.
Regardless, there is no commercially valuable upside for any current or recent newspaper promotion.