On the Gold Coast yesterday I got to see how The Sunday Mail was using the front page of the newspaper to launch the Marvel promotion. The extraordinary coverage in this and other News Corp. papers for the promotion is is being greeted with cynicism by plenty of customers according to newsagents who contacted me over the weekend. One newsagent quoted a customer: Does Rupert really think a comic promotion will stop us noticing the price hike? Tell him he’s dreaming.
If this feedback is a common experience in newsagencies, News Corp. might be best advised to not time promotions such as this with cover price rises as the two separate activities. Promotions and price rises need not be linked in my view.
Here is the display I saw in one newsagency on the Gold Coast on the weekend. This space commitment is common in newsagencies, considerably more that you see in supermarkets that are part of the promotion.
In addition to this newspaper stand display, there is this unit outside the entrance to the shop.
There is no missing the promotion. Prime space out the front of the shop, on the front of store newspaper stand plus at the counter. This promotion is everywhere.
While I think the promotion is terrific in driving incremental newspaper purchases, I do not see how newsagents can make money out of it, not based on the margin from newspapers, not considering the value of the space allocated, the labour involved, the capital invested and the cost of shrinkage.
Considering all I saw in Queensland on the weekend – the freestanding unit out the front of the shop, the dressed up newspaper displays and the counter display – I think the stand outside the front of the store is the most important as this is the traffic driver for the business. Plus it is easily moved and it can take space that is otherwise not used.
But back to the key point I want to make – frustration newsagents are hearing from some customers about the cover price rise. This, tom me, is a challenge to be addressed as price rises will continue.
Very surprised, not a single complaint on Saturday about newspaper price increase.
Great product, great POS, but initial sales are a little disappointing.
Hopefully interest will pick over the next few days.
Marvel figurines and drawing partworks, plus Newscorp collectibles … complete overload. Also reporting disappointing sales.
Doing well for us. We have a large Marvel commitment and attract valuable collectors.
Well at least the newsagents are making an effort. At the Woolworths I went to one staffer thought the promotion didn’t start till the Monday. The comics were still packed in the store room at 10.30 in the morning. When the comics were brought out there was confusion about which was the first issue and whether or not the case that came with the first comic was free or not. In the end I pointed to the paper to show them what the first issue was and that out both the comic and case were free.
Typical for a supermarket. The publishers love them even though the supermarkets disrespect them. The only promotions are bold and strong is when publishers pay for people to do the displays from what I can tell.
Publishers don;t understand how valuable our channel is to them and will not until it is much smaller.
Totally underwhelming here. The Foodland next door also has them, just checked their stock – they have sold 9 and I have sold 6 so far of today’s issue. That’s a total of 15 sales from an allocation of 120 between us.
Also less whelming than we expected. We are selling about 25 a day out of 50 allocated. Often there is more demand than supply with these sorts of promotions. Maybe comics appeal to a narrower market.
Sales settling at 30 a day. Mainly to home deliveries walking in with tokens. Almost zero on sales … not even selling extra Advertisers.
Whole promotion ineffective, considering when to take down promotional display.
If it was a figurine it would have been better, comics have limited appeal.
Sales at about half of allocation and still have free ones left.
Sales for us have been slow as well
We have placed our Marvel funko pops and ast Marvel products in a premium spot next to the pos for the News Ltd promotion. My process is to leverage these promotions to sell higher GP products. The actual result of this promotion is not as important to me as the sales I gain from it.