The monthly real life titles launched in recent times have delivered a net increase in magazine purchases. That is, they have not taken revenue from their associated titles in the magazine segment.
Looking at basket data for the That’s Life Mega Monthly, for example, I see that shopper often purchasing That’s Life in the same transaction. This is goon news that we can leverage through tactical placement.
A couple of ways to maximise the opportunity of the monthly titles are: place the monthly next to the weekly; and, if room permits, pitch both at the counter for a few days at least.
While magazines overall remain challenged, there are some segment level opportunities that we can leverage as engaged retailers. What we can do is different and more useful to the titles than any supermarket will do and this is something publishers could notice.
Beyond real life, categories like crosswords, current affairs (The Monthly, Quarterly Essay etc), health and gardening all benefit from tactical engagement in my experience.
We have informed our regular customers of Thats life and Take5, about the new magazine when they were launched. Most of them buy both weekly and monthly issues now.
Since, the monthly issue is usually released on Monday, we remind weekly mag customers on that day and the following Thursday and it works well most of the time.