Author: Mark Fletcher

VANA is making a mistake investing time and member funds in developing its new nesagency marketing and management group (the Futures Project).  This project does not seek to serve all Victorian newsagents.  Nor does it seek to address the operational issues of most concern to Victorian newsagents.  If I were on the Board of VANA, I would push for the organisation to focus on:

• Pursuing, without fear or favour, a fairer and more equitable magazine supply model for all Victorian newsagents
• Private and public lobbying around achieving a fair return for home delivery of newspapers for all Victorian newsagents
• Lobbying the State and Federal Government for assistance to help all Victorian newsagents navigate the significant change ahead
• Establishing a register (benchmark) of supplier terms which VANA members could use to compare terms they have been offered
• Working with GNS, the industry owned stationery supplier to build a strong consistent statewide stationery business in all Victorian newsagencies
• Being more visible among all Victorian newsagents, listening to their concerns and discussing how VANA can better engage
• Getting out of all commercial activity
• Committing that the organsiation will not, in future, seek financial assistance from suppliers for conferences and the like because of the conflict such funding creates

Once sufficient progress has been made on these five key areas and if VANA had resources available, I would push for what I would call phase two of the reinvention of VANA. I’ll leave those thoughts for another time but they include practical help to fix troubled newsagencies.  While some of us do this today, VANA could bring valuable statewide focus to such effort.

There is no sense in working on a futures project unless you have taken care of today.

An election is under way for the NSW Director of the ANF following the tie of six votes all from the last election a month ago.  I have spoken with Stuart Kilborn, the candidate running against incumbent Brenton Brown.  I like what Stuart has to say and that he is not tained by four years of failure as Brenton is.  While I have grave doubts about the relevance or effectiveness of the ANF, current members in NSW ought to vote.  Click here to see a copy os Stuart’s candidate statement.

Stuart has not sought my endorsement nor asked for coverage here. I am giving it because of the failure of the ANF to adequately represent newsagents under the watch of the current NSW Director and because the organisation desperately needs new blood.

While on the ANF election, it has been put to me that during the vote last month the organisation had one of its staff contacting members seeking votes for the incumbent NSW Director.  I don’t know if this is true.  Maybe NSW newsagents could advise if they were contacted.

Further to my post Monday calling for sales data for November 2008 and 2007, I have received responses from ninety three newsagents.  I’d like to close this off tomorrow so if you are able to participate please send your sales figures by lunchtime.

Analysis of the sales data will provide a health check for our channel.  My analysis will focus primarily on Cards, Magazines, Stationer and Newspapers.  I will also look at Diaries, calendars, Ink and Confectionery but not is as much detail given the differences in newsagencies for these categories.

While the analysis looks set to reveal some concerning indications, it is better that we are aware of our individual and network wide performance year on year so that we can adjust our businesses accordingly.

Click here to see a copy of the letter sent to Victorian Newsagents on Monday announcing The Futures Project, the new business management and marketing group established by VANA. As I blogged last week, this group is not the work an association should engage in, especially not VANA when their record on member representation has not been good.

The Futures Project cuts across what some marketing groups already do. It also cuts across some of what newsagent GNS does for newsagents. Curiously, VANA has developed this new commercial activity without involving either group.

The then VANA Chairman, CEO and another Director presented this project to the ANF six months ago. My understanding is that the ANF passed on supporting the project.

I approached the VANA CEO when I heard about this project two months ago. I expressed concerns that VANA was ignoring association work in pursuit of commercial activity. He assured me it was not what I thought. The announcement this week suggests otherwise. For the record, I note that I have had no other discussion with VANA about the project nor have I been I invited to any such discussion by VANA.

Newsagent Associations have an appalling track record on commercial activity. They would we well advised to focus on association services.