A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Author: Mark Fletcher

Flo’s pumpkin scones, yum!

kingaroy-mall-lady-flo-promo-aug08_5.JPGDonna and the team at newsXpress Kingaroy Mall engaged in local marketing at its best when they had Lady Flo Bejelke Petersen in to sign her new book containing her world famous Pumpkin Scone recipe. Being local is important to newsagents.  We see ourselves as a community hub so it makes sense that we seize opportunities to reinforce this, as the folks at Kingaroy did with Lady Flo.

Thinking about this today made me wonder how many newsagencies have a Lady Flo in their area and whether any move has been made to embrace the opportunity.  In my own situation I’ve neglected to research this.

With fuel prices the way they are, focusing more on local makes sense.

0 likes
newsagency marketing

New Idea extends on-sale

The current issue of New Idea will remain on-sale until Wednesday August 13 newsagents were advised today.  This will leave two issues of New Idea on-sale at the same time.  The extra on-sale makes sense given that this issue of New Idea also has the Seven Network Official Olympic Viewing Guide.

0 likes
magazines

Coles promoting phone recharge

Coles is running radio ads in Melbourne promoting 25% off mobile phone recharge sold at their outlets.  This is their way of letting consumers know that they are back in the mobile recharge game.  They were hit hard by the collapse of Bill Express too but 25% off!  Someone is taking a hit at that level of discount.

0 likes
Bill Express

National TV campaign for newsagents

I am pleased and proud to announce a national TV campaign for newsagents to run on Free-To-Air (7, 9 and 10) and Foxtel, Austar, Optus pay TV networks on UK TV, Hallmark, Bio, W for Women, Arena, Discovery Travel & Living, E!, Fox Classic, History, Lifestyle Food channels over the last two weeks of September. For details of this campaign please click here.

The script for the TVC, to be voiced by quintessential Aussie male actor, is as follows:

From the goldfields of Victoria in the 1800s to today, newsagents have been the backbone of communities across Australia. 

Your local newsagent is a friendly place to find the day’s news, that special greeting card, your favorite magazines, stationery for home or business and a warm smile. 

From early in the morning, newsagents are open when you need them and ready with personal service bigger businesses have long forgotten.

Newsagents are people too.  They’re your neighbours and mates, a good Aussie tradition. 

Next time you want a magazine, a birthday card or some stationery, support your local newsagent and keep business local.

The reason I have announced the plans for the commercial is get newsagents to send me photos which can be used.  The people in our network – newsagents and their team – are our key asset and I want them to feature on TV.

0 likes
newsagency marketing

ANZ says it will cancel Bill Express direct debits

Any newsagent encountering difficulty in canceling a direct debit through the ANZ for their Bill Express equipment should know that the official ANZ position as being fed through their PR people is that the bank will cancel direct debits in line with customer instructions. If any more newsagents have trouble canceling direct debits please let me know by email at mark@towersystems.com.au.

0 likes
Bill Express

Co-locating magazines

co_location1.JPGWe achieve some good sales success with co-location of some magazines. Co-locating works particularly well with Notebook, Real Living and Martha Stewart Living. While we regularly co-locate weekly magazines and major monthlies on rotation, we permanently co-locate Notebook, Real Living and Martha Stewart Living because they sell well in the Women’s Interests and well as in the Home categories.

0 likes
magazines

Supporting Mick Baker

mick_baker.JPGMick Baker of Rochester newsagency is in the Sun-Herald City2Surf Charity Challenge to raise money for Alzheimers Australia in memory of his mother, Natalie.  You can sponsor Mick’s participation and support his charity at his Hero page on the City2Surf website.  Mick’s a great bloke, I’ve known him for more than twenty years.

0 likes
Social responsibility

Reenergising your newsagency

Embracing Change is the theme of the inaugural newsXpress conference on the Gold Coast in September. The agenda packed with presentations focused on practical advice for newsagents.  Peter Sheehan, author of the book excellent Flip will present the conference Keynote speech.  I read Flip earlier this year – it speaks to newsagents and the challenges we face right now.

Included in the very practical agenda is a series of Show & Tell sessions where newsagents speak from practical experience on innovation in their businesses.

If you are looking to re-energise yourself and your newsagency and are considering joining the newsXpress marketing group this conference would be a good way to experience the newsXpress difference.  A limited number of positions are available for non-newsXpress members.  For further information please email paulw@newsxpress.com.au.  Non members will have access to all conference sessions except for one which is for members only.

Disclosure: I am a Director of newsXpress and a speaker at the conference.

0 likes
newsagency marketing

Coming to Cairns and Townsville

I’ll be speaking at the QNF regional conferences in Cairns and Townsville on August 17 and 19 respectively about strategies we can use to reclaim our businesses for a brighter future. For too long newsagents have been faithful servants. Our future depends on us thinking and acting as business owners and ending the agent era.

UPDATE: Click here for the Cairns registration and click here for the Townsville registration.


0 likes
Newsagency challenges

Excellent Tatts flyer

888.JPGTattersalls has produced an excellent retail flyer to promote a competition around the 08/08/2008 date. The small flyer (80mm x 125mm) is perfect to hand to customers, the 8/8/8 headline will connect with lottery customers, the image in the LCD TV screen connects with the Olympics and basing entry in the competition around a System 8 purchase is smart. It is the size of the flyer I like the most – it is perfect for a newsagency counter pitch.

0 likes
Lotteries

Economic abuse of newsagents

country_collections.JPGWhile stories about scammers who fleece cash from unsuspecting folk is everyday fodder for the TV current affairs shows, an equally costly cash scam goes unnoticed.  I am talking about the magazine supply model and, in particular, very long shelf life titles with a track record for poor sales performance – sales which leave more than 50% of product unsold. This situation is costing Australian newsagents millions each year.

Take the Country Collections 2009 Diary which arrived in newsagencies yesterday. Last year we received 17 at or newsXpress Forest Hill store and sold less than half. This year, by the miracle of the magazine supply model which we are told works well for newsagents, we received 34 copies. This product has a shelf life of six months. By the time we will receive a credit for returned stock we will have been out of pocket for six months.

To the suppliers who wonder why newsagents act as they do sometimes, try and put yourself in the position of dealing with this situation created by Universal Magazines. Multiply that across many other smaller publishers who abuse the system in the same way. This financial abuse is stopping newsagents focusing on other more commercial opportunbities.

While Universal Magazines will have their reason for what they do and Network Services, the distributor abetting the Universal model, will have their reasons, they do not matter.  What matters is that it is an abuse of newsagents to expect us to carry a product for six months, pay for the real estate and pay for theft and pay for stock well before it is sold – and do all of this for an unsatisfactory margin.

It is titles like this Country Collections 2009 Diary which hurt sales at the top end.  Maybe one day other magazine publishers will understand this and join newsagents in their fight.

0 likes
magazines

Found! An Olympics guide

olympic_mag.JPGI have found another Olympics publication not distributed to all newsagents. Australian Olympic Team came out a couple of weeks ago. This title and the Beijing guide I blogged about earlier this week could have formed the centrepiece for a good retail display on the Beijing Olympics. I have rung around a few newsagencies and cannot see any consistency in the scale out model.

0 likes
magazines

The cost of beating any price

There are radio ads running in Gippsland promoting Newsink and newsagents selling their ink and toner product.  The value proposition is that if you can find ink cheaper elsewhere they will beat it by 5%.  While it is great to hear newsagents being advertised on radio, I’d rather the pitch be one of leadership – this is our unique selling proposition, come and shop with us rather than think of us if you see a good price elsewhere.

A couple of marketing specialists I have spoken with say the low price guarantee approach works as it positions you as the place to go to when price is the key determinant.  If the newsagents want to sell on price it is a good strategy.  However, there are other ways to pitch on price without guaranteeing to be the lowest and without cutting margin in an already slim margin category.   There are plenty of examples of clever use of hero products to drive price perception without being the cheapest on all products.

For ink and toner I am happy growing sales based on competitive (but not always the lowest) prices, a good range and great service.  I like this approach because it is sustainable, it better fits with the newsagency model and reflects the approach national brands prefer – the last thing they want is to turn ink and toner into a liquor or soft drink price model where massive discounts are offered on a rotation basis.  This will happen is we train people to buy this way.

At Forest Hill we have been playing in the ink space for more than three years.  Growth continues to be excellent.  It accounted for 40% of stationery sales on the 2007/08 financial year, up from 30% for the previous financial year.  While we send our flyers, this is part of a co-ordinated campaign which pursues sustainable growth.

Disclosure: I am a Director of newsXpress which offers the Hot Ink ink and toner strategy.  I am also a Director of Inkfast, an online ink and toner business.

0 likes
marketing

Marie Claire promotion

mc_sep08.JPGMarie Claire with the free Lancome Black Mascara is a worthy title to have on display at the front counter as shown in the photo. This is the space we have allocated to titles with what we judge as a genuinely valuable giveaway. The latest issue of Dolly is a good choice too but Marie Claire won because of sales and how the title performs in the on-sale week compared to Dolly which has a slower decay. We have created this display in each of our stores.

0 likes
magazines

Promoting the twins

We are promoting this weeks special edition of New Idea at the front of both our newsagencies in different ways.

ni_aug0608_fh.JPGAt Forest Hill we have a display in front of our cards. Since New Idea is well covered at our sales counters and in our magazine department, we felt it more appropriate to get in front of shoppers in another category. There is less visual noise and the cover of the magazine speaks for itself.

ni_aug0608_fr.JPGAt Frankston we have New Idea displayed right at the front of the shop, at the end of the counter which faces the mall. We usually sell weeklies and high volume monthlies from here. The photo does not show the detail of the display – writing on the yellow balloons, baby items and gifts.

Customers behave differently in each newsagency and our approach reflects strategies we have found to be successful in each when promoting a special edition such as this week’s New Idea.

0 likes
magazines

ANZ playing tough on Bill Express lease?

I have been contacted by several newsagents over the last two days who have found it particularly difficult to cancel direct debit arrangements for their now useless Bill Express equipment. In each case their bank, the ANZ, has refused to act on their written instructions. My understanding is that this is a breach of the Australian Bankers’ Association Code of Banking Practice. It will be interesting to see whether a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service can resolve the disputes.

To balance this I would note that several other newsagents have been refunded amounts taken by their bank after they canceled their direct debit arrangements.

0 likes
Bill Express

Twitter and newspapers

Twitter must be getting popular judging by the number of newspapers now using the platform to provide access to newsfeeds. For those wh9o have not heard of Twitter, it’s a free service delivering small chunks of text. News organisations use it to feed headlines. It’s another free channel through which people can get a new fix without needing to purchase a newspaper.

0 likes
Media disruption

ING trumps The Age and Eddie

age_aug608.JPGThere is no doubt that the ad for ING stuck over the masthead on The Age newspaper today looks stunning.  You see this before the headline about Eddie Maguire – almost sacrilege in Melbourne.  The advertiser would be very happy as would the advertising department at The Age.  I love newspapers and wish that newspaper professionals inside The Age had the strength to stop ads being stuck over editorial content or, worse still, the newspaper masthead.

0 likes
newspaper masthead desecration

New Idea makes the wait worthwhile

ni_wg.JPGHolding New Idea back a day so it could provide full coverage of the twins born to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has paid off if sales figures I am seeing are reflected across the retail network. In two of our newsagencies, sales today (as at 4:30pm) are ahead of what we usually achieve with New Idea for a full Monday. In the third store we are just under usual Monday numbers. This is an extraordinary result for a Tuesday, the quietest day of the week. It says something about the pulling power of this story.

The photo shows the value of the full face fixturing we use at our newsXpress Watergardens store. With an issue like this seeing the full cover is what sells the magazine to its target market.

0 likes
magazines

What to do with the bag rail?

bag_rail.JPGWe are debating whether to lose the bag rail at the counter when we do the shop fit at our Frankston newsagency. As the photo of the current counter shows, we use the bag rail for magazines. While watching customer behaviour confirms that this drives good impulse purchases, it is old school retail. But if it works well, why change? Our plan is to find a way to retail magazines at the counter but with a 2008 feel.

We will also ensure the new counter provides flexibility as this is key in the design of newsagencies today. No more old style fixturing which has one purpose only.

0 likes
magazines

Who do you think you are?

whodoyou.JPGWho do you think you are? is a successful BBC show with a good companion magazine. The latest issue, featuring Jeremy Clarkson on the cover, provides an opportunity to attract new readers. We have it in the usual category and with the car magazines. What’s a cover for if not to find new readers?

0 likes
magazines
Trending Articles

Fairfax changes approach to TV Guide, disrespects newsagents

Published on April 20, 2011

What do you think of the Powerball changes?

Published on February 16, 2018

IPS releases new magazine contracts

Published on June 21, 2011