Author: Mark Fletcher

This magazine arrived at our newsagency yesterday. 15 copies. Network Services is the distributor. It’s a photography magazine about a single camera. 15 copies! The sales data Network has for my shop will show that we would be lucky to sell 2 copies of this title. There is no doubt that the 15 copies is gross oversupply.

Photography magazines are struggling. A single topic (camera) title is nuts. People who would buy the title will already be clued into everything about the camera thanks to the many websites with more up to date information than the magazine can offer. Check out these Google results. There are also 32,000 blog posts referencing this camera.

If such a specialist magazine is necessary then why 15 copies to our shop? As I said earlier, this is gross oversupply – unconscionable in my book.

I suggest that the publishing industry establish a full-time (paid) position called, for lack of a better name, Title Proliferation Prevention Czar.

The person in this position would be responsible for developing a program that defines distribution criteria guidelines for all publications going to chain stores.

That’s Brad David writing at Circulation Management magazine, April 3, 2006.

Around the same time, I blogged here and wrote elsewhere about the need for a magazine czar to manage the newsagency channel. Our czar could/should go beyond that proposed by Davis for the US. They ought to have the final say on whether a title can access our network.

Newsagents offer the most cost effective means of publishers getting their product in front of consumers yet we do not control depth of range.

Many of our categories are overloaded. We expect magazine distributors to manage these categories and some do. However, magazine distributors only look at the titles they offer. An appropriately resourced and strong magazine czar could approve every title before it could access our channel. This would stop us carrying too many titles in any one category. They could set KPIs which distributors would need to adhere to for their product to continue to have access to the channel.

Unless newsagents manage their (our) network as if it is the most important asset we will continue to be over supplied, under supplied, supplied on poor terms and expected to outperform – in terms of space and display allocation – every other retailer provided with magazines.

The newsagency channel magazine czar needs to be funded solely by newsagents. He or she needs the authority to operate without fear of reprisal from magazine distributors and publishers. Newsagents need to build a fence around their network, set KPIs for access and manage those which vigour.

This approach is not new. Phillip Parsons started work on magazine KPIs when he was Managing Director of Network Services. I was fortunate to see early drafts and agreed with most points. When Parsons left Network the KPI project stopped.

Senior management at Gordon and Gotch have implemented changes which have addressed many of their over supply issues. Their work a couple of years ago was based on KPIs for titles which they determined after researching title performance.

Sometimes newsagents are fooled by this activity by magazine distributors. While it is helpful, it is narrow in its focus. The challenge newsagents face covers all titles. We must look at everything from all distributors.

With commercially appropriate KPIs and a strong czar, publishers, distributors and newsagents ought to make more money from magazines that they do today. The current situation means that newsagents are often unable to display titles sufficiently for them to reach their potential. In some categories, the range is so great that consumers walk away frustrated. Having less of a range but made up of the best titles could address this.

While I accept that the ACCC would need to approve the appointment of a czar, I am confident that newsagents can make a business case. The current situation is too unfair for newsagents. The lack of central control is a reason that 65% of all titles distributed through newsagents are cash flow negative.

This is not a matter to debate with publishers or distributors. We know what their views will be. We need to understand that the network is ours and that it is time for us to manage that asset in the manner which best serves us and our customers.

Outside of the usual English weeklies and monthlies I am surprised by the range of English garden and home magazines. While I have photographed three titles, we usually have between six and eight on the shelves at any one time.

Sales are barely okay. They would be stronger if we culled the range. For example, we really only need one English garden magazine, not two. Magazine distributors would not necessarily see this oversupply as they don’t take on board what the others are doing.

The sooner we have a magazine czar controlling the magazines which get access to the newsagents channel the better.