We have been promoting the latest issue of Good Health magazine with a co-location strategy with weeklies as well as a half waterfall in with women’s health related titles. We have made sure that shoppers can see the free gift with this issue and understand the bonus value with purchase of the title. Placement of this issue of Good Health with weeklies is working particularly well for us.
I encourage newsagents to take part in the Morrison Media (frankie, Riptide, Surfing Life, Slam Skateboarding, Powerhound) online survey. Responses are flowing and I know that the folks at Morrison are taking them seriously. The more newsagents who engage the better.
The Morrison Media model of newsagent engagement is one which other publishers could well benefit from.
Publishers Australia has published an interview with Street Press Australia CEO Craig Treweek. It’s something which newsagents should read. This interview was published specifically for Australian magazine publishers.
Kudos to Intralot for yesterday writing to its outlets to share the facts behind a story reported on Today Tonight on Monday and in the Herald Sun yesterday. Comparing the facts in the letter, which can be verified, with what these two news outlets reported leaves you wondering about their interest in fact checking.
Given the shocking stories about the actions by News International newspapers in the UK I am finding myself more suspicious of news stories, especially those with an attack angle.
SA newsagents are rightly concerned about the prospects for their lottery businesses given the announcement by the state government that they plan to privatise the lottery business. The five year protection for the current retail network is in line with what the NSW state government offered at the time they privatised NSW Lotteries.
State governments of all political persuasions have a lot to answer for when it comes small businesses. Think back to what has happened with transport tickets. Now with the slow privatisation of lotteries around the country the clock is ticking.
Another reason for all of us to work on our businesses, chasing our own futures.
I feel for the uncertainty being felt by South Australian newsagents.
Unless you are living in a cave you would have seen the Kit Kat advertising blitz promoting their new Chunky 3 product. What with the TV, outdoor and digital campaigns it is hard to miss the higher profile for the Kit Hat branded product. The latest Convenience World magazine indicates it’s a $6M spend. This product is something newsagents should have at the counter. If we don’t and only have the old regular Kit Kat then we are not current or relevant.
One of the reason everyday confectionery sales are flat in newsagencies is that our range is not as current as it could be. The Kit Kat Chunky 3 is an opportunity not to be missed.
The latest issue of Diabetic Living has been selling very well. We have ordered another 10 copies since we have just one copy left. We have chased this sales outcome by promoting the magazine from an impulse display unit facing into the shopping mall. Yes, Diabetic Living has been driving traffic. By the time the issue goes off sale we expect to have sold 50% more copies than usual. Nice.
Check ut where your copies are. Try a high traffic impulse purchase location.
The latest issue of Australian Property Investor is the flagship Hot 100 issue – with the stand out gold cover. While it has only been on-sale for a day it is already receiving good media coverage and this will continue including TV coverage.
This is an excellent magazine to have in a high traffic location, like next to newspapers. This is what we are doing in my newsagencies.
This issue sold very well last year – by newsagents engaging tactically. So, I’d urge newsagents to engage again and chase incremental basket-building business. And if the issue sells well in the first few days, consider chasing more stock.
Check out the terrific window display created by Ben, the Sunday Manager at newsXpress Sunbury Square. I like the display because it is unexpected for a newsagency window, because Ben did it on his own initiative and because it is appealing … likely to attract shoppers passing by in the mall.
Telling a story with a product, as has been done here, is more likely to drive the desired sales result than by simply placing product in a shop window.
These ducks look more a lot more interesting situated on a golf course than if they were lined up in a window.
I’d be happy to publish here displays of other creative and outside the usual newsagency window displays – as an encouragement to newsagents to be creative and have fun.
Roger Waters is coming to town and tickets are on sale right now. His show is getting plenty of publicity. So, it make sense that our team has placed the latest issue of Classic Rock at the counter where plenty of eyeballs will see the Roger Waters cover.
I am confident we will pick some incremental business with this tactical placement of Classic Rock .
We obsess about opportunities like this. Our music magazine sales are up 115% in the June quarter over the same period in 2010. This is an excellent result, a terrific reward for conscientious focus by our team and their tactical placement of titles with excellent cover opportunities.
In a bold (or some might say crazy) move, the Philadelphia Inquirer and its sibling Philadelphia Daily News are set to sell tablets providing access to their newspaper content at a discount. This is believed to be the first such move by a publisher to sell tablet computers, thereby creating their own direct mobile device channel to facilitate migration.
View is a new photography magazine. It has been developed solely for the tablet channel. I was put on to View by someone who originally said that they would not switch from print to digital. Once they saw the treatment of photos on View they were hooked. Publishers are finding ways to enhance the reader experience on tablet devices to make them more appealing in some categories.
I really feel for newsagents who have contacted me over the last few days about magazine distributor billed they have to pay in a couple of weeks which are equal to more than the sales they achieved with the same titles in the last month.
Despite a decline in magazine sales, supply to newsagents is more often static or increasing.
With this in mind, magazine publishers concerned about newsagents early returning their titles ought to ask the following of their magazine distributor:
Magazine publishers could be a good ally for newsagents in dealing with magazine distributors. Our needs and the needs of magazine publishers are closely aligned.
There is no fairness in a magazine distribution model where the costs are the same or increasing in the face of flat or declining sales. There is no fairness in a system where costs to the retailer are greater than the income derived. Both situations can be fixed by setting a minimum sell through of 50% and compensating newsagents for titles which do not meet this bare minimum. Such a move would make the distributors responsible. At the moment there is no pressure on them to achieve a minimum sell through.
The Rollmatz floor play mat we have on display hanging up behind the counter shows off the product perfectly. Customers notice it and that is what we have it there for – especially during school holidays.
The Rollmatz are part of our school holidays toy sale. Sales have been excellent. It’s nice to see a customer add a toy or game to a newspaper, card or magazine purchase.
I love that we have something completely different and unexpected on display behind the counter. It plays to our goal to not be your average newsagency.
We are supporting the latest issue of House & Garden magazine with this simple yet high profile in-location display. Anchoring our garden and home titles, the display acts as a beacon for us.
While not a huge seller for us, House & Garden plays an important role in the magazine mix. We do achieve sales when we put the title in the spotlight like this. The in-location display will remain in place for at least a full week.
I was talking with a newsagent recently about challenges they are facing – a new supermarket is opening nearby and a local Officeworks is undergoing a major refresh. My newsagent colleague was worried about this new competition, like a deer caught in the headlights.
This newsagency has many strengths, few of which were being leveraged. This situation is not uncommon as newsagents often get caught in running their businesses and dealing with the archaic practices from some suppliers that they do not see big picture opportunities for more creative and valuable competition.
We talked about his situation and the opportunities which I saw. Here are some of the suggestions I made which should have a broader appeal, suggestions designed to play to the strengths of the local newsagent:
If you are feeling the competitive challenge, step up to it with your own unique voice and actions. Be different or be ignored.
Think about your strengths and play to them. I am sure that every newsagency business has more strengths than are currently being leveraged by the business.
This list is by no means complete. Brainstorm with your colleagues in-store, talk to your customers. Share your ideas here.
All reaches of News Corp. are under the spotlight following the phone hacking scandal and evidence of the cover up by the organisation including admissions at the most senior level.
The hacking of phones, thousands apparently, and acknowledgment by News International boss Rebekah Brookes of payments to police in the UK and an acknowledgment by James Murdoch of approving as payment to victims in apparent return for silence naturally calls into question the ethics of this worldwide media company.
As Margaret Simons pointed out yesterday at crikey.com, there are implications for News Ltd here in Australia. Simons rightly honed in on the company’s Code of Conduct for journalists because John Hartigan, Australian Chairman, pointed to this in a communication relating to the UK scandal. Simons called for journalists to respond on their knowledge of the Code. Check out some responses at The Content Makers blog.
Given the declared behaviour it is appropriate that the spotlight is on all News Corp. businesses including their Australian businesses. Since News appears to have sat on or hidden the extent of this scandal for many years we can only wonder what else there is to be discovered.
Australian newsagents could consider the ethics of News in the context of their cover price policy which has left us earning less in real terms today than ten years ago – while they have looked after themselves and lifted advertising rates, they have reduced what we earn at retail and for home delivery. An organisation committed to ethical behaviour would ensure that its pricing decisions were fairer to working families.
We could look at newspaper home delivery fees through the prism of ethics – they have fallen in real terms as I wrote here recently. News Limited has presided over distribution newsagents earning less. An organisation which claims to operate ethically would ensure that it approved and facilitated a fair price for those working hard on its behalf as newsagents do. Instead, News caps what newsagents can earn, denying newsagents reasonable business levers which reflect on local conditions.
We could also consider the ethics of News in their approach to the rationalisation of newspaper home delivery. The newspaper distribution system which we have today is a system which they have controlled for decades. Many newsagents are losing their family businesses because of the control News exerts over what they earn. Family assets are disappearing as newspaper distribution is rationalised by News as they create a new model to serve their financial needs. This rationalisation looks set to escalate over the next six to twelve months. An ethical organisation driving rationalisation and laying off employees would have an obligation to compensate the dismantling of the system it created.
Maybe these three examples do not reflect ethical failure – others can decide that. The do, however, reflect a lack of care for and commitment to socially responsible behaviour by News. Yes, they are a business with a sole purpose of driving shareholder value. But they are also a large part of the Australian community and it is reasonable that we expect them to act in a socially responsible way to families and the wider community.
While these behaviours do not compare to the apparent illegal behaviour in the UK, they do reflect on the ethics of the company and the regard (or otherwise) it has for its distribution channel and the community in which it exists.
Of course, News shareholders would disagree. They would say that the company is doing what it needs to do to drive its costs down. They would say that it is also keeping the costs for consumers low. Maybe so. However, on the income side, the non cover price income side, it is not showing a concern for costs which flow on to consumers.
It is possible that the ethical failure exposed by the UK phone hacking scandal is part of a broader ethical weakness in News. Twitter, blogs and even mainstream news outlets are lighting up asking questions and turning on spotlights. While News outposts around the world will be unhappy and uncomfortable with this, it is appropriate. If they have nothing to hide they have nothing to be uncomfortable about.
Suite101 is claiming that Justin Bieber cannot sell magazines. This is based on sales data for a Bieber covered edition of Vanity Fair. regulars here would know that the experience in my newsagencies has been quite different. The pacific magazines Justin Bieber one shot sold out five times for us. We kept reordering until there really was no stock left.
The Suite101 article references a report by USA Today which claims that a Bieber covered Teen Vogue issue of also experienced lower sales.
From what I could see, the girls purchasing the Pacific Magazines Bieber one shot were not sophisticated magazine shoppers, probably not the target audience for Vanity Fair or Teen Vogue.
All I know is that I sold a ton of the Bieber title to young girls. I’d love to be able to do that regularly for that important demographic. I hate to say this but we need more Justin Biebers.
the LINCOLNITE is reporting that the WH Smith newsagent is town has installed self checkout machines in an effort to reduce customer wait time. While this technology may suit the WH Smith model, I don’t see the sense of such impersonal technology in a business which relies on personal shopper contact and interaction to demonstrate a key point of difference.
A Woolworths manager speaking with a newsagent recently advised that while they count and top returns, they do not return the tops. This is another item on a list of operational and valuable benefits given to competitors of newsagents by magazine distributors.
Newsagents who provide accurate sales data ought to be rewarded by being permitted to not have to return any unsold stock.
What about it publishers? Would you lobby your magazine distributor for us? Please, we need your help to reduce the cost of magazine returns. Achieving a returns process equivalent to Woolworths could reduce the pressure many of us feel to process returns early.
We are promoting Money magazine with in-location display at the entrance to the aisle. I love the cover, the stack of currency certainly grabs attention.
The placement of the posterand the stock directly below works very well. Everyone in the aisle will notice this and that’s half the battle. We plan to leave this display up as long as we have stock.
We are promoting the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine from ACP with this aisle end display.
While our sales for Harper’s Bazaar are not huge for the title, the free high-quality notebook which comes with this issue should drive incremental business. This is why we wanted to make sure that the title was well displayed – I.E. not in the usual magazine fixturing.
We will leave the display up for a week and then move to a second location elsewhere.
The use of Twitter by people around the world to express shock, disappointment, frustration and anger at News International, News Corp. and the Murdochs over the phone hacking scandal and subsequent cover up will be referred to in the future as another moment when the extraordinary power of Twitter was on full display.
The protests made through tweets are having an impact in News revenue and its share price.
Whereas in the past it was the fourth estate on which we the people relied to put issues under the spotlight and through which campaigns of justice are run. Twitter has given anyone with a mobile device or a computer a worldwide podium from which to speak. And speak they are. Hashtags enable people who have never met to unite around a cause. We can see that there have been close to 40,000 tweets in the last 24 hours and 3,900 in the last hour.
The extraordinary tweet traffic using the #NotW hashtag over the last couple of days is evidence of people power in action. It appears that rolling tsunamis of tweets calling for advertisers to pull advertising from News of the World and other News International titles is a key reason advertisers have been doing just that and a key reason that News International has decided to shut the newspaper down after this weekend’s edition.
The decision to shut the newspaper is like the action of a surgeon removing a cancerous growth from a human body. Time will tell is this surgery by News removes all the cancer.
But back to the point of this post. Given the dominance of print media outlets here in Australia by News and the lack of in-depth coverage by News outlets of the phone hacking scandal and subsequent cover-up, Twitter is proving to be an excellent source for up to the minute news.
Twitter has no borders and no editors. It has been wonderful to see people across the globe come together on this issue, ahead of the politicians, unified by hashtags.
Based on the extraordinary traffic of Tweets which is not showing any sign of slowing, News is going to need to improve its efforts at damage control if it is to mitigate the situation – including News here in Australia.
From a newsagent perspective, what we are seeing is a platform which disrupts print in action. This story and how people are interacting with it is a story about print. It demonstrates how the story is the thing as opposed to the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink to which which many newspaper lovers often refer when saying the medium will go on for decades.
Update and Footnote: with speculation mounting that News International will extend The Sun to a Sunday edition, the closure of the News of the World could be seen as cynical and not actually reasonably addressing the problem.
The administrator for REDGroup has announced that the remainder of company owned A&R stores will close except for two which have been sold. I urge newsagents to make sure they are aware of any A&R store which is near their newsagency. An imminent closure presents a good opportunity. Smart retailers will leverage this opportunity.