magazine subscriptions

Newsagents have offered magazine putaways for decades, a consistent and loved service for shoppers loyal to specific mastheads. The putaway service of newsagents has been vital to magazines, yet it is something magazine publishers have failed to embrace. Instead, they trope money at subscription offers designed to lure people from over the counter purchase, offers like these that are being pitched right now:

I have talked about these types of offers with magazine publishers many times over the years. They have their reasons for making the pitches as well as their reasons why similar offered in newsagencies for cutaway customers are not something they support.

I think magazine publishers need to reassess the value they place in the newsagency channel. A tip-on gift for an issue of a title exclusive to the channel is not sufficiently differentiating.

This New Idea magazine subscription offer from Pacific Magazines is frustrating because of the price and frustrating because it is pitched to people who purchase the magazine in newsagencies and other retail businesses.

I am told the offer was included in the magazine last week and again this week.

The deal is 12 issues for $12 and after that each issue is priced at $2.85 billed quarterly.

With the majority of newsagency purchasers of New Idea weekly regulars, this deal would appeal to them. However, the detail in the fine print that the magazine will arrive a few days after on-sale makes the offer less appealing. But people won;t see that unless they dig. What the do see is the magazine is accessible at $1 an issue for 12 issues.

I understand the role of subscriptions in the magazine model and have often written here that they are necessary to the publisher model. However, that was when subscription offers were at 25%, 30% and 40% off retail. This offer is considerably more.

A massive 77% discount off cover price plus the value of free postage does not make sense to me. This is a US type magazine subscription offer. It feels desperate.

The offer disrespects newsagents in my opinion as we are continually told by publishers there is no room to go beyond 25% gross profit from the New Idea cover price. It is hard to accept that when you look at this deal and the costs you know that would be associated with it.

I would have preferred Pacific Magazines to come to newsagents in advance of the offer being put to consumers with an explanation for the offer, so we have an opportunity to understand any context that may be relevant to us. It is disappointing this did not happen, yet not unusual in a channel that is seeing several our long-term traditional suppliers more and more seek revenue outside our channel.

The times certainly are changing in and around our channel. Newsagents need to be actively engaged to keep up. This 77% discount off cover price for New Idea is a wake-up call to those newsagents who are yet to embrace significant change in their businesses.

While the New Idea discount of itself is not the reason to urgently embrace change, this move on top of newspaper and magazine sales declines, the growing migration of lottery sales to online, tougher competition from deep discount and other retailers and challenges around stationery and cards focuses our attention on what we can do to grow our businesses, to attract new shoppers. Snd, yes, I think there is plenty we can do.

While the New Idea move will cost my business little if any measurable GP, it damages perception and that matters.

The subscription card that fell out of the US edition of Time magazine pitches a compelling offer: $3.00 an issue posted versus $7.00 an issue in store. Thankfully, the publisher of Time has most subscription offers floating loose in the magazine – if they fall out I don’t replace them. I’m not paid to do that.

The Supanews website, tagged as Australia’s Online Newsagency, is promoting magazine subscriptions. Promoting magazine subscriptions as your only magazine offer is not something a traditional newsagency would pitch. hat this Supanews business is pitching is frustrating because is misrepresents the traditional (online and high street) newsagency business.

My understanding is that this website is operated by a business called Supanews Limited out of Hong Kong. I have no idea who owns that business and their relationship with the owners of Supanews.

Check out the subscription offer from the US publisher of Woman’s Day and Good Housekeeping magazines.

Click on the image to see the detail of the offer.  At it’s best, you can get two magazines for a year for $12 delivered to your home. Just amazing.

The discount for subscriptions is considerably higher than what we see in Australia, reflecting a different magazine distribution model for the US compared to Australia.

I thought I’d post the subscription offer ad here, from a US newspaper this past weekend, to show that when it comes to subscriptions, discounts in Australia are not as high as publishers can get in some other locations.

Subscribers to OurDeal were offered a year long subscription to Vogue magazine yesterday at 40% off the cover price.

Activity by some magazine publishers chasing subscriptions has increased. Their view would be that locking someone in for a year is more valuable to them than possibly getting 12 purchases from a retailer over a year. This is how they price their discount.

Every day in newsagencies across Australia we promote brands such as Vogue with terrific in-store displays and we make the products available for browsing without cost. All of this investment by us helps publishers be able to pitch subscription offers.

It is no wonder newsagents get angry when they see subscription deals like this.  At least Vogue is not pitching at a US subscription rate of 70% (and often more) off.

Check out the full page ad which appears in the current issue of The Groundsman magazine. Click on the image for a larger version. The publisher is clear with their message – stop buying The Groundsman magazine from your local newsagent. This is a disappointing message form a publisher who relies on the goodwill of newsagents to carry and promote the title.  Indeed, it’s beyond disappointing, it is disrespectful.

I accept that publishers need subscriptions in their supply model and that they need to promote subscriptions in their magazines.  However, publishers need to respect their retail partners.

I would’t be surprised in newsagents acted to stop carrying The Groundsman abased on reactions in the past to similar disrespect from publishers when promoting subscriptions.

All the publisher needs to do to make their subscriptions ad reasonable is to change the first two lines.

The continuing decline in overall magazine sales has led to another publisher responding in an effort to get the attention of newsagents. Express Publications last week announced better margin and a reduced on-sale period for their titles in newsagencies. The move will see newsagents achieve 30% margin for some Express titles and 32.5% for other titles. This is a significant move from the usual 25% margin for magazines.

While I welcome the move, Express has not addressed the issue of bagged magazines (and the high retail space cost they represent), the expense of full copy returns or the desire among newsagents for a fair sell through target.

I would like Express to reduce their reliance on bagged product, eliminate full copy returns and set a minimum target sell through rate of 60% with a payment to newsagents if a title does not achieve the target.

Express could reasonably respond that they cannot afford to make these extra moves. The challenge is that newsagents cannot continue to carry the cost of full copy returns or a sell through rate of less than 60%.

Express also announced the new position of Director of Circulation. They devalued this good news by hiding contact behind a generic email address. Any company serious about customer service makes access to a real and named person easy by publishing direct contact numbers and a direct contact email address.  This could be easily fixed.

If Express made contact easier and more personal and addressed the other points I have noted they would win wild applause and support newsagents. They could expect their titles to receive special treatment and greater sales as a result.

Check out the offer New York Groupon subscribers received this week: $12 for 15 issues of Food & Wine magazine, delivered. A very nice deal indeed.

While there is a huge difference between the magazine distribution model in the US and what we have here in Australia, the use if Groupon to drive subscription sales is interesting.  When Australian coupon sites do take off, expect to see magazine offers like these.  It’s what I would do if I were a magazine publisher – it is not smart to rely on one distribution channel, such as retail, only.

Based on subscription promotion in the latest issue of Notebook magazine, out just last week, the closure must have been a last minute decision by the publisher.  The image shows a subscription ad from the latest issue.

I remain surprised at the decsision to close the title give others which fewer sales which continue to be published.

It will be interesting to see how the closure of the magazine affect sales of the Notebook diary – we received our usual supply.