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partworks

Australian Cars The Collection set to drive traffic to Aussie newsagents

Newsagents are tagged in the TV commercial for Australian Cars The Collection, a new partwork series launching June 10. Newsagents are the exclusive retailers of this title.

I am grateful to have seen part 1 of Australian Cars The Collection. It’s a terrific product. It feels good. We already know how much car lovers like buying magazines. This new series is sure to appeal to to current car lovers, those who appreciate nostalgia, those who love collecting and people collecting for young kids.

Each issue in Australian Cars The Collection comes with an authentic 1:43 scale die-cast metal car model. The series will feature of some of the most iconic Australian cars from the 60’ to the ‘90’s.

My advice to newsagents is to display each issue of Australian Cars The Collection in prime position at the front of the shop, to leverage the considerable spend on the TV commercial, which tags newsagents. If there is room, put it at the counter. I am confident this will be a traffic driver for our channel.

And, yes, I hear the argument about the paltry margin. We have to suck it up while we do everything we can to leverage the traffic boost. If you are tempted to early return the title, my advice is don’t. Get behind it and sell out. The launch of Australian Cars The Collection is an opportunity for us to show what our channel can do. I suspect people will be watching us to see how we handle the opportunity. It’s up to all newsagents receiving the title to not let the channel down.

Use your newsagency software to offer a putaway service, to lock those early shoppers for this title into buying future issues from you. Good newsagency software makes putaways easy with the result being a personalised label for each cutaway customer. It’s the best approach to managing any partwork series as it provide you with control and the customer with a good experience.

This launch has been almost 2 years in the planning with a company in the UK and a company based in Asia that produces diecast cars for the world market. I know that the folks at Are Direct have used their own sales data to develop the allocation model for the title. This has taken considerable planning.

It’s been a long time since we have seen a partwork launch like this. Many newsagents in the channel today would not have experienced it before. That’s one reason I am writing this post – to share that this is a good opportunity. The TV commercial alone tagging newsagents is an opportunity for us to leverage. It should land people in your shop who are not regulars. This is the opportunity.

We should use our socials to talk about the launch, leverage the front of the store as I have already noted and ensured that everyone in the business is aware of the launch and the broader opportunity for the business.

If you are one of the 1,800+ newsagents using the Tower Systems newsagency software, please click here to access to knowledge base articles on managing cutaways.

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magazines

Rocky road ahead for Eaglemoss partworks?

There are reports out of the UK that partwork publisher Eaglemoss has filed a notice of intent to appoint an administrator.

This from Gateworld:

Report: Stargate and Star Trek Model Maker Eaglemoss Is In Financial Trouble

The U.K.-based company has filed a Notice of Intention to go into administration in the hopes of avoiding bankruptcy.
@GateWorld | 
 | JULY 15, 2022

A beloved company behind some of the best science fiction models on the market today is staring down major financial challenges, according to a report.

On July 12 Eaglemoss Limited reportedly filed a “Notice of Intention” with the courts in its home in the United Kingdom, declaring its plan to go into administration. This is according to Greg Connell, Managing Director of business publication Infolink Gazette, which monitors such filings at the U.K. High Court. Connell added that Eaglemoss’s revenue had peaked at £68 million, but in the most recent filed accounts had fallen to £31.6 million.

Though it is filed with the U.K. courts, a “Notice of Intention” is not a bankruptcy filing. Instead this is a path that permits companies to submit to an administrator to clean up its finances, pay its creditors, and avoid liquidation. Eaglemoss could emerge intact from this process, or if the reorganization proves unsuccessful the sale of its assets might lie in its future.

While this breaking story is thus far based on a single source, Bleeding Cool says that they have confirmed the report through their own (unnamed) sources.

Eaglemoss’s “Hero Collector” Star Trek collection

Eaglemoss has not yet responded publicly to the reports, and its customer service has remained closed. While the company’s main Web sites are still online, the retail shop has been down for about a week now (in the middle of a sale). The site includes a message that it is undergoing maintenance. Eaglemoss’s Twitter accounts have also been silent in the days since the filing.

There are also reports, relying on the same source at: Bleeding Cool and Daily Star Trek News.

There is also plenty of discussion on social media about this, but nothing yet from the company itself.

The fact their their online shop is not taking orders is an indication something is up. I checked it out using a VPN to place me in the UK:

It’s a story to watch given the inconsistency of supply of Eaglemoss partworks into Australia, and considering their recent announcement that for at least one significant title they are ditching retail for a direct to consumer model.

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partworks

UK partworks publisher Eaglemoss ditches Aussie newsagents after years of loyal service for a paltry margin

UK artworks publisher Eaglemoss has decided to supply the Doctor Who part series from issue 201 on direct to customers in Australia. The decision was announced in a letter to collectors.

Eaglemoss has not written to newsagents thanking them for their years of loyal service.

I reached out to the company through a couple of social media platforms querying the decision and received no response.

Eaglemoss has consistently failed to provide newsagents reasonable supply of artworks titles, so I wonder how they will go at providing their direct customers with product. Given their lacklustre customer service, I wonder how Australian subscribers will fare. There is no evidence to suggest it will go well.

It is disappointing the artworks experts at Are Direct were unable to retain previous distribution arrangements for newsagents. I wonder what their take is on the decision? Maybe I missed an announcement from them on this.

Is this the end of artworks in Australian newsagencies? It’s hard to say. But, the future is not bright. That won’t bother plenty who gave up on artworks after years and years of supply failures and the ever present competiton of sweet direct subscription deals.

To some us, however, artworks have been terrific traffic generators that we have sought to leverage into other opportunities. I have written about this plenty of times here. While their value has waned in the years since the closure of the Bissett business, a good part series was one I’d always engage with – primarily because of the TV campaign that specifically tagged our channel. It was the one time we were exclusively named in a TVC.

But back to Eaglemoss and their decision to ditch local Aussie newsagents as the retailers of the Doctor Who part series. Shame on them for their treatment of Aussie newsagents. We deserve better from them. Their Australian collectors deserve better from them.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Of course, this decision plays into a narrative about magazines, which is challenging to avoid. The problem is, we have big business vested interests who are unlikely to engage in genuinely transparent dialogue on the topic.

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Ethics

Newsagents ignored in Warhammer Mortal Realms partwork TV ad

Newsagents used to always be tagged in partwork launch TV commercials, for years and years. This was key to driving traffic and sales success. The TV campaigns always resulted in a traffic surge.

The lack of a tag on the TVC for the new Warhammer Mortal Realms partwork launch could be a reason for dismal sales so far.

Given that they show the Australian price, it would have been easy to tag newsagents on the screen and in the voice-over. What a missed opportunity! Here is the Australian TVC:

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partworks

Supercars part series

I’d be interest in feedback from others about this part series. While I may have missed it, and I apologise if I have, this part series launch does not appear to have had much support. we have it on the floor, but not in a significant position, like we did with part series of old.

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partworks

Are partworks set to be a thing of the past in Australia?

With the unexpected liquidation of partworks importer and distributor Bissett Magazines, the question is: do partworks have a future in Australia?

The closure of Bissett came as a shock to magazine professionals. Bissett had what was effectively a monopoly on partworks in Australia. They had been in this position for many years, supplying newsagents through distributors as well as fulfilling subscriptions to the public directly.

I and others I have spoken with in our channel were shocked by news of the closure and still can’t understand how or why it happened. One guess is that they wanted out and could not sell the business. Who knows!

How Bissett operated with partworks regularly frustrated newsagents as they provided their direct customers what looked like better service and greater benefits than were available to customers who purchased partworks through newsagencies.

Subscribers usually got bonus gifts or items we could not access.

There were stories of newsagency customers calling Bissett’s offices with a query and being told to switch to a subscription from them rather than buying through a newsagency.

Then, there was the problem of not being able to get sufficient stock to satisfy cutaway requests. While newsagents often blamed the distributor for supply issues, it was the supply to the distributor that setup supply challenges from the outset. It became unclear if the supply issue to distributors was an Australian issue or a UK publisher issue.

I appreciate there are plenty in the channel who would be happy for partworks to disappear. My view is not as straightforward. A good partworks title launched with a solid TV campaign is good for our channel. It generates traffic and can set people on a path of return business, more deeply connecting them with our businesses.

On top of the closure of the Bissett business in Australia is news of challenges in some partworks businesses overseas. I hope those issues settle and a new model is determined to make partworks successful in Australia.

Financially, the opportunity is considerable. However, for it to work requires a reset around the processes, more certainty for newsagents to encourage their engagement, greater efficiency in the supply model and a tech-backed solution to better connect retailers and customers to retain more in the pool supporting a partworks title.

Unless partworks publishers work with people here in Australia to provide a more relevant to today route to market I do fear partworks will fade and eventually disappear from Australia. I’d prefer the challenges to be confronted and addressed.

What happens over the next few months depends on what the UK publishers want to do in our small market. We are a small market and that is part of the challenge. However, we have been viable for the UK publishers for many years. That can continue. The ball is in their court.

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magazine distribution

Promoting Knit & Stitch launch issue

The launch issue of this new part series should sell out thanks to the TVC. The best way to leverage this is with front of store promotion. Basket data indicate partworks shoppers are more likely to purchase other items than regular magazine shoppers. Here is the TVC:

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partworks

Gotch lets newsagents down with My Little Pony Adventures part series from Eaglemoss

The My Little Pony Colouring Adventures part series launches next week. I expect issue 1 will sell out quickly for some stores while others will have returns.

I say Gotch has let newsagents down because of their typically poor and one size fits all approach.

I have had My Little Pony products from multiple suppliers in store for ages, products that appeal to kids and adult collectors of the licence, yes adults. I also have a permanent unicorn department in-store, which appeals yo MLP shoppers too.

Stores with this level of engagement could do far better with the launch that will permit with its one size fits all approach.

I’d prefer Gotch to:

  1. Invite store engagement months out.
  2. Allow us to set supply quantities, without argument.
  3. Give us a better price for firm sale.
  4. Guarantee replenishment through to issue #12.
  5. Guarantee minimum supply for the run of the series where we have confirmed putaways.
  6. Help newsagents with allied product supplier suggestions. While engaged marketing groups will be onto this, Gotch could too.
  7. Make it very easy for shoppers to find stores.
  8. Provide pre-launch collateral to facilitate preorders.
  9. Provide demographic and other insights to help newsagents understand the broader opportunity. My Little Pony has a broader appeal than as a kids toy or kids character.

Sure Gotch is a magazine distributor. See their website and see their claims of being specialist. A specialist business would do more than they have done in the lead up to the launch of this title. It is not enough in my opinion.

We are going all out as My Little Pony Colouring Adventures will drive traffic in-store. I say this because support for the MLP brand is strong, I do understand the demographic and I am already setup to leverage that into deeper basket opportunities.

To anyone at Gotch rolling their eyes, frustrated, angry or annoyed at this post – all I want is for newsagents to make the maximum amount of money possible. Your poor execution will not see this happen.

Check out a TVC from the UK launch to see why I think this part series will be a bit.

Check out collateral Gotch has shared with the public via their Twitter feed:

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magazine distribution

Who decided the last 42 issues of Art therapy would not be available in retail?

I am told that any customer wanting  the remaining 42 issues of the Art therapy partwork must subscribe. If true, this leaves committed newsagent putaway customers in the lurch and disrespects the work of  newsagents who have supported the title.

Like so much of what happens in this channel, communication on this issue is poor. It is frustrating.

The questions that need answering are:

  1. Is the information correct, has supply to retailers stopped at issue 100?
  2. Is the title now available only through subscription?
  3. Who decided this? The distributor? The publisher? In Australia? In the UK?
  4. What is the reasoning for the decision?
  5. Why should newsagent support partworks in the future?

Magazine publishers have expressed concern about newsagents reducing magazine space in their businesses. It is decisions like this that play into these floorspace allocation decisions.

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Newsagency challenges

Leveraging the Back to the Future DeLorean partwork

With the TVC on air right now, pitching this partwork launch at the front of the business is vital, right now as people will look for it. That is what we are doing – front of store display and placement with pop culture products.

I get the the partworks supply model inn Australia is as broken as ever and that there is no will by partworks publishers to solve this.

Sure there will be words of comfort if we complain to Gotch but the reality is nothing has changed for partworks.

So, the best approach is to promote the hell out of any launch so that the first issue is a success for the business, attracting new shoppers, encouraging them to taste other parts of the  business. That is what we are doing.

I like this DeLorean partwork. It will work well. However, we can no longer be certain of supply right through. We will sign people up if they ask but we will not push hard for them to sign up, not like we used to.

I have reached this conclusion having seen the web address prominently promoted on the front of issue one and having gone to the website, to see what is pitched there. Here is their offer for subscribers:

EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS FOR SUBSCRIBERS…
Never miss an issue
Delivery direct to your door
Eaglemoss customer guarantee receive these 3 superb gifts absolutely free and never miss an issue!
You can cancel at any time
Free delivery (uk only)
Dedicated customer service email

It is the near miss an issue promise with which newsagents cannot compete – because of the poor supply model by the publishers and distributor,. Shame on them for using us as they do and then ensuring people stop using us. It is galling.

I know of plenty newsagents who would take on partworks and actively promote them if there was a guarantee they would never miss an issue.

We can’t compete with the publisher as their actions disadvantage us.

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Ethics

Promoting the Star Wars Helmet Collection

We are pitching the Star Wars Helmet Collection part works launch on the lease line, next to a large range of new pop culture products ts including plenty of Star Wars products. The placement is ideal and the traffic generation opportunity excellent. This is perfect for leveraging the advertising of the partworks into a good margin dollars sale.

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partworks

Previewing the new Marvel part series

IMG_0839I have been fortunate to receive part one of the new Marvel Movie Figurines part series due to go on sale July 11. The Marvel branding is strong, which is vital for this partwork to be successful. It will appeal to Marvel fans. Placed at the front of the store, this is a product that will attract shoppers into the business.

IMG_0840Here is the figurine that comes with issue #1. Iron Man, Tony Stark. We took it out of the box to check quality. It is excellent. A collector I showed it to in the office just now gave it his blessing saying the quality good, it has a good weight and the finish is good – in fact, better than usual for  a partwork.

I urge newsagents to get behind this opportunity in-store and online as it could generate excellent new traffic for this and to connect with the national News Corp campaign starting soon.

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partworks

The time is right for partworks publishers and Gotch to treat newsagents differently

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 1.48.20 pmWith only one significant magazine distributor now, the time is right for Gotch to do things differently – and I think the company will. One such area of difference ought to be with partworks. Those of us who commercially appreciate and leverage partworks to their full potential for our businesses ought to be treated differently than those who treat them as another magazine.

I am sure we can provide greater sales certainty for the UK publishers, Gotch and our collector fans.

In one of my newsagencies we had to gift to get the new DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection. We received 5 copies. I was in a remote newsagency in Queensland a week ago and they received ten. Whereas we treated it as an event, connected with related product we sell, this other newsagents had it placed in with magazines with no special support.

I understand the frustration with partworks and the supply model and that this gets newsagents being frustrated with partworks. Allow partworks experts / specialists better attention and allocation support and the UK publishers and Gotch will soon see the network grow and sales beyond the first few issues stabilise as more of us will confidently promote putaways and that is where we make good money off of partworks as their loyalty facilitates loyalty to our businesses in other departments.

We have the technology in our shops to provide the distributor and publisher certainty for the supply model.

Now is the time for us to act on this.

Yes, I am advocating some newsagents are treated different, better, than others – based on their commitment. They treat partworks differently than others so let’s see this encoded in distribution practices.

IMG_7392With TV commercials on for partworks promoting us, we are reminded of the launch investment of the publisher and the opportunity for publisher / distributor / newsagent to agree a more equitable approach.

There is so much more that could be achieved for partworks. From where I sit, the biggest barrier is the will of the publisher to engage.

If you hate partworks, I get it – they are not for everyone. Please don;t attack those of us who love partworks and the traffic surge that flows from a TV campaign. This post is aimed at those who hate them getting less and those who love them having more control over what they get.

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magazine distribution

Build the Millennium Falcon video

Gotch has been promoting the new Built the Millennium Falcon partwork on Twitter:

Here is a video promoting the Millennium Falcon part series:

This video can be used on Facebook and in-store to bring the opportunity to life.

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magazines

Partworks at the newsagency counter

On one key counter location we have the new Doctor Who part series with a terrific display created by the team.

IMG_6824

At the other key counter location we have the first issue of the DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection.

IMG_6825

We are promoting both outside the business, ensuring customers in our area know we are the best destination for these titles. Partworks continue to be an excellent traffic driver for any engaged newsagent.

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partworks

Batman partworks opportunity for newsagents

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 1.48.20 pmThe launch yesterday of the DC Comics graphic novel collection gives us an excellent opportunity to sell more than a magazine thanks to an excellent range of licenced product from several suppliers in this space.

Some newsagents will leverage this more easily than others because of long term pop culture supplier relationships offering easier access to excellent complimentary product.

I like the male skew of the range and the visual aesthetic as it is very current.

The only risk for newsagents is runaway success and a supply pipeline that is unable to keep up. This is not the fault of Gotch as they are the carrier for the publisher who makes all the supply decisions.

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magazines

Promoting the new Dr Who partwork

20160208_102647We are promoting the new Dr Who partwork with an aisle end display, near our other Dr Who and pop culture product. With plenty of licenced products available it is easy for newsagents to leverage this opportunity way beyond magazine margin.

We are also engaging on social media to attract people who may not think of us as where to purchase this and other Dr Who products.

This is a partwork to embrace in my view.

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partworks
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