Author: mark

I am a Director of newsXpress, a marketing group for newsagents keen for a bright future. You can reach me on +61 418 321 338 or mark[at]towersystems.com.au

Welcome new members of newsXpress

nx_terr.jpgWelcome to new newsXpress members joining us this month in Eli Waters, Strathpine, Bathurst, Terrigal and Nambour. We are thrilled to welcome these new members of the newsXpress family.  Each newsagent joining newsXpress goes through an evaluation process.

Our interest is in attracting entreprenurial disciplined newsagents who are committed to the principles of newsXpress.  The size of the newsagency is not a key factor.

The photo shows Andrew Strachan, partner in newsXpress Terrigal (with Cathy) photographed with Graham Randall, Director of newsXpress, at the NANA Newsagent of the Year Awards last week.

More online workshops for newsXpress members

Michelle Caia, our in-house calendar expert, is hosting an a repeat of her successful online Making the Most from 2010 Calendars workshop for newsXpress members.  Michelle’s knowledge and newsXpress calendar deals make this a valuable category for our members.

Trent Shields, our National Marketing Manager,  is hosting a repeat of his successful workshop for newsXpress members on Local Area Marketing.  This workshop provides an excellent networking opportunity as Trent faacilitates practical business discussion and a sharing of local marketing ideas.

These online workshops are in addition to newsXpress’ face to face member meetings – the next series of which is being held in April.  Workshop details will be announced to newsXpress members in the next couple of days.

Great ink deals from newsXpress newsagencies

newsXpress newsagencies have excellent deals on ink and toner.  In addition to excellent prices, our current brochure offers a supplier backed cash back deal, a supplier backed discount off additional ink purchased (beyond the first cartridge), a supplier backed 10% discount off USB sticks and a supplied backed free picnic hamper. Our pricing and the associated offers are the best available through newsagencies at the moment.

Our deals are promoted in a colour flyer distributed to hundreds of thousands of homes.  The flyer professionally represents our brand and the brands of our supplier partners.

Here is the front page of the flyer:

nxhink.jpg

We are proud to lead the newsagency channel on ink deals and drive excellent traffic for our newsXpress members.   We are also proud to not use lazy marketing like – we will not be beaten on price.  Harsh as this may sound, we see that approach – we will not be beaten… – as follower marketing.  Leadership, while harder work, delivers more loyal customers.  We like loyal customers at newsXpress.  This is why our merchandise team invests so much time in creating ink flyers with genuine market-leading offers.

For a list of participating newsXpress newsagencies, please click here.

newsXpress Easter offers drive good sales

feast3.JPGnewsXpress members are reporting excellent Easter sales with the products sourced from newsXpress recommended suppliers.  From excellent Russ and Gund plush to Chocolatier Easter Eggs, we have members reportting having passed last year’s Easter sales already and we still have two full weeks to go.

We know from our sales data tracking that stores with good Easter gift and egg sales will also see good greeting card sales. The cross-department benefit of our strategy is valuable.

As we do with each season, we will seek and consider newsXpress member and supplier sales data and feedback.  This will help us guide better seasonal product and marketing decisions.

VANA golf day success

img_6025a.jpgnewsXpress is thrilled to have been a financial supporter of the VANA Golf Day yesterday.  Newspower was the other marketing group putting cash on the table supporting the popular event.  Some of our team played and had a great time mixing with Victorian newsagents an newsagency suppliers.

The photo shows our own Ron Thorpe decked our in newsXpress gear at the VANA golf day – demonstrating the importance of strong branding.

Golf days are an excellent networking opportunity for newsagents, relaxing too.  This is why newsXpress welcomes opportunities to support them.  We are firm believers in providing newsagents with opportunities to talke in a relaxed environment.

Expansion of Business Development Team in Queensland

jeff8.jpgJeff Walsh is moving from a merchandise role to a Business Development role with newsXpress in Queensland. Jeff brings a wealth of experience in the stationery and related categories to this new role. He suggested the move after spending the last six months working in the field with newsXpress members on planagrams for several key newsXpress stationery offers.

Jeff will retain a watching brief in the merchandise role, ensuring that the group leverages his excellent industry contacts and knowledge for newsXpress members nationally.

Jeff joins Belinda Adshead in sharing Business Development Manager responsibilities for our large Queensland member base. This means we will be able to get to members more regularly. These visits by our Business Development Managers provide members with practical help in building healthier businesses.

Best of all, the regular visits by newsXpress Business Development Managers are free – part of the newsXpress deliverables.

Newsagent networking opportunity

The newsXpress member meetings which we are hosting in April will have a strong networking component – there will be excellent opportunity for newsagents to share ideas with each other and learn from each other. Our role is to provide the environment and the open discussion between colleagues.

We have several discussion starter topics we will bring to the meetings to get people sharing their approach to issues newsagents face. Our goal is to focus discussion on parts of newsagencies which local management can change.

Newsagents considering joining newsXpress are welcome to ask for an invitation to a member meeting – or book directly online at our website.

Ron Thorpe guides newsXpress members on greeting cards

ron_thorpe.jpgAs National Business Development Manager for Hallmark Cards, Ron Thorpe developed an excellent reputation for his formidable knowledge about greeting cards and how newsagents can configure their businesses for optimum competition in this category. In his role with newsXpress, Ron guides the group on greeting card strategy.  Our access to Ron’s insights and knowledge is a key point of difference in the newsXpress offer.  Ron is also available as a resource to members on store-specific card issues.

newsXpress has assembled a team of experts to help in various parts of member businesses. Thanks to the expertise of Ron Thorpe and the rest of the team, newsXpress is able to help newsXpress newsagents lead the channel on year-on-year growth.

newsXpress at QLD State Conference

20090324_0143.jpgnewsXpress had an excellent contingent at the QNF Queensland State Conference yesterday in Brisbane. The conference provided a range of stimulating speakers and some excellent opportunities for networking with newsagents and suppliers. newsXpress is proud to have been a key financial supporter of the event and to have had another opportunity through which to demonstrate practical support for all newsagents. Kudos to the QNF for excellent organisation.

Customers responding to newsXpress coupons

nx_coupons.jpgnewsXpress members are reporting a good response to the call to action coupons on the latest HOT Ink! flyer.  Redeeming the coupons, customers are able to go beyond the very competitive pricing on the flyer.  This is another way newsXpress is positioning the brand with a differentiating value proposition.

We understand that we need to keep innovating to find new customers for our members.  This month’s coupon offer will evolve in the next HOT Ink! flyer.  What will not change is our commitment to brand – in this marketplace, brand is important as it represents value in the minds of consumers.  This is why we boldly support HP, Canon, Epson and brother.

newsXpress baskets make shopping easy

nx_shop_bag.JPGThe newsXpress branded basket makes shopping easier in our stores while reinforcing our brand at the same time. The quality of the basket itself speaks to the quality of the newsXpress brand.  These baskets are another opportunity for our members to anchor their businesses around the newsXpress brand and distance themselves from the more generic and vague newsagency shingle.

We understand the importance of shoppers knowing where they are – knowing the name of the business helps being them back to us based on the experience.

The baskets, our newsXpress branded bags, staff uniforms, name badges and other in-store tools professionally represent the newsXpress brand and the shopping experience.  Attention to these details is as important as is attention to having the right mix of products sourced for the right price.

Second newsXpress location in Bathurst

21st-march-001.jpgGeoff and Virginia Dale opened their second newsXpress location in Bathurst this week.  This newsXpress newsagency / gift shop looks excellent by all accounts – welldesigned, very professional presentation, well stocked and with a team of friendly staff ready to provide the excellent customer service for which they have become known in Bathurst.

Geoff and Virginia have stocked the shop with traditional newsagency lines: magazines, newspapers, Lotteries and major brands of stationery.  They have also brought in an excellent range of gifts – sales in the first couple of days have shown the value of excellent buying in the gift department.

Local area marketing workshop

newsXpress is hosting an online workshop on Local Area Marketing next week, on Tuesday March 24. 

How to grow your sales using Local Area Marketing will be facilitated by Trent Shields, our National Marketing Manager.  This is set to be an informative session and is sure to deliver tools newsXpress members can use to grow their businesses.  Crucially, the session will connect members from various states in a discussion abut local marketing – it is networking like this which newsXpress members love.

Bookings are via the members area of the newsXpress website.

Transparency with newsXpress members

As part of our commitment to transparency, newsXpress has provided six pages of notes from the recent round of member meetings.  This keeps those unable to attend in the loop on what was discussed and opens opportunities for further discussion on the many topics covered.  The notes also hold newsXpress accountable to its members on responses to issues and other deliverables.

This is another way newsXpress demonstrates its difference in the newsagency marketing group space.

The fashionable newsXpress bag

zoe.jpgHere is the latest in how to use the newsXpress red bag!!! Zoe, sister of newsXpress Kin Kora member Sarah, is shown wearing a newsXpress red bag as a top to a Rubik’s cube party. As sarah says: It’s the most fashionable red bag I’ve ever seen. We agree!

The newsXpress red bags are provided to newsXpress members for sale and for use with in-store and local area promotions.  It’s another part of our environmental strategy.

newsXpress supports Queensland newsagents

newsXpress is proud to be able to demonstrate practical support for newsagents by being a major sponsor of the Queensland Newsagents State Conference next week.  Our newsXpress Gold sponsorship and a Bronze sponsorship by Newspower are the only newsagent marketing group support for the conference.  Other marketing groups have passed on the opportunity to show their support not only for the QNF but for newsagents more broadly.

newsXpress urges all marketing groups to proactively support newsagents and events like next week’s conference for it is these events which strengthen the channel which is important to us.