Category: Magazines

newsXpress members were briefed well in advance of the launch of Total Girl magazine with the Beanie Boo gift so they could ensure they had needed stock before the issue arrived in-store. This is an excellent example of publisher, distributor and retailer working together to drive the maximum retail outcome for the business.

newsXpress members win!

Magazine publisher Pacific Magazines has given newsXpress members the opportunity to select the POS packs for promotions that best work for their local situation. This is a terrific opportunity for newsXpress members as they can choose what is right for their situation rather than being forced into a one size fits all approach other magazine publishers choose.

newsXpress is grateful to Pacific Magazines for this opportunity

newsXpress supports magazines with regular advice on best practice placement and display. This photo shows the best practice placement advice provided for this weekend.

newsXpress members are placing the terrific counter unit for Total Girl and K-Zone off location with toys and gifts appropriate to the target reader to help drive valuable impulse purchases of the titles.

This placement has been recommended by newsXpress as a best practice approach for supporting these titles with the additional collateral provided by Pacific Magazines.

Sometimes the best way to grow magazine sales is outside the magazine department.

newsXpress and its member retailers are supporting the Pacific Magazines promotion offering a share in $10,000 to help pay bills.

This promotion is being promoted in-store, online and through other platforms to help drive traffic for newsXpress members and engage for higher magazine sales.

Who wouldn’t want to win $10,000?

newsXpress helps members shine a light on magazines through engaging social media campaigns.

This active work helps members drive traffic for magazines as well as helping them to show off their position as the local magazine specialist.

This is a valuable newsXpress point of difference in action – to help members grow more valuable newsXpress businesses.

Focussing on fringe titles as well as mainstream titles, this out of store marketing help by newsXpress members helps drive excellent results for our growing network of businesses.

newsXpress understands the challenges for the print magazine medium. Our approach is to make the most of the opportunity, supporting it with tactical engagement who undertaking other marketing to attract new shoppers who themselves will purchase magazines as an add-on.

This is one of many newsXpress differences.

Developed in partnership with Gordon and Gotch, newsXpress members have been promoting this wonderful special pre-order offer:

newsXpress has a comprehensive strategy for engaging with magazines and magazine related traffic, a strategy on which its members can rely.

newsXpress has been working directly to a magazine distributor and publisher on a unique and exclusive set of arrangements re the launch of a partwork in Australia. This opportunity positions newsXpress members interested in partworks ahead of others who might have the title but not in the same approach or terms as newsXpress members.

newsXpress members are actively promoting the royal baby coverage in the New Idea special issue out yesterday.

This photo shows just one of our newsXpress locations.

This photo of this display was shared with members as best practice.

We know from history that royal baby interest is strong and benefits from additional promotional activity – hence our active support for our members doing this.

The collateral provided by Pacific Magazines is terrific and helps draw attention to the opportunity.

newsXpress funded a 24 hour facebook ad campaign connecting our brand with the New Idea royal baby coverage, reaching almost 20,000 people in 24 hours.

This is the newsXpress difference in action.

The ACCC conference to consider a trial of new magazine supply rules held Thursday last week in response to a request from newsXpress was well attended. Major magazine publishers attended along with the MPA, lawyers, the ANF, VANA and NANA, newsXpress members and several independent newsagents.

No other newsagency marketing or franchise group participated in or supported this ACCC conference from what we understand.

This conference was a first for the newsagency channel. Newsagents have never had such an opportunity to speak directly to the ACCC on the issue of the magazine supply model or to confront magazine publishers and distributors directly on the damage to newsagency businesses of the magazine supply model.

It is disappointing that associations presenting newsagents have failed to achieve this previously. Newsagents participating demonstrated that they can speak confidently and personally about the matter without getting too bogged down in minutia.

The conference went for two hours with around half in attendance speaking on the proposed magazine supply rule changes.

As newsXpress had requested the conference it was invited to make an opening statement. Click here to see the submission made on behalf of newsXpress. Also read the MPA submission to which newsXpress was responding.

At the conference it became obvious there was a disconnect between what the MPA (publishers) stated at the conference and what is in its submission to the ACCC for the magazine supply trial. I hope the ACCC considers this. It is covered by my submission to the ACCC.

There was considerable discussion about the failure of the magazine distributors to use the sales data provided by newsagents to set supply figures. In discussing data, a Bauer representative commented that there were many newsagency software packages, inferring working with them was difficult. I pointed out that they, Bauer, played a direct role in approving each newsagency software package for us.

Several newsagents challenged the ANF endorsement of the proposed new supply rule trial and that there had been no consultation. To this, the ANF CEO said there had been consultation citing an article in National Newsagent and a mention in an email to its members.

Had the ANF done its job it would have hosted national meetings where any newsagent could comment on the proposed trial. Indeed, the MPA could have organised such consultation. Instead, it relied on casual discussions with a select group of people and the submitted to the ACCC that it had consulted widely with all stakeholders.

newsXpress asked the MPA if they had sought to understand what newsagents who are growing magazine sales had done. The MPA representative said they had not and that it was not part of this trial.

Our view is that this trial is about researching efficiency gain opportunities for magazine distributors and publishers. Those goals are wrapped up to look like there is a benefit for newsagents.

The new magazine supply model outlined by the MPA in their submission to the ACCC does not provide newsagents with any significant benefits, it will not make us more competitive, it will not stop oversupply, it will not make magazines more profitable for newsagents, it will not stop newsagents reducing their commitment to magazines.

If the MPA did research newsagents who are growing magazine sales they would discover learnings which would be of more commercial benefit to the newsagency channel and magazine publishers.

This is a vitally important matter for all newsagents. newsXpress will continue to fight for a fair magazine supply model.

Newsagents ought to ask where the group they belong to is on this issue and why they were not at the conference.