In conjunction with PBAA’s mission to bring real issues to the table, more than 50 single copy professionals attended the PBAA seminar Focus Forward: 2010 on Thursday, December 3 in New York. IPDA Newsstand Forum’s Karlene Lukovitz has reported on both panel discussions – see these write-ups on the PBAA homepage www.pbaa.net. Also, PBAA members may request a CD of the audio of this seminar by emailing jcancio@pbaa.net.
FOCUS FORWARD: 2010
After the opening welcome by PBAA President Joe Gallo, PBAA’s Mary McEvoy questioned Carol Smith, Senior VP, Chief Brand Officer, Elle; and Steve Giannetti, President, SPG Media (and past Publisher, National Geographic as well as Prevention) on corporate management views of newsstand.Their comments included:
* Newsstand is still considered a primary metric for Madison Avenue. No other magazine source proves a titles vitality to a media buyer. The Newsstand buy is the purest choice as it is displayed side by side at full cover price vs the highly discounted subscription source (i.e. 5 titles for $5.00)
* Publishers want newsstand personal to be informative - pass on sales results, engage in cover debates and be the expert in your company.
PBAA’s Rich Alleger then introduced the “Real Talk on Pressing Newsstand Challenges” panel, which included Steve Etter, Harrisburg News Company; Buzz Kanter, TAM Communications; Jim Miller, CMG-Hearst; Peter Olson, The News Group Canada; and Curtis Packer, HDS Retail North America. Their comments included:
Publishers:
Budgets across the board are trying to do more with less...addressing the ABCs of newsstand. Distribution work to effectively place copies in the most productive sources, key to 2010 is to get a handle on the right allotment quantities.
Cover testing works best IN MARKET vs online.
Content is king - if you make your magazine indispensable they will come. But by cutting stock, minimizing trim size and reducing page count you greatly hurt your appeal and the consumer's perception of any value.
If you are looking to cut costs think about your allotment before you allow the perception of the magazine to be devalued.
The industry is driving towards a 2-tier channel - supermarket/mass merchandiser with predominantly checkout titles and then the bookstore/transportation outlets with a fuller complement of categories
Wholesalers:
Communications can drive sales but there's still not enough of it. Local interest, specials, annuals - get the message out to all partners and work within locations of interest for increased displays and allocations.
Supermarkets/mass merchandisers will always get the lion's share of attention as the ROI makes the most sense. The smaller, independents are not being pursued because of the cost of doing business doesn't allow.
Pass Through RDA - when will this become a reality and give the wholesaler more clout to compete for increased display space
Retailer:
They too have to compete within their operations for display space. The more added value they can acquire the better for magazine space and sales potential. Promotions fuel sales - consider co-promotions with other magazine or products. Any idea is worth a discussion - particularly now when promotional dollars are fewer and new ideas for space usage are welcome.
In summary, moderator Rich Alleger reviewed the key takeaways from this panel:
1. Spend time researching and confirming your copies are going to the correct accounts and in the correct quantities. Remove returns whenever possible.
2. Focus time on those locations, retailers and classes of trade which provide the greatest number of copies sold. Invest time and when necessary money to maintain.
3. Communicate to wholesalers and retailers, any key special issue information.....be it cover related, a geographic highlight or other major event, tell people and tell them early enough so activity can be managed around the information.
4. To those responsible for single copy sales: Get "A seat at the Editor's Table". You need to engage the editors on some regular basis to review sales and covers.
5. Educate yourself on the importance of the retailer's bottom line.
