Task 5: Newsstand task/Distribution of magazines

I visited WHSmith to find a magazine newsstand. I came across this newsstand where the magazines were laid out orderly according to what type they were. The images above show the music magazine section that I looked at. I realised that the magazines were ordered according to their genres. For example Rock and Q magazines are put next to each other, which show the competition between them and how important it is for the magazines to stand out.

·        Country magazine on the top part of the newsstand stands out with its Unique Selling point (USP) as it has a larger masthead with a different layout and has been placed in the front of other magazines on the same row, catching attention and reinforcing itself.

·        I can also see that more of the popular magazines with large mastheads are placed in the front whereas the less popular magazines are placed at the back, showing that the magazines behind have used larger mastheads and different colours that can catch the attention of buyers in order rather than the ones in the front that are much more recognizable and easy in persuading the buyer to buy them.

·        Some of the cover lines on the magazines at the front and the cover star images also catch attention and are visible enough for the buyers to see.

·        More popular magazine companies have their tag lines on the borders of the newsstand. For example NME magazine has their masthead printed out with their tag line “Bringing the best in new music”, which can encourage buyers to have a look at the magazine and look for it, even if it’s behind other magazines or in front of them.

·        Magazines such as Mixmag and Terrorizer on the bottom part of the newsstand have free gifts such as CD’s of the cover stars which catch more attention and may be more encouraging for buyers as it can be seen as USP, because most of the other magazines do not have CD gifts.

·        Hammer magazine behind has a large masthead with a golden colour, which is a USP as it is the only magazine with a large masthead and gold colour. It can catch attention easily even though it is behind a lot of other popular magazines.

Magazine distribution Magazines are published by what we call institution publishers. They produce various different magazines and have small independent publishers that publish other magazines. They deal with the shape and design of magazines, what it contains and many more. They also control the advertising of the magazines. Advertising is important to publishers as they have a lot of financial contributions to the profit the publishers make. There are four main publishers in the UK. These are EMAP, IPC, Conde Nast and NatMag. These publishers use circulation figures which include sales levels and other related information which helps them and supports them on the number of issues produced for each magazine and which locations they should be distributed in.

Sale or ReturnThe Sale or Return system is used by many publishers today. WHSmith is an example of aretailer that is in agreement to the Sale or Return system. The magazine/newspaper distributors who work for specific publishers are people who run this system. It is one of the oldest but still the most popular method publisher’s use. The way it works is that the distributors send out copies to retailers. All of these copies are expected to be sold, however if less are sold from the expected number, the copies are sent back to the distributor. They are retuned with no costs involved to the retailer. This system has many benefits and drawbacks to it. It is beneficial to the retailers as for them there aren’t anything being wasted or any risks involved. There are also no costs that are under risk which is beneficial to the retailers. More of the drawbacks are to the distributors/publishers. It is a wasteful and expensive process that has a large negative impact on the environment, and is very risky.

Distribution networksPublishers use distribution networks after all the magazine ideas are put altogether. The network of distributors deal with what happens to the magazines and each step it goes through until the last step where they are placed in newsstands and where they are sold in. Magazines are first took to the regional distributors. These distributors take the magazines to the shops/markets/newsagents who place them on newsstands according to the information they have been given by the regional distributors. The placement of the magazines are very important as they can determine how much of them are sold and if they are successful enough or not.

Direct distribution (Freemiums)Direct distribution is another popular method after the Sale or Return system. Free issues of magazines are given to people or freemium versions of magazines are produced. These magazines are given to the public more in the areas that are busy of places such as stations and/or iconic public locations. These magazines feature a lot of adverts, and therefore make almost all of its profit just from advertising. This is an effective way of advertising the magazine itself, as if the freemiums are considered interesting enough, the original magazine may be bought by a lot of customers, and may be successful.

Postal/electronic subscriptionBuyers that usually purchase most issues of magazines who are considered to be the ‘readers’ of a magazine, can choose to be a part of the subscription. People who are subscribed to a certain niche magazine can read magazines by having them posted to their houses, generally at an inexpensive price. It is an easy method of constant readers, and makes the relationship between the magazine and the reader stronger. It is beneficial to the buyers as it is a cheap way of buying the magazine a multiple times rather than paying a high amount individually. In addition to this these types of magazines usually feature gifts along with the magazine, which is another benefit to the customers.  Postal subscription can be beneficial to the publishers of the magazine as issues are not wasted like they are in the Sale or Return system. It is also a profitable process to the publishers. 

Similarly, customers who are subscribed to a magazine electronically will benefit from the same things. However the only difference between postal and electronic subscription is that the magazine is sent to buyers electronically, usually to a tablet such as an iPad or Kindle Fire.

EzinesEzines are electronic magazines similiar to physical magazines. They are different from normal magazine websites as the viewer can turn the pages around, see the adverts and view page numbers. An example of a music magazine is RWD. It is an example of a magazine that gives the ezines for free and the electronic features it includes such as video clips are very effective.

Apps and electronic brand extension
Most magazines today have apps on smartphones such as iPhones or apps on tablets such as the iPad, that show some features and content from them. These are usually connected through a QR code or some sort of a barcode that can be found on the front cover of a magazine. Most magazines today also have social networking accounts on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Magazine information can be followed through these sites, and it allows the magazine companies to develop. When developed, the companies can develop further with other events such as launching gigs, all for the overall benefit of the magazine.