HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY THREE: TUESDAY, APRIL 1

“How America Shops”
Wendy Liebmann, Founder/CEO and Chief Shopper, WSL Strategic Retail

Wendy Liebmann painted a picture of “anarchy” to characterize the U.S. retail environment.  It is a world in which shoppers increasingly want control over the things they can control, and where prudence in shopping decisions reign.  These consumers trust themselves and strangers’ recommendations above salespeople, and they live according to a new “shoppers’ bill of rights.”

Here are a few magazine-specific highlights from the research.

Women who buy magazines have the potential to be retailers’ best customer in tough economic times because…

• People who buy magazines are less price sensitive, and enjoy browsing more than the average shopper. They also value their time and are more willing to pay a premium to get in and out of a store quickly.
  
  
• People who buy magazines, particularly women, shop in substantially more channels than the typical American shopper.  This at a time when shoppers overall are cutting back their weekly shopping trips.
  
  
• Magazines are No. 1 on the list of favorite affordable treats that women buy for themselves, beating out beverages, food, candy, cosmetics, music and videos.
  
  
• Magazines are the No. 1 item women want to see at checkout, ahead of candy, gum and mints, beverages and newspapers.

Connecting With Your Consumer

Wendy Liebmann then interviewed editor Cindi Leive about connecting to consumers. 

Leive discussed the importance of listening to her readers.  “I’m an obsessive reader of reader mail,” she confessed.  “Women have an intense personal relationship with their magazines.  As an editor, you want to be invited back into reader homes time and again.”  Leive also said editors must never be mean to their readers and that words like “bargain” in coverlines “sound grubby for young woman today.”

 
Unleashing the Power of Print: A Book Case Study
John Santanella, VP Consumer Product Marketing, Nickelodeon

The Nickelodeon executive talked about how the cable TV network extends the on-air experience to retail especially with characters like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob.  He revealed that SpongeBob generated $1 billion in retail sales last year.  “SpongeBob boxer shorts did very well for us,” he quipped.  

Grocery Super Study: The Impact of Magazines on Store Profitability                                    
Tom Griffith, Willard Bishop Consulting Group

Tom Griffith unveiled a powerful new study that provides a deep dive into the profitability of the magazine and book category at retail. 

Highlights from “Grocery SuperStudy” include:

• Books and magazines are key contributors to retailer profitability. Magazines generate a profit of $0.58 per unit, while books contribute $0.36 per unit.
  
  
• In the general merchandise category, magazines and books accounts for the lowest activity-based costs: 13.2% for magazines and 10.4% for books.
  
  
• Magazines provide higher profit per unit than other front-end categories:

            Magazines                          $0.58
            Snacks                                  0.34
            Gum                                       0.27
            Candy                                    0.12
            Carbonated beverages    (0.08)


A Case for Magazines at Retail
Jay Felts, SVP Sales and Marketing, Comag Marketing Group (right)
Drew Wintemberg, EVP of Sales, Time/Warner Retail Sales Marketing (center)
Jay Wysong, EVP and Chief Creative Officer/Operations, Distribution Services, Inc. (left)

Drew Wintemberg: Wintemberg urged retailers to speak in one collective voice with retailers.  “We need to unify our industry with newsstand like the magazine industry did with the postal lobbying effort,” he said.  “We have to put our egos aside.  If we don’t, we’ll lose the space we so richly deserve at retail.”

Jay Felts: Almost $5 billion a year is generated from retail sales of magazines, Felts revealed.  “Magazine buyers have more reasons to shop in stores” than customers who don’t buy magazines, he said.

Jay Wysong: Wysong discussed the many reasons magazines perform well at the checkout counter.  “Magazines generate more sales and profits than any other category on the front end,” he said.  He also pointed out that when magazines are positioned over the belt at the checkout counter in supermarkets, magazine sales improve.

Future of Magazines at Retail
MODERATOR
Peter Kreisky, President, The Kreisky Media Consultancy, LLC (extreme left)

PANELISTS
Jaime Carey, VP, Newsstand Division, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (extreme right)
Glen Clark, President, The News Group for North America, and EVP, The Jim Pattison Group (center)
Rich Jacobsen, President & CEO Time Warner Retail Sales and Marketing (2nd from right)
John Loughlin, EVP and General Manager, Hearst Magazines (panel left)

Supply chain representatives shared their visions of the future for the book and magazine category at retail.

Rich Jacobsen: “Magazines and books will always be a hot category. When was the last time you wanted to curl up in from of the fire with a shampoo bottle?” asked Jacobsen. He noted that there is a lot of pessimistic talk about the state of magazines and books at retail and if that continues, five to 10 years down the line “we’ll be talking ourselves right out of retail.” He urged the audience to become more proactive about changing the business to meet the times.

John Loughlin: Loughlin stated, “Consolidation is a fact of life and forces us to be more efficient.” On the subject of the contracting industry he commented, “We may be at the point that there’s a sufficiently few number of us that we can get things done.”

Glen Clark: From the wholesaler’s perspective, Clark predicted a bleak, inefficient future unless sweeping changes are made to simplify the supply chain. These changes include eliminating all duplications, widely embracing scan-based trading and tightening control over shrink.

Jamie Carey: “The key to our success is the fact we carry 5,000 magazines,” announced Carey. He noted that Barnes & Noble is in the best financial shape in its history and gave credit to newsstand for playing its part in that.  “I like the way this all works,” he said, adding, “Publishers like Time Warner and Hearst are great, great partners.” 

Enhancing the Shopping Experience Award

Stephen Leach, VP, Retail Marketing, Comag Marketing Group (pictured, left), presented the award for "Enhancing the Shopping Experience” to Donna Kittrell, Category Merchant, Wegmans. About Wegmans Leach said, “They set the bar so high and their commitment to the category is unprecedented.”  The MPA-IPDA award recognizes retailers for excellence in in-store execution, along promotion and commitment to the magazine and book category.

Conference Close
Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America

In her closing remarks Nina Link said, addressing the retailers in the audience, “Our readers are your best customers.” To publishers, she stated, “Our mantra should be: ‘Best case…more space!’”