书城社科美国期刊理论研究
14260600000108

第108章 名家讲演(10)

6.改变后的模式

我们的目的是使杂志零售发生根本的变化。我们需要改变杂志在零售店的地位,从摆设商品转变为目标商品。

我们的目标非常清楚:

1.使杂志不再与一些日用商品竞争货位。

2.使杂志成为带来顾客盈门的目标商品,增加顾客的满意度,增强顾客的忠诚度。

3.提升杂志的娱乐价值。

4.将杂志销售区建成所有超市都依赖的高价值的商品区。

目标商品部

我们做了调查以证明改变的必要性。我们知道杂志销售区会吸引众多顾客,而且向他们提供娱乐。

在销售情况最好的超市,受访的杂志购买者中有75%表示在进店前已经计划好要光顾杂志区。在这75%中又有80%的顾客是进来寻找某本刊物或某种类型的刊物。同一调查显示相对于每一个杂志购买者,就有多达6个顾客只是随便看看。

对零售商来说这一数字非常宝贵,因为它意味着建设一个具有吸引力的杂志区不仅增加了次要购物者的进店体验,而且延长了主要购买者的购物时间、提高了消费金额。

事例:7-Eleven

最近我们和7-Eleven的高层领导会面时,他们表示非常看好杂志。

他们的调查表明杂志区是7-Eleven的一个顾客停留区,为商店招徕了客流,也增加了销售。他们认为7-Eleven的杂志区是经过精心设计和雕琢的,他们运用逐店设计的管理模式,按照客流统计数据进行配送。

巧合的是,这次会面也体现了基准的重要性——他们仍然在用错误的数据和信息。我们的新基准受到了热烈欢迎。

从摆设到目标商品

我们正在进行几项创新活动以证明从摆设到目标商品的转变。

我们首次开展了一项调查活动,调查在超市顾客眼中杂志的作用和地位,包括:针对杂志他们表现出的态度和做法;杂志在提升购物体验以及影响顾客忠诚度方面起到的作用。

我们也愿意应用那些最好的设计理念来革新杂志的零售方式,并且设计出一个有吸引力的顾客停留目标区。

我们已经处于讨论如何才能做到最好的起步阶段。

我们能做些什么?

杂志业必须更加努力地将零售工作做到更好。

1.通过与零售商建立关系;

2.通过支持分类管理模式;

3.通过将准则运用到零售经济中去;

4.通过将营销才能运用到零售渠道中去;

5.通过冲破长期存在的“以一种适应所有”观念的界限。

迎接挑战

我希望大家已经非常清楚我们面临的选择了。忽视零售使我们处于危险的境地。我们有详细的计划,我们正在寻求解决办法。有了你们的支持与参与,杂志必将在零售业中表现得更加活跃。

Nina Link

President&;CEO,Magazine Publishers of America

Zeitschriftentage

November 2,2006

Berlin,Germany

I was delighted to receive the invitation to speak at this conference-Zeitschriftentage 2006.

Magazine publishers around the world are dealing with challenges in the areas of distribution,readership,measurement,advertising,and,of course,the explosion of digital opportunities.By sharing our experiences,I believe we can all share in the future growth of our powerful magazine brands.

Last week,MPA had its annual executive conference in Phoenix Arizona,which we call the American Magazine Conference,or AMC for short.The theme of the Conference was“Beyond the Page”-recognizing that great magazines are brands and ideas that live beyond their pages.It was a conference about transformation-transforming how we do business;how we organize ourselves;how we become customer-centric;and how we measure our efforts.

I see many similar topics on your program-Publishing Beyond Print,Media Convergence,Online Publishing,and Organizing Community to name a few.I thought by giving you some of the highlights of our conference program,you will get a sense of how we are facing addressing these issues.

Topic 1:Are We a Brand or a Magazine?

This might be the most important question magazine publishers need to be asking these days.We think it's so critical that on the opening morning of the conference,Rick Smith,Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek moderated a conversation about this topic with Ann Moore,Chairman and CEO of Time Inc.,and Steve Murphy,President and CEO of Rodale.It was called“Just What Business Are We In?”

How would you answer the questions?Would you say we are in the magazine business,the content business,the brand business or the business of community?

These U.S.executives answered that we are in all those businesses-magazine,content,brand and community-but the brand is in the center.In other words,we are in the brand business,brands that are presently anchored in our print publications and now encompass every available medium and format:Web sites,video,live events,wireless,podcasts,RSS feeds and licensed products.All three of these CEOs are transforming their companies by centralizing their editorial staffs and making their editors-in-chief the stewards of their brands.They are also reorganizing their sales staff to address the shifts taking place in the advertising business.

Everywhere we see a proliferation of media and content channels.Advertisers,at least in the U.S.,won't give much credence to a proposal that doesn't follow their customers across the various content platforms.An executive from ESPN(the sports franchise)spoke at a MPA breakfast recently and said he was in the sports fan business and would follow them wherever they go.Consumers follow their passions and advertisers follow the consumers.To be sure ESPN,like Newsweek,Rodale and Time Inc.faces the usual business,organizational,and cultural issues that come with change.Each will admit that it is hard,but they are pressing forward to strengthen their relationship with the readers and to“reach out and touch”the reader wherever they are-in print or on a screen through elegant photography or moving pictures,even in the case of ESPN,on a T-shirt.

Topic 2:Retail

Whenever publishers gather,retail is a natural topic of conversation.Even though single copies only account for about 15%of U.S.circulation,retail sales provide 30%of circulation revenue so it's an important area of focus.At our annual conference,we heard good news and bad news.Stephen Riggio,the Chief Executive Office and Vice Chairman of Barnes&;Noble was interviewed by Cathie Black,the President of Hearst Magazines.We were thrilled to hear Mr.Riggio declare that reading was alive and well.His analysis of Barnes&;Noble store data shows that consumers are hungry for print,and he has seen no decline in teen reading.He had the conference audience clapping and cheering when he told them he would like to give more space to magazines.

Magazines have the prime real estate in his stores.European publishers might be interested to note that the second best-selling magazine in his chain is not from an American publisher.It's the Economist.That certainly says something about his customers who spend an amazing one hour during store visits.Only 10%of transactions include a magazine-a number he feels leaves tremendous room for growth.He also told the audience that Barnes&;Noble online and the retail stores complimenteach other and do not cannibalize sales from each other as many had predicted.