THE PROBLEM WITH DISTRIBUTION ...
... is perfectly highlighted by what I saw at two different bookshops in one Bangkok shopping centre in the space of 20 minutes last weekend.
On the shelves of one shop are copies of the October edition of South East Asia Globe magazine (left image), yet just 100 metres away in another shop the current January edition (right image) was on sale.
Having three-month-old copies of any magazine does little, in my opinion, for brand image. If anything it damages the brand because you're left wondering whether the publisher has failed to produce another edition.The blame here must lay with both the shop and the distributors. How can they both allow old editions of any magazine to remain on sale? It probably shows the lack of a comprehensive paper trail from publisher and printer to the shop - and back again.
Another point is than any revenues from the sale of those old editions will probably not reach the publisher for another three months - some six months after the issue went on sale.
On a positive note at least South East Asia Globe had some extended branding on the shelves in the form of the unsold October editions. One of my own magazines, Bloomberg Businessweek Thailand, sold out its January edition at three central Bangkok shops and we've been left without any copies on sale in these key locations for some 10 days.
3 comments:
Nothing new there. The Post, which distributes the globe, doesn't work directly with outlets, but through a network of smaller distributors who ferociously protect their list of outlets. It takes about three months to get the money for your mags and much longer than that to get your returns -- guess what that does to your cash flow. Ironically, your printer, Allied (the Post printing arm) needs their bills paid and won't release your payment for circulation (and pulping, I suppose) until you pay your print bill.
All in all, the Post's distribution is shoddy, spotty but the only game in town as far as I know.
I've been out of the game for about four years now so some of this will have changed but you can see why circulation mistakes occur.
I cannot comment about The Post's distribution as I have no direct experience, but there are others in the game now.
What you're saying about the money and returns (if you get them) is still the case, although the distributors I've worked with are okay with providing lists of outlets, copies supplies, copies sold, etc.
Personally I'd suggest using Asia Books as an English language magazine distributor. They're hit and miss but do a generally good job, if somewhat slow compared to 'Western' standards.
Worked with Asia Books as well, although it was Bookazine's network back then. They're better in some ways but nothing like the scale of the Post's network, which is nation wide. The Post can do this because they co-opt local distributors. It's these guys who fiercely protect their contacts and distribution network because, well, a good network can be a very good earner, and they (rightly) assume that if they gave away their lists that the Post wouldn't use them any more.
Post a Comment