GETTING SEEN: THE SAME PROBLEM

Nothing has changed in the almost ten years since I first arrived in Thailand: getting your magazine seen on the bookshelves is nothing short of a nightmare.
This is even more true in the smaller, Thai language shops where cramming as many copies of an edition onto the shelves seems to be the name of the game.
Even this picture, which I took today at a large shopping mall in Bangkok, shows the problem that many magazine publishers have in getting their magazines sold on the basis of stunning covers and a strong cover story.
In a situation like this, even an award-winning cover story would not necessarily lead to a sale. It's more about building loyalty and getting readers to recognise and search for your brand, as opposed to selecting the first magazine they see covering their topic of interest.
Forget merchandising. There are too many magazine outlets in Bangkok alone to have someone visit shops on a daily basis to ensure a magazine is clearly and correctly displayed. Five minutes later it will be back to the chaos you can see here.
What's the answer? How would you deal with this as a magazine publisher?