Covers Sell

The April 13th 2015 issue of Maclean’s is a real grabber.  With Easter upon us, they’ve timed this issue perfectly.

And by including other religions in the “new research”, they’ve successfully broadened the market appeal.  Heck, even atheists

won’t be able to resist picking it up.

Look for this issue to see a big spike in sales.

The April 2015 issue of National Geographic is sure to be a big seller.

This photograph of the 16th President is iconic.  This cover marks the tragic anniversary of his murder 150 years ago.  Lincoln is considered by many historians to be the greatest president of all time.  He won the Civil War, preserved the Union, and liberated a people who were enslaved.

Despite the election of our first black President (Obama), racial tensions in the USA are sadly still a simmering issue.  This cover feature not only celebrates the legacy of Lincoln but places it in the context we find ourselves in today.  A great read.

The Apr/May 2015 issue of Canadian Cycling sports its annual Buyers Guide on the cover.

This year’s edition features a simple color scheme using a vibrant blue backdrop, white drop out, and red and black to draw the eye to some of the key selling benefits.

The approach is “less is more.”

The issue is 124 pages thick and perfect bound.

The Art Director is Warren Wheeler.

Good News!  This just in…

“Gateway Newstands announces today that Peter Willson has joined the company to manage a full range of areas within the Press department including wholesale relationships and field operations. Peter comes to us with a valuable experience within the entire publishing industry, having recently spent two years at Coast to Coast Newsstand Partnership after a successful career at Rogers Media. Peter was instrumental in the launch of Hello! magazine in Canada and its phenomenal success and growth on the newsstand since 2006. He is a previous Canadian Newsstand Marketer of the Year .
Peter joins Gateway Newstands to continue the aggressive growth plans initiated by the company last year with the acquisition of 27 former LS Travel locations, Urban Retail division. Press is a major component within these locations, many referred to as ‘magazine destination locations.’ Together with our existig Press locations in Canada, these new locations have created the need for this new position to focus on in-store merchandising and training of store personnel in the effective and profitable management of the magazine category.

Gateway Newstands is delighted to add Peter and his wealth of knowledge and experience to the Press Management team. His vision and passion for the press category will enlighten all he works with at both Head office and at store level.

About Gateway Newstands

Gateway Newstands is North America’s largest newsstand retailer with over 500 locations. Gateway specializes in mall, office and transportation stores with the newest growth area in hospital locations. Gateway also operates a food services division (Bakery / Café on the Go) as well as Gateway Direct Media for the circulation of ‘free’ publications in the TTC and GO Transit divisions.
Contact

Arlene Shepard, VP Press Management
905-851-9652, ext 240
arlene@gatewaynewstands.com

Zoomer magazine, who recently won 2 Awards at the Canadian Cover Awards, has just released their new covers for the April 2015 issue.  One cover is for subscribers, and is a bit playful, while the cover for newsstand cranks up the heat.

As noted by Zoomer Magazines’s Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Boyd:

“This issue marks our third themed one covering that three-letter word.  It’s a big word that can mean so much and so many different things to people of various ages, genders and preferences, that we decided to celebrate it with two cover treatments. We approach the topic head to toe, inside and out with perspectives on what boomer men and women want and don’t want between the sheets.”

The Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA) has released the winning magazines for the Best Cover Award.

The Showcase Gold and Silver winners  were announced and celebrated at the Alberta Magazine Awards Gala on March 5th.

Visit: www.albertamagazines.com/awards for more information.

(Full Disclosure:  I was one of 3 judges)

The Gold Award went to:

Western Living September – Paul Roelofs, art director; Evaan Kheraj portrait photographer

The Silver Award went to:

Up!Magazine The Food Guide – Theresa Johnston art director, Erin Burns photographer, Pierre Lamielle food stylist

The Mar/Apr 2015 issue of Canadian Antiques & Vintage is scheduled to hit newsstands on March 23rd, 2015. This cover is, in my opinion, the best cover they have ever done. The robin’s egg blue is such a compelling background color.  The central image is an extremely popular furniture item. The cover is clean and uncluttered. The Art Director is Kate Sharrow. Canadian Antiques & Vintage retails for $7.95 and is perfect bound with an over-sized trim.

Last May I posted Outdoor Canada‘s Summer 2014 issue along side the Summer 2013 issue as Cover of The Week.

I praised the gutsy move to test something different.  But pointed out that it was going to be tough to beat the results from the previous year.

Sure enough, the Retro approach for 2014 didn’t work.

Despite a draw that was increased by 11%, the Retro cover fell short by 21% compared to the prior year’s cover.

Back in May of 2014 I posted the May 12th 2014 issue of Maclean’s as Cover of the Week.  I said:

“This cover is just having so much fun, how can a newsstand junkie not give in to temptation?

For skybar lovers, Maclean’s can always be counted on for strong, easy to read skybar.

Nice use of the cover real estate.  Overall just a great magazine cover!”

So, how did it sell?  Only 3 of the 21 covers in the first half of 2014 outsold it.  It beat the average sale for the first half of 2014 by 22%.

Nice job!

Back in April 2014 I posted the May 2014 issue of Zoomer as the cover of the week.

It sold 2,187 more copies than the issue in the same time slot in the prior year.

That’s a 47% lift.

Very nice results indeed!