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POP THE TOP - DOES IT INCREASE RACK SALES?
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Billy Simkins

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:53 pm

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I’ve had a lot of inquiries from designers and students weather or not impact really increases rack sales. Obviously there are many variables on what pushes the rack, but some of our recent rack numbers showed somewhat of a trend. I can’t give you specific numbers but I can say that our pages that have punch tend to outsell the same day papers without the punch. One of the tops I’ve included is a typical celebrity scandal teaser that’s far from great design or great content for that matter. To the surprise of most of us, even that paper moved more papers than it’s predecessors that had less of an impact on the top. Our rack trends as a whole are out performing last years papers which displayed less impact on a daily basis. It’s becoming apparent, in our market anyway, that when it comes to moving the racks pop seems to matter.


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Last edited by Billy Simkins on Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:33 am; edited 3 times in total
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nicole bogdas

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:19 pm

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There is absolutely no reason your circ department shouldn't have those numbers at its fingertips. Take a walk over there, man. This has been your schitk since the start and there's still no real-life proof.

Besides, you say, "Obviously there are variable on what pushes the rack..." Of course, but the real test of the Bako approach would be to see how you're up on slow news days vs. the year before. Summer's the perfect time to check that out.

I think we could all learn a lot from the hard numbers behind your philosophy, including you.
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Billy Simkins

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:40 pm

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The numbers I saw were in the range of 100-300 copy increases on the rack for those specific days. Maybe a little more on some. We're not talking about doubling circulation numbers but any step in the right direction is good news at this point in the newspaper industry. As far as what drives rack sales, the only thing you can do is compare Friday to Friday, Monday to Monday etc.
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francie Williamson

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:17 pm

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I too am pretty skeptical. We post papers vs. a year ago and on average we're up a few hundred copies on some days, again depending on the news and what's going on. And we've looked the same for awhile. I doubt the fact you had a huge promo to Ratatouille really was the driving force.
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Billy Simkins

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:28 pm

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Next time our circulation director visits, I'll see if I can grab news numbers in relation to future impact pages. She did mention that our rack numbers were starting to show increase. There could well be other factors. As far as the desk is concerned, the only thing I can see that we're really doing different is throwing the dice more on the flag.

Impact flags do their work in 7/11's and supermarkets where you have stacked papers competing for visual attention.

Here's another way of looking at it. You can drive down any metro freeway and see gobs of billboards, most you may ignore. The vast majority are trying to compete against other billboards for your attention. The same rules of design should hold true for news racks. I go into a market everyday before work. I can predict on most days when the papers will be sold out or near sold out in that market. Not all the time, but most of the time. How accurate is this? I don't know, it is however somewhat predictable.
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Last edited by Billy Simkins on Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:51 am; edited 4 times in total
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Brian Cubbison

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Posted:
Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:42 pm

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I like to see images of what the front page looks like in a newspaper box, in a stack at the convenience store, and various other real-life situations. Most of the discussions about above-the-fold play don't take into account real-world environments, and I'd like to find out more.
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Greg Swanson

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Posted:
Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:47 am

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Billy Simkins wrote::
The numbers I saw were in the range of 100-300 copy increases on the rack for those specific days. Maybe a little more on some. We're not talking about doubling circulation numbers but any step in the right direction is good news at this point in the newspaper industry. As far as what drives rack sales, the only thing you can do is compare Friday to Friday, Monday to Monday etc.



I hate being late to a party, but I'm here now.

Um, what? How do you not know your circulation numbers EVERY day. Circulation departments can give you week over week, year over year, against the four-week average. All that stuff. And, when you're doing something so experimental as your topper you should have those numbers given to you every single day. When we did our single copy edition we knew the numbers always. How could you not. Up 100-300 gets you, what, $50 to $150. That's not the numbers you want for the effort you're giving on that front. If someone is telling you they don't have the numbers they are being lazy. It takes a few days to get them for current week papers, but c'mon, dude, you know they're out there. Is the answer the fact that it's not moving the needle enough? Before I left the Times we talked about getting rid of promos all together. Our circulation folks were convinced they did little or nothing for single copy. In the end, it will always be about content. Until we start being relevant we can keep pulling tricks but the reader isn't buying it.
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Billy Simkins

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Posted:
Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:09 pm

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Greg, when you talk about 100 here, 300 there, what you're talking about is potential subscribers. In the newspaper industry it's a success if you can STOP the decline. I find it very hard to believe that any paper would think that promos to what's inside your paper would be of no significance when the majority of newspaper research points the other direction.
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nicole bogdas

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Posted:
Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:32 pm

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Actually, if I recall, the majority of newspaper research points to the fact that people don't see/read promos. I'd say Bako is probably an exception to the rule but just because of the sheer space it takes up. Which also begs the question: If you're spending that much real estate on something INSIDE the paper, how do readers view what else is on your front? Subconciously, readers come to us for a heirarchy of information. Something you really can't get from the Web and its constant updates. I know, I've changed the subject. Perhaps this is a conversation for a different thread. Anyway, maybe the research I'm thinking of is in relation to papers that run promos in the same place in the same way everyday, which forces them to become part of the furniture. I mean, no one's literally READING your nameplate everyday, it's just there. Anyway, ramble ramble. Discuss.
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Josh Crutchmer

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Posted:
Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:30 pm

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Billy Simkins wrote::
Greg, when you talk about 100 here, 300 there, what you're talking about is potential subscribers. In the newspaper industry it's a success if you can STOP the decline. I find it very hard to believe that any paper would think that promos to what's inside your paper would be of no significance when the majority of newspaper research points the other direction.


You need some numbers. Hard numbers, and you don't stop there. What is their relation to subscriptions, if any? Is a "popped top" the only variable? You say it is, but you've got a track record of oversimplification. What was the news that day? What else was on the front? What was the weather like? What happened in the city? All these are components of rack sales too, and all ones that must be examined before attributing it to sleight of hand.
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