Ex-Toronto mayor causes gun magazine to be pulled from Shoppers newsstands

Following the Florida school mass shooting, former Toronto mayor David Miller complained to Shoppers Drug Mart about a gun lifestyle magazine offered on its newsstands (one of the most important single-copy outlets in Canada). His tweet, as reported by the Toronto Star:

“Really @ShopprsDrugMart , promoting semi-automatic weapons at our local shop? How about you stop.” Miller tweeted about Recoil magazine.

Three days later, the title was pulled from the racks and Shoppers tweeted back:

“Hello David, thanks for sharing your concerns," the company said. "After hearing about this, we've decided to remove this issue from our stores. We are working on pulling all copies in circulation and will not receive any further shipments of this publication."

British newsstand distributor Comag's owners Hearst and Condé Nast bail out

The future is quite uncertain for Comag in Great Britain as a major newsstand distributor. Its two, principal owners -- Hearst UK and Condé Nast Britain -- have withdrawn. Comag has a 23 per cent share of the UK newsstand market.

Hearst UK publishes 24 magazines and website titles, including: Good Housekeeping, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Red and Men’s Health. It owns 65 per cent of Comag.

Condé Nast Britain publishes 16 magazines and websites including: Vogue, GQ, Tatler, Wired and Vanity Fair. It owns the remaining 35 per cent of Comag.

The announcement, reported by Press Gazette, that the two partners were to "withdraw" was made without elaboration, other than that there would be some unspecified consultation with staff, clients and suppliers.

Magazines Canada releases latest wacky video in its national marketing campaign

Magazines Canada has released a new element called Canadian Magazine Mashup, part of its ongoing national magazine marketing campaign . It's the latest in a series of absurdist videos that started in July. (This one is about what you get when you cross a fashionista with fall foliage.)

"This campaign draws attention to homegrown stories; it speaks directly to the relationship between Canadian magazines and their audience," says Barbara Bates, executive director of circulation marketing for Magazines Canada in a release. "Each new campaign video and ad highlights the endless possibilities of imagination and engagement when you open a magazine."

The theme is storytelling: The message is "When you dive into your favourite magazine, you might get lost," with two worlds colliding. Readers at a magazine stand each lose themselves in the pages of different Canadian magazines with hilarious results. The intention is to say that with hundreds of Canadian magazines to choose from, there is a title to match anyone's interest in stores now.

"Magazine Mashup" campaign has some fun promoting the breadth of Canadian magazine content

Starting July 1, Magazines Canada is launching a national promotion campaign across the country. The campaign presents a humorous, eye-catching video series and a curated blog of #MagazineMoment must-reads from Canadian magazines.

"We've broken down all borders for the Canadian Magazine Mashup campaign, which shows just how limitless the content in genuine Canadian magazines can be," says Barbara Bates, executive director of circulation marketing for Magazines Canada.

"This campaign plays to the diversity of interests held by today's consumers. We wanted to create something that shows how much there is to discover at a Canadian magazine stand—there really is something there for everyone," says Matthew Holmes, Magazines Canada CEO.

Magazine Mashups will be released on social media at @MyCdnMags, online at  CanadasMagazineStore.ca/video, in retail locations across the country and in partnership with exciting Canadian events, organizations and festivals happening all year.The promotion is part of the 2016-17 Take 2 magazine newsstand campaign, supported by Ontario Media Development Corporation, the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Presse Commerce and Gateway Newstands.

What to do about the newsstand? Publishers and everyone else want to know

The CMC is holding a seminar and social in Toronto Thursday Jan 28 about how to fix the newsstand. It's not the first time that the association has asked that or similar questions, but now it wants to confront the challenges of 2016. 

What has changed in the industry that will help restore newsstand sales? Are promotions essential? What sell-thru rate should publishers expect and what can be done to increase this? When should a new magazine go on the newsstand and when should a magazine drop out? What can Publishers do to advance their products at the newsstand in today’s environment? How do we make ourselves more viable in the eyes of our retail partners? How do we protect and possibly grow our space at retail?

The panelists will be

• Craig Sweetman, Owner of CRS Media
• Jerry Lynch, President of IPDA
• Pat Strangis, Director Newsstand Marketing at TVA
• Anita Baldwinson, Manager of Retail Services & Marketing at TNG

The event is at the Minto Quantum South Tower, 2181 Yonge Street, Toronto from 3:30 to 5 p.m., with the social immediately afterwards. Free to CMC members. Non-members$25 for the seminar; $10 social only.

Type Books named retailer of the year by Magazines Canada

Type Books, the boutique store on Queen Street West in Toronto, has been named Magazines Canada Retailer of the Year for 2014. The award is made annually to recognize the importance of good, often independent, stores in building and maintaining the magazine landscape. 

"A neighbourhood bookstore on bustling Queen West across from Trinity Bellwoods Park, Type opened heroically in April, 2006, at a time when few other bookstores were starting up," says Magazines Canada. "The store has been devoted to magazines from a wide array of distributors and publishers direct, and has been committed to Canadian magazines from the beginning."

The store has the distinction of being the location for the 2014 filming of the promotional video Anything Can Happen at a Magazine Stand. 

Previous winners of the award were: 

• 2013 Salt Spring Books, Salt Spring Island BC
• 2012 Read’s Newsstand and Café, Fredericton NB
• 2011 Book City, Toronto ON, Danforth
• 2010 McNally Robinson, Winnipeg MB
• 2009 Spruceland News, Prince George BC
• 2008 Mags & Fags, Ottawa ON

CMC seminar to ponder how to fix the newsstand

The CMC is hosting a seminar on January 29 to address the vexed and vexing question of how to fix the newsstand:

"The newsstand has gone through tremendous change over the past decade. While popular celebrity and weekly news magazines had stratospheric sales at the newsstand, all publishers now face the same challenges and long to return to their pre-2008 newsstand sales....These are unprecedented times for publishers. What are the growth areas for newsstand sales? Are there better ways to get consumers’ attention? What are some of the successful models around the world to adopt? What are current growth areas/categories at newsstand? What are the current challenges in each segment of the newsstand chain and how do we deal with them?"

The panelists for the discussion will be

• Kevin Brannigan, Vice President Circulation, TNG Canada
• Mike Martin, Director, Category Management / National Account Manager, CMMI
• Glenn Morgan, President and CEO, Coast to Coast
• Mark Yelic, President/Publisher, OP Media Group Ltd. 

The event is held at the Minto Quantum South Tower, 2181 Yonge Street from 3:30 to 5 p.m., followed by the CMC's Winter Social. CMC members get in free; all others pay $25 for the seminar and social or $10 for the social only. Register for the seminar and/or the social.

Working to deadline? Friday 31st last day to enter cover awards or nominate marketer of the year

Friday Jan 31 is the last day to submit entries for the Canadian Cover Awards as well as to submit a nomination for the Newsstand Marketer of the Year. More information on award categories and how to submit an entry can be found at http://coverawards.ca/.