THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 'GIFT'

The vast majority of magazine subscription marketing in Thailand is driven by the free gift or premium - and not by the money that can be saved.
This fact is underlined by the subscription offer in place from the newly-launched Thai edition of Lonely Planet Magazine. The cover price is 100 baht per month and the price for a one-tear 12-issue subscription is 1,200 baht - saving absolutely nothing. The free gift, however, is a Quicksilver bag valued at close to 2,000 baht.
I've personally tried the 'Western' style of giving a substantial discount - upwards of 40 per cent off cover price - with limited success. Thai consumers still want their gifts, seemingly regardless of the amount of money they can possibly save with a financial-only subscription offer.

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LONELY PLANET HITS THE SHELVES

Thailand's newest magazine - a Thai language licensed edition of Lonely Planet Magazine - has hit the shelves in Bangkok today.
Published by Media Expertise, part of Nation Multimedia Group, the 196-page September edition is priced at 100 baht. It's the first and only licensed overseas title in the travel magazine sector in Thailand.
For a debut edition it's extremely well advertised, with the likes of Air Asia, Canon and Mercedes-Benz occupying the premium early right-hand pages.
The one thing I am slightly perplexed about is the publishers choice to bag this first edition with a free gift. The gift itself is a low-quality Lonely Planet branded notebook that, to me, is the epitome of tackiness and looks like a last-minute afterthought. And by being bagged this all-important first edition is going to miss out on a lot of casual browsers.
That said, I've been expressing my views about the opportunities for a licensed Thai edition of an overseas travel magazine for more than three years. Food is also another sector currently devoid of an overseas local edition, but for how much longer?

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MAGAZINE SALES ON THAILAND'S STREETS

Street-level retailers of magazines and newspapers in Thailand play an important role in the industry, but did you know that a significant number of these outlets buy their publications for onward sale?
Established retailers like Asia Books and Se-ed are supplied magazines and newspapers on a sale-or-return basis and are paid a commission for each sale which ranges between 20 per cent to 60 per cent of the cover price. However these smaller street retailers, some which only operate for a few hours each day, have to buy their stock upfront, albeit at reduced 'wholesale' prices - and run the risk of not selling particular editions.
I was speaking to one of these retailers last week. She told me some of the established publishers and their distribution agents would only give her 20 per cent off the cover price for buying five copies of a particular edition, hence her profit margins were very, very low. Newspaper publishers, she said, were more generous, but because she had to sell every copy she purchased she would only stock copies of magazines and newspapers she knew would sell. She had about 30 magazines on sale and around eight daily newspapers.
Smaller magazine publishers and those with niche titles will never be stocked in these kinds of outlets because, quite simply, the risk of not selling a particular copy is too high.

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SUBSCRIPTION SUCCESS

Here's a question for you. What percentage of copies of TIME's Asia edition were sold as single copies through bookshops and on news stands during 2010? Each edition recorded an average net circulation of 361,331 copies throughout the year according to data from the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulation.
The answer to my question is 6.91 per cent. Just 24,992 copies per week on average were sold as single copies - with a massive 278,299 copies sold as part of a paid subscription agreement.
TIME isn't alone in achieveing high subscription percentages. Fortune's Asia Pacific edition recorded an average of 57,252 paying subscribers from its overall average circulation of 87,175 copies during 2010. Just 4,513 - or 5.17 per cent - of its copies were sold as single copies in bookshops.

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ECONOMIST CIRCULATION UP IN ASIA

Subscriptions to the Asia Pacific edition of The Economist grew 8.7 per cent during the first six months of 2011, contributing to an overall 4.3 per cent rise in circulation for the regional edition.
The magazine's headline audit revealed average weekly sales of 146,016 copies - with 83,912 paying subscribers, 21,171 single copy sales, 2,159 multiple copy subscriptions and 38,537 bulk sales. Of the latter, some 16,000 went to airlines. For anyone interested in magazine circulation auditing, the ABC statement can be found here.
Last year The Economist reported overall sales in Thailand of 5,227 copies per edition for the first six months of the year, and interestingly circulation of the magazine in the Kingdom has been declining from the January-June period of 2008 which saw 6,528 copies sold per week on average.
So while The Economist is increasing its circulation in most parts of the world, it does seems to have been bucking the trend in Thailand. 

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VACANCY FOR BUSINESS JOURNALIST

A position is now available for a young business journalist or analyst who is able to conduct intelligent interviews with top business and government leaders in Thailand. This is a great opportunity to build a network and career in Thailand, and internationally.
Native English speakers are preferred, but fluent English skills are acceptable for Western-educated candidates. The position is available immediately.
Send your resume to camille AT investvine.com.

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THAILAND'S STRANGEST MAGAZINES

I hope you enjoyed the '7 of Thailand's Strangest Magazines' article I wrote for CNN Go which was published earlier this week. If you missed it, you can click here to read it.

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NEW TO THE SHELVES

Spotted for the first time on the shelves last weekend is a Thai language licensed edition of one of Dennis Publishing's Magbook series of magazine-cum-book publications.
Getting Started in Digital SLR Photography, ".. is a perfect-bound, magazine-sized soft back book focusing on a particular subject matter. Known to trade as bookazines, these titles are sold on the magazine racks and are priced between £5.99 and £9.99 with production values to reflect this price." (from Dennis' website).
The Thai language edition is selling for 350 baht - more than three times the cost of the Thai language titles positioned alongside. A tough sell indeed.

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BORDERS SHUTTERS SINGAPORE STORE

Borders flagship store at Wheelock Place in Singapore has closed its doors.
The news comes following months of uncertainly after the demise of the North American and Australian businesses - and despite the local business being operated as a seperate company. The 'closed' signs appeared several days ago after was is reported to be a dispute over rent, according to several local media reports. Borders' Parkway Parade branch remains open.
Speaking from experience and knowledge of the Singapore magazine market, many publishers will be lamenting the demise of this store. It was responsible for a healthy proportion of many magazne sales in the city state, not least because of its prime location.

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ANOTHER ENGLISH STATION FOR PHUKET

The Phuket News is set to launch its own English language radio station in October.
The recently launched weekly newspaper has posted an advertisement on its Facebook page (pictured above) appealing for Thai and non-Thai applicants.
The Thai islands already boasts two established English radio stations so competition for listerners and advertisers will be strong.

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COVER GIRLS ON THAI MAGAZINES

This probably isn't the kind of cover girl image you were expecting to see.
The August edition of Thailand's Herb For Health magazine has an excellent eye-catching black-and-white portrait of an old woman to illustrate its cover story about healthy living for mothers. It stands out - and that's what any good cover design must do in order to pick up casual sales.
This publication is more than 10 years old and sells for 75 baht. There are a decent amount of ads in the 108 pages.
The caption for the cover does not read: "Pictured is 36-year-old Khun Jang after taking a recently developed health supplement".

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BANGKOK 101 PUTS ARCHIVE ONLINE

Bangkok 101, one of Thailand's leading English language magazines for tourists and visitors, has launched a service that allows readers to browse archive editions of its magazine online for free.
The page-flipping editions, powered by Issuu, are available here.
Thanks to Talisman Media's Group Editor Simon for the tip-off about this new development.

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ONE LOST SALE, HOW MANY MORE?

Last weekend I spent five minutes watching someone browsing in a Bangkok bookshop. Nothing unusual, expect this person was also using his iPhone to snap pictures of all the pages of this particular imported English language computer magazine.
The magazine was priced at 375 baht which is at least three times a local Thai language equivalent title, however surely this practise basically amounts to copyright theft?
My guess it that this is probably not the first time this individual has snapped magazine pages with his iPhone for later reading, and speaking as a publisher it makes me furious to see something like this.

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MAGAZINE PROMOTION AT ASIA BOOKS

From now until the end of August 2011, Asia Books is offering 5 per cent off foreign magazines on Saturdays and Sundays. (Terms and conditions apply).
It might not be much, but for anyone like me that spends far too much on magazines anything like this is welcome.

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PROFITS UP AT POST AND NATION

Post Publishing and Nation Multimedia have both reported strong financial results this week.
Post Publishing, publishers of the Bangkok Post, revealed a consolidated net profit of THB32.3 million - up from THB2.2 million during the same period in 2010. During the first quarter of 2011 it made THB16.49 million baht.
Nation Multimedia Group, publishers of The Nation, recorded profits of THB36.7 million for the first six months of the year, up 13 per cent from the THB23.9 million recorded during the same period in 2010.
Both publishers noted increases in advertising revenues, although Nation also highlighted an 8 per cent decline in sales of its newspapers.

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SEXY PICTURES IN STRANGE PLACES

You never know what you're going to find on the pages of some magazines in Thailand.

Last week I picked up a copy of one of the many publications devoted to the subject of cock fighting. There are at least half a dozen and, judging by the healthy levels of advertising, are probably making lots of money for the publishers.

With this particular one I found something rather unexpected - a page of sexy pictures of Thai girls. It's not exactly what you'd expect from this sort of magazine.

It's a proven fact that sex sells, so I can only assume that readers of cock fighting magazines expect this sort of coverage from their favourite magazines.

Note: I'm well aware of the kind of people who will arrive at this page having searched for a combination of "cock", "sex", "girls" and "Thailand". Sorry to disappoint you.

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FREE GIFTS WITH THAI MAGAZINES

Inspired by a recently discovered blog which highlights the premiums and free gifts available with magazines sold at Kinokuniya in Singapore, I am going to post details of similar items which are available with magazines in Thailand.

One thing's for sure - publishers in Thailand offer far fewer gifts with their publications than elsewhere in the world. At any time there may be less than a dozen magazines - less than 5 per cent of all titles - offering premiums with their bookshop purchases.

To start this focus, the August Thai language licensed edition of Martha Stewart Living comes with two free magnetic photo frames. The magazine, published by Post International Media, was launched in October 2009. The August edition runs to 172 pages and sells for 100 baht (US$3.30 approx.).

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A FIRST CLASS MAGAZINE

Wired has established its place as a must-read for many, and this copy of the U.S. August edition which I picked up at Chatuchak Weekend Market last week has already been on an epic journey during its short life.

Buried deep inside the pages of this magazine was a boarding card belonging to the previous owner - a Mr. Masukawa - who travelled first class on Thai Airways between London and Bangkok on July 27th.

In Thailand we only get the U.K. edition of Wired for sale on the shelves, so to see this American-produced edition - with its U.S. ads and subscription offers - is a refreshing change for a magazine junkie like me.

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IT'S LIFE, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

One magazine to appear for the first time on the shelves in Thailand last month was Life Today - and its logo is remarkably similar to the logo of the famous American photo journalism magazine Life. In fact, it's identical.

Priced at 150 baht, the Thai language debutant is at the top end of the price range for a locally-produced magazine, but I personally think publishers Agro Media will have more than a high cover price and an apparent lack of advertisers in the first edition to worry about.  The Life logo is copyright-protected and owned by Time Inc.

In early 2010 Thailand's Plus One Media was forced to change the name of its newly-launched lads mag Ralf to Rush, having come to the attention of Australia's ACP Magazines, the publishers of Ralph, a magazine which bore a remarkable resemblance to Ralf.

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UNBELIEVABLE!

Copies of the March 2009 edition of one Thailand magazine are still on sale on the shelves of one bookshop in Thailand - almost two-and-a-half years since they first appeared.

In March and May I wrote about how six copies of Apartment Living magazine were being sold at the B2S bookshop in the Central Festival Shopping Centre in Phuket. During the past five months since I first reported two-year-old copies of the now defunct magazine were on the shelves not one single copy has been sold.

This is both unbelievable and unacceptable. Copies of this magazine have been spotted in several different locations on the shelves - meaning staff have been in contact with the copies. With limited shelf space it's also totally unacceptable - speaking as a publisher - to have current copies of my own magazine fighting for space with vintage copies of this failed magazine.

Management and staff at B2S need to wake up and get these copies off the shelves now.

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PHUKET'S MEDIA WARS

Alan Morison from Phuketwan has written a good piece about the battle for newspaper readers and advertisers on the island of Phuket.

One interesting observation he makes is .. "We are reliably informed that some Phuket officials are now being offered payments to supply news-related information to one newspaper only, and that they are being told to not provide help to Phuketwan and to other news outlets".

I've previously written about reports that some newsagents and bookshops were being told they would not be supplied copies of one newspaper if they stocked copies of another.

Phuket is certainly a newspaper battleground right now.

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