News Corp to sell 3m Marvel comics as publisher predicts circulation decline will halve this financial year
News Corp Australia has announced its latest major newspaper promotion, vowing to sell more than 3m Marvel comic books over the next fortnight.
The move is just the latest consumer sales promotion initiative, with News Corp previously giving away children’s books, commemorative coins and DVDs at discounted rates in return for buying its newspapers, with the publisher citing the success of the strategy in lessening print circulation declines.
“We are definitely building momentum in this part of our business and off the back of Mr Men, David Attenborough DVDs, our ANZAC coins collection and most recently our Dr Suess books we are pretty proud to launch our newest promotion Marvel comics,” said Damian Eales managing director of metros and regionals for News Corp.
Eales insists News’s ‘tent pole’ promotions on the whole are profitable.
Over the past few decades the entertainment world has made big money out of the interest in comics. While this has been going on the newspaper industry has been down grading the comic section in the papers. Obviously nobody running newspapers have noticed what has been going on.
If the strategy results in artificially inflated circulation figures – people buying the paper for the giveaway product but not actually reading the paper or responding to any of the advertisers – then the strategy is flawed and will ultimately fail
Artificially inflating circulation figures as people buy multiple copies of the paper, or only purchase the paper to receive the offer, does nothing for the advertisers in that issue. Promotions of this nature are designed for one thing only, positive spin upon declining circulation. Newspaper has failed to change and become relevant in today’s media landscape, and their current dedication to toys with “Happy Meal” circulation is not changing their declining circulation and relevance.
Considering the image of the children contains 5 out of 7 dressed up as DC comic book characters and only 2 Marvel characters , I doubt that Eales’ launch team have done their research properly!
What a disgrace! Placing AMERICAN comics in our Australian newspapers. Support AUSTRALIAN comics that are struggling to get the local message heard!
Congratulations.
Managed to halve the rate of decline in circulation in the past two years. * Translation: Going down the gurgle a little slower.
I might just add that sort of thing to my CV.