The 8th Annual ACP Connections Conference and Awards ceremony was held at the majestic Park Hyatt in Melbourne yesterday to much acclaim with newsXpress again stealing the limelight from the gracious hosts.

With a conference theme of ABC - (Attitude, Balance, Collaboration) it indeed seemed as simple as 1,2,3 to Warrick and Jo Hosking from newsXpress Gympie who brought the evening’s festivities to a crescendo and the raucous crowd to their feat with the announcement of their momentous victory in the prestigoius ‘Newsagent of the Year’ title.

The ACP Connections website outlines the highest honour they annually bestow upon a worthy Newsagent as:  A recognition of all-round excellence and sales growth. Furthermore the winner shall exhibit ‘best practice’ principles across all areas of their operation, including business planning, technology, store presentation, category management, marketing and promotions, customer service and staff training. 

This guideline describes Warrick and Jo to a tee, but doesn’t take into account the infectious enthusiasm and generous brand spruiking that is ingranied to their personalities. They are truly the most worthy of winners and these additional character traits consolidated their back to back victory.

Not to be over looked amongst the hysteria that was the main event was the meritoriuos performance of Philip and Deborah Kobelt from newsXpress Parap who were rightfully acknowledged as Runners-Up. Their commitment to the connections program and unwavering pursuit of innovation in the promotion and merchandise of ACP titles capped a very successful newsXpress night.

Happy newsXpressers:

From back left - Mark & Shelley Petersen, Geoff Hilder, Stephen & Liz Dye, Paul & Maureen Blunden, Ron Thorpe, Mark Nagy, Debbie Kobelt.

Middle Row - Karen Sutton, Fiona & Adrian Matthews

Front Row - Ahn Do (Conference MC and Comedian), Scott Day, Warrick Hosking, Paul Martin, Jarrod Black, Ben Kay, Graham Randall, and Philip Kobelt

These are some pictures taken at newsXpress Orange last Monday, Karen is seen pictured with Paul & Maureen Blunden’s cute little grandson son Sam in his very special newsXpress T-shirt!

Great innovation all round in Paul & Maureen’s store, they are great ambassadors for newsXpress!

The team at newsXpress Ascot Vale understand the appeal of some of the characters of Top Gear and reflected this in their brilliant window display.  The headline, The Stig is Here above his image says it all to draw attention to the launch of Top Gear Australia.

newsXpress members understand the importance of retail theatre in driving sales.  Few marketing groups attack magazine opportunities like we do at newsXpress - as the folks from Ascot Vale show in their window.

Gympie is an old mining town on the Fraser Coast in Queensland town.  It has seven newsagencies.  newsXpress Gympie never does anything by halves.  Take a look at the sign they installed in front of newsXpress Gympie to pronot the launch of Top Gear, the new magazine from ACP Magazines.

Needless to say, Warrick Hosking at the team at newsXpress Gympie sold out of Top Gear.

The popular SBS Jeremy Clarkson vehicle (pun intended) launched as a magazine in Australia today with many newsXpress stores getting in on the act. Sales so far have been very strong and hopefully will find a long term market once the local production hits the airwaves later this year.

newsXpress Indooroopilly created a typically impressive display utliising the supplied POS aswell as some very apt props.

newsXpress Glendale maximised the shows appeal as a drawcard by setting up a TV screen with episodes showing as part of their Top Gear display. They predict they will run out of supply by tomorrow.

newsXpress Sarina got into the rev head spirit borrowing an FPV GT from Powerhouse Ford in Mackay for the Top Gear launch. Several customers were spotted taking photos and wanting to take the car for a spin around town!

Scott & Cassie from newsXpress Toowong proudly stand before the display that has generated over 40 sales in just two days.

When you are at the top of your game, how do you keep getting better?

These three stores just get better and better - Amazing. In Japan the word Kaizen means continuous improvement. Well the team at newsXpress Indooroopilly show you how the Kaizen Blitz works and how to bring the extraordinary benefits of this approach to continually improve what already is a stunning operation.

newsXpress Beechworth was launched on Saturday and left the locals and tourists understanding that small business can make a difference.

Tracy and Ian McVea set up the promotional day with 2 goals:

1. Highlight the newsXpress  magazine Loyalty Card offer and grow magazine sales, &

2. Being only 30 minutes drive to a major regional centre, highlight the local offer.

And what a success they made of it…

Magazine sales up over 120% on the day compared to last Saturday. Over 200 magazine Loyalty Cards distributed in a town of only 1840!

Strong acceptance of the HOT ink! offering with even city visitors asking why prices were so good.

Also in attendance on the day was ‘Sparky the Clown’ - what he can do with balloons is amazing! Sparky spent several hours entertaining the big kids with balloon shaping and the little ones with colouring competitions.

newsXpress Beechworth certainly made some noise in Victoria’s premier heritage town in the North East on Saturday.

newsXpress Kin Kora are always at the forefront of promotional activity and post Mother’s Day is no exception.

The ‘Symply Too Good To Be True‘ display has been up for just over a week and has already generated great sales. With Annette Sym touring Gladstone this week we are hoping for another surge in sales. newsXpress has a fantastic two way relationship with Annette , which is certain to see her reward the store for promoting her title with her reciprocating this support when highlighting her products are available in store during her various speaking engagements.

While the rest of the country may never understand the allure, for dyed in the wool Queenslander’s and New South Welshmen nothing is bigger than State of Origin. With the big game 1 clash only a week away Kin Kora have a full range of merchandise and decoration on sale in a prominent location.  Sarah mentioned that the jerseys are out and loyalty is stronger than ever, also if there wasn’t upcoming $20million Lotto draws the promo would consume more of the shop. Just wait until you see what they have planned for game 2 in the Sunshine state!

In what has been a busy promotional time they have also created some fantastic in-store posters thanks to their trusted Toshiba photocopier.

Four newsXpress stores in Central Queensland: Kin Kora, Northside Plaza, Rockhampton & Sun Valley have joined together to produce a
co-operative television advertising strategy.

The following ad will be run for the two weeks leading up to Mother’s Day beginning this Monday, 28th April. While the generic advert featuring the Magazine Range and exclusive Loyalty Club Card; the HOT ink! category; and the Hallmark Greeting Card & Gift products will run at other times.

These adverts were a result of an exceptional collaboration between the stores and newsXpress Marketing department which have produced a professional result which can be utilised in other markets throughout the network.

Vinay and the team at newsXpress Roselands have recently re-branded the store. In terms of being a gun retailer, have a look at how they have attacked the greeting card and magazine categories in their store, no wonder they are at the top of the tree in terms of magazine and greeting card volumes.

With over 200 full face magazine pockets at the front of the store and a huge commitment to the Hallmark/newsXpress strategic partnership, this store is a prime example of a successful and still growing newsXpress retail operation.

Now that ‘Mr newsXpress‘ Graham Randall is back out on the road serving newsXpressers, he had to learn how to beacon brand. See the “Chairman” in action here at newsXpress Westpoint learning how to do it.

Mary McNeil one of our Business Development Managers was on hand to teach both Graham and the Westpoint team how to beacon brand. As part of our overall 4 point magazine strategy beacon branding has helped newsXpressers lift magazine store on store sales to the highest in the industry in terms on volume per outlet.

We love magazines at newsXpress.

As written earlier in this blog, newsXpress Glendale commissioned an innovative refit last year. Among the great designs is this solution to your A5 Teenage magazines display dilemmas.

Note the clever use of point of sale giving the background a 3D effect.
Use of Forever friends Bears to spell the message ” Happy Birthday”, and carefully constructed cake with candles.

Who could resist buying this magazine with such a stunning display? Well done to the team at newsXpress Indooroopilly.

newsXpress The Pines has just under gone extensive refurbishments and a shop-fit in the last fortnight, things are still progressing and moving forward nicely… A job well done to the team at newsXpress The Pines for all their hard work and efforts through this hectic time of transition…
Lyndall and her newsXpress team will continue to work on the transformation of this store to cater for all the newsXpress key strategies to drive new business…

The photos show the new front of the store layout with a strong Easter presence, the Beacon Branding of the weekly magazines and the Diddl display.

The team at newsXpress Deception Bay went left field this year - and have gone searching for Easter Brides!

They sold two magazines while setting up the display and customer reaction has been extremely high. They have also capitalised on this interest by including complimentary products such as photo albums, horse-shoes, white tape for the limo and assorted gifts.

The window has been decorated in a more traditional manner with a strong focus on kids and bunnies.

As Australians prepare to eat record quantities of chocolate this Easter, these beautiful displays of Easter related product are already selling to astute customers. By displaying your stock early, and with style, you will achieve maximum sell through.

The Displays are from newsXpress Caboolture, and newsXpress Deception Bay.

newsXpress Deception Bay owner Brett places ‘Just In‘ Bookmarks on new monthly magazines, and also specialty niche titles when he knows customers are waiting anxiously for the issue to arrive. This ensures an easy shopping experience for his customers!

newsXpress Castle Towers are retailers not just newsagents. By devoting ends to product that sells not just promote, they are making more money. Whilst magazine promotions look good, we are in business to use every square inch of the shop for profit not promotion. Magazines can be promoted in other ways and newsXpress is forging forward by selling magazines and promoting them well, yet using real estate in more profitable ways. We love magazines but we are also promoting other parts of the retail offer to add more dimension to our stores.

This approach is certainly embraced by our customers as the results prove.

newsXpress Castle Towers promoting (and selling) diaries and plush gifts where magazines have traditionally been the sole occupant.

The newsXpress exclusive promotion with OK! magazine this week has been exceptionally well supported by members as these photos clearly show.

The promotion rewarded each purchase of OK! magazine with a gift of the haute couture Hollywood Fashion Tape to co-incide with this week’s Oscars ceremony.

newsXpress Ascot Vale - situated on a High St have plastered their front window with OK! materials. It has certainly generated publicity with the high traffic flow.

newsXpress Cairns Central have utilised a structural pillar to decorate with the OK! marketing materials. This is clearly visible while looking through the weekly magazine stand, which has been Beacon Branded to highlight the on sale OK! title.

newsXpress Caboolture have expertly cross promoted the OK! magazine exclusive with a global Women’s Day ‘Everyday Food’ offer.

newsXpress Frankston have shown great creativity with their iconic display. Notice the large bow in the top left hand corner…

One of the strengths of a marketing group is their ability to co-ordinate and execute exclusive promotions to add value to their customers. A great newsXpress example is the current OK! magazine promotion which rewards the purchaser with a packet of Hollywood Fashion tape - an essential item for any fashion conscious woman in 2008!

newsXpress Capalaba: Using front and centre stage, with large posters in their light boxes, this display cannot be missed!

newsXpress Camp Hill: A strong display with a lot of response for the free gift!