Things Placed In Front of The Magazine Rack Part 7 0f...The Fully Charged Edition

This just in from our US News and World Report correspondent, Mark White, V.P. of Specialty Marketing. I'll let his words describe what he found:

The good news is that our new Secrets of the Civil War got placement by checkout that we didn’t pay for. The bad news, of course, is that the retailer committed such assault and battery against its highly profitable magazine business that no shoppers will actually see our bookazine. More bad news: The title is not displayed on the store’s mainline.

Lasts just as long, costs less, and delivers even fewer profits...

Encroachment at the front end has long been an issue for the publications that participate in check outs, with the encroachers enjoying the benefits and the "encroachees" left scrambling to defend their turf. "Things Placed In Front of The Magazine Rack" is part of an informal calculation I now consider when budgeting for check out programs.

Although in this particular case, we'd have to argue that Mark's "encroachee" title didn't get much benefit because of the dump display of batteries.

I wonder if there is an algorithm that would define this? Could it be turned into a charge back "Marketing Fee"? Who would have to pay the carrying and inventory costs? I'll have to get the accounting department on that right away.

In the meantime, Mark should know that I found Secrets of the Civil War on the mainline of my neighborhood supermarket and I thought it was a really good read (I bought a copy).

If you have a good example of "Things Placed in front of the Magazine Rack", please forward them. Checkout, mainline, specialty rack, all are accepted and appreciated.