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Client: Periodical Marketers of Canada
Sector: Business services |
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| Challenge |
| Distributors of books and magazines in Canada faced a
rapidly changing retail environment in which a host of issues affected
sales. These included retailer pressure for larger discounts, consolidation
in the number of wholesalers, imposition of the GST on reading matter,
and boycotting of stores against adult entertainment magazines such as
Playboy and Penthouse. |
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| Strategy |
| The industry’s trade association, Periodical Marketers
of Canada, engaged Argyle to operate the association and develop a government
and public relations strategy to deal with industry issues. We designed
and implemented a program positioning magazine wholesalers as responsible
corporate citizens committed to partnering with publishers and retailers
to provide unrestricted access by Canadians to legal reading matter, in
a fair and competitive business environment. |
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| Tactics |
| To deal with public concern about pornography, wholesalers
established an independent Periodical Advisory Committee with an ongoing
mandate to review “adult titles” before their distribution
to newsstands, ensuring only those which meet Canadian legal standards
are sold. PMC also established a non-profit body, the Foundation for the
Advancement of Canadian Letters (FACL) that funds literacy activity and
awards Canadian literary achievement. PMC joined with other publishing
groups to seek tax relief for consumers of reading matter. |
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| Results |
| Legal issues involving content of magazines distributed
by members of PMC have been eliminated through the work of the Periodical
Advisory Committee, and the association’s close cooperation with
Canadian Customs and law enforcement agencies. A spirit of partnership
has been promoted with retailers and publishers through joint conferences
and seminars on industry issues. Information on these initiatives has been
effectively communicated to retailers, government, and the public. Magazine
and paperback book sales in Canada are continuing to increase and now exceed
$600 million per year. |
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