Have you got the Buzz?

Today, retailers will receive the first issue of The Sun’s new TV listings magazine, Buzz, for insertion into the newspaper tomorrow.

With this new magazine comes a strong opportunity to improve sales of the UK’s highest-selling newspaper.

Last week’s release of the national newspaper circulation figures for August showed that all newspapers continue to struggle to stem their decline in readers. And while it’s incredibly unlikely that there will ever be a turnaround and return to growth for all titles in the market, it’s still worth a huge amount. The daily market generates more than £10m in retail sales value each day, and the Sunday market is also worth more than £10m in RSV each week.

As shown by the huge TV and outdoor advertising campaign News International has invested in for the launch of Buzz, publishers continue to pour millions of pounds into promoting titles in the market.

This was also shown by the Daily Mail at the beginning of the month. Although it came under fire by many retailers for the execution of its cash giveaway, it did help the title increase sales by 161,000 copies on the day of the promotion, which carried through to the beginning of the following week.

It’s clear from these investments that publishers certainly think the market still has a future. Perhaps retailers should think twice about writing it off too.