The lunchtime ceremony, at Kings Place, London on March 8, followed the 2012 PPA Retail Forum, and was attended by leading figures from publishing, retail and the wider magazine supply chain.
Morrisons was named as the winner in the Multiple Magazine Retailer of the Year (over 250 stores) category, while the Multiple Magazine Retailer of the Year (up to 250 stores) category was awarded to Eason.
WHSmith High Street and Future Publishing jointly scooped the Best Sales or Marketing Initiative of the Year award for their collaborative offer for Official Tour de France, supported by Seymour Distribution. The promotion achieved the highest ever sales of the title through the WHSmith High Street retail network.
In the individual categories, Gemma Koo of Morrisons was named Magazine Category Champion of the Year for her work to maintain the magazine category at the forefront of Home & Leisure development within the Morrisons estate. The judges praised her for being "proactive, strategic and open to working with publishers and distributors while challenging the status quo".
The Outstanding Contribution to Magazine Retailing award was presented to Colin Mullins of Fore Partnership, who has championed magazine sales in a 40-year career in retail that included senior positions at the Martin Retail Group (now Martin McColl Retail Group) and Northcliffe Newspaper Group. The accolade is given in recognition of the outstanding commitment Mullins has shown to the magazine category through his consistent enthusiasm, dedication and support for the category.
The winner of the Independent Magazine Retailer of the Year will be revealed separately by the PPA at an in-store presentation.
The MagSell Awards ’12 followed the PPA Retail Forum, which gave multiple retailers, publishers and leading figures from the magazine supply chain a platform to discuss the magazine category at retail.
Following a welcome from PPA CEO Barry McIlheney, there were presentations from Martin Hoskins of Immediate Media Co; PPA Chairman Kevin Hand; Ed Garner of Kantar Worldpanel; and Ben Preston, Editor of Radio Times.
Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing then moderated a panel discussion featuring David Goodchild of H Bauer; Gemma Koo of Morrisons; Mike Mirams of COMAG; and Scott Partridge of Rippleglen.
Barry McIlheney said: "As a former editor and publisher of magazines, I know only too well the importance of retail. It is an absolutely vital plank of our industry and the PPA Retail Forum and MagSell Awards provide a marker of the PPA's commitment to driving magazine sales at retail."
The MagSell winners were:
Multiple Magazine Retailer of the Year (up to 250 stores)
Winner: Eason (Eason’s Nial Lanigan pictured on the right, receiving the award from PPA’s CEO Barry McIlheney )
Shortlisted: GT News, Rippleglen
The winner in this category demonstrated:
• A dedication to the cause of selling more magazines.
• A commitment to offering a good choice of titles to its customers, including the development of Shop Save and/or Home News Delivery (HND) services.
• Enhancing the shopping experience for the magazine consumer (e.g. through store appearance, shelf layout, information, innovation, customer service).
2011 Winner: GT Retail
2009 Winner: Rippleglen
Multiple Magazine Retailer of the Year (over 250 stores)
Winner: Morrisons
Shortlisted: Asda
The winner in this category demonstrated:
• A dedication to the cause of selling more magazines
• A commitment to offering a good choice of titles to its customers
• Enhancing the shopping experience for the magazine consumer (e.g. through store appearance, shelf layout, information, innovation, customer service)
2011 Winner: ASDA
2009 Winner: MMRG
Magazine Category Champion of the Year
Winner: Gemma Koo, Morrisons
Previously the Buyer of the Year Award, this winner of this prestigious prize demonstrated:
• A commitment to excellence in driving magazine sales during the past 12 months
• A complete consideration of the UK magazine supply chain including the impact on profitability of factors such as availability/efficiency and consumer shopping habits
• Actions above and beyond the call of duty to promote the magazine category within their company
2011 Winner: Morgan Ould, WHSmith High Street
2009 Winner: Roos Clerk, Tesco
Best Sales or Marketing Initiative of the Year
Winner: WH Smith High Street & Future Publishing: The official Tour De France offer
Shortlisted: IPC Media & Mail Newspapers: Tesco LinkSave, Match Attax promotion: Morrisons
The winner in this category showed flair and innovation in the execution of a specific sales or marketing initiative in the last 12 months which made a measurable contribution to sales.
2011 Winner: The Co-operative Group
2009 Winner: M&S Tills, D-Cipher
Outstanding Contribution to Magazine Retailing
Winner: Colin Mullins, Fore Partnership
This award recognises an outstanding commitment to the magazine category shown by an individual who has demonstrated consistent enthusiasm, dedication and support for the category over the last 12 months.
2011 Winner: Simon Toplis, D-Cipher
2009 Winner: David Stephens, D-Cipher
Independent Magazine Retailer of the Year
This award recognises an outstanding commitment to the magazine category shown by an individual who has demonstrated consistent enthusiasm, dedication and support for the category over the last 12 months. The winner will be unveiled at a later date.
About PPA
The PPA says: “The PPA promotes and protects the interests of print and online publishers of consumer and business media in the UK. The PPA has around 200 publishing companies in its membership, which collectively produce more than 2,500 consumer and business magazines and journals as well as digital media, data products and events.”
