A local entrepreneur is confident he will be able to break the CNA’s stranglehold over foreign magazine distribution. Neil Bierbaum reports
South Africa could soon see a plethora of imported titles in corner cafes and petrol station shops if plans by former Intermag operations director Butch Courtney pay off.
Imported titles have hitherto been available almost exclusively in CNAs and bookshops. However, Courtney believes that many magazine purchases are impulse decisions and that the circulation of some imported magazines “could double” if they were distributed through the right channels. Courtney believes that these channels are cafes, petrol station shops and even supermarkets, all of which have traditionally only carried high circulating local titles.
Courtney plans to use the three mass market distributors, Allied, RNA and NND, to implement his plan. Until now, Intermag, which is effectively an operating division of CNA, has been the dominant importer of titles, which it has distributed exclusively through 300 CNA outlets and about 450 bookstores. The CNAs in turn have only taken imported titles which have been brought in exclusively by Intermag, which has closely guarded its circulation levels.
By controlling this vital area of the market, CNA has kept other potential importers out. An import strategy would not have made sense if one could only go to the corner cafes. The importer would need the vital link of the CNAs and bookstores. However, Courtney seems confident that he can do it without the chain. He is already bringing in a British magazine called Inspirations, which provides information on interior decorating. It retails at R14,95. Others seen lying around his offices include a range of black hair care magazines from America and various diving and other niched sports magazines.
If he is successful, it could raise questions among the bigger overseas publishers about whether they too should be distributing to retail outlets other than just those serviced by Intermag. This could force the CNA to compete with other retail outlets in selling the same titles.
Intermag director Geoff Cooper believes that if Intermag does not have exclusivity then certain magazines would be “cherry-picked out of the range”. This could leave the CNA in a very vulnerable position and it could mean that Intermag would have to cut back its range, he says. He adds that due to the high price of imported titles and the increasing number of local titles, “more and more of our outlets are finding it difficult to sell imported titles”. He believes it is highly unlikely that an overseas publisher could say that the Intermag distribution is insufficient.
Courtney points out that most of the overseas publishers left the South African distribution up to Intermag, which many thought was the only distribution company in South Africa. Given the political situation they also did not want to be too visible in this market. However, since the new democracy, this market is being seen as the last underdeveloped English magazine market in the world.
Intermag has neither the infrastructure — in the form of trucks — nor experience to replace the other distributors who are taking thousands of copies of local titles to these retail outlets and could easily add a few imported titles to their load. This would make the other distribution companies the logical choice for overseas publishers who wanted to expand their operations, at least for the other outlets, and possibly also for existing Intermag outlets.
Courtney is reticent about how his plans could affect the CNA stronghold. “I don’t want to cause problems with CNA,” he says. “I think it can be done better if we work together.” He believes that increased distribution opportunities could benefit local publishers who could test the viability of imported titles and then decide whether to print a local edition.
However, there is something to be said for browsing through a magazine in a bookstore or news agency rather than in a corner cafe.