Clare Newsome:
bloatedgut:Just say that for whatever reason (Gin, severe ice-cream headache, cat dies) Claire comes into work tomorrow calls a meeting and says... 'I have decided that there is enough stereo in the world, we do not need anymore so next month we re-launch as What Secondhand Hi Fi Sound & Vision'.... how many manufacturers would pull their adverts....? (Under such circumstances would WHF survive and would Claire still be in a job at the end of it?).
Blimey, sounds like the plot of a bad daytime drama: and who is this 'Claire' who likes cats and ice-cream?
(I'll concede the gin).
The changes we do make in content are driven by the consumer - ie what's popular out there. That's why we do regular reader research, as well as analysing retail data on what's selling at what price points. Doesn't stop us also addressing products/issue of niche appeal, but our remit has always been at the mainstream level of hi-fi and home entertainment.
And, unsurprisingly, where there are customers and popular products, you'll also find manufacturers with new products to sell and retailers with offers to promote - and we deliver that audience.
The fact that magazines that cover second-hand in far more depth sell a fraction of the amount that we do indicates to me that there's not a huge pent-up demand for magazine coverage of it. Online, however, where an increasing amount of those second-hand purchases take place, is another matter: hence all the chatter here, plus our desire to set up a Classifieds solution.
Don't give me ideas, Clare.
(Shall I include the Gin in the 3 act structure or replace it a Pernod?).