MPA BOOKS CONSULTANT TO AID VOLUME

JOEL ELSON

NEW YORK -- The Magazine Publishers of America here and its Retail Advisory Council have appointed the Allen Levis Organization, Northfield, Ill., to aid their efforts in boosting magazine sales.

The council appointed the Levis consulting firm at its Sept. 30 meeting here to coordinate task forces on logistics, best practices and communications.

"We felt it was very important to have an objective group move this council along and get the message across that this is a very dynamic and forward-moving council," said Tilly Young, the MPA's director of retail consumer marketing.

The International Periodical Distributors Association and the Periodical Wholesalers of North America are jointly funding the Levis effort.

Levis will assist in designing a best-practices program intended to improve magazine merchandising and sales, and will help develop uniform standards of measurement.

Young said bringing the Levis Organization aboard sends "a signal to retailers of our commitment to the Retail Advisory Council."

According to Young, the biggest problem facing the industry is the complexity of magazine Universal Product Codes, including the challenge of individual magazines with UPCs that change weekly.

"Because the issue of UPCs has been perceived to be a stumbling block to magazine sales, our primary goal will be to clarify the issue and figure out ways to make it as error-free and as easy for the retailer to handle as possible," she said.

"When you have that many UPCs, you have that many more problems for error. We're hoping to remove the impediments that UPC might present."

UPC-related problems will be plumbed by a technical subcommittee of the logistics task force -- one of several subcommittees formed along with the main task forces.

Task forces and their subcommittees will give progress reports at the next industry meeting in Dallas, Feb. 22 to 24.