Max Lister, senior magazine buyer for Borders, said: “Magazine Week is a unique opportunity to excite and educate the public about the vast range of titles available. 287 events will create in-store theatre on a scale that the industry has simply never seen before.

“Borders recognises the importance of magazines for its customers, and by combining an unbeatable price offer with a week- long programme of events across the UK, we hope to share our love of magazines with an even wider audience.”

This year’s event is being built around the theme ‘indulge your passion – try a magazine’ and is designed to drive awareness of the diversity on British newsstands and boost sales through PR and retail activity.
 
Nicola Rowe, director of circulation at PPA, said: “This promotion is a genuine first for the magazine business and it captures what Magazine Week is all about.

“The BOGOHP mechanic will drive consumers to trial new magazines outside their normal repertoire: to prompt them to be more adventurous and experimental in dipping into the wider world of magazines.

“The in-store events underline what makes magazines unique among other media: their interactivity and their ability to speak to consumers about what really matters to them, whatever their interests might be – there is a magazine for everyone and anyone.”
 
This is only the second year PPA has held Magazine Week, although similar initiatives have been hosted in other countries around the world, notably Canada.

Last year’s debut Week in the UK saw a number of activities from retailers, including a series of branded in-store promotions at Borders, WH Smith, Tesco and Co-op and an independent promotional store competition run in conjunction with Retail Newsagent.

Arif Durrani is news editor at mad.co.uk.