The Institute of Contemporary Arts was the venue for the PPA Retail Forum 2011, held on March 3 ahead of the MagSell Awards.
The event provided multiple retailers, publishers and leading figures from the magazine supply chain with a platform to discuss the magazine category at retail.
The PPA used the forum to unveil a new retail-focused section of its website which features a short video on the Power of Magazines.
CEO Barry McIlheney said: "The PPA has a greatly renewed focus on retail in 2011 and it's a two-way process; it's a dialogue not a monologue."
Phil Melling of Frontline followed with an introduction to the PPA's Retail Marketing Group (RMG), which included a round-up of its achievements in 2010 and aims for 2011.
Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing then presented summarised results from research conducted among retailers to assess their views on the magazine supply chain. The findings, and how they are being addressed by the RMG, were later set out by COMAG's Charlotte Macleod and Suzanne Pullum of Marketforce.
Simon Kanter of Haymarket Media Group dispelled many of the popular myths about the future of print magazines in a presentation entitled Magazines and the New Generation, which gave insight into the sustained popularity of print among young adults, and its complementary relationship with digital media platforms such as the iPad.
The Retail Forum was concluded with a panel discussion featuring David Cooke of Menzies Distribution; Adrian Hughes of IPC Media; Elizabeth Newman of Sainsbury's; and Frank Straetmans of Frontline.
Images of the event are available in the slideshow below and the presentations can be downloaded from the links on the right hand side of the page.