This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
On August 16, 2019, the Nation Media Group (NMG) implemented a marketing strategy that has left many readers frustrated. The strategy involves stapling newspapers to prevent people from reading them at newsstands without buying.
However, this approach has been met with resistance from readers who find it inconvenient and annoying. The stapling of newspapers has become a common practice in Africa, where poor people cannot afford to buy a newspaper.
With a cover price of Sh60, the Nation costs more than a loaf of bread or half-a-litre of milk. This has led to the practice of renting newspapers, where people pay a small fee to read the paper instead of buying it.
More than one-third of Kenyans survive on the 'kidogo economy,' where they live on less than $1.90 per day. They have to choose between buying a loaf of bread and a newspaper, and bread always wins.
Despite the marketers' efforts to stop the renting of newspapers, the stapling of papers has become a major inconvenience for readers who buy the paper. Last week, Mungai Kihanya, a columnist for the Sunday Nation, questioned the purpose of stapling.
"Why are they stapling the newspaper shut these days? Is it to stop 'eavesdroppers' who read at the vendors' stands without buying? Whatever the reason, it's inconveniencing those of us who actually buy the paper. Hence, it's counterproductive. And I doubt whether the staples increase the circulation numbers.... perhaps they only increase the production cost!" he said.
