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“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten”
Neil Gaiman (English born American Novelist, Journalist, Screenwriter, Children’s author and Comics writer of American Gods, amongst many others, b.1960) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gfk MRI: Little Readership Lift to Ads Near Relevant Edit
-By Lucia Moses
One of the biggest time sucks in negotiating magazine ad buying is positioning.
Ad salespeople contort themselves to no end to satisfy advertisers’ demands to be
in the first 20 pages of the book, next to relevant articles, away from controversial ones, etc.
Now, new findings from Gfk MRI suggest that some of that effort might be wasted.
The research firm analyzed nearly 68,000 ads that ran in consumer magazines over
roughly the past 18 months to see how an ad’s positioning affected its readership.
MRI found that ads that ran next to editorial content did perform better than those
that ran next to other ads. (Precisely, ads next to other ads were read by 46 percent
of readers on average while ads next to edit averaged a readership score of 51 percent.)
But when the ad ran next to “relevant” edit (defined by MRI as being about the same
subject), the readership score was the same. The finding suggests there’s nothing
to be gained by fighting for “relevant” editorial adjacency. The same essentially
held true for other subsets of ads next to editorial. Those that ran next to a cover story or article had a score of 50 percent.
Where ads did get a bump in notice was when they ran next to the table of contents, possibly because readers linger on and return to the TOC, making it more likely
they’d glance at the facing ad. Those ads averaged a readership score of 59 percent.
The findings are based on all types of titles, raising the question, how did they
differ by genre? MRI found that in women’s fashion and beauty and bridal magazines, where ads are often considered part of the content, ads scored the same whether
they were next to an ad or editorial in general. The vast majority of other ad categories performed in line with the average, though, according to MRI.
The MRI findings aren’t the first to question the relevance of ad positioning. Earlier
studies by research firm Affinity and agency Starcom found little difference between recall of ads whether they appeared in the front or back half of the book.
Jack Hanrahan, a former print director at OMD, is now editor of Circ Matters, a magazine-circulation newsletter, and has sought to debunk the importance placed on certain forms of positioning.
“It does support the fact that you want to make sure your ad is positioned against
editorial,” he said of the MRI findings. On the other hand, he said, “it certainly
would cause you to think, fighting for relevant editorial is not as productive as some people think.”
Still, it’ll be hard to convince some buyers to abandon the long-held belief that ad positioning matters.
While people read magazines for a variety of reasons, there’s a “heightened awareness” of an ad that runs next to relevant editorial, such as a food product next to a recipe section, said Audrey Siegel, president of TargetCast tcm.”I believe that context matters,” she said.
Brides Sees Some Gains After Frequency, Focus Shift
-By Lucia Moses
For years, bridal magazines have produced thick, pastel-drenched quarterlies abundant with gown ads.
But the category has come under pressure as wedding planning Web sites have cropped up and dress advertising has flattened. As part of a major cost cutting in ’09,
Condé Nast, the leader in the category, folded two of its three bridal titles, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride.
The surviving Brides, trying to expand its ad base, launched an experiment, doubling its frequency to 12 times and expanding its editorial mission.
Nearly a year later, Brides, the category leader in ad pages, has charted some,
if not overwhelming, success that shows the difficulty of growing nonendemic advertising in a tough print market.
This year through October, ad pages from nonbridal sources rose 44 percent over
last year, to 575 pages. While that may sound like a lot, nonendemic advertising’s
share rose only 4 percentage points, to 26 percent of all advertising in the book.
Carolyn Kremins, the title’s vp, publisher, is undaunted, though, pointing to increases
in categories like home, travel and finance including Walmart Home and Bank of America. “The monthly frequency lets us talk to more advertisers,” she said.
One new advertiser, Tissot watches, saw Brides as a way to reach women who are still
in a buying mood, according to Walter Coyle, president of Pedone Media, who added the magazine to a corporate Condé Nast buy.
“It’s an opportunity to create an emotional engagement with the consumer at this
stage in her life,” Coyle said. “It’s also an opportunity to reach women who are
considering gifting men.” Value-added elements like an iPad app ad, retail presence and e-mail blast helped seal the deal, he said.
In addition to doubling the frequency, Brides added editorial content in areas like home, financial planning and nonbridal fashion. Such information might seem out
of place in a bridal magazine, but Kremins said that research bore out brides’ desire for it. While they might get money management advice from traditional financial media, Brides offers it in a way that’s relevant to their life stage, she added.
Research aside, it will take a while to see if the new format truly catches on with readers. Subscriptions to Brides rose 82 percent to 153,993 in the first half of
2010 versus the year-ago period. But about 15 percent of that included subs that
were served to former subscribers of the two bridal titles that Condé Nast folded
the previous fall, according to Brides. Nearly 137,000 subscribers to Elegant and Modern Bride received copies of Brides for the balance of their subscriptions.
As she sets her sights on cracking categories like automotive and nonbridal fashion,
Kremins will be challenged to convince other media buyers, skeptical about Brides’ addition of content that’s not specific to the big day.
“My concern is if they’re turning off the reader who’s going there to get specific cues about her wedding,” said Stacy Misher, svp, group account director, MPG. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Golf Upbeat About Downtrodden Sport
-By Lucia Moses [mailto:lmoses@mediaweek.com]
Between the pinch of the ad recession and flameout of its most famous player, golf
has some rebuilding to do. The same can be said for the reigning monthlies devoted to the sport, Golf Magazine and Golf Digest, which each shed 28 percent of their ad pages last year.
But Time Inc.’s Golf Magazine, while it’s still been trailing Condé Nast’s Digest
in terms of overall pages, is turning a corner this year. The recovery comes thanks partly to the magazine’s first “No. 1″ themed issue in October. The issue, which
Time Inc. hopes will become a new franchise rivaling its Time 100, was up 15 percent in ad pages, bringing the year-to-date page count up 2 percent.
Catering to golfer’s love of lists and stats, the No. 1 issue will include a Golfer
of the Year award, top equipment and advice, and interviews with celebrity golfers like Bill Murray and Larry David.
Don’t look for coverage of Tiger Woods, though; the issue is deliberately sidestepping that topic for more “positive” fare. “The real story for golf is people who play
the game,” said Dick Raskopf, publisher of the Sports Illustrated Golf Group. “With
everything going on in golf, the recession, publicity around the most public figure in golf, we felt it was the right time to celebrate the more positive issues in golf.”
