The effectiveness of magazines is much underestimated, as a recent report from the Radio Centre ‘Re-evaluating media’ underlined. An aggregate of all the media scores in this study shows that the
gap between evidence and perception is the starkest for magazines.
Narrowing this perception gap is an important challenge facing the magazine industry. Our own effectiveness work has demonstrated the power of magazines when it comes to long and short term effects including brand equity, customer acquisition and activation.
We are keen to tackle this perception challenge.
This report serves to answer the question ‘why should advertisers and agencies invest in magazines?’
In today’s media landscape attention is hugely important. Attention to advertising
matters more than it ever has. There are more times and places where we can
capture the consumer‘s attention, yet numerous studies show attention to
advertising is declining.
Why? Because attention is a finite resource and we are in danger of over exploiting it.
When it comes to attention to advertising, it seems the more attention we try to squeeze out of consumers, the more they find ways to defend against it.
Digital detox, banner blindness and adblocking are all symptoms of an advertising ecosystem that is overloaded. In our rush to embrace all the new ways we can reach the consumer, to continually
mine and measure this using the new tools of digitalisation and data, we have focused
too heavily on eyeballs. Not all reach is equal, and now is the time to consider quality attention. Quality
attention matters. The neuroscience evidence shows that advertising that is
encoded into memory is a predictor of future behavior. We need to start to prioritise environments where ad avoidance is low. These spaces where advertising is welcome provide a under-appreciated value.
Magazines provide high quality attention that is immersive and focused, more importantly attention to its advertising is one of the highest. This is because they provide a positive content
and advertising experience, a relevant context that enhances receptivity to
advertising and a highly trusted environment. With magazines, advertising is not rejected, but seen as a positive part of the experience.
What’s more, this high-quality attention doesn’t need to be expensive. Analysis of CPTs for commonly planned and bought audiences shows that magazines are exceptional value.
The full report is here
