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Part Five Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
12. Evaluation of Print
Media
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
target audience. Information on readers is available from several sources, including the
publication’s own research and syndicated studies. Most magazines provide media
planners with reports detailing readers’ demographics, financial profile, lifestyle, and
product usage characteristics. The larger the publication, the more detailed and comprehensive
the information it usually can supply about its readers.
Syndicated research studies are also available. For consumer magazines, primary
sources of information are Simmons Market Research Bureau’s Study of Media and
Markets and the studies of Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI). These studies provide a
broad range of information on the audiences of major national and regional magazines,
including demographics, lifestyle characteristics, and product purchase and
usage data. Most large ad agencies and media buying services also conduct ongoing
research on the media habits of consumers. All this information helps determine the
value of various magazines in reaching particular types of product users.
Audience information is generally more limited for business publications than for
consumer magazines. The widely dispersed readership and nature of business publication
readers make audience research more difficult. Media planners generally rely on
information provided by the publication or by sources such as Standard Rate and Data
Service. SRDS’s Business Publication Advertising Source provides the titles of individuals
who receive the publication and the type of industry in which they work. This
information can be of value in understanding the audiences reached by various business
magazines.
Purchasing Magazine Advertising Space
Cost Elements Magazine rates are primarily a function of circulation. Other
variables include the size of the ad, its position in the publication, the particular editions
(geographic, demographic) chosen, any special mechanical or production
requirements, and the number and frequency of insertions.
Advertising space is generally sold on the basis of space units such as full page,
half page, and quarter page, although some publications quote rates on the basis of
column inches. The larger the ad, the greater the cost. However, many advertisers use
full-page ads since they result in more attention and readership. Studies have found
that full-page ads generated 30 percent more readership than half-page ads. 15
Ads can be produced or run using black and white, black and white plus one color,
or four colors. The more color used in the ad, the greater the expense because of the
increased printing costs. On average, a four-color ad costs 30 percent more than a
black-and-white ad. Advertisers generally prefer color ads because they have greater
visual impact and are superior for attracting and holding attention. 16 Roper Starch
Worldwide analyzed the effect of various factors on the readership of magazine ads.
The “noted” scores (the percentage of readers who remember seeing the ad in a publication
they read) are anywhere from 6 to 59 percent higher for a four-color full-page
ad than for a black-and-white ad, depending on the product category. “Read-most”
scores (the percentage who say they read more than half of the copy of an ad) are also
higher for four-color versus black-and-white ads, by about 25 percent on average. 17
Other studies have examined the impact of size and color and found that a four-color
spread (two facing pages) outperforms a one-page color ad by 30 percent and a blackand-white
spread by 35 percent in terms of ad recall. 18 Ads requiring special mechanical
production such as bleed pages or inserts may also cost extra.
Rates for magazine ad space can also vary according to the number of times an ad
runs and the amount of money spent during a specific period. The more often an
advertiser contracts to run an ad, the lower are the space charges. Volume discounts
are based on the total space purchased within a contract year, measured in dollars.
Advertisers can also save money by purchasing advertising in magazine combinations,
or networks.
Magazine networks offer the advertiser the opportunity to buy space in a group of
publications as a package deal. The publisher usually has a variety of magazines that
reach audiences with similar characteristics. Networks can also be publishers of a
group of magazines with diversified audiences or independent networks that sell space
in groups of magazines published by different companies. For example, the News Network
sells space in a group of news-oriented publications such as Time, Newsweek,