New research published by The Henley Centre has given a boost to
the image of customer publishing with the finding that 70 per cent of UK
consumers are regular readers of titles in the category.
The research, which was commissioned by Omnicom's customer publishing
arm, Redwood, tried to establish whether spending patterns were affected
by the content of companies' contract titles. More than half of those
describing themselves as regular readers of customer magazines recalled
buying specific items as a direct result of reading about them. This
figure rose to 70 per cent within the retail sector and 85 per cent in
the home improvement area.
A further 46 per cent of respondents said that reading a customer
magazine had improved their impression of a company, while 71 per cent
agreed that the existence of a title reinforced the image of a
successful operation.
"The customer magazine sector has always suffered from the chicken and
egg problem," Andrew Curry, The Henley Centre's associate director for
media and new media, said. "Companies didn't know whether customer
magazines improved sales or whether the best customers were more likely
to read the magazines. We have demonstrated for the first time that
customer magazines drive loyalty and improve spending behaviour."
The research was carried out across a survey of 1,504 respondents and
dealt with customer attitudes to more than 100 contract titles.
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