The Periodical Publishers Association has collated key pieces of
magazine research from the last decade and is publishing it for the
first time in the form of a single, user-friendly report.
The report, called ‘How Magazine Advertising Works’, has been put
together by the media consultant, Guy Consterdine, and follows calls
from the advertising industry for a summary of existing research.
Consterdine has drawn on more than 50 significant studies over the past
ten years to produce a reference source for media decision-makers.
The report covers well-known research including IPC’s Ad Track,
‘Magazines into 2000’ from the Henley Centre this year and the PPA 1994
report ‘52 Reasons why Magazines Make Things Happen’, in addition to
analyses of Nielsen data.
The report is divided into four sections, covering magazines’
relationship with readers and advertisers, their effectiveness as
advertising media and evidence that magazines sell products.
In his introduction, Consterdine says: ‘It is not always easy to keep up
with the latest research and there is a tendency for earlier landmarks
to fade from memory. Accordingly, this report has been written to set
out a cogent account of how magazine advertising works.’
Peter Dear, deputy chief executive of the PPA, describes the guide as an
attempt to offer media buyers who may not have worked in the business
ten years ago a comprehensive and succinct guide to magazine research.
He said: ‘In the consumer magazine arena it is difficult for media
planners and marketers to identify key pieces of research and find the
back-up evidence to arguments as to why they should use magazines. This
brings everything together for them.’
