Magazine Ad Effectiveness Study Proves Print’s Value – Again

Have you ever considered starting your own niche magazines to connect with your customers and prospects? Build brand awareness and trust? If you haven’t considered it out of concern that magazines are passé, you might want to consider “The Print Campaign Analysis,” a study conducted by Millward Brown for the Magazine Publishers Association.

Millward Brown, an authority in the assessment of advertising impact, examined the data from nearly 100 ad effectiveness studies that the advertisers had commissioned. The report finds that print advertising results in the greatest increases in persuasion metrics (brand favorability and purchase intent) compared to other platforms.  It also found that digital platforms were most effective when combined with traditional media, such as print.

Top findings?

• Print ad exposures generated lifts that were 7% points higher than those for online and 3% points higher than those for TV.
• When it comes to improved brand favorability and purchase intent, print ads result in 11% lift, compared to 58% for TV and 4% for online.
• When advertisers used print in combination with other platforms, they were most successful in raising outcome metrics.
• Outcomes varied by industry. In the entertainment industry, in particular, print resulted in 18% increase in brand favorability (compared to 9% for TV and 5% for online) and 15% increase in purchase intent (compared to 10% for TV and 3% for online).
• Adding print to a TV schedule helped consumers recall the TV ads they had seen. Exposure to both TV and print in ad campaigns improved consumers’ ability to correctly associate the advertised brands with their respective advertising messages.

Once again, print proves to be a powerful channel both on its own and as an amplifier for digital channels.

Whether you are considering adding a niche magazine to your communications mix or simply evaluating the value of print channels like direct mail, this study should give you confidence that print works!

Think a custom magazine might be right for your marketing goals? Let’s talk.