Magazine return on investment is consistently underestimated by traditional measuring systems and is more effective than people think, its peak body says.
Magazine Publishers of Australia says research by WPP subsidiary Millward Brown shows improving the quality and consistency of data inputs gives a more accurate result.
According to the study, ROI is seven per cent higher using MPA’s Magazine Audience Performance Predictor (mapp) tool than using traditional methods.
“Many econometric models systematically underestimated the impact of magazine advertising on sales. This does not reflect the readership patterns and causes underestimation of magazine’s impact on sales,” the association says.
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Millward Brown marketing science director Abhishek Shukla, says having industry-accepted magazine input data creates a level playing field for measuring how each channel in the media mix stacks up against each other.
"While traditionally we’ve used combinations of inputs to try to better represent magazine’s readership and its impact on sales, we have never before had industry-accepted, historical weekly data reflecting readership accumulation patterns for the delivery of magazine campaign audiences,” he says.
With printed magazine circulation in freefall, ad prices have been steadily declining, but MPA director Mary Ann Azer says this should not be the deciding factor.
“We believe that magazines drive sales and equity but unfortunately they have been underestimated in the past. Circulation is not the critical factor, what’s important are the effects on sales and the bottom line,” she says.
The MPA says the research follows previous Nielsen studies of three FMCG brands that also show magazines have been under-represented.
The studies show ROI improved from 0.34 to 0.91, up 168 per cent; magazine’s contribution to sales up from 10 to 23 per cent; and synergy improvements with other mediums between 12-18 per cent.
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