The nation’s most powerful advertising buyer, GroupM chairman John Steedman, has come out in defence of print, saying he is actively encouraging his clients to take a fresh look at newspapers and magazines. Steedman says advertisers have been moving away from print faster than readership and circulation figures are actually falling; and the negativity around print has been overcooked. Print, he says, remains a targeted, high impact medium – especially for brands in the financial services and retail spaces.

John Steedman, chairman of GroupM

In the digital world, however, spend on search and display is showing signs of maturing – though video advertising remains popular. Steedman says part of print’s problem with buyers lies with publishers who have failed to unite to champion their medium. Last year the industry launched its Emma metric, a readership survey that tracks eyeballs across print and digital content to create a more enticing proposition for buyers; though this is still being stacked up against Roy Morgan’s more established research reports. Some agencies use Emma in tandem with Roy Morgan; Steedman says GroupM will consider both sets of figures for now, and make a call towards the end of the year. The multinational umbrella agency is the parent company for MediaCom, Mindshare, Maxus and MEC, with billings running into billions of dollars a year.

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