New York, NY (December 7, 2004) A new study titled How Media Measure Up: Financial Services, Personal Care Products, and Over-the-Counter (OTC)/Healthcare Products substantiates the vital contribution magazines play in increasing the return on investment (ROI) in media plans, it was announced today by Ellen Oppenheim, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). The study was conducted by Hudson River Group and commissioned by MPA.
The study demonstrates that adding or increasing magazines in the media mix significantly improves ROI, said Ms. Oppenheim. It also shows that magazines are underutilized, and reinforces the findings from previous accountability studies. Magazines are more efficient than other media, especially for the Financial Services, Personal Care and OTC/Healthcare product categories.
Highlights of the study include:
Financial Services:
For Financial Services, in which demand deposits, debit cards and credit card advertising plans were examined, magazine ROI is over twice that of total advertising ROI (240 index) while TV ROI is 19% lower than that of total advertising (81 index).
Furthermore, when included in the media plan, magazines drive significantly more than their fair share of incremental volume. While magazines currently account for only 17% of the advertising budget in this category, 30% of incremental advertising volume is attributable to magazines, resulting in an efficiency index of 176. The efficiency index of television advertising is only 74 in plans that have a mix of magazines and television. While 51% of incremental advertising volume is attributable to TV, currently 76% of advertising budget is being allocated towards this medium.
Personal Care:
For Personal Care, in which a range of health and beauty aid advertising plans were examined, magazine ROI is 45% higher than that of total advertising ROI, when included in the media plan, while TV ROI is only 10% higher (110) than total advertising ROI and outdoor ROI is only half (52 index) as effective as that of total advertising.
While magazine advertising currently accounts for only 9% of the advertising budget in this category, 28% of incremental advertising volume is attributable to magazine advertising, resulting in an efficiency index of 311. In plans that have a mix of magazines and television, magazine efficiency far exceeds that of television, which consists 90% of advertising budget. Yielding only 71% of incremental advertising volume, television achieves an efficiency index of only 79.
OTC/Healthcare:
For OTC/Healthcare, in which advertising plans for nonprescription consumer products with nutritional or medicinal benefits were examined, magazine ROI was nearly six times (571 index) that of total advertising, while television was 11% less effective (89 index) that total advertising.
Magazines yield an impressive efficiency index of 444 as a result of the relatively large share of incremental advertising volume (40%) yielded by the small investment in magazines (9% of advertising budget). Television accounts for 60% of incremental advertising volume in plans consisting of a mix with magazines; however, most of the advertising budget (83%) is allocated towards television, resulting in a significantly lower efficiency index of 72.
How Media Measure Up, based on aggregating individual brand data across a number of years, examined a sample base of 302 cases for the three product categories, measuring a variety of market drivers, including television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and outdoor. The research also took into account a number of baseline drivers that influence business results, which include seasonality, weather, competitive activity, econometric factors, category trends and special events (such as the Olympics and elections).
Click here to view the topline findings for How Media Measure Up.
The full results of this study, and other accountability studies are available for download from the Advertising & PIBAccountability section of the MPA website.
