Archive for March 1st, 2010

Magazine publishers press case in magazines

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Five leading magazine publishers have joined for a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to “press the case that magazines remain an effective advertising medium in the age of the Internet because of the depth and lasting quality of print, compared with the ephemeral nature of much of the Web’s content,” the Wall Street Journal said Monday.

Time Inc., Hearst, Condé Nast, Wenner Media and Meredith will run nearly 1,400 pages of the ads  in such publications as People, Vogue, Ladies’ Home Journal and other magazines this year.

“The five publishers say they have committed to run the first of the ads in the front one-fifth of their titles’ pages, and have agreed to run all subsequent ads in the first half.

“The ad space they are devoting to the campaign is valued at more than $90 million, based on public ad rates for each of their participating magazines,” the WSJ said.

Elsewhere, said the Journal, the Newspaper Association of America has run repeated ads to publicize the number of people who read a daily newspaper. As with the magazine campaign, the newspaper trade group says its ads are designed to counter the notion print is a dead medium. The local-TV industry’s trade group is starting an on-air ad campaign this month to encourage companies to advertise on their local TV stations.

European papers understand added-value

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Advertising Age takes a look at how European newspapers are charging for content online. “The consensus … is that a hybrid model is the best option for most businesses as publications seek to develop potentially lucrative relationships with paying customers without losing the volume that comes from offering free content.”

The top example: “Le Figaro’s approach, 14 months in the making, keeps the main newspaper content free but offers two other options at $10 and $20 a month. Premium users get access to in-depth information, special offers, twice-daily newsletters, roundtable discussions with journalists, the opportunity to see their own content on the home page of the site and a concierge service that can arrange everything from theater tickets to shirt cleaning.”

Premiums are key, the report says. “In 52 countries around the world, 71 percent told Nielsen that online content would have to be better than what is available free before they would pay for it, and 79 percent would not use a site that charges them if they can find the same information at no cost.”