Magazines are
of three types –
General
interest magazines like
India Today and Outlook
Business
magazines like Business India, Business World or Business Today
Special
magazines for niche markets like Eastern Pharmacist for pharmacists.
Professional journals are also specialized magazines like the journal for
chartered accountants, company secretaries and costs and works accountants.
Advantages
of Magazine Advertising
The newspapers
and magazines have different advantages though both belong to the print media.
The
peculiar advantages of magazines are:
1.
Demographic selectivity: Every
magazine has a different audience whose demographic and psychographic
characteristics are different. Thus Femina is a magazine for young
women, whereas Savvy is a magazines for mature women. Manohar
Kahaniyan has a typical audience of north Indian middle class. Each
magazine thus helps us to target at a particular age group, gender group and
income group. Special interest magazines provide a specific audience.
2.
Geographic Selectivity:
Some magazines have all-India circulation like India Today. Some
magazines are confined to a region like Malayalam Manorama. So magazines
help us target a geographic market we require without considerable waste.
3.
Creative Flexibility:
High fidelity
reproduction is a speciality of magazines on account of their superior quality
of paper and printing. They also provide opportunities for innovative adds like
pop-up ads, sample-bearing ads, scented ads, outside inserts as
booklets.
4. Durability
of Message: Magazines are kept for a longer time, and are read again
and again. More time is devoted to reading a magazine. It means that the
chances of the ad message being seen are more in magazines. As the magazines is
preserved for a longer time, the message has a durability of longer duration.
Disadvantages
of Magazines Advertising
In spite of
several advantages, magazines have many drawbacks as advertising media.
1. Lead
Time Longer: The ad material will have to be
submitted much in advance because a magazine requires elaborate production
plan. The lead time is sometimes 90 days before the release of an issue. It is
difficult to change the message on account of changed circumstances and
contingencies. These days magazines are trying to shorten the lead time as much
as they can.
2.
Limited Reach and Frequency: Magazines have limited reach as far as the total number of
households are concerned. To reach a larger audience, it is necessary to buy a
lot of magazine space. As their periodicity is either a month or a fortnight or
a week, it is difficult to have higher frequency. To overcome this drawback, a
media planner uses several magazines or adds other media to supplement magazine
ads.
3. No Sound and Motion: Magazines rely upon the printed copy and visuals to
convey the message, and lack the sound of radio or motion of TV which makes
these audio-visual ads greatly effective.
Magazine
buying:
Factors
affecting the choice of Magazine are as follows
While planning
magazine ads, we have to consider factors like circulation and readership, ad
rates, placement of ads, special facilities given by the magazines.
1.
Circulation and Readership: Circulation
figures indicate the number of people who will get to see the ad. But
circulation for magazines keeps on fluctuating. The ad rates are based on
guaranteed circulation. It is the figure of those least number of copies which
will be delivered. Primary readership of a magazine is the readership of
actual buyers or subscribers. Secondary readership get to read the
magazine as it is passed on by the primary readers. Secondary readership is
a matter of research. It always exceeds the circulation. (ABC) Audit Bureau of
Circulation certifies a magazines circulation.
2.
Magazines Ad Rates:
The rate card shows
the rate to be paid and production specifications. It also spells out agency’s
commission policy and provides other relevant information. There are separate
rates for Black and White and colour ads. The rates increase depending upon the
number of colour used. Bleed ad has its background colour spread all over the page
till its edges. It carries an extra charge. Magazines offer a variety of sizes
– full-page, half-page, quarter-page ads. Fractions of a page in several
combination can be offered. Gatefold ad opens like a safe, when its two
folds are opened. It occupies an extra-wide page.
Run-of-press
ads are placed anywhere.
The basic rates quoted by a newspaper entitle the ad to a run-of-paper
(abbreviated ROP) position anywhere in the paper that the publisher chooses to
place it, although the paper will be mindful of the advertiser's request and
interest in getting a good position. An advertiser may buy a choice position by
paying a higher, preferred-position rate, which is similar to paying for a box
seat in a stadium instead of general admission. A cigar advertiser, for
example, may elect to pay a preferred-position rate to ensure getting on the
sports page. A cosmetic advertiser may buy a preferred position on the women's
page. There are also preferred positions on individual pages. An advertiser can
pay for the top of a column or the top of a column next to news reading matter
(called full position).
Each newspaper
specifies its preferred-position rates; there is no consistency in this
practice. Preferred-position rates are not as common as they once were. Now
many papers simply attempt to accommodate advertisers that request a position,
such as "above fold urgently requested."
a.
Preferred-position Rates: each
newspaper specifies its preferred-position rates.
b.
Combination Rates: A
number of combinations are available to advertisers. What they all have in
common is the advantage of greatly reduced rates for purchasing several papers
as a group.
c. Multiple
Rate card: Many
Newspapers offer a number of rate cards for different categories of
advertisers.
3. Audience Selectivity: As we noted earlier, the audience
niche reached by a publication is normally the starting point for evaluating a
magazine. Successful magazines tend to appeal to relatively audience segments,
especially compared to the general magazines of the 1950s such as Life,
Look, and The Saturday Evening Post. However, today even the largest
– circulation publications have an identifiable editorial focus. Sports
Illustrated, TV Guide, and Modern Maturity all reach millions of
readers but concentrate on relatively few topics.
The closest
publications to the general – circulation magazines of the past are Reader’s
Digest and the newspaper – distributed supplements USA Weekend and Parade.
However, it is apparent that the typical consumer magazine reaches a
particular demographic or lifestyle category. The combination of clearly
defined demographics and compatible editorial environment make magazines
important to many advertisers, either as the primary building block of a media
schedule or as a valuable supplement to other media.
4.
Exposure to a company’s primary target audiences. Magazines can reach narrowly defined
audience segments, especially among high – income households. There is no
question that magazines represent the most efficient means of reaching a
significant segment of affluent prospects. Furthermore, the majority of this
audience are not heavy users of other media. Therefore, when the marketing
objective is to reach affluent customers, magazines will almost always play a
central role in the advertising plan.
For more and
more national advertisers, the decision is not one of deciding between magazine
and television, but rather how to use them as complementary media. A study
commissioned by the MPA found the following:
The
combination of print and television produces greater communication of brand
attributes than print alone or television alone.
The selection
of a brand versus its competitors increases more when print and television are
used in conjunction with each other than when television or magazines are used
separately.
It is evident
that advertisers must plan their creative strategies and executions to
strengthen and enhance the communication objectives for both media. The
complementary advantages of combining magazines and television are greatly
reinforced when creative strategies are complementary for both media.
5. Long
life and creative options. A TV commercial is over in 30 seconds, we whiz by a highway
billboard so quickly that only a fleeting glance is possible, and the average
newspaper is in the recycling bin before we leave for work. In this disposable
media world, magazines stand alone as a tangible vehicle. Magazines are often
used as reference sources. Articles are clipped, back issues are filed, and
readers may go back to a favourite magazine numerous times before finally
discarding it. Advertisers potentially benefit from each of the exposures.
Magazines also
offer advertisers a wide range of flexible formats such as double-page spreads,
bright colours, even product sampling. Magazines are particularly suited to
long copy. Discussions of detailed product attributes for automobiles and appliances
as well as advertising for financial services all lend themselves to magazines.
6. Qualitative factors. Advertisers buy magazines based on
their ability to deliver a particular audience at a reasonable cost. However,
more than any other medium, magazines depend on less easily measured,
qualitative criteria that advertisers traditionally look for in magazines are
the following:
7.
Credibility. Many
consumer magazines are considered the leading authority in their field. Car
owners look to Road & Track, hunters to Sports Afield, stockholders
to Fortune, and gardeners to Southern Living as sources of
reliable information. As we discussed earlier, it is this position of magazines
as authoritative sources that led to so many cross-media spinoffs into other
media. Sometimes the relationship between media credibility and advertising is
direct. For example, the Good Housekeeping Seal has been used by Good
Housekeeping magazine for more than 50 years as a method of endorsing
products that are advertised in the publication. In other cases, the connection
is less obvious but nevertheless an important part of the qualitative selling
environment of magazine advertising.
8.
Compatible editorial environment. When a person picks up Golf Digest, Glamour, or PC
Computing, there is little doubt about their interests. These same readers
also watch prime-time television, listen to the radio on the way home from
work, and see numerous billboards each day. However, it is difficult o
anticipate what they are thinking about on these moments. On the other hand,
specialized magazines can practically guarantee a synergism between reader and
editorial content.
9. Reader
involvement. The
average reading time for a consumer magazine is 52 minutes. More importantly,
the more highly educated a reader, the more thoroughly he or she reads a
magazine. Studies show that readers with a college degree are exposed to the
average magazine page more frequently and also are more likely to see the
advertisements. Reader involvement is related to the credibility and editorial
relationship that readers develop with their favorite magazines. While not easy
to quantify, these factors play a role in determining in which medium
advertisers will invest their money.
10. Long
closing dates.
Unlike the
spontaneity of radio and newspapers, magazines require a long lead time between
when advertising material must be submitted and when the ad will run. For example,
a magazine advertisement may run 8 to 10 weeks after an advertiser submits it.
This long lead time makes it difficult for advertisers react to current
marketing conditions either in scheduling space or developing competitive copy.
The long closing dates are one reason why most magazine copy is very general.
11. Ad
Banking. While
not an inherent disadvantage of all magazines, ad banking is a practice that
some advertisers do not like. Ad banking is the practice of publications such
as National Geographic to cluster (or bank) all the advertisements
toward the front and back of the publication. Advertisers fear that banking
creates advertising clutter and makes it less likely that their advertising
will gain high readership. Some advertisers exclude such publications from
their media schedules.
12.
Availability of partial runs editions: advertisers buying not the entire
circulation but a part of the circulation. On a national scale, magazine demographic and
geographic editions meet the same demands of large advertisers. It is very rare
that a national magazine does not offer some type of regional or demographic
breakout of its total circulation. These special editions are called partial
runs and are very common and important to magazine advertising.
Demographic Editions. Major magazines routinely offer
advertisers those pin codes with the specific SEC. Advertisements can limit
their ads to subscribers in those areas.
Vocational
Editions. A magazine
may identify professionals or executives among its readers and allow
advertisers to purchase a partial-run directed only at these readers.
Geographic
edition: The oldest,
and still most available, form of partial-run is the geographic edition.
Depending on the publication, a magazine may offer a combination of city,
state, or regional editions.
One advantage
of geographic editions is that they can be used for both subscriptions and
newsstand sales, whereas both demographic and vocational editions are confined
to subscribers. It is extremely common for even relatively small circulation
magazines to offer some form of partial-run advertising.
Split-Run
Editions
It is a
special form of the partial-run edition. Split-run editions normally are used
by both advertisers and publishers for testing purposes. The simplest form of
split-run test is where an advertiser buys a regional edition (a full-run is
usually not bought because of the expense) and runs different advertisements in
every other issue.
Each
advertisement is the same size and runs in the same position in the
publication. The only difference is the element being tested. It may be a
different headline, illustration, product benefit or even price.
Partial-run
and split run editions offer a number of benefits to advertisers.
1. Geographic
editions allow advertisers to offer products only in areas where they are sold.
2. Partial-run
can localize advertising and support dealers or special offers from one region
to another. As advertisers, increasingly adopt local and regional strategies,
the partial-run advantages will become even more apparent.
3. split-run
advertisement allows advertisers to test various elements of a campaign in a
realistic environment before embarking on a national rollout.
4. Regional
editions allow national advertisers to develop closer ties with their retailers
by listing regional outlets. This strategy also provides helpful information to
consumers for products that lack widespread distribution.
Partial-run
editions also have disadvantages:
1. CPM levels
are usually much more expensive than full-run advertising in the same
publication and close dates can be as much as a month earlier than other
advertising.
2. In the case
of demographic editions, the lack of newsstand distribution for these
advertisements can be a major disadvantage if single-copy sales are significant
for the publication.
3. Some
publications bank their partial-run advertising in a special section set aside
for such material.
Various
Kinds of rebates, discounts and rates offered in print media buys
1. Scatter
buys
2. Upfront
buys
3. Make goods
4. Spot buys
5. Bulk
discounts
6. Full buy or
partial run
7. Reach
