Industry happenings at Colenso, the MPA, Ideas Shop, HMC Communications and Colmar Brunton
Browsing: Katrina Horton
Changes at Assignment Group, Sovereign, the MPA, Bauer, Shine, Sky, Icebreaker, More FM and PRINZ.
While the quarterly circulation and readership numbers offer a glimpse at the state of the magazine industry—and specific titles—at a moment in time, the Magazine Publishers’ Association is trying to change the conversation and draw attention to the strength of the medium as an advertising channel. And it’s aiming to do just that by talking to the industry about the results of a recent piece of research.
Nielsen’s readership and the ABC’s circulation results do not bode well for the print versions of New Zealand newspapers. Most of the major publications recorded significant drops on both reports, leading to suggestions from some that it might be time to adapt the way statistics are collected so that readership can be measured across all platforms.
After a six month review of the Magazine Awards, The Magazine Publishers Association has pushed go on its call for entries. And it will probably be getting a whole heap more this year because Bauer Media, which publishes 20 magazines, has ended its five year embargo and will get back onboard this year.
There is little value in reminding agency folk that magazines are well targeted and engaging, says MPA’s commercial director Katrina Horton, as a recent survey shows everyone’s pretty much in agreement there. But there is value in talking about why magazines are well targeted, how readers are engaged and what this means for advertisers.
The quarterly number fest that is the Nielsen CMI Readership and Audit Bureau of Circulation data has been released, and while only a few magazine titles bucked the general downward trend in paid circulation, a majority of titles experienced readership increases, making it the third consecutive survey showing an improvement in total readership.
The Magazine Publishers Association has set some fairly bold targets for the industry and hopes to increase its share of ad revenue by around $30 million over the next two years, going from around 10 percent of the total ad market to 11.5 percent. It’s certainly a big ask, but Nielsen’s more in-depth Consumer and Media Insights research, mostly positive readership and circulation results in the last batch of numbers, and now, the appointment of Katrina Horton to the newly created role of commercial director with the MPA, all seem to have given the industry some extra confidence that it can reach those goals.