| |
SMG Headlines
For press inquiries,
contact:
Jill Kelly
Starcom MediaVest Group
212-468-3828
Email
Lena Petersen
Starcom MediaVest
Group
312.220.4169
Email
Anita McGorty
MediaVest
212.468.3788
Email
Graham Eason Nolan
Starcom
312.220.5382
Email
Tabitha Dosch
Spark Communications
312.970.8498
Email
|
 |
Starcom Study Yields Rules for Print Product Placement
Press Release - 10/10/2005
CHICAGO; October 10, 2005—Starcom USA, a full service media agency network within Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), has conducted a research study indicating that consumers are savvy to and often accepting of product placement within magazines. The study – the first ever to gauge consumer attitudes towards such placements – yielded a series of guiding principles for print product placement, contingent upon the content and context of brand information.
Starcom’s Insights & Analytics team, in conjunction with Survey Sampling International (SSI), conducted the survey in September with questionnaires measuring magazine reader’s attitudes towards product placement in magazine articles. The agency surveyed readers among different genres of magazines, including Fashion/Beauty, Home, Men, Newsweeklies and Women’s Service. Magazine readers from each genre were shown excerpts from a magazine featuring brand images and/or mentions. Respondents were asked a battery of attitudinal questions pertaining to each excerpt.
The prevailing opinion of consumers (65%) is that the advertisers pay for the products that featured in editorial. Further, consumers typically believe that products featured or placed in editorial are relevant and fit within the content and context of the magazines in which they appear. Nearly 83% of respondents picked at least one brand mention or image that they thought fit within its article.
“The survey shows clearly that consumers have print product placement on their radar, and that they are willing to accept it when it adds value to their reading experience,” said Starcom USA Starcom Group Client Leader Andrew Swinand. “That said, the most powerful asset a magazine has is a bond of trust with its readers. While agencies should form tighter partnerships with magazines in order to better understand readers, they should not design any media contact plan that would violate the church-and-state separation of editorial and ad content.”
Guidelines were formed, based on consumer insights and opinions, that dictate for marketers and agencies the proper context within which to place branded messages. Some guidelines include:
-Even if your brand placement is not paid, assume that consumers think it is. Readers are predisposed to think that brand advertisers pay for brand mentions in magazines.
-Also, assume that consumers are accepting of paid placements. Starcom found that nearly half of all readers agree that it is acceptable for magazines to pay for magazine placements.
-Provide consumers with in-depth information where possible. The survey compared brand mentions including written details of the brand (whether accompanied by a photo or not) to placements consisting of just a picture or logo of a brand. Readers felt that brand mentions within the article fit better than pictures/logo. Approval of solo images was as low as 33%, while approval of brand placements with written mentions that were was high as 94%, contingent upon genre of magazine.
-Relevance is more crucial to approval in news magazines. The majority of readers who deemed one ad fitting found at least two ads fitting. The exception was newsweeklies, where the proportion approving of two was only 56% of those who approved of one. This indicates that approval is more selective when placement is within news sources.
“This research will be vital to understanding attitudes towards product placement in magazines, and also how consumers generally react to product mentions in editorial content, paid or not,” said Starcom USA VP/Director of Insights and Analytics Richard Fielding. “The closer we get to assessing consumers’ overall attention for and interactions with brands in magazines, the better strategists can assess what will make for effective, engaging and – most importantly – appropriate brand messaging.”
Survey answers were based on consumer perceptions of whether mentions were paid, and the study premise did not assume that any of the pages measured in this survey were paid for by any of the advertisers.
About Starcom Worldwide
Starcom is a full-service media division of Starcom MediaVest Group (www.smvgroup.com), which is ranked one of the largest media communications agencies in the world and encompasses an integrated network of highly specialized consumer contact companies. SMG's global organization includes strategic marketing communication architects who are highly specialized in media management, response media, internet and digital communications, as well as multicultural, entertainment, sports sponsorship and event marketing and media. With nearly 3,500 employees in 89 markets worldwide, SMG delivers brand-building results for many of the world's leading companies.
Printer Friendly
|
|
