Top 5 Monthly Magazines, from MIN Online

The June 2010 monthly ad-page boxscores brightened the advertising skies for more than half the magazines that we track in min. Of the 150 monthly titles in our chart, down from 161 titles the previous year, 92 were up in ad pages, an exuberant leap from the 17 that were up in June of 2009. In addition, 77 titles are showing a positive ad-page percent gain year-to-date 2010 vs. 2009, compared to only eight titles that were up during the first half of 2009. As reported on minonline, this is the first quarterly increase since the 2007 fourth quarter's +3.84%.

Elle Decor takes the lead in highest percent gain for ad pages. “The issue itself benefited from the timing of a new editorial franchise — the ELLE DECOR A-List, in which our editors named 25 top designers and five to watch,” says VP/publisher Barbara Friedmann. “This gave our fantastic sales staff a compelling opportunity to bring their endemic home furnishings advertisers earlier in the spring.”

Money took the second spot, with a 79% hike in ad pages from June 2009. Much of this is due to a strong advertising performance from key advertisers in industries ranging from pharma and financial services, and automotive industries and certain other editorial franchises, says publisher Frank Wall, . In addition, June begins the launch of “Money Women” (sponsored by HP), which targets 900,000 subscriber homes with women who have kids in the household.

Popular Mechanics' publisher Bill Congdon tells min that the 61% increase is due to their effort in cornering the men’s market. “The advertising growth in the June issue came from a diverse range of ad categories — new automotive, pharma, home improvement and men’s personal care products [industries],” he said. The key was creating integrated packages that provided advertisers with touch points in print, online, video and grassroots events. One example was the Chevy Camaro section called Top Shop, which appeared in both print and on the Web.


Cooking Light's 54.67% hike in ad pages came alongside the magazine's redesign (September 9), VP/publisher Stephen Bohlinger tells min. “Clearly our art direction and editorial flow is resonating with both readers and advertisers alike. Cooking Light is firing on all cylinders,” Bohlinger says. Their diverse ad base included Covergirl, Garnier (HBA) Discover Card (financial) Embassy Suites (travel), Samsung (home), GMC Terrain (auto), Frangelico (distilled spirits) and Dress barn (retail).

 

 From the New York Times, Full Story here.

Although the article focuses on TV Infomercials, some of these products have become big print advertisers as well.

Infomercial Products Take One on the Chin

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

IT may come as no surprise that in the February issue of Consumer Reports, where the product-testing magazine rates 15 infomercial products like the Snuggie (“The blanket with sleeves!”) and the ShamWow (“You’ll say wow every time!”), nearly all are found to be lacking.

What might be more surprising, though, is that editors thought subscribers — savvy shoppers who scrutinize the magazine’s ratings with intensity to guide their purchases — would even give a second thought to buying, say, a SlapChop (“Dice, chop and mince in seconds.”).

But Jeff Blyskal, a senior editor at Consumer Reports who wrote the unsigned article, said that while many smirked at infomercials — also known as direct-response ads — they also fell under their spell.

“We tend to laugh at these commercials but they are very powerful persuaders,” Mr. Blyskal said in a telephone interview. “You say, ‘I’m too smart to buy this,’ but when you laugh you kind let your guard down and get drawn into it.”

In the article, Mr. Blyskal quotes Martin Lindstrom, the author of the book “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy,” who says that infomercials “take viewers on a psychological roller-coaster ride.”

That ride, Mr. Blyskal writes, “starts with dramatizations of a problem you didn’t know you had, followed by the incredible solution, then a series of ever more amazing product benefits, bonuses, and giveaways, all leading to the final thrilling plunge of an unbelievably low price.”

This from Media Industry Newsletter and Marketing Charts:

Consumer magazines saw ad pages dip another 20.1% in October, for a total decline of 22% through the first 10 months of the 2009, according to the Media Industry Newsletter (MIN). For October, Architectural Digest took the biggest hit, while Interview saw the largest increase in ad pages.

Ad pages were down in every category and at nearly every major title, writes MediaBuyerPlanner:

• 131 of the 155 monthlies tracked by MIN saw ad pages slip in October.
• 111 of them saw ad pages fall more than 10%.
• 76 saw ad pages fall more than 20%.
• 42 saw ad pages slide more than 30%.
• 22 saw ad pages plunge more than 40%.

The titles that took biggest hits:

• Architectural Digest (down 49.4%)
• Veranda (-47.4%)
• W (-45.5%)
• Town & Country (-45.2%)
• Conde Nast Traveler (-45.1%)
• Dwell (-45%), Wired (-43.2%)
• Gourmet (-42.7%)
• Ebony (-40.1%)
• National Geographic Traveler (-45.2%)

The magazines seeing the most improvement:

• Interview (up 49.3%)
• People StyleWatch (+23.7%)
• Texas Monthly (+21.9%)
• All You (+20.5%)
• Southern Living (+12.4%)
• Family Circle (+13.9%)
• Fitness (+11.7%)
• Flex (+8.8%)
• Saveur (+8.3%)
• Muscle & Fitness (+6.9%)

October pulled the year-to-date average up slightly, from 23.6% year-to-date through September to 22% year-to-date through October.

This cuts especially deep, since Conde Nast is the smartest company being run by the smartest, best dressed people, or at least that is what they have always told me. 

This from paidcontent.org: 

"Working with McKinsey (the consultants), Townsend (Conde Nast CEO) and a Conde Nast team will “develop new perspectives on optimizing our approach to business, growing revenues, and enhancing our brand assets. All areas of Condé Nast will be included in the study.” Conde Naste has more than 30 brands between the consumer magazines, which include The New Yorker, Wired and Vanity Fair, and the Fairchild Fashion Group"

Hopefully, McKinsey will take a look at not just personnel but the fundamental model of how Conde Nast goes about selling advertising. What would be great is if they could make the people at Conde Nast realize that they are not doing us all a favor just by allowing us to spend money with them. Not all Conde Nast titles are like this (Wired is an exception) but too many have an attitude that make the purchase of ad from them a very unpleasant experience.