Assessing Ad Impact: Magazines a Most Cost Effective Medium

Dynamic Logic, a company specialising in advertising accountability research, recently updated their database of client-commissioned CrossMedia Research accountability studies. The new aggregation, which contains 39 studies, continues their work on how television, magazine and online advertising combine to impact the attitudes and intended behavior of consumers as they go through five identified stages of the buying process, i.e., the purchase funnel.

In an article posted by the Magazine Publishers of America showed for the first time, Dynamic Logic went beyond analysing advertising effects for these three media and looked at the cost of generating results for each medium individually as well as in combination with others, expressed as return on investment (ROI). Looking at consumers reached by each medium they found:

• Overall, magazine advertising drove consumer attitudes and intended behavior more effectively and efficiently than viewing television advertising alone or, TV in combination with online advertising.

• Across the 39 studies, adding magazines to TV and online had the greatest impact on consumer attitudes and intended behavior in three out of five stages: aided brand awareness at the top of the purchase funnel, and brand favorability and purchase consideration/intent at the key conversion and action stages at the bottom of the funnel. For ad awareness, magazines and TV virtually tied in their contribution.

- For the consumer packaged goods category (17 studies), magazines when added to TV and online were also the largest contributor in three out of five stages: ad awareness, brand favorability and purchase consideration/intent.

- For the non-packaged goods category (22 studies), as with overall results, magazines when added to TV and online were the largest contributor for aided brand awareness, brand favorability, and purchase consideration/intent.

• Magazines were the most cost effective medium throughout the purchase funnel, looking at two related measures of ROI-cost per person and people impacted per dollar spent-from ten CrossMedia Research studies for which ROI was available:

- Based on cost per person, magazines were the most efficient medium in three out of five stages of the purchase funnel. The combination of magazines and online was most efficient for the remaining two stages

- Based on people impacted per dollar spent, magazines were the most efficient medium in four out of five stages of the purchase funnel. TV + magazines + online was most efficient for the one remaining stage.