Magazine Publishers of America -Twenty Tweetable Truths

The Twenty Tweetable Truths About Magazines. 20 facts that showcase magazine vitality, 140 characters or less.



1. Magazine readership remains steady in an increasingly crowded and noisy media landscape.

2. 92% of U.S. adults read magazines.

3. Magazine readers pay attention to magazine ads. They don’t pay to avoid the advertising as they do with other media.

4. Consumers spend more than $86 million each week on single-copy magazines.

5. Subscriptions to magazines are on the rise. 2007: 322 million paid subscriptions. 2008: 325 million paid subscriptions.

6. Magazine subscriptions increased in the first half of 2009.

7. New magazines continue to be launched. The latest figures show that magazine launches surged 10% in the first part of 2009 from the prior year.

8. Magazines covers chronicle key events. President Obama’s election resulted in dozens of covers with him, his family....and even his dog.

9. Who says that iPod-dependent teenagers have abandoned magazines? 75% of teens read magazines.

10. Magazines appeal to younger adults. Adults 34 and younger read more magazines than adults +34.

11. Over the past 5 years, the median age of magazine readers has remained consistently younger than the median age of total U.S. adults.

12. 54 magazines closed in 2008. A decrease of 17% from 2007.

13. Magazines love the Internet. Almost a quarter of all new subscriptions come from the Internet.

14. Magazines build buzz. They excel in reaching people who shape attitudes and behavior.

15. The top 25 magazines reach more adults and teens than the top 25 prime-time TV programs.

16. Circulation generates more than 40% of all magazine revenue.

17. The number of consumer magazine websites grew 78% between 2005 and 2009.

18. Magazines excel at long-form journalism, superb photography, eye-catching design.

19. Consumers buy more magazines when there’s big news. Michael Jackson-themed magazines in July drove an extra $55 million in sales.

20. Magazines drive web search more than any other medium. More than double Internet advertising and social media.

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Magazines Team Up to Tout 'Power of Print'

As Pickup in Ad Sales Boosts Their Confidence, Publishers Point to Strengths They Say Remain Relevant in Internet Age.
By RUSSELL ADAMS and SHIRA OVIDE

Magazine executives spent much of last year telling anyone who would listen that they were taking their brands digital.

Their message this year: Print rules.













Young & Rubicam
Olympic medalist Michael Phelps is pictured above in the first of a series of ads promoting the power of magazines.
Five leading magazine publishers have pitched in on a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting the "power of print." They say nearly 1,400 pages of the ads will be sprinkled through magazines including People, Vogue and Ladies' Home Journal this year.

The ads press the case that magazines remain an effective advertising medium in the age of the Internet because of the depth and lasting quality of print, compared with the ephemeral nature of much of the Web's content.

"The Internet is fleeting. Magazines are immersive," says one ad, which is slated to appear in May issues of the participating publications. The first spread features a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps from ESPN The Magazine, with the headline "We surf the Internet. We swim in magazines."

Backing the campaign are Time Warner's Time Inc., Hearst, Advance Publications' Condé Nast, Wenner Media and Meredith. The ads were created by WPP's Young & Rubicam.

The effort is scheduled to be announced Monday at an industry conference in San Francisco.

Just a few months ago, a handful of publishers announced another collaborative effort aimed at readying magazines for the migration of readers to digital devices. Since then, however, industry executives say advertising has begun creeping back into magazines after a two-year drought. The improved results have given them more ammunition to persuade readers and advertisers alike that the ink-on-paper business isn't dying.

"A lot of us sat back for way too long and listened to all this abuse and said nothing about it," says Jann Wenner, who orchestrated the campaign. "Meanwhile, we sit on top of one of the greatest mediums," adds Mr. Wenner, whose Wenner Media publishes Rolling Stone and US Weekly.

The five publishers say they have committed to run the first of the ads in the front one-fifth of their titles' pages, and have agreed to run all subsequent ads in the first half.

The ad space they are devoting to the campaign is valued at more than $90 million, based on public ad rates for each of their participating magazines. They say they have never before attempted such a large-scale campaign.

The spark for the campaign was a "manifesto" Mr. Wenner penned last year, in which he said that just as TV didn't kill magazines, the Internet was a threat only to publications that lost focus on what makes magazines unique. "In a certain way, this campaign is aimed at the magazine business itself," Mr. Wenner.

That the campaign might seem out of sync coming from an industry that has spent so much time trying to prove it can hold its own in the digital arena is beside the point, executives involved in the collaboration say. The purpose of the campaign is to remind people that these brands are rooted in print products with huge cultural and commercial influence, they say.

"Going digital is very important to Time Inc., but I don't want my clients to believe that no one is reading the printed word," says Time Inc. Chief Executive Ann Moore.

Even so, the Internet is expected to continue attracting a growing proportion of ad dollars away from traditional media. The share of global ad spending devoted to the Internet will rise to 16% by 2012, up from 12% last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, part of ad company Publicis Groupe. By the middle of the next decade, the firm expects the Internet to overtake newspapers as the world's second-largest advertising medium, behind TV.

Magazines' challenge is to be ahead of the digital curve while recognizing that for now print is their best asset, ad buyers say. Magazines are grappling with how to adjust to new devices like Apple's iPad, the tablet computer that is sparking fear but also enthusiasm in the media business.

"The iPad is bringing sexy back to magazines," says Robin Steinberg, an executive at Publicis's MediaVest arm who advises marketers on print advertising.

Amid a decline in spending on traditional media, other industries are making similar pitches for themselves. The Newspaper Association of America has run repeated ads to publicize the number of people who read a daily newspaper. As with the magazine campaign, the newspaper trade group says its ads are designed to counter the notion print is a dead medium.

The local-TV industry's trade group is starting an on-air ad campaign this month to encourage companies to advertise on their local TV stations.

The Internet Advertising Bureau couldn't be reached for comment.

The Michael Phelps ad is accompanied by an essay about the appeal of magazines. "Even in the age of the Internet, even among the groups one would assume are most singularly hooked on digital media, the appeal of magazines is growing," the ad says. The publishers point to data from Mediamark Research & Intelligence that show magazine readership has risen 4.3% over the past five years.

There are seven spreads in the series, four of which are essay-like and three that are more lighthearted. The campaign's signature is "Magazines: the Power of Print,'' with each letter of the word magazines appearing as it does in the title of a major publication. The "a'' is from Vanity Fair.

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QR Codes > Link Print with Your Online Message

By now you've probably seen these distinctive black and white squares appearing on printed pieces - from posters to magazine ads, direct mail to product packaging. These squares are a 2-dimensional bar code that link the printed piece you're viewing to additional information via the Web (i.e a URL address).

QR stands for "Quick Response." If you have a smart phone you can to download a QR Code Reader App, scan the QR Code with your phone's camera, and within seconds you'll be re-directed to a Website or other online promotion. Once you've been re-directed you can click to jump online content, save the URL in your "favorites" folder, dial the phone or download additional information.



QR Codes can increase the impact of your print materials.

AGC has just launched a Direct Mail campaign in collaboration with International Paper called "Down to Earth." The first issue "How does using paper lead to more trees?" should be arriving in your mail box soon. The interior card includes a QR Code for you to scan - check it out and let us know what you think.

Print Pays Off - A Down to Earth Look at Environmental Issues & Trends

Doing business requires maintaining a balance among economic, environmental and social needs. Printing on paper meets those criteria. It's a way to drive business in a renewable way - to be more effective in your communications and to be more sustainable. It's worth printing if you incorporate environmental stewardship in your business, encourage your suppliers and customers to do the same and use printed materials wisely.

According to the latest research on advertising, printed communications are making a significant contribution to the economy and have a positive impact on business. Statistics show the following:

- Campaigns combinging direct mail and internet yield up to an additional 25% response rate.

- Nearly 80% of households either read or scan advertising mail sent to their household.

- Direct mail gives advertisers a whopping 13-to-1 return on their investment.

- Nearly 80% of internet users surveyed said they were directly influenced to purchase an item or service because of direct mail.

- Brand recall is substantially higher using print vs. onscreen. On-screen information is 20 to 30 percent more difficult to read.

- Small and medium businesses still rely on newspaper and magazine articles (43.6%) and direct mail, including letters, postcards and catalogs (43.5%) to get results.

Used wisely, print can drive revenue and be a valuable part of a smart media mix. That's why, for example, U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person in direct mail marketing to earn $2,095 worth of goods per person. They're scoring a return on investment of 13 to 1. With the right mix, it's worth printing.

Sourced from International Paper Company, 2010 edition of "Down to Earth." The full issue is available by visiting IP Sustainability

52 Weeks 52 Works - 2010 AGC Desk Calendar Now Available

Designed, Printed and Distributed by AGC The Creative Advantage, the 2010 edition of 52 Weeks 52 Works is now available.

Academy Graphic Communication’s (AGC) annual desk calendar has served as a stage for the creative community of Northeast Ohio for the past 8 years. This calendar seeks to demonstrate the power of expressing ideas effectively through print and the myriad of collaborative opportunities available with Northeast Ohio’s creative community. The collection represented ranges from sculpture to painting, photography to ceramics.

52 weeks 52 Works was printed utilizing environmentally-friendly, FSC and SFI certified paper containing both recycled content and post consumer waste. The print production techniques are water based, minimizing dependency on volatile organic compund (VOC) laden chemicals. And the inks and coatings used throughout are vegetable-and soy-based, increasing their biodegradalbe nature and ease of recycling.

AGC recognizes that environmental sustainability is a community-wide effort. We seek to showcase local resources, to create greater awareness of the eco-friendly options available within our community and highlight how innovative, forward-thinking individuals and groups can draw on each other’s expertise to make a bigger difference together.

Through our unique efforts, AGC has stayed committed to the renewable print medium and its potential to make a difference in people’s lives while demonstrating how environmental issues can be proactively addressed.

To obtain a copy of 52 Weeks 52 Works please email us today!

In Digital Era, Marketers Still Prefer a Paper Trail

An excerpt from the Wall Street Journal - Friday, October 16, 2009 - By Jeffrey Ball

"Never is the elusiveness of a paperless world more evident that at this time of year, when mail boxes overflow with catalogs and holiday cards.

More than 17 billion catalogs were mailed in the U.S. last year - about 56 for every American. So why does the catalog, which helped Richard Sears launch his eponymous retail empire more than a century ago, continue to thrive in the electronic age? Because glossy catalog pages still entice buyers in a way that computer images don't. Catalogs, marketers say, drive sales at Web sites, making them more important than ever.

Among retailers who rely mainly on direct sales, 62% say their biggest revenue generator is a paper catalog, according to the latest survey by the Direct Marketing Association of its members. Only a fifth of those retailers say they draw their biggest sales from their Web sites.

That is why virtually no one expects the mail-order catalog to go away - even though only 1.3% of those catalogs generated a sale, a survey found.

Internet retailing has environmental consequences, notably energy-consuming Web servers. The catalog industry says it is working hard to reduce the environmental impact of its mailings by pushing retailers to increase their reliance on recycled paper and by making it easier for consumers to opt out of mailings they don't want to receive."

Which is Greener: Paper or Digital? The Answer May Surprise You - a ZDNet.com Blog

The DocuMentor Blog recently posted an interesting article on a subject we've been following closely:

Even though my brain is infused with a little too many toner particles, the Doc assumes that anything we can do to reduce paper consumption is good for the planet. But what about the significant impact of digital waste?

For a fascinating read, take a look at this interview with Don Carli, the Doc’s good friend and Executive Vice President of SustainCommWorld LLC and Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Communication. Here’s a few highlights from Don:

“Other than pushing the ‘cool’ factor, one of the main selling points being made by marketers of eReaders is that they are greener than print. It is little surprise that the common view held by consumers who don’t know the backstory is that going digital means going green and saving trees. Many are in for a rude awakening. When subjected to ‘cradle-to-cradle’ life cycle analysis, eReading is not nearly as green as many naively assume it is.”

“There is no question that print media could do a better job of managing the sustainability of its supply chains and waste streams, but it’s a misguided notion to assume that digital media is categorically greener. Computers, eReaders, and cell phones don’t grow on trees and their spiraling requirement for energy is unsustainable.”

“Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals including gold, silver, and palladium as well as extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. To function, digital devices require a constant flow of electrons that predominately come from the combustion of coal, and at the end of their all-too-short useful lives electronics have become the single largest stream of toxic waste created by man. Until recently, there was little, if any, voluntary disclosure of the lifecycle ‘backstory’ of digital media.”

“Sadly, print has come to be seen as a wasteful, inefficient and environmentally destructive medium, despite the fact that much of print media is based on comparatively benign and renewable materials. In addition, print has incredible potential to be a far more sustainable medium than it is today… and a truly digital medium as well. Despite its importance to business, government and society, print has been cast in the role of a dark old devil in decline. Digital media has been cast as the bright young savior on the rise.”

“Ironically the future of digital media and eBook readers is likely to be based on flexible polymer electronics manufactured using printing presses rather than silicon semiconductor fabrication technologies. In fact, the next generation of eReaders will most likely be digital AND be printed.”

There is a lot more from Don that the Doc guarantees will stimulate your neural economy.