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Q&A on Issue Specific with Dr. Julian Baim, EVP & Chief
Research Officer, Mediamark Research Inc.
MRI's Issue Specific Readership Study -- which helps publications, agencies and marketers better understand readership of individual issues of
magazines -- was released earlier this month. In this Q&A, Dr. Julian Baim, executive vice president and chief research officer of MRI, discusses some of the unique qualities of this study and how
he hopes it will serve the industry.
Q. What does the Issue Specific Readership Study measure?
A. The study provides the total readership index for individual issues of approximately 175 magazine titles for adults, men and women. Readership estimates are
captured on a week-to-week basis beginning on the on-sale date of a publication. For weekly magazines, the readership estimate is based on eight weeks of measurement; for monthly publications, it is based on twelve weeks of measurement.
Q. How was this study conducted?
A. Interviewing began May 31, 2006 with approximately 2,500 interviews completed each week. The study is conducted online in order to amass large numbers of completed surveys in a compressed time period. The survey remains open from every Wednesday afternoon through Thursday night. Respondents select which title(s) they have read or looked into in last six months via a logo screen. Once they have indicated that they have read/looked into a publication, they are prompted to answer questions about reading the most recent issues of each screened-in magazine.
At the initial release of this study, more than 130,000 interviews were completed, with data collected for over 200 titles and data released for about 175 titles. Data
are referenced to MRI's national readership estimates so that the industry will have reliable issue-specific audience estimates.
Q. How does this study work in conjunction with MRI's national study, the
Survey of the American Consumer?
A. The Issue Specific Readership Study does not replace the Survey of the American
Consumer -- it is a supplement to that study. All issue specific readership estimates for a title are referenced to the average issue audience numbers for that title determined in the
Survey of the American Consumer.
Q. What are some of the applications of this research?
A. The Issue Specific Readership Study offers many applications that will benefit a range of users; we also think that clients will be creative in their uses of this study. On the agency side, subscribers will be able to conduct accurate schedule post-analysis and more
data-driven negotiation of magazine rates. Critically, they will also be able to better calculate magazines'
overall contribution to advertising ROI. Part of the beauty of this study is that it allows magazines to be on an equal playing field with other media in the evaluation process. Publications will be able to evaluate possible seasonal fluctuations and better evaluate a cover's impact on readership.
Q. What type of information, and in what format, should subscribers to this study expect?
A. Clients will receive a weekly report in the form of an interactive spreadsheet detailing each issue's readership. The interactive spreadsheet, accessible online, will contain (for each publication released) audience estimates per issue; male and female indices; male/female audience estimates; a link to an image of the cover for each measured issue; and the capability to export to an Excel spreadsheet for easy-to-use data sorting.
Q. What enhancements can the industry look forward to with this study?
A. MRI plans to include more demographic information in the deliverable and more mixed media applications.
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Nielsen//NetRatings and MRI Offer Single-Source Dataset
The media industry can now apply a single-source dataset of American consumers' off-line and online media consumption to media plans and ad sales. MRI and Nielsen//NetRatings have joined forces to develop fusion products that enable print or electronic media with complementary websites to obtain estimated net audience across the two platforms. They will also allow media planners to better evaluate the efficiency of cross-media schedules.
Both companies have collaborated on a state-of-the-art fusion process to ensure the delivery of sound and reliable data. This fusion takes MRI's
Survey of the American Consumer and Nielsen//NetRatings' NetView and links respondent level information from both studies to create single datasets that contain:
- Unduplicated audience estimates for print or electronic media and their web sites
- MRI media and demographic measures or media, demographic and product measures
- Approximately 2,300 Nielsen//NetRatings NetView measured Internet sites (brand and channel levels); and for each of those sites ...
- Click-stream data on page views
- Thirty-day net reach
- Data on whether website usage comes from a computer at home, work, or home/work combined
Two options are available - Net//MRI: Media and Net//MRI: Media+. The first includes media and demographic data, while the second contains product and category usage information in addition to the media and demographic data.
Data will be updated each month, shortly after NetView's monthly web site ratings are
released.
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Daily Media Usage, Engagement and
Multitasking Measured through MediaDay
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"This new study can be used to gain insight on potential connection points with consumer targets, craft better cross platform programs and generally improve media plan efficiency by knowing what media consumers focus on and when they focus on them."
Kathi Love, MRI President and CEO |
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Advertisers turn to TV for sight, sound and motion. But to reach the most focused consumers, you need to include magazines, newspapers and the Internet in your media plans. These findings are among the top-line results from MRI's MediaDay, released in June.
MediaDay examines when consumers use particular media, where they are when they use them,
what else they are doing at the time and how engaged they are with each medium.
MediaDay data can be viewed in increments as small as 15 minutes across the entire 24-hour day, as well as in hourly segments, daypart summaries or custom-created dayparts.
Although TV and radio are the most heavily used media on an average day, consumers are more likely to report being "very focused" when reading magazines and newspapers or surfing the Internet.
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Top-Line MediaDay
Usage Analysis
AVERAGE DAY OF TOTAL ADULTS |
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Television |
|
|
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Radio |
| Base
All Adults |
Adults
who used Medium |
Adults
"Very Focused" while using Medium |
Multi-
Tasking:
Adults Engaged in No Other Activity (at Home) |
|
|
|
Adults
who used Medium |
Adults
"Very Focused" while using Medium |
Multi-
Tasking:
Adults Engaged in No Other Activity (at Home) |
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(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
|
|
|
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
| Total |
83.6 |
34.7 |
45.9 |
|
|
|
68.2 |
16.5 |
28.6 |
| Daypart
Summary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
am-
9 am |
31.5 |
31.4 |
36.3 |
|
|
|
38.4 |
21.6 |
27.4 |
9
am-
5 pm |
40.4 |
30.6 |
42.3 |
|
|
|
44.1 |
13.3 |
20.3 |
5
pm-
12 am |
72.0 |
37.0 |
47.1 |
|
|
|
28.6 |
17.2 |
32.3 |
12
am-
5 am |
12.1 |
39.6 |
74.5 |
|
|
|
4.8 |
27.8 |
69.3 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Newspaper |
Internet |
Magazine |
| |
Adults
who used Medium |
Adults
"Very Focused" while using Medium |
Multi-
Tasking:
Adults Engaged in No Other Activity (at Home) |
Adults
who used Medium |
Adults
"Very Focused" while using Medium |
Multi-
Tasking:
Adults Engaged in No Other Activity (at Home) |
Adults
who used Medium |
Adults
"Very Focused" while using Medium |
Multi-
Tasking:
Adults Engaged in No Other Activity (at Home) |
| |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
| Total |
55.6 |
50.0 |
53.7 |
52.6 |
54.6 |
51.3 |
37.6 |
41.8 |
50.3 |
| Daypart
Summary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
am-
9 am |
25.4 |
58.8 |
53.3 |
18.8 |
60.2 |
55.1 |
5.7 |
46.9 |
48.5 |
9
am-
5 pm |
25.5 |
45.8 |
56.5 |
29.8 |
54.1 |
49.1 |
18.0 |
41.3 |
54.9 |
5
pm-
12 am |
15.3 |
42.4 |
48.4 |
29.6 |
53.6 |
51.4 |
16.0 |
40.8 |
47.6 |
12
am-
5 am |
1.2 |
63.6 |
81.7 |
3.6 |
49.9 |
57.6 |
1.2 |
46.0 |
40.6 |
For example, more than one-half (54.6%) of Internet users, 50% of newspaper readers and
41.8% of magazine readers said they are "very focused" when using those media, compared to
34.7% of TV viewers and 16.5% of radio listeners.
Print and online readers are also less likely to multitask when using these media than radio listeners. About one-half of Internet users and magazine/newspaper readers do not multitask when using these media compared to the more than 70% of radio listeners who are engaged in another activity while listening.
MediaDay is conducted via a telephone recontact of 8,000 adults (aged 18+) who also participated in MRI's national
Survey of the American Consumer. Results are integrated with these respondents' product usage and attitudinal data, providing information that details the daily media behaviors for hundreds of specific marketing targets.
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Leapfrog Uses Omnibus Recontact Study to Identify Media Behaviors within their Proprietary Segmentation System of Target Consumers
What do Annie Camden and Miranda Hobbs have in common? Aside from being fictional characters in popular TV programs, they represent two market segments developed by
Leapfrog -- the designer, developer and marketer of technology-based educational products.
More than two years ago, Leapfrog developed a segmentation system to help them understand the attitudes, behaviors and demographics of their target customers. They sought to create a segmentation that would strengthen marketing initiatives, especially for media buying and co-marketing activities. Using MRI, LeapFrog has increased their segmentation's value.
Leapfrog's VP of Marketing Research Dr. Craig Spitzer developed the segmentation system with research vendors TNS and NFO.
They conducted web-based surveys among 1,200 mothers of children ages 0-11 to gather information about attitudes towards products and brands as well as purchasing behaviors and lifestyle choices, such as participation in religious services, baking, and exercise classes. In-depth analyses led them to group respondents into six segments.
"After the initial system was developed, our colleagues at Ackerman McQueen, one of our advertising agencies, saw potential for this segmentation as a media buying tool by including MRI data," said Spitzer. Using MRI's Omnibus Recontact Study, a subset sample of 1,000 respondents from MRI's
Survey of the American Consumer -- also mothers of children 0-11 -- were classified using LeapFrog's segmenting algorithm. MRI data were then integrated into Leapfrog's segments.
The data collected through MRI allowed Leapfrog to understand the media consumption behaviors of their segments at a more detailed level than previously possible. "By filtering the segments through MRI, we got finely tuned, targeted media data to help us reach our favorite segments," said Spitzer.
Leapfrog is also active in joint marketing campaigns with other companies, and MRI's product information has helped them identify brands best suited for joint promotional activities. "By comparing the product and brand use of the segments, we are able to give our organization insights into the best partners for targeted marketing campaigns." For example, this research was helpful in LeapFrog's co-marketing work with Minute Maid.
Leapfrog's six segments describe the range of their customers. "We created fun names for the segments epitomized by characters from TV shows," said Spitzer. For example, one of the segments, Confident Cosmopolitans, uses the self-assured, career-driven Miranda Hobbs from Sex in the City as its personality. And 7th Heaven's Anne Camden, the stay at home mom who exalts strong family values and is the backbone of her family, is the character assigned to the Conservative Homemakers segment.
The segmentation system has been -- and continues to be -- received very well as a resource for media buying and for identifying co-marketing opportunities. "In the two years since this segmentation was developed, I've been asked at least 20 times to present it to a range of audiences, and the requests continue," said Spitzer. "We created a marriage of statisticians and researchers with marketing insights to develop meaningful segments that make good business sense."
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Segmentation Analyses on Money Borrowing Attitudes and Media Attitudes
Coming Soon
MRI's portfolio of segmentation tools will soon include two new analyses: Money Borrowing Attitudes and Media Attitudes.
The Money Borrowing Attitudes segmentation was developed using items from the finance attitudes battery of questions in the
Survey of the American Consumer. Based on respondents' levels of comfort towards borrowing money, consumers were grouped into four categories that range from most comfortable to most uncomfortable with debt. The four segments are: "I.O.U.," "To Their Credit," "On Someone Else's Dime," and "Balk The Bank."
The Media Attitudes segmentation was derived from an analysis of the media attitudes battery of questions in the
Survey of the American Consumer. The segmentation isolated three main motivations for media consumption: relaxation, inspiration and information. Items from the
media attitudes battery of questions were grouped together to form segments that describe attitudes towards media usage: "Three in One," "Relaxation & Inspiration," "Relaxation & Information," "Information & Inspiration," "Relaxation", "Inspiration," "Information" and "No specification." Respondents are grouped across five major media (television, radio, magazines, newspapers and the Internet) based on their attitudes/drivers for consuming the different media.
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