I found out a couple of weeks ago that Time Inc and Starcom MediaVest Group have partnered to start using guarantees on how many people are really seeing Starcom’s clients’ ads in Time Inc magazines and who took action on them.
While at first this sounds crazy – why would they not want to use their full circulation as a metric instead of cutting it down to actual eyeballs that have seen the ad? Well, they are now taking full credit for pass along readership with friends and in waiting rooms. They’ve used this number before when they were pitching to us and called it “readers per copy,” but we’d always brush it off and say “yeah right, how can you really estimate this?”
What I also found out that same week was that MRI (Mediamark Research & Intelligence) allows people who pay for their services to look at all kinds of pubs, not just Time. It’s just that Time Inc is going to be guaranteeing that they’re reaching a certain number of people. Then, when the research posts, they either over-delivered or owe the client a makegood or credit. Which in the media planning world, is a pretty ballsy thing to do.
I have also fallen in love with MRI’s white papers and newsletters so you might start seeing some of their reports show up on upcoming blog posts. But for those that can’t wait, visit here.
Patti is still learning 