Customer magazines top consumer marketing poll

Customer magazines are consumers' top communications choice, cited as the most relevant and informative form of direct marketing, according to new research commissioned by the DMA.

In Participation Media 2007 customer magazines once again generated the highest level of positive response from consumers - in both perceived (33.6 per cent) and actual behaviour (56.5 per cent) recorded through media consumption diary analysis.

Of the 12 forms of communication surveyed, customer magazines were revealed as the most passed-on medium (5 per cent) and the medium most likely to be filed away for later (37.9 per cent).

They were also the least ignored, thrown away, cancelled or unsubscribed, demonstrating the high value placed on customer magazines by consumers.

Additionally customer magazines were found to be the second most successful channel at driving retail traffic, behind only TV and radio advertising.

Customer magazines account for 2.8 per cent of all communications received and most customer magazines are received between 8am to 4pm, with volumes peaking at 11am when titles are delivered through the mail.

Almost two-thirds of magazines are delivered direct to the door, a major contributor to the finding that consumers consider customer magazines to be one of the most helpful forms of direct marketing.

Emily Fovargue, Head of Publishing at Royal Mail, said: "This will be welcome news for the all the brands and organisations that invest in customer publishing.

"Last year alone the industry experienced a new launch for every working day and with research such as this continuing to bolster the market I am sure that over the next six months we will see even more new titles".

Julia Hutchison, COO, APA, commented: "I am thrilled that customer magazines have once again topped the survey; it reinforces what we in the customer publishing sector have known for a long time - that customer magazines are both welcomed by consumers and deliver fantastic return on investment for brands and organisations.

"This will be reinforced later this year by the launch of the new customer publishing Mintel report, which we are expecting to provide yet another hearty slap on the back for the industry".

Back to top