The Impact on Newspapers, Magazines, Direct-mail

Newspapers

Newspapers are a significant medium of communication that is more established than any other medium. In the US, about one out of every two people reads a newspaper every day. The majority of them are circulated in the localities that they cover in their reporting and a few are distributed nationally. More than 1500 daily newspapers put out 60 million copies every day and about 50 million in weekly issues. Being that each copy is passed on to approximately 2.2 people, this represents around 200 million readers weekly. This is by far the furthest reaching media channel of our time. It is ideal for to advertisers who are trying to reach the largest number of people locally or at the national level. In 1992, newspapers attracted a total of $27.1 billion in advertising revenue; far ahead of the $8.4 billion attracted by both over-air and cable television. Newspapers depend on advertising revenue to cover the cost of production and make profits. This is based on the model of Benjamin Day’s ‘The Sun’, in which the cost of the newspaper is reduced to a minimum to increase circulation and make it more attractive for advertisers.

Magazines

About 1200 magazines are published in the US for subscription and news-rack sales. Most of them focus on a specific industry such as: Forbes, Redbook, Billboard, eWeek, PC Magazine and others that appeal to specific interests. In the earlier days, magazines offered something for everybody. Life, a very large general interest publication in its time was an example of these in our days, very few magazines appeal to a general interest audience. Most magazines depend on advertising revenue to cover their cost of production. A few of them are provided free of charge to a section of the public that has been profiled to be the focus of advertisers. Marketers have to take into account the fact that most magazines only appeal to a specific audience when selecting a magazine to use to convey their messages.

Direct Mail

This is an adaptation of ‘a letter from the marketing manager’ to a customer. Direct mail does not attach itself to other content (such as news) to reach the consumer. This medium is intended deliver a clear and concise message about a product or service with a call-to-action. This method is ideal for marketers who have a specific message to convey to one a one-to-one basis. It enables them to effectively track the success of a campaign while periodically modifying the messaging according to the prospective customers’ requests. Using powerful database management software, direct-mail marketers are able to send individualized messages and track the responses and success rate using coupon redemption patterns. This consumer information and behavior is used to determine subsequent action. According to Advertising Age1, one fourth of all US mail (12.7 billion a year) is advertising mail; its share of advertising spending is 31 Billion. Despite these advantages over the mass media, the success rate for direct mail is only 1 percent.