Innovation at GfK MRI Transitioning to Multiplatform Print Brand Measurement

GfK MRI EVP and
Chief Research Officer
Dr. Julian Baim

Following nearly a year of testing, GfK MRI recently announced a change in the Survey of the American Consumer. Beginning in 2011, we will measure the readership of print brands — in other words, the readership of printed magazines as well as magazine readership on every type of digital platform and in all digital forms. Consistent with GfK MRI’s standards of high-quality research, we started testing in 2009 to develop optimal survey wording to measure the readership of print brands.

In this Q&A, Dr. Julian Baim, EVP and chief research officer at GfK MRI, shares his thoughts on this important change.

Q. Why is GfK MRI making this change?

A. We’re changing the way we measure and define magazine readership for the same reason the MPA recently changed its name and adopted the new tagline — The Association of Magazine Media. Our publishing clients are evolving into magazine media companies, whose brands and content engage consumers across multiple platforms. The expectation is that a significant portion of a magazine’s total audience could eventually be digital; in fact, many print companies think the adoption of electronic readers, sophisticated mobile phones and tablets like the iPad may be the beginning of a new era for print. As the leader in magazine audience measurement, GfK MRI intends to be ahead of the curve in this phenomenon. We want to make sure every magazine measured by GfK MRI gets credit for every reader.

Q. What, exactly, is the change?

A. We currently provide audiences for only the hard-copy version of a magazine. Moving forward, we will also capture what digital form of a magazine consumers read, if any, and on what device they read it. For instance, for magazines read electronically, we will ask consumers if what they read was:

• An on-screen digital reproduction of a magazine that looks like the printed copy
• A magazine website
• A text-only version of the magazine
  
• An “app” for a mobile phone or device

We will also ask if they read the digital form of the magazine via:

• Desktop or Laptop Computer
• Electronic Book Reader (such as Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader)
• Mobile phone or Mobile Device
• Tablet Computer (such as Apple’s iPad)

Q. What are the challenges in implementing this change?

A. There are several challenges.

First and foremost is making sure the respondent understands what we are asking. That’s a primary reason we put such effort into the test phase of this initiative. Much of this relatively new technology is not yet uniformly understood by all consumers; moreover they often express it in different ways. For example, some iPad owners consider the device to be a type of e-reader while others consider the iPad a tablet or even a "tablet computer." Similarly, some respondents include e-readers, tablets and the like when asked about “digital reading”; others think only of websites. We needed to be sure we crafted interview language that is clearly understood by respondents before we expanded readership questions in our national Survey.

Secondly, although there is a lot of excitement about digital reading, national adoption is still fairly small. For instance, we know from a general question on e-reader ownership in the Survey that only 1.54% of U.S. consumers currently own an e-reader. That percentage grew from .9% in six-months, so adoption is happening rapidly; but it is still fairly small when you hope to drill down to measure individual magazine readership on these devices.

Q. Will this change affect many GfK MRI’s publishing clients?

A. It will impact many of our clients immediately and I would imagine most, if not all, eventually. For instance, about 25 of the 200+ magazines GfK MRI measures currently offer iPad app versions. And, at least 75 magazines offer replica versions through Zinio and similar services. All these forms of readership will now be included in GfK MRI estimates of magazine audiences.

Q. Will GfK MRI be providing profile information for digital readers?

A. This is one of the really great benefits of this change. Magazines and newspapers have site-centric data for their digital efforts, but they have limited information about the demographics and behaviors of users. A related advantage of the survey changes will be the availability of in-depth demographic, attitudinal and behavioral insights about magazine readers who use digital platforms. However, we will retain our standards about requiring a minimum in-tab of positive responses before releasing individual magazine audience data for some of the electronic platforms.

Q. Tell us about the test GfK MRI performed in anticipation of this change.

A. We are completing a large pilot test of 1,000 respondents that examines the wording of the readership questions and the use of visual aids to prompt accurate responses. At present, we have completed 940 in-home interviews, nationwide. One-half of respondents were in a Control group and were asked the standard GfK MRI readership questions and one-half were in a Test group and were asked the new series of questions that incorporate reading on digital platforms. The preliminary results of this test are encouraging, in that:

• Interviewers are comfortable with the new procedure.
• Interviewers report that respondents understand the questions.
  

Moreover, the data are encouraging and generally in the expected direction. For instance, the Test group read more magazines than the Control group, which makes sense since the Test group was asked about digital reading as well as reading of the hard copy. Also, there was almost no difference in hard copy reading between the Control and the Test groups.

Average Number of Hard Copy Magazines Read

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Behind the NumbersGfK MRI — Making Don Draper Proud

The partners at Sterling Cooper Draper & Pryce would be happy to know that Mad Men’s audience likes advertising just as much as they do. Their viewers also have a lot in common with Don Draper, Joan Harris and the other “Mad Men.” True to the Emmy-award show’s characters, their audience is considerably more likely than the Ordinary Joe to dress for success, enjoy a shot of whiskey and set out to impress others.

Insights from GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer show how attributes of Mad Men viewers — beyond standard demographics — distinguish them from the typical U.S. adult. For example, they are at least 25% more likely than the average adult to plan on buying a new car in the next year, to be interested in magazine ads and to give others advice on purchase decisions.

Sterling Cooper Draper and Pryce could learn a thing or two from GfK MRI

If the agency subscribed to GfK MRI, Peter would know that when prospecting for new accounts, he should pitch auto companies, TV manufacturers and home improvement businesses. Why? Because within the next year, Mad Men viewers are 62% more likely than the average adult to plan on buying a new vehicle, 31% more likely to get a new 27” - 42” screen TV and 37% more likely to remodel their kitchen.

Given access to MEMRI, Peggy and Don would use psychographics to develop Creative executions that relate to viewers’ desire to be fashion-savvy early adopters, along with their drive to impress others.

Of course if Harry Crane were buying media, well, he would be sure to buy Mad Men, but magazines would fare very well. In fact, Mad Men viewers are 41% more likely than the average adult to agree that advertising in magazines provides them with meaningful information about the product use of other consumers and are 29% more likely to say it provides useful information about bargains.

In terms of life outside the office, Don shouldn’t feel too alone in his divorce; his viewers are 15% more likely than the average adult to be divorced, too. Nor should Peggy feel low about her marital status; she, along with her viewers, is no more likely than the rest of the adult population to be single. And, much like a few of the women on Mad Men, the program’s female viewers are less likely than other people to use contraception.

Want to learn more about what Mad Men viewers have in common? Contact us. But if it’s between 9 and 5, it might be happy hour — so you may have to call twice.

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Product Portfolio ‘Granularity’ Delivers More Accurate Measure of Print Advertising’s Impact on Sales

Magazines can now get the attention they deserve in marketing mix models. Granularity, GfK MRI’s online system for inputting more precise weekly and local magazine readership data into marketing mix modeling systems, is now available.

Granularity provides the detailed data needed to allow magazines to move from a historically weak position to one of strength in marketing mix models. Granularity leverages the data resources of GfK MRI’s Audience Accumulation Study, Issue Specific Readership Study and Market-by-Market Study to meet the industry’s need for precise magazine inputs for marketing mix modelers. "Magazine readership has long been disadvantaged compared to other media in marketing mix models, mainly because optimal magazine data have been unavailable--until now," said Kathi Love, president and CEO of GfK MRI. "Modelers tend to work with weekly sales data at a local level. Optimal magazine inputs, therefore, include weekly issue-specific readership on a local market basis and information on how a specific magazine issue's audience builds over time. Granularity offers this level of detail."

In a March 2010 MPA white paper titled Marketing Mix Modeling and Media Inputs, Association of National Advertisers' President and CEO Bob Liodice said, "Improving marketing mix models is essential for enhancing integrated marketing effectiveness. As the media landscape proliferates, data precision is critical to insure the growth in marketing mix quality and reliability."

GfK MRI launched its beta version of Granularity in December 2009. The launch was preceded by extensive research that revealed:

• Between 60% and 70% of U.S. advertisers use marketing mix models for allocating media budgets.
• Magazines have traditionally been represented in models via broad average audience estimates and national gross rating points, both of which are imprecise measures of the impact of specific advertising campaigns.
• Providing modelers with weekly, local audience estimates most accurately represents the contribution to sales generated by magazine advertising.

In addition to providing more accurate data, Granularity significantly reduces the manpower needed to generate magazine audience data for insertion into marketing mix models. In one step, agencies and modelers can extract insertion schedules from their media systems, feed the schedules into Granularity, specify the desired output criteria (time periods, markets, demographics) and download model-ready data.

Marketing mix modeling firms can use the Granularity Web portal free of charge. Their advertiser clients must purchase a license for the GfK MRI data used in the Granularity system.

For more information about Granularity, please contact us or visit the Granularity webpage.

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Product Portfolio Actual Reach, Actionable Results: AdMeasure Optimizer — GfK MRI’s New Advanced Print Planning Optimizer

Advertising-based print planning, once an elusive goal, is now just a few clicks away. AdMeasure Optimizer, GfK MRI’s print optimizer system, allows planners to calculate the potential reach of print schedules based on exposure to ads versus overall readership of magazine titles. This Internet-based system is being beta tested by clients and will be available for market use by the end of 2010.

To produce the most efficient print schedules possible; GfK MRI's system calculates the maximum reach of a magazine schedule based on the number of individuals who actually recall seeing, or "noting," the ads within magazines in the schedule.  The optimizer is accessible through GfK MRI's Smart System, which also houses AdMeasure and Starch Advertising Research databases.

Media planners have traditionally optimized print schedules only using total audiences to calculate reach & cost for a specific list of titles. Traditional optimizers assume that all readers targeted by a print schedule will view every ad within the magazines in that schedule, which is not the case. Reach, typically defined, is the number of people within a population group (for example, women ages 18-24) who could be exposed to ads in a particular print schedule. AdMeasure Optimizer produces a new metric, Ad Reach, which estimates how many people will actually be exposed to a print schedule, as opposed to those with an opportunity to be exposed.

The GfK MRI system combines two long-accepted approaches to maximizing magazine reach: "hill-climbing" and Genetic Algorithm.  The optimizer begins with hill-climbing--evaluating each magazine title based on its reach-per-insertion & cost improvement to the schedule--then employs a Genetic Algorithm, which further attempts to optimize the schedule by searching for combinations of insertions that will produce more reach at a lower cost.

Easy to use, Admeasure Optimizer offers the full-functionality of traditional optimizers, plus:

• GfK MRI uses industry-standard magazine audience data from the Survey of the American Consumer as the foundation of the system.
• Custom rate files are stored locally, so an agency and their client’s proprietary rate information remain confidential and secure.
• Optimizer outputs are easily downloaded into spreadsheet format for easy integration into existing planning/buying tools.
• Optimizer data will be integrated into Granularity, GfK MRI’s mix modeling database, to provide advertisers with the most precise and granular measures of their print ad campaigns.

Feedback from clients testing the system will ensure that all user needs are incorporated into the final release. Future additions to the new optimizer could include metrics on consumer attitudes (disposition) toward the thousands of brands and brand extensions running ads in magazines and specific actions taken by consumers after having noted print ads.

For more information about Admeasure Optimizer, please contact us.

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Because You Asked When speaking about the Survey of the American Consumer, GfK MRI often refers to "Waves," such as Wave 62. What does this mean?

GfK MRI releases Survey of the American Consumer data twice a year — in the spring and fall. Each study contains one year of data, collected in two periods of field work, called Waves. Each Wave is assigned a number. Spring and fall studies always have one Wave in common to ensure consistent data.

GfK MRI’s Doublebase studies consist of four waves of data, and are released every spring.

For a calendar of Wave Dates visit the Survey Dates page on our website.

One Source. Continuous Market Data.

If you have a question that you’d like answered in a future issue of The Source, please contact us.

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Cover-to-Cover The Impact of Ad Adjacencies on Readership

The October issue of Cover-to-Cover, Starch Advertising Research's quarterly publication that delivers focused insights into print ad effectiveness, features the following:

The Impact of Ad Adjacencies on Readership Campaign Closeup: Gardasil HPV Rx Ad Rank: Parade, June 27, 2010 Starch's Most Wanted: 3 Top Action-Producing Ads Think Different: Run "Actions Taken" Data Against Ad Traits Starch's Most Wanted Editorial: 3 Top Action-Producing Editorial Pieces Starch AdNorms 10/1/08-6/30/10

Read the Cover-to-Cover.

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New and Noteworthy 2010 Psychographic Sourcebook Available in Hard Copy

GfK MRI’s Psychographic Sourcebook is a guide to the attitudinal questions and consumer segmentations that are available in the Survey of the American Consumer, Teenmark and The American Kids Study. The 2010 hard copy of the sourcebook is now available and the PDF version, which is continually updated, is accessible online.To receive a hard copy of the guide, contact us.

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