Earlier this month, a group of publishers banded together to launch a new campaign titled Magazines: The Power of Print. Expected to roll out in May issues of various magazines, the advertising campaign is designed to remind readers and advertisers that print is alive and well. Participating publishers include Hearst, Time Inc., Condé Nast, Meredith Corp. and Wenner Media. From the Folio post from author Jason Fell:
Hearst Corp. executive vice president and publishing director Michael Clinton: “It is a misperception that print is a shrinking medium. It is a growing medium—audiences are growing, subscriptions are growing, etc. The magazine business, collectively, has said that we have this incredibly dynamic medium that consumers love and spend money on, and we need to tell that story in a bigger way. The magazine world doesn’t have a consumer problem, it has an advertising perception problem, among some advertisers.â€
According to Fell’s post, the Publishers Information Bureau reports that advertising pages were down 25.6 percent in 2009, “marking the 10th reported quarterly decline out of 11 since PIB began reporting on a quarterly basis in mid-2007. Shockingly, a mere 18 titles posted ad page gains in 2009.”
