MRI Debuts Magazine Ad Ratings

Publisher Time Inc and media agency Starcom USA are the first to sign up for AdMeasure, described by Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) as the ad industry's first-ever ad ratings for major consumer magazines.

MRI's new AdMeasure service derives print ad ratings from the firm's Survey of the American Consumer, which measures the average issue audience of consumer magazines; the Issue Specific Readership Study, which measures readership for individual issues of magazines; and MRI Starch, which conducts ad readership research.

Combining all three studies enables the firm to statistically determine what variables drive ad readership and then project the MRI Starch data so they reflect an issue's actual audience profile. Then MRI overlays the Starch ad readership scores with Issue Specific audience levels to create print ad ratings.

The system will provide audience levels for all national ads one-third of a page or larger that appear in the c.646 consumer magazine issues measured by MRI Starch. Metrics will include the number of readers who saw, read and took action as a result of a given ad.

'Historically, a magazine's total readership was accepted as a proxy for ad exposure, [but] advertisers are demanding more direct measurement of the reach of their ad campaigns,' said MRI President and CEO Kathi Love. 'AdMeasure sharpens the focus of magazine accountability by moving the needle from measuring the 'opportunity to see' a print ad to measuring how many readers actually saw the ad, as well as how many took an action as a result of seeing it.'

Founded in 1979, MRI interviews approximately 26,000 US adults in their homes each year, asking about their use of media, their consumption of products and their lifestyles and attitudes.

The firm, which is part of GfK, is online at www.mediamark.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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