GfK MRI to Debut Print Planning Optimizer

In the US, GfK MRI is set to roll out an enhanced Internet-based magazine optimizer, to enable media planners to calculate the potential reach of print schedules based on readership of print ads, as opposed to overall readership of magazine titles.

GfK MRI provides magazine audience ratings, multimedia research data and insights into consumers' behavior and motivations. Through its Survey of the American Consumer, the company interviews around 26,000 US adults about their use of media, their consumption of more than 6,000 products, their lifestyles and their attitudes.

The firm's new optimizer, which will be made available in beta form later this month to a limited number of its clients, is intended for launch by the end of 2010.

Traditionally, media planners have based print schedules on the reach of magazine titles, which is typically defined as the number of individuals who could be exposed to the ads in a particular print schedule. The new tool evaluates each magazine title based on its reach-per-insertion, then employs a 'genetic algorithm' which searches for the best mix of insertions to produce additional reach at lower cost.

Through the optimizer, users can calculate the maximum reach of a magazine schedule based on the number of individuals who will actually see the ads within it.

'Our optimizer will bring the magazine industry another step closer to its goal of achieving the highest degree of return-on-investment metrics for print advertising,' states President and CEO, Kathi Love. 'Magazine advertisers will now be able to craft optimal schedules that maximize their print budgets and the number of consumers who will read their ads.'

The tool will sit within GfK MRI's Smart System, which provides access to the AdMeasure and Starch Advertising Research databases.

Web site: www.gfkmri.com.