Magazines aim to highlight their strength through media research

Just over six months after Tarun Rai, was appointed the president of The Association of Indian Magazines (AIM), he launched the engagement survey during the World Magazine Congress in Gurgaon. During the first week of April, he along with AIM members rolled it out officially. The survey will aid media planners and marketers with “incredible” reader data, according to Rai.

The survey conducted by Quantum and IMRB – along with a print campaign – was shared at a closed-door brief in the new AIM office in Delhi. “The purpose of the campaign is to highlight our strengths not just anecdotally but backed with research,” says Rai.  He feels there is much skepticism that abounds about magazines and “the air needs to be cleared”.  As well as the obvious financial benefit, Rai notes that a key advantage of the survey is what it tells about a magazine audience’s reading habits.

The engagement survey states:  68% of the readers, read magazines when they are alone. This is the highest for any mediums; and leads to the fact that 87% of readers give undivided attention to magazines (twice as much as TV).  66% of readers turn to a magazine when they want to relax.

Other statistics include: 83% of readers don’t see ads in magazines as an interruption as opposed to TV ads which are likely to be seen as interruptions. This means there’s a mere 12% ad avoidance for magazines, again, the lowest among all media with TV at 31%.

The survey with 3,600 people across 10 cities also says: there are 42% readers for whom magazines are the most preferred source of information on categories like beauty and health, clothing, home decor, accessories, luxury goods, auto, financial services and travel. 

Also 57% of the readers base their purchase intent on ads they have seen in a magazine; among the highest across media.  And 54% of readers trust products more when they are advertised in magazines.

Mitrajit Bhattacharya, who is vice president at AIM, told us, “This data is tremendously valuable. But it’s not valuable as a spreadsheet of numbers. It’s valuable based on the insights that you can glean from it”.

Bhattacharya explains, AIM will roll out an out-reach program through seminars and road-shows across India and preview the findings. It will provide an insight for marketers and top brands. He says, “it will also help publishers who are faced with the constant challenge of keeping up with the speed, scale and cost demands of content creation. The survey offers an innovative and cost-effective solution that allows publishers to ensure third-party measurability that can’t otherwise be covered due to operational or cost constraints.”