GfK Starch Communications Releases “2008 AdNorms”... Compilation of Readership Scores for 37,000 Ads Across Various Magazines
NEW YORK, June 3, 2008 – GfK Starch® Communications, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, today announced the release of its "2008 GfK Starch ADNORMS®,” a comprehensive compilation of magazine advertising intelligence that is the only resource of its kind.
Long considered the industry standard, GfK Starch’s ADNORMS® is a knowledge resource for magazine advertisers and publishers and presents magazine-advertising data based on 37,000 advertisements across 840 issues of more than 125 consumer magazines, business and trade publications. The book provides insight regarding the extent to which an ad’s physical placement within a publication impacts reader response as well as how various product categories are likely to perform in a specific magazine or genre of magazine.
Adnorms presents magazine-advertising data by product category and individual magazine title as well as by every major size and type of print advertisement. Specific ad scores from men, women and various age groups are also tracked. (Note: I changed the above because, strictly speaking, "data” is plural, so should have a plural verb, but it sounds funny – and wrong – to a lot of ears, so this seemed like a reasonable way to compromise. If there is a better way to put it, I’m certainly open to it. )
The latest edition is also the first to utilize new metrics from the company’s eStarch service, including brand disposition, word-of-mouth opportunity and reader actions taken. For example, the 2008 Adnorms lists all the major brands studied alongside their "Brand Disposition” scores, which is the number of readers who ranked the brand as their "favorite” or "one of several that they like,” among others.
Research was conducted via online interviews with approximately 47,000 readers, in-person interviews with over 30,000 readers, and mail survey responses from almost 18,000 readers. To calculate the 2008 "Adnorm,” Starch averaged responses to the variables below over a four-year period between 2004 and 2007:
- Noted – The percentage of issue readers who remember having previously seen the advertisement in the study issue. A measure of stopping power.
- Associated – The percentage of issue readers who not only Noted the ad, but also saw or read some part of it that clearly indicated the brand or advertiser. A measure of branding.
- Read Some – The percentage of issue readers who read any part of the ad’s copy.
- Read Most – The percentage of issue readers who read more than half of the written material in the advertisement. A measure of reader involvement.
- Reader Actions Taken – Indicates the number of Noters of an ad who took an action as a result of seeing the ad.
- Brand Disposition – Determines the extent to which readers of the publication are favorably disposed towards specific advertised brands.
- Advertising Effect on Brand Disposition – Determines whether the consumer’s attitudes towards the advertised brand have been enhanced by the ad, a particularly important element for products that are infrequently purchased and for which recent purchase data is sparse.
- Advertising Influence on Purchases/Purchase Interest; Product Recommendations – Provides a relative measure of the sales effectiveness of each studied ad by estimating the number of readers, per 1,000, of the publication who purchased or plan to buy the product/service as a result of seeing the ad.
- Word of Mouth Opportunity (WOMO) – Measures the extent to which readers of that publication recommend a product or brand to others.
- Noting and Read Most/Engagement – Determines if those who display high levels of agreement with a specific engagement question also Note and Read Most of the copy of ads in the publication at high levels. This is designed to determine which engagement metrics really correlate with interest in advertising and which do not.
"Starch is celebrating our 85th year, and we’re very pleased to launch this new versioin of Adnorms – the most complete compendium of intelligence on print advertising,” explains Philip W. Sawyer, Senior Vice President of GfK Starch Communications. "Now with the new array of eStarch metrics, Adnorms offers the opportunity for ad agencies, advertisers and publishers to be fully informed on both the major and minor variables related to magazine advertising. Indeed, with the ’Brand Disposition‘ scores, print advertisers can determine where their brands fall in the hearts and minds of America’s magazine readers.”
For more information about Adnorms, eStarch and other Starch Ad Readership Studies, please contact us.
About GfK Starch® Communications
GfK Starch® is the leader in print ad readership measurement. Its in-person research methodology has spanned back 85 years and combines a unique blend of proprietary insights with an extensive print ad database, providing clients with a better understanding of their target markets and audiences.
About GfK Custom Research North America
Headquartered in New York, GfK Custom Research North America is part of the GfK Group. With home offices in Nuremberg, Germany, the GfK Group is the No. 5 market research organization worldwide. Its activities cover the three business sectors of Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The Group has 115 companies covering over 90 countries. Of a total of approximately 8,760 employees (as of September 30, 2007), 80% are based outside Germany.
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