Why brands should engage heavy readers of specialist and general magazines
This was the result of a study using semiometrie to map the values of heavy magazine media consumers to those of general brand influencers in society. Julie Majcherczyk, senior researcher, IP in Belgium, took attendees at the FIPP Insight Forum in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, through the methodology and key findings of the study.
About semiometrie
The study involved a set of 210 words with clear and stable meaning, representing certain feelings. Respondents then rate the words, to assign a weight to the feeling the word illicit in them.
Results were mapped on a “mind map” with four quadrants, with Attachment and Detachment on the vertical axis and Duty and Pleasure on the horizontal axis.
Results of the study
Applying the 80/20 rule, the assumption is that 20 per cent of the population drive 80 per cent of the success of a brand, and that influencers talk about brands in different categories, with more than 6 people and with convincing impact. The question is: what is the best way to reach them?
Previous results have shown the effectiveness of magazines compared to other media. But while the result for specialised magazines is easier to explain – e.g. a community with a particular passion, congregating around the topic, looking for information, sharing and discussing it – for general magazines (such as news, women and TV magazines) – for general magazines it is not quite the same.
The research revealed that heavy readers of general magazines have similar values compared to the values of influencers in the general population with “materialism” and “idealism” strong factors.
This then explains why heavy readers of general magazines provide a strong opportunity for brands to reach as influencers, too.
Get the presentation slides here.
See more stories from the FIPP Insight Forum here.
Story by Cobus Heyl.
About the FIPP Insight Forum
The FIPP Insight Forum (formerly known as the Research Forum) is a two-day event for publishers, researchers and marketing executives in the magazine business. It’s taking place today and tomorrow at the offices of Sanoma in Amsterdam.
