This first appeared in the AdNews Annual 2020. Check out the digital version of the magazine here or subscribe here to get your print copy.
During a time when being physically transported anywhere is a challenge, women are on the hunt for ways to relax, engage, and be transported to new places from the comfort of their own homes. Look no further than magazines.
In September 2020, Are Media conducted research into why women across a range of life stages and ages buy and read magazines. The Magic of Magazines study* discovered that readers found magazines “completely absorbing”, and that they often got lost in the act of reading, describing the experience as “soaking in the content”.
The research found magazines, including Are Media’s stable of brands, provide a much-needed escape, helping to relax, inform and entertain women—all from the safety and security of their couch. The key attributes associated with magazines are relaxing (84%), entertaining (76%), informative (69%), fun (53%) and inspirational (51%).
As further evidence to the attention-grabbing power of magazines, 63% of respondents said they re-read magazines, with the majority (67%) reading them twice.
Brand-building in the brain
Magazines clearly captivate people’s attention, but what is actually happening on a neurological level—and what does it all mean for brands? Neuro-Insight UK CEO Shazia Ginai spoke to Are Media about the findings of her company’s recent Neuro Study on attention**.
“The brain actually isn’t that interested in brands,” said Shazia. “What we’re really interested in is stories. Human brains make sense of the world and the meaning of life through stories, so what’s critical is to encode information and do that with a story.
“It’s important to encode that information alongside the right kind of emotion. What we see with magazines versus other channels is that they elicit the strongest levels of emotional intensity.”
This is backed up by Are Media’s Magic of Magazines study, which found women had strong emotions when it comes to magazines, including the 79% who agreed that reading magazines is one of their favourite ways to escape, and the 72% who love the feeling of holding a magazine.
This emotional goodwill is carried over into the brands featured within the pages of a magazine, as Shazia explains: “With every brand you interact with, there’s a little room that’s created inside your head for that brand. All the experiences and interactions that you have, they will furnish that brand room in the brain.”
Much of the time, brands will funnel their media spend into short term channels, which act like a light switch, but that light is shining on an empty room. In contrast, magazines help to fully furnish that brand room in the brain.
“The furnishing then enables the brand room to be beautifully built, and those brand associations to exist, so that when that trigger comes and turns on the light, there’s information that can drive the right kind of long-term brand building.”
Attention-grabbing ROI
WARC’s (World Advertising Research Centre) analysis of channel cost relative to what we know about the attention paid to advertising shows that magazines have the best return on investment compared to internet display, newspapers, OOH, TV and radio.
On a neurological level, it’s clear that magazines hold attention and ‘furnish the brand room’ better than any other media. When factoring in the cost of advertising to their ideal customer, this attention benefit results in a solid return on investment for brands.
Get in touch to see the full Magic of Magazines presentation at aremedia.com.au
*Source: Story54 Research ‘Magic of Magazines’ Survey 2020
**Source: Attention and the Brain. 2019 - Shazia Ginai, CEO Neuro-Insight
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