Fewer Performance Reports Will Hurt Magazines

The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) has stopped the monthly reporting of advertising pages and revenues by major publishers. The advertising industry uses these reports, and similar reports from other traditional media, to ascertain trends and to determine the value of marketing dollars spent in these publications. The MPA is still providing quarterly reports and defends its actions by claiming it doesn’t want month-to-month swings in magazine advertising revenues to affect decisions on magazine placements.

What is even more disconcerting is the MPA’s action of following a pattern advertisers have also seen from cable TV, broadcast TV and radio. See Media Post story for more on this (free subscription may be required). That article states, “The timing of the [MPA’s] move is interesting, because it coincides with a relatively flat period for print advertising growth--something some observers might see as a move to squelch potential downward trends.”

In a marketing environment that increasingly values transparency in the business process, diminishing the accurate and timely flow of information to a vital constituent audience seems shortsighted at best. Providing less data isn’t a good way to build trust and confidence in what has been a stalwart medium for advertisers.