Page 215 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Unit 12: Media Planning and Strategy

Other than interest-based selectivity, magazines offer demographic selectivity and can reach Notes
specific target segments because of their editorial content and focus on well-defined demographic
characteristics.

Example: Femina and Women's Era are the magazines that mainly women read.
A significantly large number of readers in this category lie in the 25-34 age group. Men
predominantly read Cricket Today and Sportstar. A very high percentage of students in the age
group of 19-24 read Competition Success Review. Film magazines are read by a large number of
teenagers in the age group of 15-19 years.

Magazines also offer geographic selectivity. More people in south India read India Today,
Filmfare, Readers' Digest than in east Indian states. Saras Salil, Grihshobha and Manohar
Kahaniyan draw a high percentage of readers from the Northern region. Geographic selectivity
permits the advertisers to target ads in certain cities or regions.

Reproduction Quality

From advertisers' point of view, a highly desirable and valued attribute of magazines is the
reproduction quality of advertisements. Magazines are generally printed on high-quality paper.
The printing processes used are modern and provide equally superior reproduction both in
colour and black and white. This is quite an important feature for a visual medium like magazines,
because photographs and illustrations are often a dominating part in ads. The reproduction
quality, in almost all the respectable magazines is far too superior compared to what is offered
by newspapers, particularly in colour. Special newspaper supplements are an exception, which
are produced on superior glossy paper. Use of colour in ads is particularly important for
advertisers when a product's visual elements are important in creating an impact.

Creative Flexibility

Advertisers can take advantage of a great deal of flexibility in terms of the type, size, and
placement of advertising material in magazines. There are options of special facilities that help
advertisers in making the ad more noticeable and readable, such as gatefolds, bleed pages, and
inserts. Multiple-page advertising in magazines takes many forms. The most common advertising
of this form uses two-page or three-page spread and inserts. A spread increases the impact of the
message and removes any competition of reader's attention.
Gatefolds' is a form of multiple-page insertion and uses a third page, which folds out and gives
the ad extra-large spread. It is used by advertisers to make a striking presentation and are often
found at the inside cover of magazines, or on inside pages. BPL has used gatefolds on the inside
pages of some issues of Reader's Digest for ads of its televisions. Raymonds, Canon, and Wipro
also have used gatefolds in Reader's Digest. India Today also now carries gatefolds. Gatefolds
are expensive and must be booked well in advance. Only a limited number of magazines offer
the facility of gatefolds as they can add to the bulk of magazine.
In case of bleed pages, the ad extends all the way to the edge of the page without leaving any
margin of white space surrounding the ad. Bleed creates an impression about the ad that it is
larger and produces a dramatic effect. Most magazines charge some extra percentage for bleeds,
Other than gatefolds and bleed, creative options through magazines include unusual page sizes
and shapes. Occasionally one comes across unique ads that jump off the magazine pages. These
are complex three-dimensional pop-up ads that attract the reader's immediate attention.

Inserts of different type include return cards, booklets, CDs and coupons, etc. Taking a cue from
magazine advertisers of developed countries, probably the time is not far off when magazine

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