• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 24, 2009

Uncluttered: Fashion Readers Like Magazine Ads

As television, radio -- and increasingly, the Internet -- anxiously ponder the pros and cons of ad clutter, fashion magazines can happily point to a new study from MRI Starch, Conde Nast, and Starcom MediaVest, showing that their core readership likes ads and considers them an integral part of the fashion magazine experience.

In fact, their fondness for ads (provided they are relevant) led them to prefer bigger magazines, at least at certain times of the year. Readers place greater value on ads in the fall fashion previews (the September issues) than at other times in the year.

The MRI Starch study surveyed 9,000 readers of 11 leading fashion titles, of which only a handful were Conde Nast titles, including Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Lucky, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, Vogue and W. The survey examined the reactions of the survey group to a total of 1,600 ads published in the September fall fashion preview issues of these magazines. The study was conducted in time to assess the ad sales push for the crucial September issues by Conde Nast.

Among other things, MRI Starch found that 23% of the readers of fall fashion issues said they only looked at fashion advertising, as opposed to editorial content. Thirty-three percent felt these issues were more valuable than other issues published during the year, and 49% believed that ads in these issues were specially selected by the magazines to run then.

In terms of recall, 82% of those surveyed could remember ad spreads of six pages or more, and 50% recalled one-page ads. The readers of these specific issues were also relatively more affluent than the average reader of the same magazines over the course of the year, with an average household income of $76,556 versus $62,878.

Zelnick, Crovitz Want BusinessWeek

Just a few weeks after it seemed like the auction of BusinessWeek was wrapped up, with Bloomberg LP the likely buyer, another potential buyer is rumored to be entering the fray, per the trade press. ZelnickMedia LLC, an investment firm, is partnering with L. Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, for a possible bid. However, they have not tendered an official bid as yet.

Source Interlink, Bauer Settle

Source Interlink's antitrust case against magazine publishers and rival distributors is finally over, with a settlement out of court between Source Interlink and Bauer tying up the last loose ends. Bauer was the last holdout, following legal settlements between Source and other defendants including Time Inc., Hachette Filipacchi, American Media, Time Warner Retail, News Group and Hudson News.

PGA Appoints Steven B. Smith VP of Publisher Relations

The Publishing Group of America, which publishes newspaper-distributed magazines including American Profile, Relish and Spry, has appointed Steven B. Smith as vice president of publisher relations. Smith comes to the role with 33 years of experience in the newspaper business, most recently as the vice president in charge of northern California community newspapers for the California Newspapers Partnership, a joint venture between MediaNews Group, Gannett, and Stephens Media.