Meredith Has Top Media Brand: Google, Facebook Dominate Digital

Madison Avenue may be consumed by fast-moving digital media like Facebook and Google, but it is the friendly, old school name of Meredith that advertisers and agencies rank as the highest rated media brand, according to the latest findings of a twice-annual study of the perceptions of advertising executives by Advertiser Perceptions Inc. The study, which was conducted in the fourth-quarter of 2010, is the first in which AIR has released the names of the top-rated media brands in each of the categories it measures, and Meredith had the highest overall score.

"They've always done well in the past," explained Ken Pearl, a partner at AIR. He said Meredith's overall rating is a composite of a number of strong attributes that lead ad executives to favor a media brand, including perceptions of their "ad results," "business understanding," "customer service," and "aggressive rate deals."

Pearl said that overall scores have been improving for most criteria for media brands in most categories, and said that reflects that media companies have been working harder to deliver results and to service agencies and advertisers.

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In terms of overall "brand strength," a rating that is a composite of perceptions about a media brand's overall image and its ability to deliver ad results and audience, the new data reveals that some of the biggest media companies also have the strongest brand identities on Madison Avenue.

Among magazines, Time Inc.'s People ranks No. 1, while Google tops the digital category.

Google also ranks No. 1 among online advertising networks, a finding that surprised AIR executives given the number of strong vertical players in what is an extremely crowded field.

Another surprise in the digital category is Facebook's dominance as a mobile brand. Pearl said that is surprising, because Facebook has not yet commercialized its mobile app, and that advertisers and agencies currently do not have a way of placing ads on it.

Among TV networks, ESPN dominates cable and ABC dominates broadcast.

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