• by Michael Shields , June 17, 2004

One of the few moments of spontaneous applause at last week's ANA Print Advertising Forum occurred at the close of a panel on magazine research, when Gruner & Jahr's Vice President of Corporate Sales and Marketing Jack Bamberger raised the subject of magazine creative copy testing. Judging by the enthused reaction of the media-executive-packed crowd, such testing--or the lack thereof--appeared to be a hot-button issue for advertisers and buyers.

Many in the publishing world would like to see more testing, as they see it as a way to have magazines judged more fairly. Advertisers and buyers are hopeful that more testing may lead to more effective campaigns, and ultimately more print ad spending.

Depending on whom you ask, print ads do not regularly benefit from the same scrutiny that more expensive TV ads do.

"The problem with print is that only 15 percent of ads are tested," said Britta C. Ware, director, U.S. advertising research, Reader's Digest. "The converse is true with TV."

One reason has been timing. Print is often planned and implemented well after major TV campaigns are planned.

"A lot of companies don't copy test print," said Bobbie Asano, senior director of the ANA. "It is often produced the day before getting shipped."

"Print is more of an afterthought period," said G&J's Bamberger.

Plus, print as a medium simply moves more slowly, although that issue may be less of a barrier to testing. "One of the challenges we have always heard about when it comes to copy testing is the long lead times in magazines," Bamberger said. "Most closing dates are rolling now, not hard and fast like they used to be. That excuse is sort of out the door."

Another big issue is the sheer cost of TV, which provides a greater incentive for advertisers to seek to protect their investment. "You are going to test that when it represents half of your investment," Bamberger said.

"The cost to produce print ads isn't really high, so you can really produce one of each if you want," offered Debbie Solomon, MindShare Worldwide senior partner, group research director.

The bigger the company, the more likely testing of print will occur, added Asano--who was previously part of Kraft's marketing team, which did some print copy testing.

The testing that TV ads enjoy and print generally does not hurts print's ability to compete with TV, says Reader's Digest's Ware. "Print gets blamed for not generating ROI," she said. "Some of the problem is that we don't spend enough time creating breakthrough print."

Ware added that print ads often appear to be less thought out, or are simply lifted from TV spots that have already been tested.

Yet some agency executives indicated that the importance of the testing issue may be exaggerated. "I don't think there is a great outcry for it," said MindShare's Solomon.

Robin Steinberg, head of MediaVest Group's print ad-buying unit, confirmed that the issue of copy testing in print is being discussed. "I think that there is more talk about creative playing a bigger role in the effectiveness of a campaign rather than just the magazine itself," she said. "It would take the pressure off the publishers."

In fact, while the publishing world would appear to be most interested in receiving better print ads, media planners may have less interest in the subject, since they often do not have a say in creative rotation. "Media planners are not involved, unless the client wants them involved," the ANA's Asano said. More often, print creative is decided by clients or agency account teams.

"The separation of media departments from agencies doesn't help," Jim Spaeth, founding partner, Sequent Partners, who moderated last week's ANA panel.

At this point, Steinberg has at least bought into the theory behind improving creative through testing. "An effective ad that works better, works harder, is better for an agency and better for a client," she said

One company that is hoping to provide the means for advertisers to enjoy such a lift is Affinity Research. They claim to offer advertisers a cheaper and faster method to test print copy both before and during campaigns, using a Web-based test with a large sample.

This testing, they say, will help address some of the medium's need for react-ability in an increasing ROI-obsessed ad climate.

"What we are hearing is that 'We are all under a lot of pressure these days,' said Tom Robinson, managing director at Affinity. "What we try to do is make it easier for [advertisers]."

So far, Affinity has signed on several yet-to-be-named clients, and according to Robinson, is receiving 'request for proposals' from some of the largest automotive and packaged goods advertisers--"People who are spending the most money in magazines," he said.