• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 10, 2009

Making a classic ad pitch to advertisers themselves, The Week magazine is guaranteeing a high degree of recall for ads in its pages -- and will run free ads if it fails to meet certain goals.

The magazine's publishers hope this tried-and-true approach will further distinguish it from rivals, according to The New York Times, building on its recent success as measured by circulation and audience figures.

The basic premise underlying the pitch is that The Week -- a weekly digest of important news from a number of sources here and abroad -- is qualitatively superior to other magazines in terms of ad recall, given its high reader engagement.

The pitch: the same ad will perform better in The Week than in other magazines, in all issues, regardless of subject matter or headlines. Specifically, the publishers are promising ad recall in the top third of magazines.

The Week is backing up this guarantee with data from Affinity's Vista research service, which tracks readers' exposure and reaction to print advertising. If reader recall for a particular ad in the magazine fails to place in the top third of titles measured by Affinity, The Week will give advertisers free ad pages until it reaches that goal. The offer is open to advertisers that buy at least 12 ad pages in the magazine per year.

The Week is one of the few weekly titles (and consumer magazines in general) to report strong growth in ad pages during one of the worst economic downturns in memory.

According to the Media Industry Newsletter, for the year-to-date through Nov. 9, The Week's ad pages are up 14.6% to 535. That makes it one of just three weekly titles measured by MIN to see any kind of increase for the year-to-date in 2009, out of a total 33. (The National Enquirer is basically flat, with 0.5% growth, and OK! is up 15.8%.)