Research: Losing the plot

It seems that Britain's newspapers were under fire from marketers who felt that newspapers are great for retail advertising but not much else. According to WARC:

Says NMA chief executive officer Maureen Duffy: "When the NMA undertook industry consultation back in 2003 we were told newspapers were great for retail and detail campaigns but clients could not build brand values and create emotional experiences.

So the NMA (newspaper agency) undertook some research of their own to help rid people of this perception. After 3 years, they have finally unveiled conclusive proof that: Newspapers Are A Brand Building Tool.

Their evidence?

Of the thirteen brands that participated in the study, ten found clear proof that newspapers have a positive effect on brand commitment by consumers. Among the brands under test were Muller, Purina, Listerine, Toyota Avensis, Vauxhall Tigra, Roc and Andrex Moistened.

Analysis by data bureau Dunn Humby of a thirteen million anonymised sample of Tesco Clubcard data showed that brands saw an average sales uplift of 6.3% during their newspaper campaigns - and when readers were exposed to three ads or more this figure rose to 14% .

The impact of newspaper advertising in driving Vauxhall Tigra prospects to the automaker's website saw unique visitors to the Tigra web pages leap 39%.

So their proof that newspapers aren't simply retail vehicles is research that proves how newspapers drove retail sales...

Maureen Duffy sees this as successful, in talking about their objective she says:

"Our specific objectives were to measure the effectiveness of newspaper ads to shift brand awareness and drive sales."