Anyone who's lingered over a magazine knows that the experience is different than watching TV, listening to radio or interacting with any other medium.

Reading a magazine is the ultimate in user-controlled media consumption. With magazines, readers determine not just how much time they spend with the medium, but also the rate at which they absorb its content.



A magazine can be flipped through quickly--say, when passing time in a doctor's waiting room--or savoured like a caramel macchiato during specially sanctioned "me time." In either instance, or anywhere else along the continuum, readers engage with and appreciate the ads magazines contain. In fact, advertisements are one of the main reasons readers value magazines so much.

If newspapers and websites provide immediacy--newspapers because of their timeliness and relevance; websites because they allow readers to respond to a call to action with a single click--magazines provide a unique form of intimacy. With magazines, readers can linger over longer stories that let them form opinions or muse over ideas according to their own timetables.

More important, magazine readers act on what they find out. According to the New York-based VISTA Print Effectiveness Rating Service, after recalling a specific magazine ad, readers:

Had a more favorable opinion about the advertiser: 16%
Recommended the advertiser's product or service
to a friend, colleague or family member: 15%
Gathered more information about the advertised product or service: 12%
Visited the advertiser's website: 12%
Considered purchasing the advertised product or service: 9%
Visited a store, dealer or related location: 8%
Purchased the advertised product or service : 7%
Saved the ad for future reference: 5%
Took any action (net): 50%

Clearly, readers attribute high degrees of credibility and trustworthiness to magazine ads.

Magazines are proven to be effective parts of any integrated campaign. In particular, magazines are an excellent way to drive readers to websites where they can find more information about a product or service.

When Roper Public Affairs recently asked consumers which media influenced them about how to get information about products and services on the Internet, magazines led the way.



Read the Fast Facts presentation from Magazines Canada's website.

There are plenty more reasons to include magazines in your media buy. To learn more, contact your sales representative.