Succeeding in title role

Magazine circulations are in the millions and advertising

revenue is rising despite the growth of TV and electronic

media, reports David Short

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Print is not dead yet -at least not when it comes to magazines. Despite ever- growing competition from television and electronic media, a new report shows that worldwide advertising expenditure in consumer magazines has doubled over the past decade.

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The report also shows that many magazines in Europe continue to enjoy circulations in the millions, despite the ever-growing number of television channels, whether cable, satellite, terrestrial, analogue, or digital, and the incursion of the Internet. And new French research has revealed that magazines are still powerful tools for owners of brands.

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Advertising expenditure worldwide was $225 billion last year, according to the report World Magazine Trends.$32 billion of this, or 14%,was taken by magazines. In Europe, the share of consumer magazine advertising expenditure was $12 billion or 21%of an estimated overall spend of $57 billion. But the share has dropped in the past 15 years from 30 per cent, with decline having been particularly severe in Belgium and Germany where commercial television was introduced relatively late.

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However, the types of magazines which Europeans choose to flip through still varies dramatically according to country, with few signs that the European magazine with a common title is making inroads across nations. Interests which can create top-
selling titles in one country are nowhere to be seen in the circulation lists of others.

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But whatever their relative importance across Europe, magazines have one real advantage over broadcast media. For advertisers such as tobacco and alcohol producers, which are barred or severely restricted on television in some countries, magazines remain a safe haven for their messages.