Proving the effectiveness of Irish newsbrands

Independently conducted by international research company Research & Analysis of Media (RAM), the study evaluated the effectiveness of 5 ad campaigns running across national newspapers over a 10 day period in March 2018.

An independent panel of 1,300 respondents were asked a series of questions around the key effectiveness metrics of Recall, Recognition, Engagement, Action. Additionally, the panel were asked their opinions on trust, context and relevance.

Amongst the top line findings were:

Newspaper advertising triggers action

Ad campaigns by Ford, Lidl, Sky, TUI, and Harvey Norman were shown to the panel and each campaign scored twice and sometimes three times the industry benchmark for Action i.e. ‘looking for more information’, ‘ visiting the website’, ‘visiting the advertiser’ or ‘buying the product or service’.

Trustworthiness

• Newsbrands deliver a level of trust unparalleled by other channels with 45% ranking newsbrands as having the most trustworthy news content.
• 56% believed that information in newsbrands titles was more reliable than in other media channels.
• 63% believed that newsbrands were the most trustworthy source for news.

Newspaper Advertising is an integral part of the medium

Newspapers were found to be one of the least intrusive media outlets for seeing advertisements with just 20% saying that they found newspaper advertising to be intrusive compared to 66% of respondents who said that they found advertising on social media to be intrusive.

In summary, the research shows that the engagement, trust and personal identification readers have with their newsbrands creates a significant effect and impact on the effectiveness of commercial campaigns.  You can read the full press release on the NewsBrands website here.

Speaking at the ‘reAction’ event, Ann Marie Lenihan, CEO of NewsBrands Ireland said:  “The RAM study confirms what our industry has known for some time – that newsbrands are an action media. The report is intended to help marketers and agencies determine their media choices by responses to advertising, and not simply by audience numbers.

As a platform, this study demonstrates, that we are still capable of mass appeal; ads placed among relevant content can engage, drive awareness, and drive sales among readers.”

Speaking about the research, Dianne Newman, CEO of RAM UK & Ireland, said: “Our research highlights the importance and relevance of the context in which the ads appear should not be underestimated or ignored. Where you advertise has important consequences for brands – they benefit from the relationship and perception that consumers have with the medium.”