Publishing Effectiveness

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Custom Publishing Effectiveness
New Survey Finds Custom Publishing Highly Effective
A remarkable number of consumers (91%) and business professionals (94%) who read custom publications believe they are an informative source of information, indicating a shrinking gap between custom and consumer titles, according to a new survey conducted by Millward Brown for the Custom Publishing Council (CPC) in conjunction with the Association of Publishing Agencies.

The study, entitled Effectiveness of Custom Publications: A Study on How Consumers Respond to Custom Publications, showed that 64% of consumers and 67% of business professionals who are regular readers of a custom publication heavily consume the content, meaning they read the book cover-to-cover or some pages in detail, and pick it up an average of two times before it is finished. A regular reader of a custom publication is defined as reading most or every issue.

"Our other surveys have shown that custom publishing as an industry is growing substantially and we’ve always believed that industry growth is the end result of success. In other words, corporate marketers are moving more money into custom publishing because it works," said Chris McMurry, Chief Executive Officer of McMurry Inc. and Chairman of the Custom Publishing Council. "The effectiveness research validates custom publications are a result-generating strategy."

Furthermore, after finishing a custom publication, an increasing number of respondents (39% of consumers and 42% of business professionals) retain part or all of the publication or pass it along for additional reader consumption rather than discarding it. This underscores the importance of the custom publication for the recipient.

Reader Attitudes & Persuasion
Seventy-eight percent of consumers think custom publications are a more effective way for companies to tell them about their products or services than other forms of advertising and 74% of business professionals agree. Readers of custom publications believe and trust the content of custom publications, as shown by the actual purchase by consumers (57%) and business professionals (30%) of a product or service highlighted in the publication.

Non-Reader Attitudes
An equal percentage (64%) of consumer non-readers believe custom publications are a better way for companies to tell them about their products or services than other forms of advertising and think it is an important source of information. Seventy-two percent of business professional non-readers believe custom publications are a better way to learn about a companies products or services than other forms of advertising, and 79% think they are an important source of information.

Finally, when thinking about a specific custom publication, 33% of consumer readers and 17% of consumer non-readers are more likely to use the related company. Of the business professionals surveyed, 42% of readers and 20% of non-readers are more likely to use the company that publishes the magazine. This implies that custom publications have proven effective in garnering interest in the company itself.

The Custom Publishing Council (CPC) is the leading trade organization representing custom publishers in North America.

The research herein was conducted in conjunction with the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA), which is the lead trade organization representing custom publishers in the United Kingdom. Millward Brown conducted this study via computer aided telephone interviewing. A total of 700 interviews were conducted (400 consumer readers, 150 business readers and 150 non-readers). July 15, 2003