sourcemediagroup
@sourcemediagroup
novEMBER 2014
sourcemediagroup
As a valued
current or potential business partner of Source Media Group, you are a member of an exclusive club. And one of the benefits you receive as a member of the SMG club — in addition to great advertising opportunities — is this regular newsletter. From expert advertising advice; to upcoming events and publications; to profiles of our friendly, helpful staff; it’s all to assist you in getting the best return on investment for your marketing dollar. Your questions and comments regarding this newsletter or any of our publications may be emailed to newsletter@sourcemediagroup.ca ■
Magazine Mythbusters In marketing, it’s important, sometimes, to step back. Are you being truly objective? Experience is a good thing, but not if it clouds the facts. Sometimes, especially if we have a lot of experience in a particular area, we all have a natural human tendency to think that we know best. We impose what we think, personally, on reality. When an objective look at reality might prove that not to be the case. In other words, just because you don’t like something, or do something, doesn’t mean other people don’t. I hate to break it to you, but your opinion doesn’t mean a lot. It’s all about the facts, Jack. For example, who has ever heard this said about magazine advertising: “My ad has to be on a right hand page. Nobody looks at left hand pages.”
Oh, really. Well perhaps we should stop printing anything on the left hand side of the page spreads at all. I mean, if nobody’s readying them anyways … Truth of the matter is, people do read them. They read them plenty. The research doesn’t lie. Read on as we debunk this and other myths about magazine advertising. Right hand/Left hand
Before we even get into the research data, let’s just be clear that we are in North America, and in North America we start reading on the left. We read from left to right. So, just by that alone, the first page to be looked at would seem to be the left. We also know from numerous eye tracking studies that the eye tends to focus on a page — or two pages if it’s an open magazine spread — in a reverse S pattern.
If you take the time to draw it you’ll see that it begins on the top left. But let’s take a closer look. A study by Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. found that left versus right positioning had no significant effect on ad impact scores. In fact, for half the categories measured, there was no difference at all.