Britain's Newspaper Marketing Agency, formed just eighteen months ago, has unveiled research supporting its claim that national newspapers are a brand building tool and able to deliver a measurable sales uplift.
The research project which first rolled in 2003 has seen national newspapers contribute the equivalent of £14 million ($25.51m; €20.21m) in free advertising space to test brand campaigns in the marketplace.
Of the thirteen brands that participated in the study, ten found clear proof that newspapers have a positive effect on brand commitment by consumers. Among the brands under test were Muller, Purina, Listerine, Toyota Avensis, Vauxhall Tigra, Roc and Andrex Moistened.
Analysis by data bureau Dunn Humby of a thirteen million anonymised sample of Tesco Clubcard data showed that brands saw an average sales uplift of 6.3% during their newspaper campaigns - and when readers were exposed to three ads or more this figure rose to 14% .
The impact of newspaper advertising in driving Vauxhall Tigra prospects to the automaker's website saw unique visitors to the Tigra web pages leap 39% .
Says NMA chief executive officer Maureen Duffy: "When the NMA undertook industry consultation back in 2003 we were told newspapers were great for retail and detail campaigns but clients could not build brand values and create emotional experiences.
"Our specific objectives were to measure the effectiveness of newspaper ads to shift brand awareness and drive sales."
Data sourced from mad.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
