Distortion by commission
Alan Smith highlights the disservice that the commission system does to magazine publishers and advertisers
Alan Smith
As a pricing strategy the commission system has been a disaster for magazine publishers, and has had significant negative side effects for advertisers. In contrast, television and agencies have benefited. Let me try to justify these comments.
Until the emergence of commercial TV it could be argued that the commission system served publishers well. But even then it was sowing the seeds of a major, negative side effect: the total absence of R&D into the effectiveness of magazine campaigns.