Case Studies
AMI Uses Rapid Report to Effectively Market its Brand to Buyers
Situation
AMI is one of the leading publishing companies in the celebrity journalism and health and fitness categories. In the past seven years they have grown to become the fourth largest consumer magazine publisher in the country, with 16 titles reaching more than 50 million readers.
AMI Titles Participating in Rapid Report
- Country Weekly
- Fit Pregnancy
- Flex
- Globe
- Looking Good Now
- Men’s Fitness
- Muscle and Fitness Hers
- National Enquirer
- Natural Health
- Shape
- Star
Issue
Always straightforward and transparent about its circulation, AMI sought to increase communication with its advertisers and provide them with more timely circulation data. Rapid Report was the ideal vehicle to accomplish this—allowing advertisers access to circulation data on an issue-by-issue basis within weeks of the on-sale date, rather than waiting for the release of six-month average data on Publisher’s Statements.
Solution
Rapid Report shows advertisers how AMI’s brand is resonating in the marketplace and allows them to evaluate the magazine’s circulation and vitality. AMI’s marketing and sales department uses Rapid Report as a key marketing tool and relies upon it to educate buyers on their brand and circulation data.
Results
Advertisers asked for Rapid Report and applauded AMI’s decision to join as one of the early adopters in July 2006. Since joining Rapid Report, advertising revenue and pages for AMI titles increased by 25 percent in 2007 and are off to a positive start for 2008.
AMI’s marketing and sales team uses the Rapid Report reporting tool on a regular basis to keep their advertisers informed of their latest circulation numbers. Instead of waiting for a six-month average, advertisers get an early glimpse at AMI’s magazines’ performance.
“We put our numbers out there and update them every week,” said David Jackson, vice president, publishing, Star. “When our last six-month average came out, it was less than a one-tenth percent variance between what we reported on the ABC Publisher’s Statement.”
Sabine Feldmann, vice president, publisher, Shape stated that joining Rapid Report was a way to catch up with the digital world.
“The biggest critique against magazines has always been that our data was slow to be revealed,” said Feldmann. “Rapid Report gave us the opportunity to catch up with the information age and deliver our data in a much more timely fashion. Our philosophy at AMI has always been to have complete transparency in our numbers and Rapid Report further solidifies this standpoint.”
Advertisers and agencies in the industry are embracing Rapid Report. It’s not uncommon to see it listed as an item on requests for proposal (RFP).
AMI’s marketing and sales team take Rapid Report into the marketplace to demonstrate to advertisers how their titles are performing against rate base.
“When we go on a sales call we can now talk about a monthly average,” said Jackson. “We use Rapid Report as a way to make our buyers more savvy about circulation. The more informed and knowledgeable our advertisers become of our brand as a result of Rapid Report, the more it becomes another selling tool for us. Rapid Report has become a part of our everyday business at Star.”
A lot of advertisers now ask if we’re participating in Rapid Report, added Feldmann. “Certain advertisers will put Rapid Report in their RFP, asking if a publication participates in it and if not, to provide a reason why.”
“Rapid Report gave us the opportunity to catch up with the information age and deliver our data in a much more timely fashion. Our philosophy at AMI has always been to have complete transparency in our numbers and Rapid Report further solidifies this standpoint.”
Sabine Feldmann, vice president, publisher, Shape
Feldmann added that Rapid Report places AMI on a different playing level among its competitors because it enables them to show their latest newsstand data.
“I always have the latest Rapid Report data on me whenever I leave the office to go on a business trip,” said Feldmann. “It gives me a competitive edge and allows me to talk about how Shape performed last month, not four or five months ago. Rapid Report puts us on a different level and makes the perception of our brand much more viable.”
“The media community is pleased we're on rapid report," added Jackson. "It's definitely contributed to our ad page growth, up 25 percent in 2007 and tracking 10 percent ahead for 2008.
At its March meeting the ABC board endorsed a set of initial-posting guidelines to govern the timely submission of circulation projections via ABC’s Rapid Report filing tool. The guidelines are based on the reporting publication’s on-sale date and apply to the initial posting for each issue.
(The following guidelines are based on the reporting publication’s on-sale date and apply to the initial posting for each issue)
| Weekly | Biweekly | Monthly | Bimonthly | |
| No Earlier Than: | 1 week | 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 6 weeks |
| No Later Than: | 3 weeks | 5 weeks | 7 weeks | 10 weeks |
Jackson said that Star is sticking to the proposed posting guidelines and recommends that all magazines do the same.
“Whether it’s good news or bad news, it’s ultimately going to be for the public to see when the next Publisher’s Statement comes out,” said Jackson. “I think that the guidelines should be adhered to regularly. ”
Feldmann agrees that ABC’s guidelines are a great idea if it puts you on an equal playing field, but also stressed they need to be followed.
“The goal of Rapid Report is to post in a timely fashion,” said Feldmann. “Some magazines are posting in nine to 12 weeks, which is not exactly timely. It’s difficult to compare titles when half are not using Rapid Report and the other half are posting so late that it defeats the purpose.”
For more information about participating in Rapid Report or in the initial posting guidelines, ABC members are encouraged to contact ABC's at (877) 222-0932.
