As the Chinese market explodes across virtually every category and sector, advertisers and agencies alike are racing at breakneck speeds to spend, and more often than not, spend big. While much of the activity focuses predictably on TV, print attracts a significant share of the total advertising pie.
There are more than 8,000 newspapers, magazines and assorted print titles in China, and while not all of them rely on advertising dollars to drive their revenue, many do. But reliable circulation data and other crucial metrics are hard to come by, if not non-existent.
Titles are notorious for grossly over-inflating circulation numbers, and rolling out internal research findings to support their claims.
But the early beginnings of a sea change may lie ahead. Luxury lifestyle magazine Noblesse is one title leading the charge. This month, magazine chiefs elected to conduct an audit with the Hong Kong ABC and SPAC, the Beijing-based Sino Publications Audit Bureau, which sits under the watchful eye of the state-run General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP).
1 Founded in Korea in 1997, Noblesse hit the China market in 2003. Pitched at the rich and powerful, the magazine is only available after purchasing premium goods and services, from Prada handbags to Ferarris. Determined to position itself as a leader of market reform, Noblesse says it recognised the importance of reliable hard data in proving to advertisers their readership profile matches that of their sales brochures.
2 The publishing industry though, is under mounting pressure for change. Against the backdrop of a rapidly maturing media landscape, advertisers want to know exactly who they're reaching, and how much money they need to spend. Sophisticated marketers are thumping their collective chests shouting about ROI, but so far, only a few are listening.
3 One media agency head, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Media that internal agency research has revealed — conservatively — that many magazines are inflating their circulation numbers by around 50 per cent, with some as high as 80 per cent. On the newspaper side, they found similar exaggerations.
4 In response to publishers' tendencies to over-inflate circulations, SPAC was set up to help clean up and legitimise an industry which many claim is far more complicated than more developed markets in Europe and the US. Up until this point, a handful of publications have undergone accredited audits in China, and the establishment of SPAC last year was aimed at giving China its own auditing system. As yet, no official industry standard is in place.
5 Noblesse is just one of 120 print titles to have agreed to an audit, adding to the 20 or so that have already been completed, either through SPAC, Hong Kong's ABC or the global BPA. With more than 8,000 titles in print across China, the task appears overwhelming, but SPAC chiefs remain optimistic that the job can be done, with plans to complete at least 3,000 audits by 2009, a move which would — if it happens — constitute a major overhaul of the industry.
6 But both advertisers and agencies are wondering publicly and privately how reliable the SPAC data will be, given its perceived lack of independence from the Central Government. Essentially, a raft of potentially embarrassing revelations in the print industry, once true figures are revealed, could have a massive upstream affect on the wider industry, shattering confidence, and perhaps diverting the stream of adspend flowing into the print pool — a disruption which the burgeoning industry could do without.
7 This many argue, provides SPAC and GAPP with little motivation to provide true circulation data. But SPAC executives vigorously dispute these assertions, pointing out that SPAC's current measurement methodologies reflect BPA practices and, in some cases, are far more stringent and detailed.
8 One thing both sides do agree on is the idea that if the current push towards an audited print market is to succeed, it needs to be enshrined in legislation, so that if a magazine or newspaper carries advertising, it must be audited.
