Newsworks effectiveness study: Brands get 10% profit boost from newsbrand spend

Advertisers have seen a 10% profit increase due to advertising in newsbrands over the last three years, new research from Omnicom and trade body Newsworks has found.

This uplift, which equates to £268m, is set to rise by another £1bn from 2020 to 2025, according to The Bottom Line, a study that draws on a decade’s worth of effectiveness data.

The study also found that increasing spend with newsbrands delivers the “greatest gains to the bottom line” versus other media channels.

By calculating profit return on investment (PROI), it find that medium spend with print news brands adds 60% to the bottom line, versus low or no spend. This number increases slightly to 62% for digital news brand spend, compared to 47% for radio, and 17% for TV.

However, the research also says high digital online display spend has a negative impact on PROI i.e. the bottom line is impacted negatively when spend is medium or high on online display, rather than when it is low.

The study, conducted by consultancy Benchmarketing, part of Omnicom Media Group, analysed 1,012 cases from 2011 to 2020, including during the pandemic, and assessed nine categories covering 90% of advertised brands.

Led by effectiveness specialist Sally Dickerson, the study also isolates news brands’ digital spend as a structural factor.

“With the rise of misinformation, digital news brands offer an attractive brand-safe environment for advertisers,” Dickerson said. “This research proves that they also deliver solid business returns when utilised at the right level.”

Jo Allan, the CEO of Newsworks, said: “It’s great to see an impressive shift in the last few years, despite the knock-on effect of Covid. If advertisers continue to utilise news brands effectively, their bottom lines will only improve.”

This study follows on from Newsworks’ 2017 study Planning for Profit, which found that brands were missing out on £3bn of potential profit ROI by under-investing in news brands.