Colour Ads To Overtake Mono In National Press
Colour advertising could overtake black and white in the national press within two years, according to media buyers’ predictions. The forecast comes as new figures show that the number of full colour ads in the national press has risen 11.6% in the past year.
The total number of full colour adverts increased 11.6% to 117,076, according to Nielsen Media Research analysis. The trend could boost ad revenues at national titles since papers are able to charge a premium for colour ads compared with mono ads.
In the same period, from May 2005 to the end of April 2006, the number of mono ads in national newspapers fell 11.4% to 125,343. The total number of display ads and advertorials fell 1.8% to 249,071.
Speaking in the Guardian, Steve Goodman, press director at media buying and planning agency Group M, said: “It is quite likely that by this time next year, or certainly within two years, there could be more colour ads being booked into press than mono. It has been a bit of a saviour for the industry while there has been this premium but gradually you expect this premium to decline.”
Some forecasts predict a flat national newspaper ad market for the year, while others predict a 2% decline. The increase in colour adverts could prevent, or at least lessen, any decline.
The number of colour adverts is up 27.2% at the Times, 72.4% at the Sunday Telegraph, 5.8% at the Sunday Express, 12.7% at the Guardian, 28.2% at the Independent, 9.7% at the Observer and 34.4% at the Daily Telegraph.
“The volume is driven by a change of format by the Independent and the Guardian and much better printing presses,” said Adrian Pike, the press director of media buying and selling agency Starcom.
“The overall market is flat but the colour market is up, driven by increased volume and more colour pages and the decline of a retail market that used to rely on mono,” he added.
Some figures are affected by the introduction of new magazines and supplements, many of which are almost entirely colour, and by conversion to a smaller format, which can increase pagination.
Colour pages have declined at some titles, such as the Mail On Sunday, the News of the World and the People, where the total number of pages also declined. Colour on the Times and Sunday Times will further increase in 2008 when all News International titles print in full colour.
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