Sections ’95 – The Results

Yesterday saw the release of the Sections’95 Weekend Newspaper Section Readership Research which was conducted by the Beck Consultancy for Express Newspapers, Leo Burnett and C.O.I.

Iain McLellan began with a short introduction into the purpose of the study. He said that the newspaper market was a different place compared with 2-3 years ago and ad agencies now demanded more information into sections readership.

Marie Oldham and Rupert Steele (Leo Burnett) outlined the aims:

1. To ensure best possible use of press for key clients. Develop a planning tool – which asks who reads what and when. Sections ’95 would take a role of a supplement to other industry research. 2. To enable informed press buying. Commenting on this, Marie Oldham said “In order to spend our clients’ money most effectively, not only do we need to know which sections are read by whom, we also need to be able to put a value on each.” “The press market is expanding rapidly and the currency used needs to be able to expand to reflect this – AIR is no longer enough (it hasn’t been for a long time!!)” 3. To contribute to the wider debate. Rupert Steele added that a working group is currently investigating the possibility of adding just review sections to the NRS.

Karen Pearce from the COI wanted three key areas addressed by the research.

1. Who is reading each section 2. How does this affect the efficacy of our campaigns? 3. How can we use this knowledge to improve communication with our target audience? The study took a qualitative format – conducted face to face – in the home. 1,982 ABC1C2 adults were questioned in England and Wales. Specific Issue Readers of 12 quality and Mid market weekend papers published on 15 and 16 July. Papers were divided into 4 groups of similar titles with quotas set for age, sex and class.

An example of results gained: The tables underline the fact that there is very little difference between time spent on Saturday and Sunday titles:

With regard to which sections are actually read, the Daily Mail Weekend fared best, with 94% patronage, the Sunday Times Culture and Style sections worst.

The best read of the Sunday Times’ 11 sections was the Main, with 97% patronage; the worst was appointments, at 55%. Other sections which were also not so popular included the Funday Times, with 56% and the Personal Finance section, 66%.

Research into the Business and Finance sections showed the Times’ section was far higher than the Mail on Sunday equivalent, with Saturay readership higher than Sunday.