Inserts Top Advertising Effectiveness Poll

The Customer Focus 2004: Ad Inserts Study found that 85% of consumers had used ad inserts in some form, up from 82% in 1998. As before, women are more likely to read sales literature than men. Inserts come in most useful for people shopping around for clothing (56%), groceries (52%) and home electronics (50%).

“Ad inserts have been around for over 30 years and they’ve always been influential, but our new survey conducted earlier this month clearly shows that consumers increasingly are being drawn to this medium,” said Therese Mulvey, vice president of marketing research at Vertis.

“With less time on their hands and less money in their wallets, a growing number of shoppers are seeking out the best deals berfore they leave the house to go shopping. Now, more than ever, retailers and other marketers should consider including advertising inserts in their multi-channel marketing programs.”

US Advertising Insert Usage
	Men (%)		Women (%)		All Adults (%)
	1998	2004	1998	2004	1998	2004
Read Occasionally Based On Need	47	41	43	39	43	40
Read For Products And Services I Want And Need	21	27	25	30	25	28
Read All Available	11	13	18	21	14	17
Never Read	22	19	14	10	18	15
Overall Readership	78	81	86	90	82	85
Source: Vertis, October 2003

Effect on sales According to Vertis, advertising inserts have a significant effect on consumers’ buying decisions. Some 28% of respondents said that inserts are the most influential media in this respect, ahead of television (22%) and ads on the page of a newspaper (18%). Moreover, 30% of those surveyed said that when they are ready to make a purchase, they turn to advertising inserts first. By comparison, 18% look to newspaper ads and 10% regard television as a priority.

Importance Of Various Media Among US Consumers
	Most Influences Buying Decisions (%)	Turn To First For Help With Buying Decisions (%)
Advertising Inserts/Circulars	28	30
Television	22	10
Ads On Page Of Newspaper	18	18
Catalogues	6	6
Magazines	5	4
Direct Mail	4	3
Internet	4	15
Radio	3	1
Email	1	1
Source: Vertis, October 2003

More than a throwaway While TV and newspaper consumption take precedent, more consumers now read inserts than listen to morning drive radio, according to Vertis. Readership of ad inserts has increased from 61% to 69% since 2000, with only the internet seeing a greater rise (32% to 45%).

Percentage Of US Consumers Who Had Done The Following In Past Seven Days
Activity	%
Watched Prime Time TV	84
Read The Newspaper	74
Read Ad Insert/Circular	69
Listened To Morning Radio	67
Read A Billboard	62
Read A Magazine	61
Read Direct Mail	50
Surfed The Internet	45
Read A Catalogue	44
Talked To Telemarketer	27
Source: Vertis, October 2003