A recent OPA survey found that 56% of online media users were inclined to use the offline component of a brand. It also revealed that 66% of users with a high affinity towards a particular media website are likely to watch the companion network or read the companion publication, as opposed to just 23% of low affinity users.
“There is a strong inclination among online media consumers to also engage with the offline property,” said Michael Zimbalist, executive director of the Online Publishers Association. “In addition, the online and offline components of a media brand are synergistic in that they reach their audiences during different times of the day. This suggests that advertisers who communicate through offline media brands can achieve greater impact by adding an online component from the corresponding web site(s) into their media plan.”
The OPA used NYTimes.com, USATODAY.com and CondeNet as examples of sites which had contributed to an increase in sales of printed publications. The research also found that users of special interest and sports websites are particularly likely to read, view or listen to the offline brand.
