Meredith launches new marketing product Meredith Engagement Dividend that offers some marketers guaranteed sales increase for their ad investments in Meredith magazine

Kendall Sinclair

NEW YORK , July 25, 2011 (press release) – Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) today unveiled The Meredith Engagement Dividend©, a new product for marketers that would provide a guaranteed increase in sales for their advertising investment in Meredith magazines.

"This is truly groundbreaking within the magazine media industry," says Tom Harty, President, Meredith National Media Group. "In an era of increased expectations for accountability, Meredith magazines are delivering sales increases and improved return on investment (ROI) across the board. We believe The Meredith Engagement Dividend© will significantly change how marketers measure and evaluate performance among magazine brands."

Using analytics from Nielsen's highly regarded Homescan offering, and Meredith's database of 85 million consumers for its leading magazines, Meredith and Nielsen measured how advertisers in categories such as beauty, household goods, OTC drugs, and food were able to increase their product sales an average of 10 percent.

The research study was conducted over a 52-week period measuring ROI for higher frequency advertising campaigns that ran in Meredith magazines during 2009 and 2010. In addition to increasing product sales the research also revealed that among product purchases for several brands, as many as two-thirds of buyers were new purchasers of the brand.

According to Randall Beard, Global Head of Advertiser Solutions for Nielsen, most of the past research done for magazines tended to focus on areas such as purchase intent or brand engagement but not on determining a specific sales ROI. "This is a unique breakthrough in our how industry leading Nielsen information matched with the demographic, psychographic, and buying behavior data from leading Meredith magazine brands can prove the sales value of magazine advertising for marketers."

"The ROI for advertiser investment was significant," says Richard Porter, President, Media Sales, Meredith National Media Group. "As marketers look to invest their dollars wisely in today's highly competitive environment, improved sales performance is exactly what they want to see on their bottom line and we will guarantee them results."

In order for advertisers to participate in The Meredith Engagement Dividend© utilizing Nielsen analytics, marketers must commit to a minimum level of advertising impressions over a 12 month period across several Meredith titles. The commitment is based on category, with minimum thresholds for frequency and can only be applied for marketers with national advertising schedules. Porter notes that "Meredith will work with a limited number of partners this year as we bring the product to market."

About the Research

The Meredith Engagement Dividend©, powered by Nielsen analytics, was developed by Meredith Research Solutions in conjunction with Nielsen using data from Nielsen's Homescan panel performance combined with an overlay of Meredith subscribers compared to a control group of Nielsen Homescan users. The purchase behavior, geography and demographics between the test and control groups were identical and the only difference between the test and control groups was exposure to Meredith magazines. The period measured covered a timeframe of 52 weeks during 2009 and 2010. Advertisers measured were across multiple categories with minimum frequency and national advertising schedules across multiple Meredith brands.

About Meredith

Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP; www.meredith.com) is the leading media and marketing company serving American women and. Meredith features multiple well-known national brands – including Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Fitness, More and American Baby – along with local television brands in fast-growing markets. Meredith is the industry leader in creating content in key consumer interest areas such as home, family, health and wellness and self-development. Meredith uses multiple distribution platforms – including print, television, online, mobile, Tablets, and video – to give consumers content they desire and to deliver the messages of its marketing partners.

Additionally, Meredith uses its many assets to create powerful custom marketing solutions for many of the nation's top brands and companies. According to the Advertising Industry Reports (AIR) survey of over 1,500 agency and marketing professionals, Meredith is the nation's "Highest Rated Media Company." Meredith has significantly added to its marketing solution capabilities in recent years through the acquisition of cutting-edge companies in areas such as digital, mobile, word-of-mouth, social and database marketing.

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