Branded content shines in latest NRS figures
Julia Hutchison, COO at the APA, says the latest NRS figures represent “a clear sign that passion for and investment in editorialised branded content is still soaring”…
Branded content is the theme of the moment and the latest NRS figures do nothing but confirm the ongoing strength of the sector. Released today, the survey reveals that titles topping the rankings in the monthly and bi-monthly categories are all associated with big brand names and stores. In other words, customer magazines are continuing to dominate the results.
Sky has once again shone this quarter. Sky Movies hit the top of the charts in the General Bimonthly Periodicals category with a readership of 2,501,000, an increase of 10% year-on-year. But most notable were the results for General Monthly, Sky Magazine. Having increased its readership by 5% year-on-year, it now boasts a readership of 7.9 million meaning it actually gains more readers than The Sun, which is on 7.7 million. These figures are also cemented by our own research, which has shown that 79% of consumers read customer magazines – 50% more than read national newspapers.
Throughout the quarter 3 report, the customer magazine figures standout, most notably in the Women’s Bimonthly category. Of the eight magazines featured, five are branded titles. At the top of the chart is Boots Health & Beauty and John Lewis Edition has made its debut with a readership of 1.12 million – only closely behind that of The Guardian (1.13 million). Waitrose Kitchen is also showing positive signs of progress as a relatively fresh title. Now with a readership of 1.7 million, it has risen by 5% year-on-year.
These figures reinforce a recent APA survey of clients and media planners, which reflected that a massive 63% predict that we are moving into a post advertising era, with brands now looking to use budgets to invest in content. Veronis Suhler Stevenson also brought positive news to the fore recently with a survey showing the media industry is now adjusting its view on the best way to spend budget in a targeted way to develop relationships between brand and consumer. The organisation predicted that investment in targeted content, which includes branded content, will grow at 7.3% over the next four years.
Following August’s ABC results, the recent NRS figures go to show that the appetite for branded content is still continuing to grow. This was further reinforced at this week’s APA International Content Summit. Supporting an unrivalled calibre of industry leaders on the speaker platform, the event became an open forum for discussions around the power and future of content. Speakers took to the stage and discussed what the future looks like, how content will evolve and with constantly emerging channels and a changing audience, how content should respond. Despite being the first conference of its kind, an audience of almost 400 attended, with 500+ Tweets recorded.
As an industry which is continuing to flourish, grow and develop with the rise of new technologies, branded content providers were again celebrating on Wednesday night at the APA International Customer Publishing Awards. August Media scooped five awards, with its Completely London title for KFH (Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward) scoring four of those. This year saw an unrivalled level of entries from across the globe and teamed with the NRS figures, there’s a clear sign that passion for and investment in editorialised branded content is still soaring.