The Case For Inserts

Carl Remmer, research executive at IPC Media, makes the case for the insert ad, arguing that for some advertisers, this sometimes annoying method of reaching consumers can be exactly what the product ordered…

I had a bit of a long wait for a train the other day so I popped into the WH Smiths at the station and bought myself a magazine to pass the time. I’m not going to divulge which magazine I bought but let’s just say it was a men’s monthly lifestyle title. I got to the platform and sat down to wait for my train and opened my magazine to be greeted firstly by several inserts falling to the floor, and secondly by the brunette from Hollyoaks willing me with her eyes to join her in a waterfall.

I had half a mind to leave the inserts on the platform floor but I’d hate to be accused of keeping Britain untidy, so I scooped them up, gave them a quick glance and placed them in the bin.

Now I’m sure a lot of you’ll be thinking this is what happens the majority of the time but I’m probably not the best example as I don’t need a loan, already have multi-channel TV and I’m happy with my current mobile phone service. There are a hell of a lot of people out there that do need these services though and inserts are an extremely cost effective way to reach them.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) estimates that the UK inserts market is worth around £1 billion per year with over 20 billion inserts being placed. The core categories of Finance and Mail Order that have driven the inserts market in the past, particularly for consumer magazines, have dwindled considerably. It might be a case of over saturation. With multiple loans offers in the same issue it’s bound to affect response.

For the most part, Finance and Mail Order have migrated online as at the moment it offers better value. This may change fairly soon though as much like TV, demand will drive the prices up as more and more companies flood online. So somewhere down the line we may well see the advertisers in those categories return to inserts.

Consumer magazines’ other big threat has come from third-party inserts – a kind of hybrid of direct mail and a media insert. This style of insert is most definitely in growth and the DMA estimates it is worth £132 million per year.

Third-party works by placing inserts into other companies’ mail outs, such as bills or statements, or even in product despatches and proves to be extremely cost effective for both parties. For the host mailer it reduces mailing costs and for the insert advertiser it gives them a direct mail campaign at a fraction of the cost – up to 20 times cheaper in some cases according to The Insert House, the UK’s leading inserts sales business. It is claimed that these audiences are more responsive but when these inserts arrive in a mailing from someone you may owe money to, I’m not so sure.

For consumer magazines at the moment, acquisitions based companies such as mobile phone service providers and multi-channel TV operators, are the driving force for inserts business. The growth of the Entertainment and Telecoms sectors in consumer magazines has been a rapid one and it must be working as the likes of Sky, Vodafone and Orange in particular, have all invested heavily into inserts.

For IPC, the Entertainment sector has seen a four-fold increase in volume since 2003 to over 150 million inserts placed in 2006. Whilst in the Telecoms sector, there’s been a 20-fold increase since 2003 to almost 139 million inserts placed in 2006. If inserts weren’t working then we wouldn’t be seeing the huge increases in volume we have.

Inserts are the flexible solution. Paper technology is developing all the time and it’s inserts that drive those advances. The flexibility of an insert can benefit any number of creative ideas from 3D pop-ups to sound chips or textured paper to chocolate bars.

Sampling is a great way to get products in front of consumers and it’s something magazines do the best. Door to door and direct mail are other ways to get samples into people’s hands but this can be very expensive and can often be ineffective. Speaking from personal experience, I know I would rather try the latest hair product found in my favourite and trusted magazine as opposed to a middle aged man with a clipboard and a brief case – a sweeping generalisation you may think but it did actually happen to me a while ago.

So for the meantime inserts will still be around, perhaps not in the volumes that they once were, but the online pendulum may swing back inserts’ way. And there’s sure to be other forms of advertising that will end up in the bin long before inserts do.