Regional publishers urged to provide advertisers with more information

by Maisie McCabe, Media Week 07-Oct-08, 14:25

LONDON - Industry experts are calling for regional publishers to provide advertisers with more information about their magazines and readers.

Speaking at last week's PPA summit, Nicholas Wilson, marketing manager at regional sales house Clacksons, said he would like to see more auditing and guidelines introduced. He added that regional publishers should provide clients with more audience data showing the effectiveness of ads in their publications.

Publicist Max Clifford said regional magazines should "cheer us up, educate and inform us and bind us together".

Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast UK, said he realised the penetration of regional magazines when he was interviewed for Cotswold Life. Coleridge said regional magazines were able to engage with communities in a way impossible to replicate on the internet.

Meanwhile, Phil Hilton, editorial director of the free weekly magazine ShortList, said editorial and commercial teams should work together more closely. He said publishers should "emphasise competition" among the editorial team and "publically reward" editorial staff who help with commercial pitches.

The speakers were talking at the PPA's first event dedicated to regional magazines. The summit was organised to raise the profile of the 300-publication strong sector and was held as part of PPA's Magazine Week.