Tech generation still engages with print
April’s IPA Bellwether survey reported that digital is the fastest-growing medium, a sure sign that businesses are investing more of their marketing budgets in this area. As consumers cry out for more online content, organisations are doing everything in their power to provide it. However, it is not only the big consumer brands that are continually working on new concepts and investing in the development of their online offerings; the mass media is too.
Although some would expect traditional media platforms to lose favour with the public as the level of media content readily available online increases substantially, this has not been the case. New research from the National Readership Survey (NRS) in fact shows that Britain’s technophiles are still keen on reading the conventional print versions of newspapers and magazines.
Over the course of the past year, we have incorporated questions into the survey on the use of technology, particularly to access media. The results have already identified that those who most enjoy technology also enjoy reading newspapers and magazines.
Of those surveyed, 15% have actively used technology in four or more of the eight ways included in the questions. The activities that were most prevalent were PVR at home (25%), listening to music on a mobile phone (22%) and listening to DAB (26%). Activities still at the ‘early adopter’ stage include wirelessly streaming music and movies around the home (8%), and using Blu-Ray Disc players (7%).
Perhaps most intriguing is the reading habits of these 15-to-24-year-olds. It is often assumed that this generation will give up on print media. However, the reverse is true for the 2.7 million in this age group who are the most active consumers of technology, since the number of magazines and newspapers they read is well above average.
The results have already proved that despite technological advancements and the shift in the provision of content, consumers still cherish traditional media platforms.
Katherine Page, Technical Consultant, NRS
New NRS website launches!
I’m not sure I’d ever have thought I could feel excited about a new NRS website but I do! This brand, spanking new site, reflecting the contemporary new brand identity of the NRS, embodies all that Mike Ironside and the team have created during the course of this year: a more user-friendly NRS, in touch with media sellers and buyers on every side of the industry, and more responsive to their needs. I am sure it will be welcomed and used and interacted with in a way the old site never was.
The media marketplace is not exactly an easy place to be just now, with huge challenges from the recession as well as the emergence of new outlets and platforms for established media brands. NRS is striving to keep pace with these changes and to give its stakeholders best value for money in serving their sector of the advertising market. One of the things you’ll find on the website is a short film that shows exactly how the readership data are collected – reassuringly comprehensive I think you’ll agree.
The new website is a symbol of what NRS is doing to modernise itself. Please use it, play with it, ask questions through it and give us your feedback on it. I am delighted with where Mike is taking the NRS, working more closely with the ABC and ensuring that the survey – for more than fifty years calibrating the readership of national newspapers and consumer magazines – is as effective, relevant and accessible as it can be.
Simon Marquis, chairman, NRS