The Female Persuasion

American Demographics, Feb 1, 2002

Which medium is more effective at reaching women: print or broadcast? In 1998, Rob Frydlewicz, vice president and media research director at New York ad agency FCB, decided he would find out.

Frydlewicz compared data from MRI, which measures magazine audiences, with Nielsen ratings and discovered that the top 25 women's magazines command larger audiences than the top 25 female-targeted TV shows. He found, for example, that in 2001, magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour or Vogue had a 73 percent larger audience among women age 18 to 49 than TV shows such as Friends, Ally McBeal and ER. Having tracked MRI and Nielsen statistics for the past three years, each year Frydlewicz has found that magazines have a larger audience among women age 18 to 49 than do TV shows. Even so, many media planners - even those at his agency - have a bias toward TV, he claims. "People assume that the highest rated TV shows have the largest audiences," Frydlewicz says. "But in fact, many of the largest magazines have an audience that's just as large, or even larger."

This surprising dose of good news comes amid a seemingly rough period for the women's magazine market. Recently, the category has witnessed several high profile closings (Mademoiselle and Mode), editorial musical chairs and relaunches. But while the turmoil creates fascinating gossip for media mavens, it hasn't had much of an impact on the people the magazines are created for: women. As a vehicle for reaching the female consumer, women's magazines are holding their own - even in today's economic climate. While ad pages and ad dollars for all magazines declined between 2000 and 2001, ad pages and ad dollars for the top women's magazines actually increased during the same time period, according to figures from Competitive Media Research. (This comparison refers to the first three quarters of 2000 and 2001, the most recent data available, and is representative of 22 major magazines targeted to women tracked by CMR.) What's more, while ad pages for all magazines plummeted by 14 percent, ad pages in the women's category mustered a 3 percent increase, according to CMR figures.

Of course, it's important to keep in mind that this statistical portrait of strength in the women's magazine market is at least slightly skewed by comparing such publications with an overall picture that includes the battered and limping business and Internet magazine categories. But even so, in the first turbulent economic period of the 21st century, women's magazines appear to be a reliable way to reach female consumers, says Debra L. Merskin, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Oregon. She says that women's magazines do a better job than other magazines, and other media for that matter, in keeping up with the trends that are changing women's lives. In fact, according to New York City-based Simmons Market Research Bureau (which surveys more than 30,000 consumers each year) 60 percent of women said they had read a women's magazine in the past year, compared with just 36 percent that had read home or home services magazines, and 15 percent that read a child rearing or parenting publication. In non-gender specific categories, women have even less of a presence: Just 7 percent of women surveyed said they had read a business or financial magazine, 4 percent say they've read an in-flight magazine and 4 percent say that they read a regional magazine.

Why are women's periodicals faring better than others in reaching their audiences? In part, it's due to an increasing pace of fragmentation in other media in comparison to magazines, says Frydlewicz. Even though about 1,000 new publications are launched every year, magazines aren't facing as much competition for marketshare as top television shows, thanks to the proliferation of cable stations. In fact, TV viewers have eroded at a faster pace than magazine audiences over the past decade. (See chart, page 29.) However, Frydlewicz argues that the rate of fragmentation in women's magazines had already hit its peak, and has declined over the past few years, compared with a veritable boom of fragmentation in the TV market. While magazines in general are becoming more fragmented, figures from the Magazine Publishers of America, the industry's trade association, show that the number of new titles in the women's category is, in fact, growing at a slower rate than nearly every other type of magazine. The only two categories that are growing more slowly are family and music. What's more, magazines are able to reflect the changing lifestyles of their readers than some other traditional media more quickly.

While stories about sex and career still abound, a new crop of women's titles are relying more heavily on psychographics (as well as demographics) to reach their audience. Historically, women's magazines were centered around a particular life stage; now they're focused on a particular lifestyle. A 45-year-old woman today could be a first time grandmother, a first time mother or even have a first time live-in lover. Similarly, a 32-year-old female could be a veteran of the work force or the military.