Magazine advertisers have long suffered with less-than-desirable accountability metrics.  As an analogy, think of negotiating a radio schedule based on the number of people who own radios.  Thankfully, the industry has made significant improvements in the last few years and has recently leapfrogged some competing traditional tactics.

MRI started down this path a few years ago by providing issue specific audience estimates.  This allowed advertisers to calculate the delivery of a specific magazine schedule, and thereby more effectively plan and negotiate the medium.

Last year, MRI went a step further by launching AdMeasure, which tracks consumer recall and response to specific ads.  By reporting the number of readers who said they saw an ad or took an action as a result, magazine ROI can be calculated.  For 2010, MRI has nearly doubled the number of magazines included in AdMeasure to 200 consumer titles.

On the heels of a financially challenging year, magazines should see a much needed benefit from their expanded ability to demonstrate value.  Do you think it’s too little, too late, or the start of something big?

Tags: Advertising, Magazine