Advertisers using news brands see increase in ad effectiveness of ‘up to 52%’

New research from Newsworks and Peter Field presented at recent NewsBrands Ireland Engage event.

Trust and quality are now the two most important brand metrics when it comes to profit growth – and increasingly inter-connected – according to effectiveness expert Peter Field.

Sorcha Garduce, Insight Partner with Newsworks (the marketing body for UK national newspapers), presented new research from Peter Field and Newsworks at last week’s NewsBrands Ireland Engage event. The research evaluates the growing importance and strength of brand trust, explores how advertisers can benefit from being in trusted environments, and aims to more accurately define and measure trust.

IPA Databank: News brands’ positive impact on advertising effectiveness

The link between trust in news brands and advertiser profit growth has risen sharply over the last decade, according to this latest analysis of the IPA Databank.  

The study, which was undertaken by effectiveness expert Peter Field, shows that over the last 10 years the effectiveness of advertising in news brands across six key business effects – including market share, pricing power and profit growth – has increased significantly. 

Campaigns using news brands between 2012-2016 had an uplift in overall effectiveness of 32% compared to campaigns that did not.  And this uplift was even stronger in the more recent period (2018-2022), showing an uplift in effectiveness of 52%.

Impressively, looking at profit growth, advertisers using news brands experienced a 24% uplift in 2012-2016 compared to non-users of news brands – this increased to 88% in the period 2018-2022.

The analysis also shows that advertisers using a multi-platform (combining print and digital) approach derive the greatest business benefits of all, with an uplift of 61% versus brands not advertising in news brands.

This is because ads appearing in news brands are seen as trustworthy and suggest high quality, which are now the two most important brand metrics that lead to growth for advertisers.

Field said: “While the uplifts were still strong in the earlier period of this study, they are much stronger post 2016. This is arguably around the time that trust issues began to explode – think Trump, Brexit and Cambridge Analytica – and the emergence of the fake news era.”

“Trust and quality perceptions are interconnected as vital brand metrics, and their importance to advertisers has doubled over the last 20 years. This study shows the case for advertising in news brands, which has always been strong, continues to strengthen at a remarkable rate.”

For more details, see here

The above research was presented at the NewsBrands Engage event in the Morrison Hotel last Tuesday. Other key highlights from the event included:

Christine Matthews, Head of TGI Ireland, presented their latest audience data which shows that print and digital news brands reach 82% of Irish adults every week.

Journalism produced by news publishers is the First Port of Call for those seeking news – 82% go to a print or online news title for news, while 64% go to TV for news; 61% go radio; and 54% go to social media for news.  See more details here

Melissa Byrne, Head of Media Sky Ireland, discussed how her brand use multiplatform news brands as part of their award-winning campaigns. See highlights here

Fiona Field, MD of OMD Ireland, moderated a discussion on journalism’s role in society, with Elaine Loughlin, Political Editor, Irish Examiner, Neil Leslie, Editor Irish Daily Star, and Robert Cox, Editor, Irish Mail on Sunday. Among the items discussed were how news publishers build trust and credibility with readers, the role of political journalism in holding power to account, and how AI will affect journalism. The panel also recalled the Daily’s Star’s ‘Lizzie the Lettuce’ campaign which was remembered as political satire at its very best!