Note: Before even thinking about the distribution and packaging of a print PSA, every art director who produces print PSAs should read the guide:” Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes” by Andy Goodman. It is a wonderful treatise on the importance of good design in print PSAs and how to insure your PSAs gain maximum attention. It can be downloaded by sending a request to andy@agoodmanonline.com

Unlike broadcast PSAs, they don't convey sound or motion and they are not as fun to produce. Yet due to their comparatively low production and replication cost, coupled with their ability to reach discrete audiences, print PSAs offer some great communications benefits. For example, they are more tangible than other forms of media, and while people may miss your message in the more ethereal electronic media, a full page magazine ad is proof positive that the message at least got printed.

Because print is typically used far less frequently than broadcast, many mass communications professionals lack the necessary expertise of formulating a strategic and cost effective print PSA plan. This primer on print is designed to help.

DISTRIBUTION

Let's begin where most good distribution plans begin by looking at the print universe and the kinds of print databases we offer in our PUBSANS (Public Service Advertising Analysis System).

Newspapers Depending upon whose numbers you use, there are just over 11,000 daily and weekly newspapers in the U.S., all of which are in our print database, as shown in this graph.

Of the total shown, 52% are regular PSA users and the percentages for each category are indicated in the graph.

In addition to those that reach general audiences, we also have newspapers that reach African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, the elderly and college students. You can use our database to develop a custom distribution plan to target by:

• Type - daily, weekly, or specialized newspapers reaching special audiences in the foregoing categories.
  
  
• Circulation size - ranging from the largest metro papers to those published in small towns.
  
  
• Previous usage practices - our system includes a tracking method for reaching those newspapers that regularly use PSAs, as well as the frequency of previous usage. Thus, if you want to reach those newspapers that will most likely use your PSA, we can target those with the highest PUI (Previous Usage Index) that we maintain for all newspapers in our database.
  
  
• Geographic subsets - beyond the most common methods for market segmentation, i.e. city, state, zip, we can also break our newspaper distribution lists down by local chapter, affiliate, office, district or whatever special system your organization uses to communicate with your field offices.
  
  

Magazines

Because they are national in scope, tend to reach many more people and can offer very specific audience segmentation, PSA planners are typically more familiar with magazines and use them more frequently in their PSA plans. It is difficult to know exactly how many national, regional, local and highly specialized magazines there are in the U.S., but they all offer a chance to reach a diverse, upscale audience.

We have a total of 3,404 of these in our database segmented by three horizontal categories as shown in this graph, and in 47 vertical categories, which are listed at the end of this case study.

Over 600, or about 18% of the total magazines in our print database, regularly use PSAs. As with all other media components, we can develop a customized print distribution to target heavy PSA users, by circulation size, by audience, or a combination of these factors.

PACKAGING

Like many other things in our technological society, the method of distributing print PSAs has gone “hi-tech,” and distributing them on CDs is now the most common packaging format. There are a number of reasons for this change, but most importantly CDs offer digital art which is much easier for magazines and newspapers to use. Also, unlike the old days, “hi-res” .PDF files can be used by print media in either PC or MAC platform. Further, there is no need to screen print PSAs differently for magazines versus newspapers. Finally, most CDs offer sufficient disk capacity to provide print PSAs in both color and black and white to take advantage of the growing use of color in newspapers.

There are a number of ways to package a print CD and we provide samples of each on the Client Corner section of our corporate website. If you would like a password to access the site, call Bill Goodwill at 954-561-8412.

Irregardless of how you package your print PSA, there are some basic components that we believe are important to include in your package, including:

• Letter to Advertising Director - note we did not say "Editorial Director" because sending print PSAs to that side of the house is absolutely wrong due to the separation between the advertising and editorial functions at most newspapers and magazines. Tell the Ad Director why your issue is important, how you benefit the local community and make a strong case for why your PSAs should be used. A sample letter is posted on the Client Corner referenced previously.
  
  
• Facts - it is important to include some brief facts on your issue to help inform and engage the print gatekeeper in your particular cause.
  
  
• Thumbnail insert - to make it easy for the end-user to see the various size ads you are providing, their format (English vs Spanish, color vs B&W), we usually include an insert with small size ads called “thumbnails.” Depending upon your design, the letter to Ad Director and Facts can all be designed as part of this insert, reducing the cost and number of inserts in your package.
  

  Sizes

  As with all PSAs, the secret to success in maximizing usage is to provide the media with as much flexibility as possible. Here are some of the most popular sizes to include in your package and each print PSA should be labeled in terms of its screen, whether it is for newspapers or magazine and the size of the ad.
  
  
  • Full page: 7x10"
  • Half page horizontal: 4 ¾ x 6 7/8"
  • Quarter page vertical 4 x 5"
  • 1/6 page vertical: 2 ¼ x 5"
  • Two thirds vertical 4 ½ x 10"
  • One third vertical: 2 1/16 x 10"
  
  

  The following graph shows the most frequently used newspaper PSA sizes. Important note: a study we did for Easter Seals showed that 75% of all PSAs used were under 9 column inches.
  
  
  
  

  EVALUATION

  Of the slightly less than 13,000 print outlets in our master database, about half of them are regular PSA users as shown by the graph below. Because it is based on a tangible ad, print PSA evaluation is the most accurate of any non-paid communications, but it is far from simple.

  

  Using data in our PUBSANS system, we have the line inch costs of all U.S. daily and weekly newspapers, as well as the fractional page costs for all magazines.

  When we develop the print PSA budget and submit it to our clients for approval, there is normally a line item in the budget for retaining a clipping service such as Burrelle's.

  Or, if our clients are already conducting a public relations program, they will most likely have a clipping service in place and we may be able to piggyback on that service by alerting the clipping service to begin clipping print PSAs as well as editorial articles.

  In either case, the first step in producing print PSA evaluation is to measure the actual size of each print PSA that is sent to us by the clipping service.

  Once that is complete, our custom software will then multiply the size of the print PSA times either the newspaper line rate or magazine fractional page rate to compute an estimated value for the print PSA. This information is then used to develop reports sent to clients which includes:

  • the publication name, date, circulation, and market in which exposure was generated;
  • whether a magazine or newspaper PSA was used and the size of exposure in column inches or page fraction;
  • the headline of the ad or other key copy point that the client wants to track;
  • the estimated value for each placements;
  • the publication name, date, circulation, and market in which exposure was generated;
  • whether a magazine or newspaper PSA was used and the size of exposure in column inches or page fraction;
  • the headline of the ad or other key copy point that the client wants to track;
  • the value of individual placements;
  • totals for campaign key parameters, number of cities, states, pubs, circulation, newspapers vs. magazines, etc. (See sample print PSA report in the Appendix).

  As with distribution lists, we can also break out evaluation reports by local offices, which provides your field partners with feedback on exactly where you are getting (and where you are not getting) local PSA support.

  

  Shown above is a benchmark average of several print PSA campaigns we have distributed over the past several years. Given the modest cost for distributing a print campaign, this value represents an excellent return on investment.

  There are several ways to measure the success of your print PSA campaign including:

  • Number of potential people you reached (gross circulation totals for publications using your PSAs)
  • The type of readers you reached (examine the type of magazines using your PSAs)
  • The dollar value of the PSAs that were used and the cost benefit ratio of the campaign (divide the value by the production and distribution cost)
  • The number of people who wrote or called for information based on your print ads (requires your toll-free operator and fulfillment service to keep good records on call sources)

  In most cases you are going to get the majority of exposure from your newspaper PSAs in terms of geographic coverage. However, in terms of circulation and dollar values, a well-placed magazine ad could easily surpass all the value and circulation of a hundred newspaper placements, thus magazines are a very important part of the print mix.

  In fact, in most cases, a single magazine PSA such as one in National Geographic or the AARP magazine - both of which are regular PSA users - can be worth more than the entire TV, radio and print campaign combined.

  Our clients who have been most successful with print PSAs take the time to do follow-up calls, particularly among the top magazines. Ask your distributor to provide you with a list of the top 100 circulation magazines and call them on the phone to insure that they got your PSA and that the materials are the type of ads they can use. If they have a significant circulation, it is worth spending a couple hundred dollars producing color negatives or special materials to get tens of thousands of dollars worth of exposure.

  In conclusion, for those program planners working on a modest budget, print PSAs, when properly designed and distributed, can provide an excellent cost-benefit return. And because of their tangibility, as well as the longer shelf life they offer, print can be an excellent medium for generating public action, such as calling a hot-line or writing for information.

  However, program planners should avoid treating print like a weak sister. You need to use the same level of quality when executing a print campaign as you use for broadcast campaigns, except the outcome is completely different. Too many print campaigns - particularly magazines - are poorly executed and thus they don't stand a chance of getting used. Before designing your print campaign, review the very best magazines being published today and look at the quality of the paid ads.

  That's what you are competing against, and a publisher is not about to denigrate the quality of his or her editorial product by a badly designed print ad, regardless of how important your cause may be.

  For more insight on this aspect of print placement, go to www.psaresearch.com, click on Site Map, click on PSA bibliography/Print and see the article entitled: "Hard Being Good - Worthy Causes But Unworthy Ads" by Martin Schrader who was the publisher of Harper's Bazaar magazine. Here's an excerpt from the article that applies not only to print, but to all media outlets that use your PSAs:

  Only once in the 24 years that I've had the title "Publisher" after my name -- just once -- has a charitable group said "thank you," to me at least, for a free ad. And that was a long time ago. The Girl Scouts of America had a PR director who meticulously sent me a letter and a box of Girl Scout Cookies (of blessed, caloric memory) every time we ran one of her messages. But she must have retired, because all is silence after they ask for space and get it.

  Hello out there, all you others. Your appeals all say, "thanking you in advance." How's about a word of appreciation -- not to me but to all the magazines who support you -- after the fact? We're human, too.

  To paraphrase Eliza Doolittle's Dad: "We're willin' to 'elp you, we're wantin' to 'elp you, we're waitin' to 'elp you." Just help us by designing ads for our audience. And say thanks once in a while.

  
  

  APPENDIX

  PUBSANS Master Magazine Database
  Specific Category Selections

  MAGCODE	DESCRIPTION		MAGCODE	DESCRIPTION
  AD	ADVERTISING		HIS	HISPANIC
  AG	AGRICULTURE		HOME	HOME
  ART	ART		LP	LEGAL
  AS	ASSOCIATION		MCOM	MASS COMMUNICATION
  AUTO	AUTOMOTIVE		MED	MEDICAL
  AV	AUDIO VISUAL		MKTG	MARKETING
  BANK	BANKING		MNPL	MUNICIPAL
  BK	BLACK		NEWS	NEWS
  BLDG	BUILDING		PERS	PERSONNEL
  BUS	BUSINESS		PR	PUBLIC RELATIONS
  CHILD	CHILDREN		PUB	PUBLISHING
  CITY	CITY		RE	REAL ESTATE
  COMP	COMPUTER		RLG	RELIGIOUS
  CONS	CONSUMER		RTL	RETAIL
  CT	CONSTRUCTION		RUR	RURAL
  DEF	DEFENSE		SCI	SCIENCE
  ECOL	ECOLOGY		SPORT	SPORT
  ED	EDUCATIONAL		SR	SENIORS
  FIN	FINANCIAL		TN	TRANSPORTATION
  FOOD	FOOD		TVL	TRAVEL
  GOVT	GOVERNMENT		WOM	WOMENS
  HE	HEALTH		YOUTH	YOUTH

  Broad Category Selections

  MC=CONSUMER MAGAZINES:	2,023		USERS
  MP=PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINES:	505
  MI=INDUSTRY MAGAZINES:	722
  TOTAL:	3,250		545	= 17%

  Newspaper Overview

  DAILIES:	1,691		USERS
  WEEKLIES:	7,967
  TOTAL:	9,658		4,832	= 50%