Advice for investing in premium news media

Australia’s premium news publishers – News Corp Australia, Nine and Seven West Media – are home to Australia’s news brands. News brands span multiple platforms including print, digital and events produced by premium publishers.

Backed by professionally produced premium news content, crafted and honed by experienced journalists, news brands are Australia’s most trusted source for news and information. The 2019 AdTrust study tells us that Australians trust the content they see in newspapers and premium online news platforms. What’s more, they also trust the advertising that appears alongside it. While trust is important – the AdTrust study found 48% of Australians say they are more likely to make a purchase when they trust the ad – it’s only one of the benefits of advertising with news brands. Reaching nine out of 10 Australians, news brands also offer scale in addition to a brand-safe environment and the ability to influence the daily agenda.

News media is a highly effective advertising channel with research suggesting advertising with newspapers increases overall return on investment by three times. A 2016 study by Benchmarketing analysed 500 econometric models to provide evidence of the impact news brands have on advertising campaigns. On a category by category basis, the research found adding news brands to a campaign increases effectiveness by 5.7 times for finance; three times for travel; 2.8 times for retail; 1.7 times for automotive; and 1.2 times for FMCG.

Several factors feed into the effectiveness of news brands including advanced data capabilities, increased audience engagement driven by quality journalism and brand-safe environments. A key factor is context which refers to the environment in which ads appear. Context applies to both print and digital; in the case of print, it could refer to a travel brand advertising alongside content in a dedicated travel section of the paper. For digital, context comes in to play with tailored native advertising or ads served alongside associated content such as articles about DIY aligning with ads for home improvement products. Context matters when it comes to targeted advertising because it’s a way of putting your product in front of people that have already shown an interest in the category associated with your brand. And with the pending loss of third party cookie data, it’s an effective way to ensure your ads are reaching the right audience at the right time. 

Spanning print, digital and live events, news brands offer a range of advertising formats including, but not limited to, full-page ads, cover wraps, homepage takeovers, display, event sponsorships and podcast pre- and mid-rolls. To find out more about specific ad formats, contact our shareholders directly.

With nine out of 10 Australians reading news brands, there’s guaranteed to be an audience for your brand.