Traditional media research is enjoying increasing popularity

The Media.Research.Group's annual advertising market study wants to know from advertising clients and agencies how they use and assess the most important media research. 20 media researches are surveyed. 375 clients (exactly half of all Top750 advertising clients) and 44 agencies disclosed how they use and assess this research.
 

In view of the current restructuring of the advertising market, it is to be feared that traditional media research, especially that which measures the use of print media, will lose importance among clients and agencies, that their use by advertisers will decline and that their assessment will be less positive. However, when looking at this year's survey results, those responsible for these media surveys are relieved to see that none of this has happened.

Both clients and agencies use MACH Basic most frequently for their communication work. Six out of ten clients (60.6%) do so, of which 11% use it very frequently and 26.5% frequently. Among agencies, 92.1 percent use MACH Basic, 34.2 percent very frequently and just as many frequently. 

Clients used each of the ten most important media research surveys more frequently in 2019 than in the previous year. The use of MACH Basic increased by 1.5%. In a five-year comparison, however, this results in a decrease of 5%. The situation is better for agencies. Here, MACH Basic has increased by 6 percent compared to the previous year and in a five-year comparison the increase is 0.4 percent.

56.1% of clients use MACH Consumer, of which 9.6% use it very frequently and 24.5% frequently. Among agencies, 89.4 percent use MACH Consumer, 42.1 percent do so very frequently and 34.2 percent frequently.

The use of MACH Consumer by clients increased by 3.5% compared to the previous year. However, a five-year comparison shows a decrease of 3.7%.

The situation is similar for agencies. Here, MACH Consumer increased by 11.7% compared to the previous year and thus achieved the highest growth rate of all media research. In a five-year comparison, however, this figure still represents a drop of 4.3%.

Two out of three agencies (68.4 percent) use the Mediapulse TV panel, 28.9 percent of them very frequently and 23.7 percent frequently. The Mediapulse TV panel is only half as important for clients. It is used by one in three (36.4 percent), by 7.3 percent very frequently and by 13 percent frequently.

The use of the Mediapulse TV panel by clients increased by 3.9% in 2019. The panel also increased by 2.5% in a five-year comparison.

The situation is surprisingly different for agencies. Here, the panel recorded a year-on-year decline of 3.9% and a five-year decline of 2.4%.  

Agencies clearly give MACH Consumer higher marks than MACH Basic. The reverse is true for clients. Nine out of ten agencies (90.6 percent) rate MACH Consumer as very good or good; 28.1 percent as very good and 62.5 percent as good. Among clients, MACH Consumer and MACH Basic are most frequently rated as very good (by 23.3 percent). MACH Basic was also rated as good by 37.7 percent of all clients, while MACH Consumer was only rated as good by 29.6 percent.

In contrast, the assessment of the Mediapulse TV panel is somewhat less positive. Six out of ten agencies (59.4%) rate the panel as very good or good. However, only 6.3 percent of agencies gave it a very good rating. With this rating, the panel is only in 12th place among agencies. The situation is only marginally better for clients. One in five (22%) rate the panel as very good or good. Here too, only 4.5 percent give it a very good rating. This is still enough for 9th place among clients. (Walter Weder, Media.Research.Group)