Building Brand Equity

Why are fewer marketing executives giving magazines brand-building respect? Only 51% of marketers rated magazines as highly effective for building brand equity, according to research fielded this April for the Association of National Advertisers. That's down sharply from 67% in February 2007. Online and social media, on the other hand, got high marks this spring, their first time on the questionnaire.

TV, radio, newspapers and outdoor all slipped in marketers' eyes along with magazines, but brand building is supposed to be magazines' particular strong suit. And many magazines are already fighting for their lives:

Monthlies' ad pages for issues from January through June landed nearly 23% below their level from the first half of last year, according to Media Industry Newsletter.