New York, NY (September 24, 2004) – Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and its member companies have united to launch an unprecedented three-year initiative to boost awareness in the advertising community about the effectiveness of consumer magazines, it was announced today by Nina Link, President and CEO of MPA. It marks the first time that the magazine industry has worked together on a large-scale, multi-year marketing effort. The initiative’s goal is to reassert the strength of magazines’ role in marketing plans based on recent studies into readers’ and advertisers’ behavior. Fallon New York has been hired as the agency for an account valued at more than $40 million over three years. As MPA’s communications partner, Fallon’s work will emphasize magazines’ powerful connection to readers at a time when advertisers seeks solutions that go beyond traditional mass reach and CPMs. “Communicating that magazines deliver a unique combination of reach and engagement will catapult magazines to a place where they’re universally recognized for their worth in increasing ROI,” said Ms. Link. “At a time when consumers reject ads that interrupt, research shows that readers value advertising as part of their magazine experience. This is resulting in a profound shift in the way the advertising industry thinks about magazines.” “Magazine advertising is an important part of Fallon's heritage, so we at Fallon New York are particularly delighted to be working with MPA. Magazines have a compelling story to tell, and it's our goal to do that in a fresh and arresting way,” said Anne Bologna, President, Fallon New York. The initiative will be led by a multi-industry group, called the Magazine Marketing Coalition, which includes more than two dozen executives from MPA member companies and industries that work closely with magazines. Jack Kliger, President and CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. and Vice-Chairman of the MPA Board, leads the Coalition. “The Coalition has been formed because, while we do a good job promoting individual titles, magazines as a category are underpromoted,” said Kliger. “Media spending is shifting, and, by pulling together, we have a tremendous opportunity. We can prove that magazines uniquely connect and move readers to action.” The initiative aims to generate better measures of involvement in advertising research with input from both the advertising and publishing communities. In addition, MPA will hold training sessions that encourage magazine advertising sales teams to discuss how their magazines connect with readers in their sales calls and materials. The communications strategy is based on insights developed from the MPA-commissioned Northwestern University Reader Experience Study that measures consumers’ experiences when they read a magazine and quantifies how those experiences drive readership and advertising impact. The strategy also grew out of an assessment of the advertising industry’s views of the medium’s strengths and weakness in the changing consumer landscape that was conducted last spring by the marketing strategy company HotSpring. Additional information about the initiative and advertising campaign will be announced at the American Magazine Conference slated for October 24-27 in Boca Raton, FL.