Press Release: ANA and 4A's Address Legitimacy of Magazine Bleed Charges
NEW YORK (Feb. 2, 2009) — The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and the 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) today formally encouraged their members to discuss with publishers the outdated practice of charging to accommodate bleed ads in magazines. The organizations suggest that publishers could simplify their rate cards by not including incremental charges for bleed ads. This initiative is a result of analysis conducted by the ANA Print Advertising Committee and the 4A's Print Media Committee.
Bleed charges add a layer of complexity to the magazine planning, buying, and production processes for advertisers and their agencies, which may incur additional non-media costs for the advertiser. Today's printing and production technologies no longer require the press stoppages and plate changes that resulted in the real charges that magazines used to incur when producing bleed units. According to a recent analysis by TargetCast tcm, 442 of the 2,820 titles listed in the Consumer SRDS currently indicate that bleed charges carry anywhere from a five percent to 20 percent premium. While it is generally acknowledged that bleed charges may be negotiable, there is no apparent, cost-based rationale for why they still exist.
Many magazines have done away with these obsolete charges, including the ANA's own The Advertiser, and within some of the larger publishing companies, bleed charges may vary from publication to publication. The ANA and the 4A's applaud new magazines that are launched without bleed charges on their rate cards and encourage the 442 remaining titles in the TargetCast tcm analysis to reassess whether bleed charges are still warranted.
"The advertising industry recognizes that new technologies have streamlined the business system and made certain practices obsolete" said Bob Liodice, President and CEO, ANA. "We strongly encourage all publishers to evaluate whether bleed charges are inconsistent with today's marketing supply chain and should be reconsidered and eliminated. Such actions would simplify the media planning and buying processes and properly align costs with value received."
"Advertisers and their agencies provide the funding that keeps magazines in business," said Nancy Hill, President and CEO of the 4A's. "In this economy, every dollar counts even more. Incurring an unaccountable business expense simply cannot be justified. We look forward to hearing the points of view of the publishers on this issue."
The ANA Print Advertising Committee and the 4A's Print Media Committee encourage marketers and agencies to discuss this issue with publishers, so that the publishers can understand fully the current drawbacks to outdated bleed charges.
View position paper
ABOUT THE ANA
The mission of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.
THE 4A's
The American Association of Advertising Agencies is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. The 1,196 member agency offices it serves in the U.S. employ 65,000 people, offer a wide range of marketing communications services, and place 80 percent of all national advertising. The management-oriented association helps its members build their businesses, and acts as the industry's spokesman with government, media, and the public sector.
Lesley Neadel Kipp Cheng
CooperKatz & Company for the ANA
917.595.3034
lneadel@cooperkatz.com
Kipp Cheng
4A's
212.850.0720
kipp@aaaa.org