THE ADVERTISERS' CORNER
Stu Powell ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER
Chemical & Engineering News
"SUMMER S L U M P " You probably still hear this old chestnut once in a while. I know I do, and it's generally about this time of year. Someone will try to solve scheduling problems by saying, ''Nobody reads business publications in the summertime anyway.'' There's a theory that "everybody goes on vacation," and that businessmen are so busy correcting their hook, perfecting their cast, or snoozing on the porch swing that they haven't time to keep up with their business publications. The logic of this thinking has always escaped me. It's like saying that nobody works in the summertime; nobody is open to ideas or looking for solutions; nobody cares what happens in the industry during the summer months. If you are ever caught up in one of these discussions, here are some figures which may help you explode the "summer slump" theory. Eastman Readership Research has taken off the "reader activity" figures for the past two years for Eastman clients—31 publications, 101 separate surveys. These figures are based on personal faceto-face interviews with readers. "Reader activity" means the per cent of the recipients who opened up the publication and read something during that current period. Here are the results: Winter Spring Summer Fall
89% 85% 88% 91%
Summer, in this case, is off by 1% from the average, which is, of course, meaningless. According to Industrial Marketing, advertising volume in business papers for the past four years has run as follows:
Winter Spring Summer Fall
1957 25% 27% 24% 24%
1958 26% 27% 23% 24%
1959 24% 27% 24% 25%
1960 24% 27% 25% 24%
So when you hear someone talking about the "summer slump" again, remind him of these two facts. Readership and advertising run just as high in the summertime as in any other time of the year. People take vacations. Not markets.
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