NewsBrands Ireland, the representative body for 16 newspaper titles, held a "town hall" event in Dublin's Smock Alley on Thursday in a bid to highlight the effectiveness of print advertising as a medium to buyers of advertising.

“Newspaper advertising works,” said NewsBrands Ireland director Dara McMahon, but the industry doesn’t talk about it enough.

Ms McMahon presented findings from a recent industry study that showed the importance of print advertising in the overall marketing mix.

Every €1 spent in print advertising returns up to €39 for the retail sector, the research commissioned by Independent News & Media and carried out by the agency Ignite Research found.

Print advertising was found to be twice as effective as television advertising in delivering a return on investment in the automotive sector, while about a fifth of travel sales were found to be influenced by print ads.

The research was first presented to the industry in May.

"NewsBrands Ireland's members are incredibly effective as individual businesses but when they come together they demonstrate the true power of press and press-branded digital news media," said NewsBrands Ireland chairman Vincent Crowley.

Publishers showcased both their print and digital offerings at the event.