Media&Marketing/Emmet Oliver: Buried amid this week's generally positive readership data for the national newspapers was further confirmation that celebrity sells.
Ireland's answer to Hello, VIP, managed to post a healthy readership of 140,000 for 2003. In the period between July 2002 and June 2003, it had 130,000 readers.
While the comparison is not exact, the magazine has essentially acquired 10,000 new readers, according to the figures.
The magazine - owned by publisher Mr Michael O'Doherty - has been written off since its inception, mainly based on the view that Ireland does not have any genuine A-list celebrities to write about. But, based on this week's figures, Irish readers, particularly women, appear to have a fascination with "celebrities", whether of the A list or Z list variety.
According to the Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS), 88.6 per cent of VIP's readers during 2003 were women.
Unsurprisingly, the celebrity addiction appears to taper off once people leave their 20s and 30s behind - the JNRS survey shows that 75 per cent of VIP's readers were under the age of 44. Readers of glossy celebrity titles are often comfortably middle class, according to the figures, with 54.3 per cent of VIP's readers classed as ABC1s.
However, accounts for 2003 for Minjara, which publishes the magazine, have not been published by the Companies Office yet, but 2002 accounts show that the company recorded a profit of €107,621, but there were accumulated losses on the balance sheet as of December 2002 of €363,075.
The more traditional women's magazines also show no sign of being dented by VIP's popularity. Woman's Way posted readership of 206,000 in 2003; U Magazine had 89,000 readers, while Irish Tatler had 42,000 readers in 2003.
But if you want to talk about true celebrity reach, RTÉ takes some beating. Last Sunday's You're a Star programme attracted 771,000 adults - 57 per cent of the viewing adult audience. The previous week it attracted 50 per cent of viewers.
Meanwhile, advertising agency AFA O'Meara, in its weekly update, reflected on the battle for Sunday newspaper readers.
It points out that Ireland on Sunday, despite generous CD giveaways, still has not managed to take over third position from the Irish edition of the News Of The World.
"The top two most read papers still remain unchanged and will probably do so for the foreseeable future; namely the Sunday Independent with 1,064,000 readers and the Sunday World with 827,000 readers," O'Meara's said.
"But there is a healthy battle for third place, a position that News of the World has managed to retain, despite the huge gains in readers by Ireland on Sunday in the last year."
It pointed out that News of the World had an average of 515,000 readers during 2003, whilst Ireland on Sunday reached 446,000.
Brokers appoint MRPA
The Irish Brokers' Association has appointed MRPA Consultants to advise it on communications issues arising from recent criticisms of the sector by the Competition Authority.
MRPA already advises the Irish Hospital Consultants Association in relation to its dispute with the Department of Health. It is also advising the Irish Pharmaceutical Union in relation to its dispute with the same Department regarding future regulation of the sector.
Guinness banks on Monroe
Guinness is putting its faith in the enduring charms of actress Marilyn Monroe for its latest advertising campaign.
The campaign, which begins this week on television, involves a spend of €5 million.
The 40-second advertisement, produced by Irish International BBDO, is described as "an eclectic mix of scenes from some classic films... and features Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra".
According to Mr Niall Tracey, marketing manager with Guinness, "the Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe characters are used as metaphors for the quality of the pint of Guinness".
