Amid Consumer Magazine Failings, Custom Publishing Sees Growth »

As the consumer magazine industry continues to suffer the effects of relentless internet competition and stretched ad dollars, the custom publishing industry thrives. According to a new study from the Custom Publishing Council (CPC), in cooperation with Publications Management--"Characteristics Study: A Look at the Volume and Type of Custom Publications in America"--growth in individual areas, as well as in the overall volume is responsible for the steady, upward trend of custom publishing statistics.

Highlighted Survey Results:

More Revenue Allocated: Custom publishing spending by Corporate America continues its 6-year growth run, hitting an all-time high of $45.8 billion. Spending on custom pubs has more than doubled since first tabulated in 2000.

More Pages: Average pages reached an all-time high of 25 per issue in 2005, up 80% since 1999 when the number of pages was 13.8 per issue. This number reflects a 9% jump in the last year from 23 to 25 pages.

Circulation Soars: In 2005, average circulation per title per year rose 20% from 315,592 copies to 378,998 copies.

Movement Toward Magazines: For the first time ever the use of magazines was greater than the use of newsletters [and other mediums] as the most common publication format.

More Paid Ads: Another first is that the majority of custom publications carried advertisements. Advertisers and media buyers have clearly realized the value of custom publishing's highly-targeted, affinity-oriented audiences, as 54% of all custom titles carry paid ads from outside advertisers, and 20% carried in-house advertisements.

Unique Pages: The total number of unique pages produced in 2005 was 25.3 million, up 18.3% versus 21.4 million in 2004. This is the highest unique page volume recorded since the outset of the study in 1999.

Use of Color: More companies used four-color this year [59%] than ever before, while 79% used some four-color.

The average frequency of custom publications basically stayed the same, as has the average number of unique custom titles produced per company for the past five years. The six-year trend of custom titles produced per company is up 21% from 1.9 to 2.3 titles.

"Custom publishing sits at the center of the evolution of marketing toward branded content," says Jim Offel, general manager of DCP and current chair of the Custom Publishing Council. "The research clearly shows that marketers are increasingly relying on custom publications to boost their brands."

Distribution methods were measured for the third year. While in 2003, 55% of titles used the U.S. Postal Service; in 2004 this number was at 65% and in 2005, it increased slightly to 66%. Twenty five percent use internal or free distribution, while 9% use other paid delivery.