Magazine Cover Advertisement

The most desirable position for advertising in a magazine is a cover position.  There are actually four different cover positions: the front, the inside front, the inside back, and the back cover. Most magazines do not sell the front cover for advertisement as it is usually where the magazine name and what is in that issue is shown.  With the front cover ruled out the back cover is the most valuable.  It is seen by anyone that picks up the magazine, even if they are just flipping through it.  It usually takes up the entire cover and so there are nothing else competing for attention while looking at this ad.  The ad shown below is advertising Plan B skateboards.  It is shown on the back cover of an issue of The Skateboard Mag and plays on the term "focusing a skateboard" which normally means breaking the board.

Pros and Cons

Magazines are read, or at least flipped through, by a large amount of people.  Advertising in magazines has the following advantages:

• Magazines are in color which give the reader visual pleasure.  The cover is also normally a thicker material with more possibilities.
• Magazines stay around for a lot longer than newspapers.  Even if it is just sitting on a shelf, the back cover can be seen.  This means cover ads may be seen by more than just those who look through a particular magazine.  
• There are a variety of magazine types.  One can really focus in on their industry by region and interest by using magazines.

Magazines, however, also have the following disadvantages:

• Magazine ads aren't likely to follow current events.  This is because they have a long lead time.  They cannot have the immediacy of newspaper or radio.
• Many magazines actually have more ads then content.  While being on a cover helps an advertiser stick out from the competition, there is still a lot of competition in every issue.
• Magazine circulation is declining.  Any reach limitations will be amplified by this decline

Interesting Facts

• The advertisement to ever appear in a magazine was in Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine in the year 1742.
• In an experiment, front cover ads averaged a 78% recall score, far better than any other position.  The back cover average a 69% recall score.