PROCEDURE AND GUIDELINES FOR THE INCLUSION OF MEDIA,
PRODUCTS, BRANDS AND NEW QUESTIONS IN AMPS AS WELL AS THE PUBLICATION OF RESULTS
INTRODUCTION
Date of Revision 2010-08-20
The basic purpose of AMPS is to provide data about the
use of the mass media, and the consumption of products and services by users of
the mass media. The data has to be comprehensive enough so that it can be used
for target marketing and aid advertisers and their advertising agencies in
taking decisions about the selection of media for their advertising campaigns.
Media owners have to be able to use the data to market their media, and for
strategic editorial and programme planning.
Applicants must please
read Section 1: Application Procedure as well as Paragraph 1: General in Section
2: Guidelines for Inclusion.
Please note that these
guidelines may change from time to time. Every time these guidelines change, a
list will be made of media that no longer meet the rules and the appropriate
Council will make a decision on whether they should be removed or not.
SECTION 1: APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Applications must be directed to the
Technical Manager of SAARF, taking into account the criteria as set out below.
On receipt of an application, SAARF will discuss it with the contractors
to determine the technical feasibility of the request. SAARF will then table the
request at the appropriate Council.
Only in cases where there is no
clear-cut resolution of the request, will SAARF table the request, plus its
recommendation, at the SAARF Advisory Council.
In cases where the matter
cannot be resolved at the SAARF Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of
SAARF will make the final decision.
SAARF will advise the applicant of
the outcome of the application.
After the Advisory Council has finalized
the questionnaire, no further request will be considered. However, requests that
have been turned down can be resubmitted in future should circumstances change.
For the media mentioned in paragraphs two to six below, two copies of the
latest edition of the publication must be posted or delivered to the Technical
Manager of SAARF on application.
For all publications information on the
how and where of its distribution must be supplied as well as its ABC. For
publications without an ABC, the print order must be given.
An
electronic full colour version of the masthead (preferably JPEG) of all print
publications must be e-mailed to the Technical Manager of SAARF. Any
by-lines/slogans etc will be removed from the mastheads unless they are an
indivisible part of the publication’s logo.
All requests must be
mandated by the person in charge of the specific medium for which the
application is being made.
When a media brand’s name changes
fundamentally the old name will be carried as a note in brackets, along with the
new name, for a period of 12 months.
For brand applications, an
electronic version of the brand logo (preferably JPEG) must be e-mailed to the
Technical Manager of SAARF as part of the request.
SECTION 2:
GUIDELINES FOR INCLUSION
The following guidelines are used to decide on the
inclusion of media, products, brands and new questions in AMPS:
1.
General
Media owners must indicate a preparedness to contribute
financially to the research. Print media owners pay an amount to be agreed upon
beforehand with Print Media South Africa (PMSA), while all other media owners
pay an industry levy of 1% on their net ad revenue.
All media owners must
indicate a preparedness to work through the relevant industry association and
preferably become a member of the appropriate industry body.
It is
recommended that all publications measured in AMPS should be members of the ABC.
Results for all branded media will be reported on but lower level
analysis will only be permitted for data based on 40 or more respondents.
Top-line figures for all media and products will also be reported on the SAARF
website for easy access.
New questions will be considered by the industry
to ensure that the survey stays current but due to the length of the
questionnaires, such questions will only be included if good reasons exist for
inclusion and if they fit in with the purpose of AMPS.
Consideration may
also need to be given to removal of questions to maintain the questionnaire
length.
Due consideration will also be given to whether a specific
request is technically feasible. The inclusion of any specific medium must not
have an adverse effect on the current methodology as it could negatively
influence the results of other media.
SAARF will also consider the
removal of questions that are not required anymore.
2. Newspapers
The publication must have a penetration of at least 1% of the total
household population of the distribution area. Exceptions can be made for
newspapers with a specific target group.
When the fieldwork commences,
the title must have been on the market for at least 6 issue periods.
The
publication must be paid-for and available to the public through normal retail
outlets that sell newspapers and magazines. For a publication to be regarded as
paid-for, at least 60% of the copies must be sold.
The publication must
have a distinctive masthead.
All publications measured on AMPS must
contain paid-for display advertising in at least 60% of editions.
In each
edition of a publication at least 60% of the pages must contain editorial.
Bi-weeklies with the same/similar mastheads will be regarded as one title
with two issue periods and the AIR will be calculated by using the issue period
as being the number of days since the previous issue was published. In cases
where the mastheads are significantly different from one another, each
publication will be regarded as a weekly.
The issue period must be
daily, bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Should a newspaper have
less than 40 claimed average issue readers for 2 consecutive AMPS 12 month
survey releases, it will be excluded from subsequent surveys.
3.
Newspaper Supplements
Supplements must be included in all copies of
either the parent publication or of a specific regional edition thereof (not
smaller than province).
A supplement should be a separate loose section
which can be removed in its entirety from the main publication with a minimum of
four pages for at least half of the issues in which it appears.
For
daily supplements to qualify on this criterion, at least 60% of the issues, i.e.
at least 3 out of 5 issues should be a separate loose section. In cases where a
specific supplement is carried by more than one newspaper and is not
consistently a loose supplement across all newspapers, but is so in 60% of
cases, it will be measured across all newspapers to obtain a total readership
for the supplement.
A supplement has to appear regularly, i.e. in every
issue, or at regular intervals e.g. once a week for a daily or once a month for
a weekly publication.
Supplements must have their own distinctive
masthead and identity.
All supplements measured on AMPS must contain
paid-for display advertising in at least 60% of editions.
In each edition
of a supplement at least 60% of the pages must contain editorial.
Supplements must form an integral part of the newspaper and belong to the same
owner as the newspaper.
Advertising inserts and other publications carried by
the newspaper will not be measured.
Should a supplement have less than 40
claimed average issue readers for 2 consecutive AMPS 12 month survey releases,
it will be excluded from subsequent surveys.
4. Community Papers /
Free-sheets (CP/F)
CP/F are not currently measured in AMPS and publishers
will have to pay for the additional sample required if they require a CP/F to be
measured on AMPS.
5. Magazines
If a publication has a
circulation figure of at least 20 000 + and meets all the other requirements, it
will be automatically included. If a publication has a circulation figure
between 10 000 and 19 999, plus it meets all the other requirements, it will be
included on request.
Exceptions can be made for magazines with a
specific target group (e.g. farming, business sector) or for new publications
and those with a growing circulation.
The publication must have a
distinctive masthead.
When the fieldwork commences, the title must have
been on the market for at least 6 issue periods for publications with a
publication interval of monthly or less, 3 issue periods for alternate
monthlies, and 2 issue periods for quarterlies.
The issue period must be
weekly, fortnightly, monthly, alternate monthly or quarterly. Newspaper
magazines are measured as newspaper supplements.
The publication must be
paid-for and available to the public through normal retail outlets that sell
newspapers and magazines. For a publication to be regarded as paid-for, at least
60% of the copies must be sold.
All publications measured on AMPS must
contain paid-for display advertising in at least 60% of editions.
In each
edition of a publication at least 60% of the pages must contain editorial.
Multilingual publications will have one prompt if they have identical
mastheads (if the masthead is identical but are in different colours for the
different versions, the publisher must decide on the one to use for the
respondent prompt). Multilingual publications with different mastheads (i.e.
different names) will have separate prompts, but will be given a combined
readership figure if they have a combined ABC.
As a rule, publications
must be translations of each other and have identical advertising to be reported
together.
Should a magazine have less than 40 claimed average issue
readers for 2 consecutive AMPS 12 month survey releases, it will be excluded
from subsequent surveys.
6. Subscriber/Custom Publications (e.g.
Edgars Club Magazine, Dish/Skottel etc.)
The publication must have a
circulation of at least 50 000 and will only be considered for inclusion on
application.
When the fieldwork commences, the title must have been on
the market for at least 6 issue periods for publications with a publication
interval of monthly or less, 3 issue periods for alternate monthlies, and 2
issue periods for quarterlies.
The issue period must be weekly,
fortnightly, monthly, alternate monthly or quarterly.
The publication must
have a distinctive masthead.
The publication must be circulated to
account or card holders.
All publications measured on AMPS must contain
paid-for display advertising in at least 60% of editions.
In each edition
of a publication at least 60% of the pages must contain editorial.
Should a magazine have less than 40 claimed average issue readers for 2
consecutive AMPS 12 month survey releases, it will be excluded from subsequent
surveys.
7. Television
All television channels available in
South Africa including, where possible, community television channels, are
included in the prompt list. This includes channels offered in locally available
pay-TV bouquets as well as all free-to-air television channels via all delivery
mechanisms.
Channels that are on the air for special events only are
excluded.
An ‘other’ category is provided in which the names of channels
not on the prompt list are recorded. If the percentage penetration of “other”
exceeds 10%, the largest contributors may be separated out and included in the
prompt list.
8. Radio
All radio stations available in South
Africa, including community radio stations, which are licensed by ICASA when the
questionnaire is finalized, are included in the prompt list (even if not on the
air).
An ‘other radio station’ option is provided for the names of
stations not on the prompt list.
Stations that are on the air for special
events only or for a limited number of months per year are excluded.
9. Cinema, Outdoor, Internet
No specific criteria apply because the
information for these media is collected at a macro level on AMPS, i.e., not for
individual cinemas, outdoor or internet sites.
Requests for questions in
these categories will be considered on merit.
10. Products and Brands
10.1 Products
The annual advertising expenditure on a specific product
category is used as an indicator to assist in deciding whether a product
category should be included on AMPS.
The required minimum advertising
expenditure for the inclusion of a product category is decided on from time to
time and currently it is R11 million per year.
This adspend criterion
will be reviewed every 5 years.
Cognizance of marketers’ categorization
will be taken when a decision is made about the inclusion or removal of a
product category as the inclusion of a small category might be required to
provide marketers with the full picture relating to certain categories.
Requests for inclusion of developing categories will be decided on merit.
Removal of product categories will only be considered once a year to ensure
continuity of data. Removal of a product category will be determined by both low
adspend and low usage.
If a category has high usage but low adspend, for
example mealie-meal, it could be included depending on circumstances.
Product categories vary greatly in characteristics and individual aspects of
categories need to be considered when deciding about inclusion or exclusion
(i.e. it is not always a question of one size fits all).
10.2 Brands
Requests for inclusion of developing/new brands will be decided on merit.
If the number of respondents claiming a specific brand is between 30 and 40,
the brand will be tracked over a 2 year period before deciding its future.
If the reach is less than 40 users for four AMPS waves (i.e. over a 2 year
period), the brand will be excluded except in very special circumstances.
If a brand is currently not measured in AMPS, the adspend will be used to
help decide whether it should be included or not. If there is a higher adspend
for a specific brand than for others in the category, it could serve as
motivation to include the brand.
Where there is a low adspend for a
particular brand, it will not be used to decide whether the brand must come off
as that decision will be made based on the number of respondents that claimed
the brand.
Even if there is a low adspend on an important brand with
large consumption, the brand should be included.
For large multi-brand
categories where all other criteria are met, Nielsen sales figures will be used
where possible to limit the number of brands to the top 30 brands.
If a
brand that is new to the market is included, it should stay on for at least 4
AMPS waves (i.e. a 2 year period). There will be no unnecessary chopping and
changing of the brand list and changes will only be considered once a year
during July/August to ensure data continuity.
An electronic version of
the brand logo (preferably JPEG) must be e-mailed to the Technical Manager of
SAARF as part of the request.
10.3 Brand Variants
Arbitrary
requests for brand variants will not be included. (Currently the Product
questionnaire carries approximately 1500 brand names, including variants).
However, in special circumstances, brand variants may be considered for
inclusion if motivated for on logical grounds .e.g.
· When the variant is
the more common name by which the product is known to consumers, and on which
they base their decision to use/purchase, then the variant name will be
considered. In these cases, there is the possibility that consumers may not even
be aware of the global brand. Only one name will be included, either the variant
or the global brand, not both.
· Within a product category, if brand
variants are included for one brand, then requests for brand variants by
opposition marketers will be considered. However, if the brand list for a
category becomes unmanageable, then all brand variants may be removed from that
category. This will avoid any bias towards one marketer within a product
category.
· When the brand and variant list exceeds the space allowed
for one product category (two full columns over one A4 page), then the brands
and variants will be selected according to highest AdSpend or market share
within that Product category.
There are also cases where a mother brand
covers a number of brand variants, and within these, further variants. Variants
of variants will not be considered for inclusion.
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