Five of the biggest US magazine publishers have announced one of the industrys largest advertising campaigns ever created to promote the industry.

The campaign, ‘Magazines: The Power of Print’, was created by Y&R New York to appear in just under 100 titles, including People and Vogue.

The publishing companies supporting the campaign – Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, Meredith Corporation, Time Inc and Wenner Media – are aiming to head off perceptions that magazines will suffer the same fate as US newspapers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the ad space they are devoting to the campaign is valued at more than $90 million.

Rolling Stone magazine chief editor, Jann Wenner, asserts that rather than sitting on its hands, the magazine industry should realise the power that it’s sitting on.

“A lot of us sat back for way too long and listened to all this abuse and said nothing about it. In a certain way, this campaign is aimed at the magazine business itself,” said Wenner.

Statistics that accompany the campaign include:

• Magazine readership has risen 4.3% over the past five years (Source: MRI Fall 2009, Fall 2005 data)

• Average paid subscriptions reached nearly 300 million in 2009 (Source: MPA estimates based on ABC first half 2009 and second half 2009 data)

• Adults 18 to 34 are avid magazine readers. They read more issues and spend more time per issue than their over-34 counterparts (Source: MRI Fall 2009 data)

• During the 12-year life of Google, magazine readership increased 11% (Source: MRI Fall 2009 data)

• Magazine effectiveness is growing. Ad recall has increased 13% over the past five years. Action-taking – based on readers recalling specific ads – increased by 10%. (Source: Affinitys VISTA Print Effectiveness Rating Service, 2005-2009), and

• Magazines outperform other media in driving positive shifts in purchase consideration/intent. (Source: Dynamic Logic)