Space on page..not to be discounted offline

I have been running a comparative analysis for a client for the last five plus years and it is noticeable that their printed exposure has been dropping off over the last year or so. Their competitors have not been growing their coverage but my clients share has been falling somewhat faster.

As the volumes of coverage are high and the drop-off only gradual its quite a challenge to explain it away with representative examples. Luckily we track a number of common business areas so its possible point to some over others as explaining the fall but there is more to it than that.

When measuring the media the volume metrics tends to be the default starting, and for many the ending, metric. One of the variables we have tracked is a measure of the space on page; the section of a cutting relevant to the organisation. Combined over yearly periods this illustrates another side to the coverage. While the cuttings are getting fewer, they are on average getting longer. Maybe its the type of stories the PR people are pitching to the media or a structural shift on media's part to do longer articles/inclusions.

Its a metric which does not work so well online but a lot of media is still printed where I think it gives a useful perspective.