Auto giants pass the pain to publishers

Some automakers are slashing their spending on magazine advertising by as much as 40 percent in the first half of 2005, publishers say.

Car companies are U.S. magazines' largest advertisers. But the Big 3 often are delaying ad buys until the last minute, according to magazine industry executives.

Rob Gregory, group publisher of Maxim, cites "widespread pain for magazines in Detroit." He adds that his own magazine seems to have been spared.

Automakers' ad representatives are "not just asking what day does this issue close, they're asking what time that day does it close," Gregory says.

The Publishers Information Bureau reports the Chrysler group cut its magazine ad buys to 258 pages in the first three months of 2005, compared with 421 pages in the year-ago quarter. General Motors reduced its magazine advertising to 656 pages in this year's first quarter, down from 827 pages in the same period of 2004.

By contrast, Ford Motor Co. bought 874 pages of magazine ads in the first quarter, compared with 490 in the first three months of last year, the bureau says.

Magazine ad buys in the overall automotive category, which includes Asian and European automakers, fell 2.6 percent from the first quarter of 2004 to the same period this year. In March, the bureau says, the year-over-year decline was 19 percent.

Some publishers say they expect auto advertising to increase in the second half of 2005. "It's standard for the auto industry to decrease their spending in the significant-reach magazines when they don't have launches," says Matt Turck, associate publisher of Time. "There is still a lot of the year left."

Ford has cut its print advertising budget and canceled some magazine buys for the second quarter. A Ford Division marketing manager would not discuss those reductions.

Ford Motor is scheduled to launch three mid-sized sedans this fall: the Ford Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury Milan.

The Chrysler group plans to launch four vehicles in the second half of the year. Julie Roehm, the group's director of marketing communications, says magazine spending by Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge will decrease "very minimally" this year from 2004.

Roehm says the Chrysler group has remixed its ad budget to reflect consumers' media habits. She confirms that Jeep killed a magazine advertising blitz it planned early this year for the diesel version of the Liberty SUV.

Research showed target buyers of the SUV are technologically sophisticated, Roehm says. Jeep moved its ad campaign for the Liberty diesel online. It generated more than 30,000 requests for information about the vehicle, she adds.

GM is shifting some spending on print ads from mass-circulation magazines to niche titles, says Betsy Lazar, GM's general director of media operations. The automaker seeks to aim its advertising better, Lazar says. She would not discuss how much GM spends on magazine ads.

Big 3 executives say they are shifting ad dollars from traditional media, including magazines, to nontraditional marketing. The latter includes Internet promotions, ride-and-drives and other events.

For example, a Maxim deal with Pontiac includes not only advertising in the magazine but also a Hollywood event and marketing on cable TV and online.