A new way of living the home has meant that a large segment of the population has become a target audience for decoration.
New consumer trends in home decoration, together with Elena de Fontcuberta
Consultant and with the sharp decline that advertising in specialized magazines is experiencing- executive of das accounts, they pose significant challenges to the media to adapt to the needs and demands of both consumers and brands.
Often, we come across a preconceived idea that considers decoration as something elitist and, therefore, strongly linked to social class. But the truth is that culture is the main factor that influences.
market-for-advertising-and-decoration-in-spain-1The decoration today
Years ago, the emotional component in the furniture purchase decision was an exclusive element of the upper-middle and upper social classes. A wide variety of furniture styles were created for them, while the decision criteria for the rest were based on functional attributes of the product and / or service.
In Spain, the trend of recent years shows that decoration is increasingly understood as a personal need, a change that has been especially precipitous since IKEA's irruption in the Spanish market in 1995.
IKEA incorporates into the concepts of functionality and affordable prices that are valued at the time of purchase and decision making, emotional concepts such as the shopping experience or design, thus originating a new paradigm in the furniture market. In this way, the concept of traditional stores is displaced towards a more limited segment of the population, usually consumers with medium-high and high purchasing power, who will make custom-made furniture and who value the personalized and direct treatment very positively. The entry of this new concept has changed the purchasing habits of consumers, which no longer govern 100% of their purchases for the home in need, which now becomes a small part of the reason for acquiring new accessories or redecorate the rooms of the home.
Criteria that are most valued today at the time of purchase
- FunctionalPrice / offers / promotions / discounts… Variety of the offerQuality / price ratioLocation of the points of saleDelivery and assembly timesPayment facilitiesAdviceCustomer serviceOnline shop and catalogProduct brandEmotionalStyleDesignConfidence in the brandModernity / Current / Avant-gardeExclusivity / Unique ConfidenceEnjoy the experience
For a few years now, people increasingly need to meet and move in an environment that is pleasant to us and that reflects our way of being and living, and where we can project our ideas and illusions.
Decoration brands have created this need in the consumer and use advertising to promote this aspect. More and more information, ideas and trends reach us through the media, especially in specialized magazines in the sector and in Internet forums. They transmit emotional values such as warmth or the creation of unique environments, all backed by a brand that seeks to be a leader in its segment, and products with characteristics such as good quality or a design that determines new trends.
Advertising in the world of decoration
Choosing the most suitable medium to convey all these functional and emotional messages, and the ideas that each brand defines, is one of the most important factors for an advertising campaign to achieve the objectives initially set.
The decoration sector has a large number of specialized magazines on this subject, which in turn are subdivided according to the profile of the readers. Three main categories can be considered according to the target of the mentioned magazines: the professional and great brand prescriber, the private buyer, and the distributors.
In the Spanish market there is a total of approximately 26.5 million magazine readers, considering the duplications between different titles. Analyzing the data, it is extracted that this sum descends to 6.3 million people who buy magazines in the decoration sector; of this group of almost a little more than 6 million, women represent 76% of the total readership.
Regarding age, the maximum audience is concentrated among the population between 25 and 54 years old, being the age group between 35 and 44 years old the one that registers the highest percentage with 27.5%; the target between 25 and 34 years old has a representative weight of 21%, equaling with readers between 45 and 54 years old. 38% of the readers of this type of magazines are considered to be of upper and upper middle social class, while 43% are of middle-middle social class.
As we have seen, the profile for this type of magazines is very broad, so that in order to define an advertising plan it is essential to know the brand's strategy: the times of the year of greatest interest for sales, who should be targeted the message, the type of campaign (promotion, branding, launch, etc.), and of course the budget available. All this should lead us to choose the most related media and supports according to geographic coverage, audience (profile of the reader according to sex, age, purchasing power, professional activity, place of residence, etc.), and the style of the medium (practical and functional, aesthetic and trend).
In Spain there are currently more than 20 magazine titles specialized in decoration, and as in other international markets, they are concentrated in different publishing groups.
Spanish publisher whose publications include El Mueble, a high-end magazine that has more than 40 years of history in the Spanish market and which, to date, remains the industry leader in terms of audience and dissemination.
The same publishing house publishes Cosas de Casa, “the best-selling practical decoration magazine” and that differs from El Mueble, because the latter stands out for its reports on dream homes that help create ideas for cozy and very special environments. Other magazines that are under the aegis of this consolidated publisher are Casa Al Día, Habitania, El Mueble Cocinas y Baños, Cote Sud, Arquitectura y Diseño or Casas de Campo. All of them specialized in decoration, and thanks to which they manage to cover a very wide audience segment due to the variety of their articles (high-end, practical, urban, field, for professionals, etc.).
Elle Deco is the fourth most successful magazine on the market and the second high-end, behind El Mueble, already having more than 20 years of existence in the Spanish market. It was launched by the French publishing group Hachette Filipacchi, which markets important magazines specializing in decoration in Spain, characterized by offering more practical articles and content, with trends adjusted to the needs of the moment and close to their readers. Its main decoration titles are Casa Diez or MiCasa, aimed at a middle-aged and young audience, who like to frequently update the decoration of their home and / or its spaces, and Nuevo Estilo. This last magazine, launched in the Spanish market in 1977, was the second specialized publication on home topics; unlike El Mueble,It has opted to maintain its position by targeting women of medium-high and high purchasing power, urbanites between 35 and 55 years old, and has dropped in the audience and diffusion ranking.
The magazine AD Spain (Architectural Digest), from the international publishing house Conde Nast (which publishes magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue or Glamor), is one of the latest titles introduced in the Spanish market, positioning itself as a high-end magazine for professionals in the decoration, as well as for a segment of the population that enjoys contemporary decoration, new trends and the most daring ideas.
.Other magazines such as 20 Casas, Viva Casa, Interiores, Hogares, DecoEstilo Magazine or some already mentioned such as Habitania, Casa de Campo or Arquitectura y Diseño, are titles with a lesser diffusion and that compete daily to find and maintain their space; They must face titles with a high weight in the market, and for this they make use, among many other tools, of specific aggressive and competitive economic proposals, as well as editorial support for brands, to capture the attention of advertisers
If we consider the data from the last wave published by the Office of Media Justification (OJD), we find a downward trend in the average diffusion of all titles, except AD, Interiors and New Style, which for two years years maintain an upward trend. The magazine El Mueble, leader in the sector in terms of circulation, registers a 13.5% drop in its circulation, if we compare the latest data published by the OJD.
Magazines such as Elle, Telva or Hola annually publish decoration specials (1) that usually arrive at the shrink-wrapped kiosks with the women's magazine, thus achieving that this number has a greater diffusion than usual.
If the analysis is carried out according to audience data, the biggest fall with 31.6% and the respective 27.3%, only AD registered a growth of 15.4%. The rest of the mind, and Cosas de Casa and Casa Viva with falls in the magazines analyzed fell an average of 18.55%, lower (11.6% and 4.6% each) being Casa al Día and Habitania.
To get the largest number of loyal readers to a title, different publishers constantly search for articles of interest to the public. The magazines set at the end of the year the main topics that they will deal with in the different issues, facilitating the work of the commercial team, which in this way will be able to start looking for related advertisers. The different brands or potential advertisers will be able to determine the most interesting numbers for their appearance, or plan specific special actions with greater impact. Although the magazines cover a wide range of topics, the advertisers with the greatest advertising weight are those specialized in kitchen and bathroom furniture, as well as those that offer a wider range of products (home textiles or furniture for bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, etc.).
Regarding the list of advertising formats, advertisers who occupy double pages stand out in their first 10 or 20 pages, followed by those who seek a full-page spot, who occupy approximately 25% of magazine pages with an average of 180 pages per issue. Ads with other less spectacular formats, such as ½ vertical and / or horizontal pages are frequently found in the second or third block of magazines due to their cost, and under a criterion that seeks not to negatively affect the aesthetics of the pages and the main articles located in the first block. Magazines tend to convey being very open to new formats and creative actions, although all of them are subject to the approval of the editorial staff of the magazine or the group,who assess the viability of these and in the event of being able to do so, set their prices, usually very high and causing the advertiser to lose interest almost completely.
Those proposals that involve the retouching or modification of the covers, or the inclusion of some material other than paper / cardboard on the creative page itself, are rare formats, due to the complications that they entail for the magazine at the time of layout. and printing.
Alternatives in advertising
As we mentioned before, clearly establishing the objective of the campaign is essential to define a good media strategy. The coverage, the message, the duration or the budget of the campaign, configure the information that will determine the most suitable media for its development, which may be TV, radio, the press, online media or, as we have seen until At the moment, publications specialized in decoration.
Women's magazines with a theme focused on beauty care, health, conciliation of family and professional life, or the education of children, are another medium used occasionally by decoration and home textile brands. The supplements of newspapers with a more cultural nature (El País Semanal, Yo Dona, El Magazine de La Vanguardia…) and those specialized in decoration or specific themes (Shopping Style, Luxury, Extra Home, Special gifts…) are also occasionally found in the advertising plans of decoration brands, since they have a significant audience among the female public.
In these supports we find a wide range of advertisers who usually use them in their planning with the aim of reinforcing the communication of a promotion, or consolidating their brand image among an audience of medium, medium-high purchasing power, with a cultural level medium, high and with concern for your well-being and that of those around you. The criterion for choosing between one medium or another tends to be the frequency of its publication: while women's magazines are mostly monthly, newspaper supplements are weekly and special extras are published 1, 2 or 3 times a year exclusively.
As for radio, it is a medium that provides a high frequency, practically immediate communication, and a wide range of generalist and musical stations with the option of regional and / or local disconnections, thus providing advertising inserts with the power of reinforcement of communication in very specific places. Furthermore, if one considers the fact that it involves a lower economic investment than that which must be allocated to appear in other media, radio is highly effective in the campaigns of local merchants and / or small manufacturers, as well as in the campaigns specific advertising such as promotions, new launches, or opening of new stores.
For its part, the Internet gains a greater share of investment every day. It is a medium that allows reaching both the male and female population and with a certain tendency to a younger profile than that of magazines, radio and the rest of the written media. For the decoration sector, the Internet has become a tool that allows a high degree of segmentation from a minimal investment. In Spain, an online version of the Hachette group decoration magazines has been available for more than 3 years, while smaller publishers still do not have it; those belonging to the RBA group launched in mid-2009 websites specialized in decoration as search engines.
The sector also has websites specialized in decoration through blogs: Decora Estilo, Facilisimo, Espaciohogar, Decoesfera, etc. All of them add dynamism to advertising thanks to their different sections, user forums that will be able to give their opinion on brands, services and trends and with opinions of decoration experts, who update the information daily or weekly. The ease and freedom of communication that it offers in the various communication modalities (blogs, social networks, specialized websites, etc.), make this medium a direct and indirect tool to disseminate the image and messages of a brand (news, promotions, discounts, etc.). Regarding advertising, today the Internet is open to all kinds of formats, being able to design fixed, rotating, drop-down banners,screen banners or videos, which allow the reader to bring ideas and trends closer to the reader without having to leave their home or workplace.
And what about television? Currently, it is the medium with the largest audience and national coverage for all profiles but, in turn, it is also the medium with the most expensive cost per thousand (CPM) and the cost of recording a quality spot. it is very high. This medium, at the national level, is ruled out for a large majority of advertisers in the decoration sector, who are forced to look for cheaper alternative media and that offer alternative solutions to achieve their objectives. It is worth highlighting the existence of thematic channels such as DeCasa or regional and local chains, which offer more competitive packs and prices, making it possible to carry out some annual campaigns with a specific geographic coverage and / or target.This type of campaigns segmented geographically and in regional chains can amount to € 100,000 net for a duration of 2 or 3 weeks.
The new landscape of international markets
The internationalization of the media in the decoration and home textile sector in Spain began in the 90s, when some international companies decided to invest in Spanish titles or in the Spanish market, introducing new competitors and boosting the decoration magazine sector. Elle Deco (France) was the first international title to enter the Spanish market and in recent years, international titles such as the Côtè Maison family of magazines seek to enter the national market with the help of the main Spanish publishers, since their Direct penetration as individual magazines is very expensive.
In the rest of the international markets we find different aspects that categorize advertising in the decoration sector. In France, the cradle of decoration and trends, decoration advertising is very similar to the scenario we find in Spain: most of the advertising investment is concentrated in specialized decoration magazines, although online women's supplements and magazines are beginning to occupy a small space in this market. France has more than 35 titles focused on the decoration of the different interior and exterior spaces of the home and, unlike the Spanish market, high-end magazines predominate where images and each of the articles breathe and are designed with an air own. Some outstanding titles on the French market are Art et Décoration, Maison et Travaux,Elle Décoration, AD France, Marie Claire Maison or Côté Paris. It should be noted that France is an atypical market for media consumption, where magazines have as much or greater circulation than the written press.
Italy, a country governed by fashion and design, attracts the attention of designers, professionals and decoration fans in specialized magazines. These publications have an average of 300 pages and, despite the crisis and the consequent decrease in advertising investments, their number of pages has not been reduced, which have been filled with more articles and editorials.
One notable aspect is that in Italy, magazines, in addition to transmitting ideas and trends, seek to be helpful tools for their readers. The audience is concentrated in a few titles: Cose di Casa remains the leader with 39% of the total, followed by Casa Facile, which accounts for 23%, and Casa Viva and Brava Casa, magazines of the Elite publishing group, group between them a total of 39% of the audience interested in decoration titles.
Where should we go?
For a few years now, we have understood decoration as an important element to create our home. The way we decorate our homes is a direct reflection of how we live our lives. Our house has become a refuge where lifestyles, dreams, needs and desires are glimpsed.
This new way of living the home has meant that a large segment of the population has become a target audience for decoration, which publishers have taken advantage of to launch an infinity of titles specialized in decoration on the market, without attending to the cannibalism they are creating among their own magazines and therefore the duplicity of styles, information and concept of the magazines that make each other discredit each other.
In the last year, the audience of the main specialized decoration media in Spain, Italy and Portugal has fallen by an average of 11.5%, most likely due to the economic crisis that has been going on since mid-2008, which directly affects the Household savings, which seek to curb unnecessary expenses, such as the redecoration of some space in the home, and consequently, the purchase of magazines that promote new ideas.
On the contrary, in France, a country with a great tradition and culture for aesthetics and decoration, with a population with an average quality of life higher than in previous countries, its audience has increased by 0.2%. Another factor that reflects that France is a different market is the latest data recorded in terms of total advertising investment in 2009, while all countries have registered an average fall of 7.6%, France increased it by 0.2%.
* Own elaboration from national sources, last wave 2008/2009: EGM, OJD, AEPM, Audi-press, Marktest
It should be noted that the Spanish economy registers a direct relationship between household consumption and advertising investment; For more than 40 years it has been recorded that the fall in consumption is followed by a greater decrease in advertising investment, and on the contrary, when a possible revival of consumption is perceived, advertising investment increases proportionally more.
Therefore, in the current economic situation and with the aim of stopping the fall in advertising investment in the decoration sector (which reached 39.9% in Spain at the end of 2009), we consider that magazines should not guide their solutions exclusively to readers, if not they should focus on brands and companies in the sector, who should be able to find motivation in these media to revive their advertising budgets and thus be able to communicate promotions, discounts and actions that encourage consumption by the general public.
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