Reading Matters

From the September 2002 issue of

Despite forecasts to the contrary, the number of print-based and electronic publications aimed at computer aided technology markets does not seem to have declined over the last eighteen months. Add to these the plethora of industry/trade magazines, publications from professional associations and so on, and you have some tough choices for suppliers trying to decide how to spend their advertising budgets. Details of target audience and circulation figures are the obvious starting points; but for those targeting niche markets the publications with a broader-based appeal may only be read by a small (and often unknown) proportion of relevant decision makers.

So what publications are managers for CAD and related functions actually reading on a regular basis? We interviewed managers at 262 companies in the AEC sector, and 254 companies in the electronic engineering sector to find out.

AEC Publications

Three quarters of our managers of CAD related functions at architecture, engineering and construction companies said they were regular readers of an industry/trade magazine, and 62% said they read a publication from a professional association. A quarter read an independent design solution magazine.
Types Of Publication Read Regularly By Managers Of CAD Related Functions In The AEC Sector

Industry/trade publication
76%
Magazine/newsletter from professional association
62%
Independent general IT publication
31%
Independent CAD/design solution publication
22%
Newsletter from non-CAD IT supplier
14%
Newsletter from CAD/design solution supplier
8%
Independent CAD/design solution email newsletter
7%
None
1%

Interestingly only a tiny proportion of the readers of each of the categories above (apart from the CAD email newsletter) said they read the publication concerned in electronic format.

Regular Reads

We asked our sample to name the publication they read most frequently; the top three were as follows (with the percentage identifying each one in brackets):

Building Design (21%)
Architects' Journal (16%)
The New Civil Engineer (9%).

It's important to bear in mind that the people we interviewed have a broad range of job functions - company directors, senior partners, IT Managers and so on - but the common factor is that they are decision makers for purchasing CAD and related software/hardware.

Electronic Publications

Turning to our sample of managers of design functions in the electronic engineering sector, we found that three quarters read a relevant industry/trade magazine on a regular basis. Similar proportions (approximately a third for each) said they read a publication from a professional association, an independent IT publication and a CAD/design solution publication.
Types Of Publication Read Regularly By Managers of Design Functions In The Electronic Engineering Sector

Industry/trade publication
72%
Independent general IT publication
37%
Magazine/newsletter from professional association
35%
Independent CAD/design solution publication
31%
Newsletter from non-CAD IT supplier
19%
Newsletter from CAD/design solution supplier
16%
Independent CAD/design solution email newsletter
5%
None
3%

Again the proportion of managers who read any of the above types of publications in electronic format was very small, contributing no more than 3% of the total for any category.

Top Three

Each manager was asked to name one publication that they read most frequently - the following four received the most mentions:

Electronic Engineering Times (19%)
Electronics Weekly (16%)
The Engineer (7%)

Conclusion

It's an obvious point, but if you're targeting a particular type of decision maker through advertising, it helps to know exactly what they are reading. It only takes the briefest set of questions to establish this, perhaps added to a further piece of market research to make it cost effective. In the next issue of CAD Spaghetti, we'll find out what's on the reading list for managers of CAD related functions at companies in the mechanical and process engineering sectors.