Are knife magazine ads worth the investment any more?

[KNAdmin]

This subject comes up all of the time from our clients. The basic question is, "are knife magazine ads worth the investment these days?" Speaking as someone who currently advertises in most of the mainstream publications, I have current and historical experience with this subject. But I wonder how many of you have examined the return on your investment from a pure analytical standpoint? If you have, what can you relate to our readers?

Consider these questions when replying...

1) How much does a print ad really cost?

2) Is it okay for an ad to simply expose your brand, or should it break even financially (or even make money) to be a worthy business investment?

3) Do you consider the inferred lifetime of a publication, or should the value be calculated on the cycle that you're paying for?

4) How important is the content of an ad, relative to the ROI?

5) If you request that the magazine draft your advertisement copy, should they share the responsibility for it's success/failure? (why or why not?)

6) Am I asking the right questions, or is there something else to consider?

I have some opinions that I've formed over many years of tracking our print ad investments (which I'll give later), but I'm interested in your opinions first?

What do you think?