It’s the age of proof in the relationship between marketers and media brands. It’s not a new phenomenon. CMOs have for years sought empirical evidence that their advertising moves the needle.
What’s changed is the technology—the actual ability to demonstrate that discreet customers took discreet actions. It could be lead generation. Or converting unknowns to knowns. It could be predicting buying activities, identifying key decision makers and influencers, or generating demand.
Now audiences are reached through multiple channels, and marketers can get a 360-degree look at customer activity. This is where third-party research plays an especially important role. Media companies of all sizes—from the small consumer media brand serving a niche market, to vast businesses reaching an audience of millions—need empirical data they can present to marketers to make the case for audience engagement.
One research company is All In One Insights, which was launched last year by the media-industry veterans Paul Sammon and Allison Duncan, and specializes in a variety of studies across a range of media forms, including print, websites, newsletters, social media and events.
We recently had a chance to chat with Paul, who’s president of the firm, and hear his insights into the industry and All In One Insights. Here’s our conversation.
Fox Tales: You created All In One Insights with Allison Duncan last year. Tell us why. What was the opportunity you saw?
Paul Sammon.
Paul Sammon: We founded the company with a pretty simple clarity in our vision—very much a blend of our backgrounds in research and ad sales. There’s always been a desperate need among small/medium, independent and special-interest publishers for quality, cost-effective research and marketing support. It’s rare that any of them have their own internal research department, so All In One Insights is purpose-built to provide publishers an external research department they can call their own.
Fox Tales: I like the phrase “data connectors,” not just “data collectors.” How does that work in practical terms in your business?
Sammon: Thank you, that means a lot to us, as we want that to be seen as a defining difference in what we provide. In a media world where there is an enormous amount of data, it seemed to us that the real missing element for publishers was someone to help “make the connections:” Develop analysis, observations, and most importantly, the “connections” between the data and the stories that would bring the publisher’s audiences to life.
A real measure for us is to put our clients in an outstanding position to answer that age-old statement from prospects and clients: “Tell me about your audience.” It’s been clear for years that the best response to that wonderful opportunity is never “data,” it’s proof of the connection you hold with your readers/users, and then demonstrating how that can benefit the client’s business. So All In One Insights wants to be your Data Connector.
Fox Tales: Describe your ideal client.
Sammon: It’s a “passion-publisher,” where you can see and feel, and for us, measure, the actual deep passionate engagement—the genuine connection they have with their readers and users. Secondly, these publishers are hungry to gain a line of sight into all of their other magazine-media channels. For far too long, magazine reader studies were just that—only the print readers. All In One Insights is always seeking to provide insights across the full magazine media brand footprint—print, website, e-newsletters, social media and even events. We look to paint that complete picture of all the ways an advertiser might engage with your brand.
The one thread that has emerged for publishers is the ability to share the news, based on survey results, that whenever two or more channels are engaged, considerable lifts happen in most every metric. As an example, when looking at a print travel magazine reader, for example, who also engages with the e-newsletter, those travelers travel more frequently, and spend more when they do it, than any single-media-channel user. The multi-channel approach is critical to achieving the best benefits possible.
Fox Tales: Your services run the gamut. What are media companies really focused on these days in terms of research?
Sammon: Helping drive revenue, specifically ad sales. Plain and simple. I think in their approach to their clients and prospects there’s been a decided shift in the primary aim of the sales discussion. Clients no longer have any desire to simply buy a page, they are looking for ways to creatively and effectively leverage the bond media brands have with their audiences into powerful brand-messaging platforms.
Media brands are interested in insights that develop compelling points of difference between themselves and their competition. More importantly, they want ways to positively showcase the powerful bond they have—and what that bond can deliver to the client’s business. The more the client knows about your audience, and the more different ways they can engage that audience, the better.
Fox Tales: What does your research tell you that advertisers most want from media companies circa the first half of 2025?
Sammon: I think that we’re seeing a genuine challenge for media brands to truly distinguish themselves from other options that advertisers and their agencies are considering. I started my career in media planning and thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration with my media partners. It had an impact that drew me to the magazine-media business. In today’s media marketplace, planners and clients are literally bombarded with options, and they just don’t have enough time or manpower to sort through the options.
It’s more important than ever for media companies to always be working to keep their brand in front of advertisers—providing fresh ideas with value focused on the clients’ businesses. The more relevant value you can deliver—especially in a “stewardship” role with existing clients—the more they will always be thinking of you first.
Fox Tales: You spent two decades serving the research needs of universities and non-profit organizations. How do their research needs differ from for-profit media companies?
Sammon: Thanks for asking about this special and unique category. Association, membership, university and non-profit organizations have such a different publishing model. The magazine generally is a benefit of membership. But based on our research, it’s one of the most important communication channels that they have. The organization’s magazine in the hands of member/readers isn’t a simple subscription “transaction.”
There’s a commitment and a bond that goes way beyond the normal magazine subscription. There is so much engagement inherent in these deeper relationships that they’re needing assistance in the form of insights that go farther. Not just an ad-sales conversation, but survey work that covers membership retention, acquisition, editorial-content development, and better understanding of the impact of new/different channels to keep the member informed and engaged. In traditional terms, they typically rely less on the advertising side of things—the usual reason you do a reader study. But they need to understand how to most effectively and cost-efficiently manage their communications. We spend time as well advising associations on the benefits of multi-platform media efforts—ways to improve their impact and manage costs as well.
Fox Tales: How does a firm like Fox Associates help serve the media ecosystem?
Sammon: Without professional guidance into the sales process, media brands are bound to become overwhelmed and lost. Media planners just do not have enough time or resources to engage in the long-ago version of “getting to know you.” Having genuine pros who know their markets, their clients, and have earned respect over the years provides the very best path to success for publishers seeking to grow their business.