Also in this report:

– Grocers reflecting increased appetite for multicultural menu p.28

– Urban MO-ZA-IK targets cultural cross-section p.28

– Investment in original creative can pay off p.29

– Chinese malls on the rise p.30

While ethnic newspapers and magazines are beginning to make inroads with advertisers, they still aren’t likely to win widespread acceptance in the eyes of media buyers without independent third-party research that would put them on an even footing with their mainstream counterparts.

Brian Pearman, executive vice-president of Toronto-based Genesis Media, says ethnic publications would be more attractive to planners and buyers if they could be evaluated in the same way as other media.

Any research conducted on ethnic publications, he adds, would have to go beyond just measuring readership, to include product purchase behavior.

Pearman says that he has recommended ethnic media to clients such as Elections Canada, but that selections have been made without the same support for the decision-making process that is available when dealing with mainstream media.

Ethnic media, Pearman argues, should gather as a group to agree on common guidelines for research. Media measurement firms, he notes, have privately expressed interest in being part of such discussions.

‘There are opportunities that can be secured if people work together cooperatively,’ he says.

Daniel Iannuzzi, founder and publisher of Italian-Canadian publications Corriere Canadese and Tandem, says that advertisers are reluctant to use ethnic media because they don’t adequately understand ethnic markets.

‘I think ethnic media, ourselves included, should be doing more research,’ he says. ‘But I also think agencies themselves should be putting some kind of investment into getting a better understanding of the whole profile of these markets.’

Corriere Canadese is a daily Italian-language paper with a circulation of 27,000 in the Toronto area and southwestern Ontario. Its sister publication, Tandem, is an English-language weekly targeted to second-generation Italian-Canadians, with a circulation of 35,000.

Next month, both publications will be relaunched with a new look and new European maxi-tab format ­ the result of a $1-million investment in a new printing press.

Iannuzzi says the revamped publications will be even more attractive to advertisers, since the rate card is being adjusted downward to reflect the reduced production costs made possible by the new printing facility.

Corriere Canadese is also in the process of becoming a national publication, rolling out new daily editions for five regions: Montreal, the Niagara Peninsula, the Prairies, Alberta and Vancouver.

The Indo-Canadian Voice, a nine-year-old Vancouver-based weekly tabloid with a circulation of 15,000, is another ethnic publication that has recognized a need for research.

Vinnie Combow, the paper’s advertising sales manager, says the Voice will be gathering its own reader and purchase-behavior data through a survey to be done in conjunction with bc tel.

The questionnaire will appear in six issues of the publication, and respondents will be eligible to win $500 or $1,000 worth of long-distance calls to India.

Combow says that what ethnic publications lack by way of research they make up for in the form of added-value services to advertisers. A number of leading national and regional advertisers, he notes, have discovered the benefit of using such publications ­ among them telecommunications companies such as Bell Canada and BC TEL, auto makers such as General Motors of Canada, and retail operations such as Sears Canada, Dylex and the grocery chain Safeway.

The Indo-Canadian Voice, he says, is starting to attract a lot of mainstream advertisers, thanks mainly to sheer persistence in calling ad agencies.

Combow says the paper has sometimes taken on the role of consultant to advertisers and agencies, to help them gain an in-depth picture of the local Indo-Canadian community. Sears Canada, for example, has come to The Voice for advice on a store located in the middle of Little India in Surrey, b.c. that was having trouble drawing any of the Indo-Canadian community.

The Voice also offers creative services, including the complete transformation of a mainstream ad, right down to the use of Indo-Canadian models.

For the past four years, the paper has consisted of three separate sections ­ news, entertainment and auto, and real estate ­ with the front and back pages in full color. The automotive section has generated considerable interest among car dealers, Combow says ­ particularly General Motors dealers, since gm products are traditionally the preferred choice of Indo-Canadians.

Special sections, such as an annual financial feature, have also proved popular with mainstream advertisers.

Last year, the paper launched a Punjabi version called Awaaz. Punjabi is the mother tongue of some 64% of the Vancouver area’s 350,000 Indo-Canadians.

Earlier this summer, a sister publication called South Asian Voice was launched in Toronto on a test basis for six months. Combow says he believes there is great potential for the paper in a market that is home to more than one million Indo-Canadians.

The Canadian Jewish News is one ethnic publication that has been able to give planners and buyers the kind of decision-making support they need.

The 26-year-old tabloid provides a notarized, sworn publisher’s statement to back its claims of a circulation of 46,000 households across the country (primarily in Ontario and Quebec).

Gary Laforet, general manager of cjn, says information on readers’ household income level, level of education and home ownership is also provided.

While some advertisers still have outmoded notions about ethnic publications, he says, the more sophisticated ones are aware of the benefits to be gained by using these vehicles.

The publication gets strong advertising support from within the Jewish community, but Laforet says it also succeeds in attracting mainstream advertisers, both local and national ­ notably condominium developers, grocery retailers, car dealers and financial companies. Bell Canada is a mainstay.

The paper underwent a redesign several years ago. It now has a full-color front page and makes extensive use of color throughout ­ one of the advantages of being printed by The Toronto Sun.

Laforet says Canadian Jewish News has attracted a good deal of advertising with an ambitious lineup of supplements that run parallel to the regular issues. Among them are special issues focusing on bridal and party planning. A bonus of many is that they have a long shelf life.

A special issue scheduled for next February, which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Israel’s statehood, is expected to be a big draw for advertisers.