Since 1970, Essence Magazine has evolved into a publication with a monthly readership of 7.5 million. What is perhaps more impressive about this publication is that it is read by 70% of black women in America every year. Among other accomplishments the Essence brand has spawned the popular website Essence.com, hosts the hugely successful annual Essence music festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the magazine became part of the Time Inc. family of publications in 2005. With an illustrious heritage as a pillar of the black community, Essence now focuses on their very exciting future as they look beyond the US and into the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Knowing their audience and involving readers wherever possible has been a key success factor thus far. Research Director Carmen Bryant and the team at Essence use their Vision Critical® Community Panel of almost 10,000 'Essence Insiders' to shift the way people perceive consumer feedback internally and put readers at the center of the picture.
In the publishing industry getting quick access to information and insights can be the difference between winning and losing major deals. Presenting deep knowledge and understanding of your audience provides confidence in decision making, and strengthens partner relationships. As Bryant describes it, 'We want to make sure they are very clear on why they are coming to us and make sure we can help them achieve their business goals". Consumer research at Essence was largely being conducted on an ad-hoc basis through customized studies: "Each time, we were reinventing the wheel. We were coming up with a new sample of audience, coming up with a new set of questions and there was no learning we could take from study to study". Essence needed to find a way to be more quick and nimble, and give advertisers a superior level of service end-to-end; ultimately building loyalty.
The Essence panel has actually been around longer than 2008. It was moved to Vision Critical and renamed the Insiders panel along this timing. Conceived in 2008 and established in January 2009, the 'Essence Insiders' community panel is a community of 10,000 highly engaged Essence subscribers and readers who are asked to respond to surveys roughly twice per month. With the help of Vision Critical's dedicated Media Insights division and community panel solution, Essence Magazine has a highly effective tool for conducting cover testing, creative testing, ongoing tracking studies, and even the facilitation of real-life product testing.
Bryant states that "The Essence Insider's Panel has really shifted I think, the way people perceive consumer feedback internally". The Essence Insiders has built a strong reputation as a means for quickly testing and validating decisions. Says Bryant, "When we're in meetings, an editorial meeting or a steering committee meeting, people will bring up the insider's panel as their way to check decisions". This is however a two-way street in that panel members also feel much more valued by advertisers. In-fact, they often see their own quotes from surveys on the pages of the magazine in reference to products that they have tested. The advertiser also builds credibility by referencing the Essence Insiders panel. In Bryant's words, "They saw the original creative and now they see the final piece. And often that piece might reference the Essence Insiders, it might have numbers, it might have quotes, for some it even might have their name". Ultimately, the audience knows that this advertiser has done their homework which in turn makes them much more willing to listen to what they have to say, and consider their products.