So this is supposed to mean something?

Saturday, January 17, 2004

OK. Don Iannone touched a nerve in his weblog this morning. He points to a new survey by Area Development magazine. Area Development, according to its web site is "the world's leading magazine and information source for site and facility planning."

Don writes under the headline, Incentives Number One in Site Survey, "While many may not want to hear this news, state and local economic development incentives received the top ranking as the most important corporate site selection factor."

So, I download the report, and I find that the editors are making this sweeping conclusion based on 114 responses. As a rule of thumb, on a survey like this one, you need 200+ randomized responses to draw any kind of meaningful conclusions.

In the report, the analyst admits: "The results of a single annual survey do not indicate a trend or ? for that matter ? a clear indication of a changing approach to location selection."

You can download the report from this page. Go.

We need to understand one underlying dynamic of most site selection magazines. These publications are generally "controlled circulation" magazines. Readers do not pay for the magazine, which means they generally end up in the circular file.

"Controlled circulation" magazines exist for one purpose: to sell advertising. The quality of the editorial product -- as in this case -- can be mediocre. EDPros should understand these dynamics when they consider their marketing budgets. There are other, smarter ways to invest your money and build your brand.

posted by Ed Morrison |

Subscribe with Bloglines






Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
links
Google
The Web EDPro Weblog