The answer is when a ‘belly wrap’ is placed around it. It became apparent at Electronica that at least one German publisher is getting very greedy when it comes to selling front cover positions. We came across one situation where an advertiser was sold a premium-rate front cover position only to find the cover completely obscured by a belly-wrap advertisement placed around the whole magazine. If publishers run editorial front covers, they’re entitled to do whatever they like with the covers. If they charge advertisers a large premium for a front cover, they should deliver the promised premium visibility, or at the very least point out that the cover might be covered up with something else. I suspect they might not then get as many takers. Caveat emptor.
Share this post
About the Author: Bob Jones
Bob founded Publitek in 1998. He has over 25 years’ experience in running technology PR and marketing communications agencies, following earlier careers in broadcast engineering and electronic component marketing. Bob read Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bangor, Wales, and has an MA in Marketing. He was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in 1996. He is a member of the IEEE and the IET and in 2015 was named as one of "The 100 most influential tech agency PR executives globally" by the Hot Topics community of technology leaders.
