A guide to library resources related to strategic communication, advertising, consumer demographics, polls, surveys, and public opinion.
Expenditures, Rankings, & Media Consumption
- VivvixFind advertising media spending by company, brands, products, or industries across all media channels. Note: Two simultaneous users. If you have access issues, try opening the link in a Chrome Incognito or Safari Private Window.
- ComScore Media MetrixComScore is an industry source for web analytics about major online properties, which is useful for consumer and audience research and for statistics and rankings of websites.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista provides statistical data on many topics including media, business, politics, society, technology and education. The academic package includes a comprehensive range of statistics on the media and marketing market. These include stats on media usage and radio and tv markets.
- WinmoInformation about advertisers, agencies, public relations firms and media buying services. (formerly Advertising Redbooks)
- Nielsen Datasets at the Kilts Center for MarketingOnly tenure-track faculty from accredited US-based colleges and universities can subscribe to access to the datasets. This excludes clinical professors, adjunct professors, lecturers, and other non-tenure track faculty. Access by PhD students and postdoctoral research associates is permitted as part of our institutional subscription, provided they are supervised by a tenured or tenure-track faculty. For more information about access and user requirements at UMN, see the Nielsen Datasets Access Guide .
Circulation statistics:
- BPA MediaIndependent, third-party circulation and magazine audits and reports to help marketers evaluate, plan and buy across multiple platforms. Sign up for a free account.
- Circulating American MagazinesSearch or browse titles of American periodicals to quickly visualize their circulation over time and across the United States. A digital project out of James Madison University, using data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the Alliance for Audited Media).
- Editor and Publisher Newspaper Data BookInternational directory of newspapers that includes statistics and contact information for the U.S. and Canada. Includes dailies, weeklies, shopper publications and other niche markets by ethnic group and target audience ( real estate, parenting, seniors), college presses, syndicated news services, trade associations, and a buyers guide of equipment for the newspaper industry.
- ITU Datahub (ICT indicators)Explore data reflecting key information and communications technology (ICT) indicators for nearly 200 economies worldwide. Includes statistics on telecommunication/ICT infrastructure and use of ICTs by households and individuals.
- Media Intelligence CenterService from the Alliance for Audited Media that tracks circulation, data for newspapers, consumer magazines, business publications and farm publications from the US, Canada, and other countries. Includes audit circulation statistics for online editions.
- Television and Radio Ad Rates (how-to)For TV, the audience measurement rating is the Nielsen rating; for radio, it's the Arbitron rating. Use the CPP (cost-per-rating-point) and audience measurement rating to make this calculation. See this guide from Marquette University for more information. Hennepin County Library currently has copies of the SRDS TV and Cable Media source.
See also:
- Political Ad Buy API (ProPublica)The Free the Files API provides data on approximately $1.2 billion in political ad buys in 33 markets during the 2012 election. This data set was created by nearly 1,000 volunteers and curated by ProPublica reporters.
Researching ad campaigns
- AdAge Datacenter and Digital EditionSearch for articles or consult the Datacenter to find rankings and statistics about media companies and advertising agencies and the archives for past issues and access to the AdAge Datacenter.
- AdForumUse this database to research advertisements by agencies, advertiser, brands, campaigns, or creative staff. It contains video and images for advertisements produced for television, cinema, magazines, outdoor, and digital, along with audio recordings of radio advertisement and covers the work of agencies worldwide with interviews for case studies, packaging, branding and design for major brands.
- J Walter Thompson: Advertising AmericaJ. Walter Thompson: Advertising America is a collection of digitized primary sources originally produced by J. Walter Thompson, a major American advertising agency. Materials include publications, reports, research, memoranda, correspondence, meeting minutes, creative briefs, scripts, speeches, newsletters, artwork, and advertisements. The collection also includes complete files for nine key clients: Kellogg’s, Kodak, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Pan Am World Airways, R.T. French, Scott Paper Company, United States Marine Corps, and White Castle Restaurants.
- VivvixFind advertising media spending by company, brands, products, or industries across all media channels. Note: Two simultaneous users. If you have access issues, try opening the link in a Chrome Incognito or Safari Private Window.
- AdWeekTrade magazine and website for the advertising industry.
- Business Source PremierFind business articles from journals and magazines in marketing, management, information technology, operations, human resources, accounting, finance and economics dating back to 1965.
- WARC (advertising)Campaign research source includes case studies, market reports, statistics, and articles from the trade magazines Admap and Market Leader as well research from the International Journal of Market Research, the Journal of Advertising Research, the International Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Advertising History.
- Communication ArtsDesign magazine for media with annuals. Current and past issues available in print for Communications Arts at Magrath Library.
Finding Advertisements
- WinmoInformation about advertisers, agencies, public relations firms and media buying services. Includes examples of current advertising campaign materials, such as social media posts, television commercials, print ads, and more.
- Ad Access ProjectDuke University digital archive of advertisements from newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Early ads from major companies in the United States are featured in a presentation called the Emergence of Advertising in America (1850-1920).
- AdForumUse this database to research advertisements by agencies, advertiser, brands, campaigns, or creative staff. It contains video and images for advertisements produced for television, cinema, magazines, outdoor, and digital, along with audio recordings of radio advertisement and covers the work of agencies worldwide with interviews for case studies, packaging, branding and design for major brands.
- Ads of the WorldContemporary ads from around the world, including award winners.
- The Advertising Archives: Historical & Current Print AdsHistorical print and TV advertisements, magazine covers, cinema posters, comics, postcards, cigarette cards, and more. Sign in for access to larger images.
- Advertising Art in Magazines (Internet Archive)Themed collections of ads from US magazines between the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries.
- AdViewsAdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s from Duke University.
- AIGA Design ArchivesOver 16,000 images of past winners of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) annual competitions in the areas of Book, Brand and Corporate Identity, Promotional, Information, Package and Typographical design from 1950's to the present.
- The American Package MuseumHistorical American packaging and print advertising from the early 20th century. Browse by product name. Some 3-D images available.
- Early Advertising of the West, 1867-1918This collection from the University of washington Libraries consists of over 450 print advertisements published in local magazines, city directories, and theater pamphlets from 1867 to 1918.
- Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920An important, collaborative effort between the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History and Duke University's Digital Scriptorium provides images of over 9,000 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920. The site is designed to chronicle the rise of consumer culture in America in the late nineteenth century as well as the development of a professionalized advertising industry.
- The Gender Ads ProjectAdvertising images focusing on gender content and analysis. Browse by female and male advertisements, body parts, gender roles, and more.
- Medicine and Madison AvenueOver 600 historical and health-related advertisements printed in newspapers and magazines from 1910-1959; categories include cigarettes, vitamins and tonics, diet, and more From Duke University Libraries digital collections.
- Moving Image Research CenterCollection of historical motion pictures and television broadcasts.
- Sears ArchivesHistory of Sears store.
- Visual Information Access, search VIA for l9th-century trade cards and advertisements as subject (Harvard University)Search Harvard Library's for digital images.
Award Winning Ad Campaigns
- AdForumInternational focus on advertisements and awards.
- Cannes Lions ArchivesFree viewing of selected winners of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The library does not subscribe to this service.
- One ClubArchives of past winners of the international advertising competition for One Show awards in design, interactive, entertainment and college competitions.
Last Updated: Nov 5, 2024 9:38 AM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/strategic-communication