The latest All Media Products Survey (AMPS) figures put daily readership figures for Daily Sun at 5 351 000 (AMPS2014BA), with a circulation of 274 165 Audited Bureau of Circulation (ABC April to June 2014). This means that almost 20 people are reading each copy of the newspaper.

Even the publisher of the Daily Sun, Jeremy Gordin, found this number astounding, which he expressed at three vibrant Ads24 events in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, where a short film by independent researcher, The Corporate Research Consultancy, was screened tracking editions of Daily Sun through various readers in one day. The purpose for this research is that Ads24 wanted to verify that this incredible pass on rate was realistic. The researchers themselves were surprised at their findings, and wanted to share visual evidence of the fascinating journey that each newspaper went on every day. One can click here to watch the video.

The short film was followed by the local film, White Wedding, which provided some humorous insights into life in current day South Africa.

“We found that Daily Sun is part of the fabric that binds people. This title is putting brands into the hands and hearts of consumers,” says Gordin.

The Daily Sun reader is often misrepresented and misunderstood by brand owners. The majority of readers (67%) fall into Lifestyle Standards Measure (LSM) 5 to 7. The average household income (HHI) of the Daily Sun reader is R9220. One fifth (20%) of readers are high income earners in LSM 8 to 10, and 11% earn more than R20 000 per month, 17% earn between R11 000 and R19 999, and 19% earn R8000 to R10999 per month.

18% earn between R5000 and R7999 per month, and 15% earn R2500 to R4999. Fewer readers (13%) are in LSM 2 to 4, and 10% earn less than R2499 per month.

The majority of readers are educated with 58% having a matric or higher, while 43% are formally employed, 9% are self-employed, 14% are students, and 4% are housewives (AMPS2014BA).

Ask Afrika’s Target Group Index (TGI) research provided other interesting insights into the shopping habits, image is important to Daily Sun readers, of readers, 50% say that they want to keep up with the latest fashion (TGISA2013C) and 60% bought clothing or shoes in the last month (AMPS2014BA). Visiting a restaurant is a high priority as a treat and 41% frequent one monthly (AMPS2014BA).

Daily Sun is the perfect platform to advertise month end specials, as 62% of readers buy groceries in bulk once a month (AMPS2014BA). Financial acumen and products are becoming increasingly important and 71% of readers have a savings account (AMPS2014BA).

The gender split in readers is fairly even with 57% men and 43% women reading the newspaper. The average age of the Daily Sun reader is 36, with the majority being between 25 and 49 (57%), only 18% are over 50, and a quarter are aged 15 to 25. The vast majority of readers are Black (95%), 4% are Coloured, 1% are White, and 1% are Indian. Sport plays an important part in the lives of many readers and 62% are interested in soccer (AMPS2014BA).

The Daily Sun has a significant online presence with 820 620 Unique Browsers (EffectiveMeasure September2014), over 520 000 Facebook likes, and over 36 000 Twitter followers.