Sunday, July 8, 2012

Difficulties in Selection of Media Types

Audience Measurement:

The media sell circulation or the opportunity to develop circulation. There is a gross aspect to circulation (how many products were bought last month) and a net aspect (how many of those purchasers are prospects for the product saw the advertisement in the broadcast media). Measurement of the same is not so easy as advertisers would think.

Difficulty of Cost Comparisons:

There is a cost per thousand concept in every medium type such as cost per thousand homes or thousand viewers, cost per thousand passersby, cost per page per thousand copies sold. How does the reaction of a thousand housewives, who read a food advertisement about Magi noodles, compare with that of a different thousand housewives who watch the same on TV?

Reliance on a Particular type ofMedium:

How much of his promotion effort should a manufacturer place in magazines and how much on TV, how mach in outdoor or point of purchase? Which should be dominant and which are supplementary? These factors play a key role in selection of a particular type of media. Media costs, the costs of space and time, are the largest single expense item in most advertising budgets. The selection of media types to be used in an undertaking, therefore, deserves and even demands, the very best thought and judgment of on the part of the top management.

The points to be considered are:

(i) Availability: Regional markets may be so limited that national circulation of magazines should not be used. A product may have so slight a market that a medium such as the radio would not be indicated for use.
(ii) Selectivity: Some ideas demand visual presentation and others demand oral presentation. The radio cannot accommodate stories requiring a physical form, and outdoor advertising cannot accommodate long stories.
(iii) Competition is a matter which the advertiser cannot ignore. A company may select media types not used by its competitors, based on distinctiveness and domination.

Selection of IndividualMedia

Selection of individual media to carry advertising requires the consideration of the points like circulation; the quality and quantity of a medium’s circulation, Prestige, Influence, Readership, etc.

The Advertising Schedule

What is the optimum schedule? There is no agreement; there is no formula: there is only judgment. It appears that more advertisers make the mistake of using too many than the mistake of using too few. The manufacturer’s proposed advertising plans are consolidated into a schedule which contains the following information:
  • - List of publications, broadcast stations, markets ;
  • - Dates of appearance of advertisements ;
  • - Size of advertisements (space or time ) ;
  • - Costs of advertisements.

Duplication

An advertiser must have coverage or else his message will not reach as many buyers as he must reach. As an advertiser adds magazine after magazine to his list to increase his coverage; he finds duplication inevitable. One way of averting duplication is to use only one of the magazines; another is to run a different advertisement. The duplication limits an advertiser’s coverage. The points in favour of duplication are repetition and frequency.

Frequency

The term frequency refers to the number of advertisements of the same size appearing in an individual medium for a given period such as per day, per week, per month, or per campaign. There is no formula to determine the ideal frequency. The two factors are the size of the advertising fund and the size of the advertisement to be run. If these are known, frequency can be derived. The two other factors are the number of media and the advertising period. As the number of media increases, there is pressure for a lower frequency, or to shorten the advertising period. The other possibilities are to enlarge the fund, or to reduce the size of the advertisement. Manufacturers cannot ignore the fact that what the competitors are doing in respect of frequency. The more often a message is repeated, the greater the proportion of it the consumer remembers.

Size of advertisement

The size of advertisement influences the frequency. The size of an advertisement can be derived if the advertiser:-
  • Determines the size of the advertising fund,
  • Decides the numbers of individual media to be used, and
  • Decides the number of advertisements to appear during the advertising period.
The purpose of the advertisement may be the strongest influence in determining its size; a large space is used to announce, a small space is used to remain. The amount of copy, the number of products included in one advertisement and the illustration needs of the advertisement all help to determine size. Salesmen and dealers may also decide how large advertisements should be.

Colour

Colour is a factor which influences frequency. Colour influences the size of the advertisement and size in turn determines frequency. Colour commands a premium price.

Re-run on Advertisement

Repetition has a considerable effect on advertising costs, and its frequency. Re-run is considered unless it has performed well on its first appearance. It is most common in mail order business and advertising that uses small space. It is not common for large advertisements. Indirect action advertisements should be re-run. The reinforcement of consumer memory is another benefit of a re-run. There are savings on a re-run. New readers are added whenever and advertisement is re-run.

Timing

The crucial questions under timing is when should a campaign start, and when should it shop? For this purpose the seasonal angle and festival seasons should be considered. Advertising can be scheduled heavily just before and during the heavy buying season. Off-season advertising is used profitably during the offseason to level out the. For example, tourists can be motivated through advertising to visit tourist areas during the off-season.

Positioning

It involves the development of a marketing strategy for a particular segment of the market. It is primarily applicable to products that are not leaders in the field. These products are more successful if they concentrate on specific market segments than if they attack dominant brands. It is best accomplished through an advertising strategy, or theme, which positions advertisements in specified market segments.

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