Chapter 5

Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing

Communications ApproachChris Hackley

Chapter 5 Promotional Media in the Digital Age

Indicative chapter content • The media planning task • The changing media infrastructure for advertising • Media strategy, targeting and audience segmentation • The media mix-channel characteristics and strategy decisions

Advertising and media• Any medium can, in principle, be used to convey sales messages • Communication is said to be mediated (that is, carried on a medium)

when there is some intervening vehicle between the source and the receiver, such as a newspaper or poster site

• Advertising messages can be carried on radio waves, static outdoor billboards, paper and ink, ceramic mugs and ballpoint pens, dynamic outdoor sites such as motor vehicles and public transport; even air balloons and loud hailers can carry promotional messages

The media planning task• The basic media planning task is to achieve optimum levels of exposure

for the campaign, utilizing the most cost-effective and appropriate combinations of medium possible

• The media planner negotiates and buys the space on which the advertisements will be shown, whether TV or radio airtime, outdoor sites, print ads in press publications, click-through or banner ads on internet sites

The main stages in media planning are:

• Set media objectives (with reference to campaign objectives and advertising strategy)

• Select a target audience (also with reference to campaign plan) • Select the media channels • Schedule media exposures (the media plan) • Buy the media • Assess media effectiveness

• The media planner seeks to expose the creative execution to a relevant audience defined by segmentation criteria such as age, sex, demographic, socio-economic or lifestyle/psychographic characteristics: they try to achieve the greatest possible reach and penetration

Tot al medi a for Tocco campai gn

Online

19 26 2 9 16 23

June July August

Press

30 7

National Out Of Home

14 21 26 4

Experiential

PR

11 18 25

TV

Tocco local plan

Olympic Global plan

The changing media infrastructure for advertising

Audience fragmentation: • Mass audiences are more difficult to reach because TV viewing and print

publication readership are down• Audiences are distributed across many more specialist media vehicles

than ever before because digital technology has lowered the cost ofstart ups for new media ventures

Media strategy, targeting and audience segmentation

• Media strategy refers to the decisions around media channel, media vehicle, media exposure timing and style in combination with creative execution

• Media channels have particular characteristics (e.g. impact, inter-activity, audience reach, audience engagement) which have to be considered in the media strategy

UK advertising expenditure 2007, % share

• Press 39.8• Television 24.1• Internet 15.6• Direct Mail 11.2• Outdoor & Transport 5.5• Radio 2.8• Cinema 1.1• TOTAL 100

• Note: These figures are inclusive of production costs.Source: Advertising Association's Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2008, WARC. As on http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/815284/UK-ad-spend-reaches-194bn/ accessed April 25th 2009.

The media mix-channel characteristics and strategy decisions

The choice of media channel is often based on criteria such as the following:• Coverage of the target audience• The type of engagement that consumers have with that medium with

respect to the brand personality• The communication context that the medium provides for the brand• The cost in relation to the promotional budget

Table 5.1 Communication channels: main strengthsand weaknesses.

• Medium Strengths Weaknesses • TV Dramatic audio visual impact High production cost • Large mass audience reach Low attention • Can demonstrate products Short exposure• Prestige Long lead time • Newspapers Source credibility Cost can be high • Immediacy Short exposure• Regular exposure Uneven audience reach• Magazines Special interest targeting Lower circulations • Long life in household High cost • Radio Regular, repeated exposure Low attention • Lifestyle targeting Low prestige• Immediacy Short-lived • Low cost • Out-Of-Home (OOH) Prominent in busy settings High cost• High local visibility Geographically

limited • Repeated exposure for commuters • Creative possibilities (electronic, 3D)• e-marketing communication Engagement Constant monitoring

• Medium Strengths Weaknesses

• Direct response Sensitivity to PR• Measurability for ROI Crowded arena• Personal targeting Technically complex • Direct marketing Personal communication Resistance • Tailored message Database currency• Sales trigger Low response rates • POS and merchandising Close to purchase Limited reach (in-store)• Persuasiveness Low coverage • Sales promotion Sales generator Creatively limited• Local impact Limited coverage• Conferences and exhibitions Source credibility High cost per event • B2B capability Time intensive

• For the first edition of this book Table 5.1 was adapted with permission from Admap, November 2003, page 11. This version is somewhat changed, and similar to many such tables in other texts, but the Admap version is still worth a look.

Chapter 5 review questions

1

• Devise a media plan to support the launch of a new model of motor-car. The creative executions include a 20-second TV ad, national daily press ads and direct-mail shots to current owners of cars in that class. How would you plan your targeting? Which media vehicles might you use?

Explain the timings of exposure. What are the main problems and difficulties of this task?

2• Discuss the axiom ‘The medium is the message’. What does it imply? Offer

examples to support your suggestions.

3• Discuss ways in which the media impact might be reconciled with

segmentation and targeting issues. Is there an economic trade-off between impact and targeting?

4• List the main changes in the global media infrastructure over the last

fifteen years. What new problems and solutions have these changes generated for media planning and strategy?

5• Imagine that you are part of an account team devising a campaign for the

launch of a new chocolate snack called ‘Sleek’. It is to be positioned to a largely female market as a sensuous indulgence. What suggestions would you have for media planning?