Paid Media Ads, Money Well Spent?
Wednesday, 06. 10. 2009 – Category: Enversa Companies
Large advertising budgets are commonplace in many companies. A significant portion of any advertising budget is spent on television and print media. There is a growing concern that these may not be the best places to spend those dollars.
Theory: TV and Print Ads are No Longer Effective
Popular theories hold that DVR households are unreachable through televised ads and the ability to fast-forward past the commercials negate their effectiveness. Even in households without DVR, the ability to reach prospective customers is adversely impacted by channel surfing or fragmented by the various methods that a consumer can watch TV.
Print advertising is impacted by the poor attention span of consumers and declining readership. Stodgy newspapers and magazines are being displaced by the quickly updated Internet. Frequently, the only place you can find someone reading a magazine is in a waiting room.
When Joel Rubinson took over as Chief Research Officer at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), he was fully aware of the challenges in proving print and television to still be effective media vehicles. He had concerns that even though it made logical sense, there was no evidence to support it. In December the ARF, in conjunction with the Wharton School, started the Future of Advertising project to determine if the theory was fact or fancy. They will be publishing their first set of findings in the June issue of the Journal of Advertising. These finding are based on a review of empirical data already available. The project gathered together studies from all over the world and evaluated the data to draw their initial conclusions.
Fact: TV and Print Still Impact Consumer Decision Making
Television is still as effective a means of promoting brand recognition as it was in the 80’s and 90’s with over 388 studies reaching this conclusion. But, not all advertisers can rejoice. Marketers who don’t flood the airwaves are likely to find that the income generated does not justify the TV advertising dollars spent. The effectiveness is directly tied to the amount of advertising placed and spent.
The impact of the DVR was addressed directly in a South African study. It survey 1,000 households with and without DVR’s. There was no difference in a consumer’s ability to recall a specific ad. A possibility for this finding could be that households with DVR’s actually watch more television. They are exposed to the commercial watching shows live and then have a reinforcing experience when they see the ad while fast-forwarding.
While print advertising was not as heavily represented as television, there is still evidence to support print campaigns. One study done by Marketing Evolution revealed that print advertising is more effective than television in fostering purchase intent. When used effectively, print ads can produce a higher sales rate per advertising dollar. This is likely do to the ability to more efficiently isolate your target demographic.
The results are not conclusive. However, they do make it difficult to embrace the theory wholeheartedly. A balance and focused advertising campaign has always been the key to successful marketing. What that balance should be has many factors but, it is safe to say that television and print still have an important role to play. Future results from the Advertising Research project should help identify the correct balance.
Tags: advertisers, Advertising Research Foundation, DVR, internet, Marc Pickren, print ads, television