So now you know a little bit more about where digital fits in the total media landscape in Canada from my previous post.
I’d like to take a little bit of time to offer you a more in-depth offline media primer by outlining key strengths and weaknesses for each in relation to digital. Let’s start with the biggest: Television.
Television
Strengths
The largest most impactful and impressive medium. It’s mass market reach (98% reach in the US, in Canada and French Canada) allow it to be one of the very few mediums able to create a “talk of the town” phenomenon with an ad which is so rare and hard to come by with digital platforms. It has audio and visual appeal, which combined with motion and color allows for much more compelling ads that engage emotion like no other medium. Because it is “video” it carries prestige within the viewer’s eyes. It is great for awareness and brand building. The best way to demonstrate a product or service. It is perceived as credible because of the investments involved – who would spend this much in production and media if it wasn’t reliable? 3 pricing models exist: CPM (cost per thousand), CPP (cost per point / gross rating point), and cost per spot. Local market coverage is usually the greater metropolitan area.
Weaknesses
Television isn’t just chock full strengths but also comes with some weaknesses. It requires very high production and media costs. When considering Canada vs US or French Canada vs Total Canada – the cost of producing an ad remains the same regardless of the size of the market. However the media costs does change according to market size. It is possibly, with radio, the most intrusive medium. 50 to 66% of TV viewers skip ads, change channels during the ads or mute the TV altogether during the ad break. Creative has to be very impressive and ideally at the start of a commercial break to capture attention. Frequency of ad exposure is a high annoyance factor. More and more people are watching television content, but time shifted or even through digital devices, on demand, which is not really television – it’s online or mobile. Broad coverage of reach makes it inappropriate for very local merchants who’s clients would not necessarily travel across town to visit or shop. Limited ad inventory (only 24 hours of programming daily with an average 12 minutes of advertising per hour) drives up costs and annual increases (contrary to digital platforms that have unlimited ad inventory). This leads to cluttered commercial breaks. Viewing is seasonal.
Radio
Strengths
Radio has as broad a penetration rate and audience reach as does television, roughly 98%. Listeners take ownership of their station, being loyal to 1 or 2 stations whereas that loyalty doesn’t really for conventional television and only slightly for specialty / cable. Very low ad production costs and low media costs make the entry barrier quite low. Costs and loyalty make this media ideal for high frequency campaigns. Radio’s simplicity allow for very short lead times. Creative can be very imaginative – it is the theatre of the mind. It is the most common appliance granting access to the media as any other platform: home, car, work, computer, phone, public places… There are twice as many radios as there are people – actually, the average home has 5 radios. 90% of cars have radios; 95% of people in cars listen to their radio. It is a very “local” medium, sometimes with a smaller area of coverage than a local television station which makes it more interesting to local businesses. 75% of radio revenues are from local businesses. It is the first source for news in the morning and has a larger audience than TV from 6am to 6pm. Many stations are niched or “vertical” in a particular genre or talk or music. It is not a seasonal medium.
Weaknesses
Its selective and local market coverage which make it great for local merchants makes it less than ideal for national advertisers complicating the media buy. There are no visual cues which makes it difficult to explain something people need to see to understand. Often used as background medium (noise). In-house creative becomes similar from one advertiser to the next making them difficult to distinguish, also lowering the quality and originality of the creative. There are oftentimes lots of commercials in a row which allows for a longer uninterrupted broadcast. Younger demographics are leaving he medium altogether spending more time with digital audio sources such as Pandora and iTunes Radio, or simply their mp3 playlist. Individual ads have a 30-60 second lifespan.
Newspapers
Strengths
Daily distribution and readership make it a reliable source for reach among an older and wealthier audience. Ad lead times are short, similar to that of radio (24-48 hours prior to printing). It is ideal for retailers, for daily specials. Readers “shop” the paper when they get ready to buy. There are many different available ad formats. Many can target specific local shopping areas. The ads themselves can be torn away and kept for future reference or comparison shopping. Ads are worth slightly more in newspapers people have to pay for versus those that are distributed for free – you will pay more attention and not waste your daily investment, which you might not be so careful about with a free publication. Ads are not intrusive.
Weaknesses
Expensive if used to build frequency or for branding. Ads have a 24 hour lifespan. Not all circulation is distributed to subscribers – many copies are “dropped” at coffee shops and individual hotel rooms. Some newspapers have a poor print quality or have a hard time delivering good color. Readership is moving to digital platforms and not necessarily that of the printed paper the consumer has been used to reading – sometimes moving to that of a television or radio news site or an altogether digital pure play.
Magazines
Strengths
Magazines predominantly offer very high quality visuals and are targeted to specific audiences through niched content – some offer regional editions. There is significant pass-along readership and a longer shelf life than does daily newspapers. Magazine ads are part of the reading experience – some publications are bought for the ads as much as for the content. They are good a image and brand building against specifically targeted audiences. Editorial is highly credible which lends credibility to the ads. Ads look great in magazines. It is possible to issue coupons in magazines.
Weaknesses
The very long lead times for each issue which make they better in quality is also a weakness as you cannot turn around quickly with a campaign. Frequency is much slower to build with magazines than with any other medium. This implies you cannot use this medium for time sensitive offers. Magazines are not very flexible. No single publication has any significant reach, even among Niched audiences. They are of little use to local merchants.
Community Newspapers
Strengths
Community newspapers have a very strong local appeal with its local editorial write ups and classifieds. They offer inexpensive ad space to local and regional merchants. They offer a smaller circulation area than most daily newspapers. They are well read outside urban areas. They reach people ready to buy, oftentimes bargain hunters looking for coupons.
Weaknesses
As opposed to daily newspapers, community it’s newspapers require longer advertising lead times. They have high circulation numbers but relatively low readership as most are free (unpaid). There is duplicated readership in markets with multiple community papers, as well as with a paid daily paper. Printing quality is lower than that of most daily newspapers.
Out Of Home
Strengths
Out of home advertising offers broad local reach and daily frequency to commuters. They offer large surface area allowing for high impact visual ads and high quality imaging. They can be front or back lit or even digital. Most locations allow for extensions. It is targetable to the specific surface location. With non-digital surfaces, you ad is likely to stay up after your contrat ends until someone else buys the board so as not to leave a white or empty board. Many types are available from side of the highway billboards to transit shelters and on the transit vehicles themselves. There is also out of home available indoors in office building garages, and restrooms.
Weaknesses
All out of home require very high quality graphics and visuals. Non-digital surfaces have a very high production costs. Long lead times are involved to secure and send material for those surfaces in highest demand. Your creative and extensions can be affected by the weather. The view can be obstructed by vegetation or new constructions. Very limited visibility time: 3-7 seconds on average in regular traffic flow. This media is very inflexible in the sense that you cannot easily or cheaply change or fix copy.
Direct Marketing
Strengths
Direct marketing using regular mail is highly targetable using specialized mailing lists. The entry cost is very low. It is highly personalizable and your message length not limited. Responses can be measured if coupons, discount codes or other specifics are employed. 95% of samples sent are used or passed along. With email, a/b testing can be quickly done on a small scale allowing for refining and optimization in short order. For printed direct mail, production quality can play an important role in open and attention rates.
Weaknesses
The cost for access to quality lists can be quite high. It is difficult to avoid high wastage rates. Often seen as intrusive or junk mail so only 20% will consider the brand afterwards. Can be very expensive. Lists, both online and offline, can become outdated rapidly.
Yellow Pages
Strengths
The yellow pages and other directories come in printed and digital platforms (both on mobile and online). Only HOT prospects for any specific thing will use a directory – when they are ready to buy. Still very used overall, the digital version is used in urban markets and in rural markets for the printed versions.
Weaknesses
Although many people use directories at various frequencies, this is not a mass reach medium- it is strictly on demand. In printed form Yellow Pages are inflexible, but the digital version allows for as much flexibility as you’d like. By its very nature they do not offer any competitive separation. Media pricing is not modeled like any other media such as visibility or reach, but on capacity to pay of the sector (I.e. Banks which get searched for much less than pizza places pay much more).
To know more about digital media sales, I teach a Digital Media Sales course through IAB Canada which is a great preparation before taking the Digital Media Sales Certification exam through IAB (US) which IAB Canada fully endorses. It is a two day program which you can attend in-public once a year (see calendar for dates) or have organized as a custom session within our company. Contact me to set up training with your organization, be it in English of French, national, regional or local – I will adapt for your organization’s needs.
Authored by Samuel Parent
