Lesson Note
Subject: Marketing
Topic: Advertising Media
Lesson Objective: by the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:
- Mention the various media for advertisement;
- State the advantages and disadvantages of the various media;
- Choose a suitable media to advertise their products.
Lesson Summary/Discussion
ADVERTISING MEDIA
Adverting media are the various channels though which business owners showcase their products to prospective customers.
There is a huge variety of media available through which a business can conduct an advertising campaign.
These media are discussed below:
1. Newspaper: Newspaper is one of
the traditional media used by businesses, both big and small alike, to advertise their businesses. The choice of a particular newspaper for advertising depends upon many factors i.e, circulation of the
newspaper, the type of readers it serves, the geographical region in which it is popular, the costs of space and general reputation of the paper, etc.
ADVANTAGES
1. It can reach a huge number of people in a given geographic area.
2. You have the flexibility in deciding
the advertisement size and placement within the newspaper.
3. Your advertisement can be as large
as necessary to communicate as much of a story as you care to tell.
4. Exposure to your advertisement is
not limited; readers can go back to
your message repeatedly as they so desired.
5. Free help in creating and producing
advertisement copy is usually available.
6. Quick turn-around helps your
advertisement reflect the changing
market conditions. The advert you
decide to run today can be in your
customers hands in one to two days
DISADVANTAGES
1. Advert space can be expensive.
2. Your adverts has to compete against the clutter of other advertisers,
including the giants adverts run by
supermarkets and departmental stores as well as the adverts of your competitors.
3. Poor photo reproduction limits
creativity.
4. Newspaper is a price-oriented
medium; most adverts are for sales.
5. Advertisement have a short shelf
life, as newspapers are usually read
once and then discarded.
6. You may be paying to send your
message to a lot of people who will
probably never be in the market to
buy from you.
7. Newspaper is a highly visible
medium, so your competitors can
quickly react to your prices.
B. Magazines: Another medium
under press publicity is magazine and journals. They also offer good facility because magazines are read leisurely when the reader is mentally prepared to receive advertisement messages.
ADVANTAGES
1. Magazine allows for better
targeting of audience, as you can
choose magazine publications that
cater for your specific audience or
whose editorial content specializes
in topics of interest to your audience.
2. High reader involvement means
that more attention will be paid to
your advertisement message.
3. Better quality paper permits better
colour reproduction and full-colour
adverts.
4. The smaller page (generally 8% by
11 inches) permits even small adverts to stand out.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Long lead times mean that you have
to make plans weeks or months in
advance.
2. The slower lead time heightens the
risk of your advert getting
overtaken by events.
3. There is limited flexibility in terms
of advert placement and format.
4. Space and advert layout costs are
higher.
C. Radio: is a form of audio advertising via radio.
ADVANTAGES
1. Radio is a universal medium enjoyed by people at one time or another during the day, at home, at work, and even in the car.
2. The vast array of radio programmes
formats offers to efficiently target
your advertising to narrowly
defined segments of consumers
most likely to respond to your offer.
3. Gives your business personality
through the creation of campaigns
using sounds and voices.
4. Free creative help is often available.
5. Rates can generally be negotiated.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Because radio listeners are spread
Over many stations, you may have to
advertise simultaneously on several
stations to reach your target
audience.
2. Listeners cannot go back to your
adverts to listen all over again to
important points.
3. Advertisment is an interruption in
entertainment. Because of this, a
radio adverts may require multiple
exposure to break through the
listener’s “tune-out” factor and ensure message retention.
4. Radio is d background medium.
Most listeners are doing something
else while listening, which means
that your advert has to work hard to
get their attention.
D. Television: Television advertisements have been very popular ever since they were introduced. The cost of television advertising often depends on the duration of the advertisement, the time of broadcast (prime time/lull
time), Sometimes the show on which it will be broadcast, and of course, the popularity of the television channel itself.
ADVANTAGES
1. Television permits you to reach
large number of people on a
national or regional level in a short
period of time.
Independent stations and cable
offer new opportunities to pinpoint
local audiences.
2. television being an image-building
and visual medium, offers the ability to convey
DISADVANTAGES
1. Message is temporary, and may
require multiple exposure for the
advert to rise above the clutter
2. Adverts on network affiliates are
concentrated in local news broadcasts and station breaks.
3. Preferred advert times are often
sold out far in advance.
4. Limited length of exposure, as most
advert are only thirty seconds long
or less, which limits the amount of
information you can communicate.
5. Relatively expensive in terms of
creative, production and airtime
costs.
E. Online (internet): Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers.
Online advertising can expose a
small business to customers all over
the world.
ADVANTAGES
1. The Internet’s vast reach can allow
advertisers to reach significantly more people than traditional advertising media at a fraction of the cost.
2. Internet advertising is ideal for businesses with a national or
international target market and
large-s cale distribution capabilities.
3. As a rule, the more people your
business serves, the most cost-efficient
internet advertising can be.
4. Internet advertising can also be
more targeted than some traditional
media, ensuring that your messages
are seen by the most relevant
audiences.
DISADVANTAGES
One disadvantage of advertising on
the Internet is that your marketing
materials are automatically
available for anyone in the world to copy, regardless of the legal
ramifications. Logos, images and
trademarks can be copied and used for commercial purposes, or even to
slander or mock your company.
2. Usually one hires a professional, be
it a freelancer or some company to
design his site and to strategically
advertise the concerned product or
service. This adds to the additional
cost.
3. One major problem with internet
advertising is the cluttered view of a
web page. Every advertiser has a
competitive edge and wants to grab
the attention of every consumer, but
with so much information on the
platter at a time, it is impossible to
digest and the consumer in turn ignores most of the advertisements, resulting in low rates of return.
See Previous lessons in Marketing
Lesson Evaluation/Test
- What is advertising media?
- Mention any four Advertising Media.
- State the advantages and disadvantages of any four mentioned above.
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