Major Advertising Media

Advertising is present wherever you look. There are major advertising media: newspaper, magazines, direct mail, radio, television, internet, and the yellow pages. All have advantages and disadvantages associated with them. An advantage of the newspaper is that it reaches large audiences. Also it must be purchased to be read, which is beneficial to the company developing/providing it. Also, an advantage is that it is frequently published; on a daily or weekly basis. Another advantage can be that it is favorable for cooperative advertising and merchandising services. But just like anything else, there are always negatives to positives and newspapers have disadvantages associated with them as well. A disadvantage of newspapers is that there are limited reproduction capabilities and they have short lives. A huge disadvantage of newspapers is that they are not selective for target markets. With the large advertising volume, it can limit the exposure to any one advertisement which will definitely pose as a disadvantage.

An advantage of a magazine is that there is good reproduction. Another couple advantages are that they have a good life, they have a level prestige associated with them, and they are great for leisure reading. A good example is TIME magazine. There is a level of prestige associated with TIME based off of their years of experience and quality materials. Another good example is Sports Illustrated. People get sports illustrated to read in their “down time”. There are a few disadvantages associated with magazines. High cost is one disadvantage. Another disadvantage is that there is a 30 to 90 day lead time. In the magazine industry there is a high level of competition with limited reach. Magazines also communicate less frequently.

Direct mail has several advantages. There is little wasted circulation with the advertisers controlling the circulation. Direct mail is also highly selective and can be highly personal. Advertisers are able to address the household when sending mail instead of a general group of people; plus advertisers choose who they want their letters sent to so they don’t waste their resources. It is also great for advertisers because it can be hidden from the competition. Another advantage is that there are few distractions associated with mail. A disadvantage associated with direct mail is that it can be discarded as “junk mail”. Just because it is sent to someone, they have to choose to read it which ends up being a disadvantage. It can also be very expensive. Another disadvantage is that it can lack editorial content to attract its readers. People also determine it to be an invasion of privacy.

Radio advertisements have several advantages as well. An advantage of radio is that is reaches 95% of consumers. Radio can also be highly mobile and flexible. Another advantage is that there is a relative low cost associated with the advertisements and the ads can be changed rather quickly. For example, it is much easier to change a radio ad than an ad on a billboard. There is also a high level of demographic and geographic selectivity. An advantage is that it requires the consumer to use their imagination. Everyone has heard the radio ads and started to form an imagine in their head on what the product looks like, does, etc. There are a few disadvantages associated with radio advertisements. One disadvantage is that there is limited attention from the listeners because they are usually doing other activities. I know when I listen to the radio I am usually in the car or working or doing something else that requires my immediate attention; the radio is usually on to break the silence. Also a disadvantage is that there are limited buying procedures with radio ads. The advertisements also have short lives.

Television also has several advantages for advertisers. Television reaches large audiences. Again there is demographic and geographic selectivity. There is also the advantage of having dual audio and video. For example, you hardly ever turn on the television and see a commercial that has no audio associated with. There is always someone talking or music playing. Advertisements on the television are also hard to ignore which can end up being an advantage. Again, there are disadvantages for television. One disadvantage is that it can be extremely expensive. A second disadvantage is that the size of the audience is not guaranteed. Some people refuse to watch commercials, so when their show takes a break they flip to another station. The message on television is also highly perishable. Another disadvantage is the amount of prime time television can be limited. Companies sign on for time slots but they are not guaranteed the slots from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. every night. The last disadvantage is that they can’t select who watches the commercials and who doesn’t.

Internet is another form of major advertising. An advantage associated with the internet is that there can be immediate response. It can also have the potential to reach the precise target audience. People who want view it will and people who don’t want to see the ad will go to a different website; pull medium. There is also the advantage to track customers and build databases. The last advantage is that it is a highly interactive medium. One huge disadvantage of the internet is that the costs of precise targeting are high. There can also be inappropriate ad placement. Another disadvantage is that the effects are difficult to measure. The last disadvantage is that people are starting to draw concern to security and privacy issues.

The yellow pages have advantages associated with them as well. There is a wide availability when advertising through the yellow pages. There is action and product category orientation. Another advantage is that it is a relatively low cost. The ads are also nonintrusive and there is longevity with the yellow pages. People tend to keep their yellow pages for a full year before the new yellow pages come out; they also might keep them longer than that. A disadvantage associated with the yellow pages is market fragmentation. The yellow pages are also extremely localized. Take the yellow pages in Keene for instance; they cover southern New Hampshire and some of Vermont and that’s it. Another disadvantage is that there is a slow updating process and a lack of creativity. Another disadvantage is that it requires a lot of space for a company to be noticed.

Which major media source do you think is the best? I personally feel direct mail or the internet. People read a lot of their information online and if you can get an ad that people think is interesting you can receive a lot of feedback. But I also like direct mail because it forces people to at least look over your ad before they discard it. If you were a company looking to advertise, which media source would you use?