Researching Audiences for Advertisng
Advertising agencies must conduct research about their clients' product or service to determine an appropriate target audience for advertising. This process is usually hidden from consumers, We often do not consider how we have been carefully selcted to hear, read or see an advertisement. Advertisers constantly adapt their messages and strategies to the demands of the day. As media audience measurement techniques and consumers themselves have changed, so to have advertisers' attempts to reach consumers. A brief history of advertsing reveals three major approaches to the advertising audience: mass-marketing, segmentation and mass customization. Advertisers today use all three approaches.
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| Targeting Audiences
In the 1940s and 50s, advertisers used media to target large audiences. With relatively few media, few products and more homogeneous customers, mass-marketing worked well. Advertisers delivered information about products to large audiences via radio and television programs. Today the owner of a pizza delivery store near you may use mass marketing to reach local residents. By advertising in such media as a local newspaper or a popular local radio station the owner can reach a large part of the target audience.
During the 1970s, advertising researchers realized that not every consumer wanted the same product or service. As a result advertisers sought to segment audiences so that they could adapt both their message content and the media channel to reach the ideal target audience for their product or service. There are three popular methods of audience segmentation: demographics, psychographics and geodemographics. Demographics refers to such audience characteristics as age, sex, race and religion. Psychogrphics refers to the personality and lifestyle characteristics of consmers. Geodemographics shows advertisers where particular audiences live. Segmentation helps persuaders to understand who is likely to purchase their products and how to target those potential customers. It is important to note that although it is based on research, audience segmentation cannot perfectly predict the beliefs, attitudes and values of each audience member.
Since the 1970s, there has been a great increase in the number of products available to consumers, in the number and type of media channels available to reach consumers and in the diversity of consumer interests. As a result, advertisers now see limitations with audience segmentation Robert J. Lavidge (1999) argues that we see ourselves as individuals and prefer to be targeted as individuals. Using database technology, advertisers are able to reach consumers on an individual basis.
Consider a grocery store in your city where you purchase a case of Pepsi. At the checkout, you show your "preferred customer card" to receive an additional discount. In a few weeks, you might receive a coupon in the mail for your next purchase of Pepsi. The grocery store is using relationship marketing to sell you a product.
Media Selection
After they determine the target audience for a product or service, advertising agencies must select the appropriate medium or media for the advertisement. Media organizations promise audiences to advertising agencies. which buy time on a particular medium. After an audience has been gathered, its attention is "rented" to an advertiser. The audience is forced to watch the advertisement but it is given something in return: entertainment. Viewing advertisements is the "work" that we do to receive cheap entertainment. I will now focus on seven types of advertising: television, newspapers, radio, magazines, out-of-home, Internet and direct mail.
7 Types of Advertising Television | Television is an attractive medium for advertising because it delivers mass audiences to advertisers. However, television is an expensive medium and not all advertisers can afford to use it | Newspapers | After television, the medium attracting the next largest annual ad revenue is newspapers. Newspapers are seen as the last mass-medium and this accounts for their popularity among advertisers | Radio | Advertising on radio continues to grow. Radio is often used in conjunction with other media such as outdoor billboards and the Internet to reach even more customers than television, which means advertisers can afford to repeat their ads often | Magazines | Newsweeklies, women’s titles and business magazines have all seen increases in advertising because they attract an upscale demographic market | Out-of-Home Advertising | Out-of-Home Advertising, also called place-based advertising, has become an increasingly effective way of reaching consumers who are more active than ever before. Many consumers today do not watch television. Using newsstands, billboards and bus shelters for advertising is an effective way of reaching these on-the-go consumers | Internet | As consumers become more comfortable with online shopping, advertisers will seek to reach this market. As consumers get more of their news and information from the Internet, the ability of television and radio to get the word out to consumers will decrease | Direct Mail | Direct mail uses mailings to consumers to communicate a client’s message. Direct mail includes newsletters, postcards and special promotions |
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