Media Comparison

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the major media formats? How does outdoor complement them? Why is outdoor advertising a good choice?

Television
Cable Television
Radio
Newspaper
Magazines
Yellow Pages
Direct Mail
Internet

Outdoor advertising reaches nearly every American, yet outdoor does not get a proportionate share of ad revenue.
 

Sources: Universal McCann, 2009 Total Media Spending; TVB, Nielsen Media Research Survey 2008, % Hours/Week

Television

Since its introduction in the late 1940’s, television has been widely accepted into American’s homes as a source of news, information and entertainment. In 1950 television penetration of U.S. households was only 9.0%. Within only five years the percentage grew impressively to 64.5%. Today, television penetrates over 98% of U.S. households.

In that time, the television industry has seen a great deal of change. In 1950, there were fewer than 100 commercial TV stations, and today that total has increased to 1,248 commercial TV stations. However, television has also felt the impact of a massive explosion of other viewing choices such as cable, satellite TV, pay-per-view, and videotape rentals to name a few. These additional choices have diluted the U.S. viewing audience making it highly fragmented.
With fewer viewers watching any one given TV channel, television ratings are suffering. In 1990, among adults 18 – 64, the network average for a program during primetime achieved an 11.0 rating. In 1999, among the same group, the network average for a program during primetime achieved only a 6.3 rating.
Today, many viewers consume a limited amount of television. Light television viewers comprise 40% of the total television audience, spending less than 90 minutes a day watching TV between the hours of 6am and midnight. Light television viewers are difficult to reach, a serious concern given that this group is characterized as being younger, more active, and affluent.

Television Positioning

• Wide geographic coverage
• Broad audience reach
• Ratings accountability - audience measurement
• Many high visibility sponsorship opportunities
• Relative ease of buying and post-buy maintenance
• Sight, sound, motion & emotion, product demonstration
• Prestige medium for advertiser sales force or retail trade/distribution
• Association with station news operations, community service and promotional events adds credibility to advertisers' messages
• Proven success record for mass consumer products

Television Disadvantages

• Audience share generally declining for broadcast TV; increasing viewing options on cable/satellite TV fragments audiences
• Many shows skew older and downscale, demographically—hard to target young demos and men
• High CPM’s relative to other forms of TV
• Primetime is no longer the ultimate reach builder—approximately 20-25% of the population is not reached weekly by ABC/CBS/NBC prime
• Broadcast TV rates continue to rise
• VCRs, remotes and new personal recording devices encourage zipping, zapping and channel surfing. Interactive set-top units with links to the internet, telephone and e-mail will increase this distracted, advertising-avoiding behavior
• Expensive and rising production costs
• Ad clutter: Number of commercial minutes per hour continues to rise (average 16+/hour in prime network)

Television and Outdoor

Television’s combination of sight, sound and motion rolled into one make it a formidable advertising medium. Still, people are viewing less television. Outdoor reinforces television messages when viewers are away from their homes during the course of daily activities.

Television signals broadcast over a large market area. Outdoor minimizes wasted coverage and improves an advertiser’s campaign by providing the ability to target geographically.

Television is expensive. Outdoor improves the efficiency of a television campaign buy driving down CPM costs. Outdoor reaches light TV viewers who tend to be younger and more affluent than heavy TV viewers.

Cable Television

In 1980, cable viewing was hardly a blip on the Nielsen radar screen. Today, ad-supported cable regularly captures 40%+ viewing shares. Twenty years ago, less than one out of every four homes in America subscribed to cable. Today, more than three out of four receive cable through either fiber/co-axial distribution or alternative delivery systems.

Cable television offers considerably more targeting capabilities than broadcast TV, allowing advertisers to target specific consumer groups according to their programs of interest.

The cable industry faces new challenges. Direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) has captured more than 11 million subscribers in just a few years, and is poised to acquire viewers in unprecedented numbers now that the government has granted permission for satellite companies to offer local channels. Moreover, digital broadcasting TV may force burdensome channel loads and further audience fragmentation on cable operators.

Many advertisers consider cable television to be "discount television," offering the same benefits of broadcast television, at considerably cheaper rates. In fact, because cable television provides consumers dozens of viewing choices, cable networks deliver considerably smaller audiences than broadcast television. For example, during the ’98 - ’99 season, the top three ranked cable networks only achieved ratings between the range of 1.8 to 1.5 during primetime.

Cable Television Positioning

• Cable television has experienced tremendous growth since its inception, today it penetrates 78% of all U.S. households
• Greater targeting capabilities compared to broadcast television
• Programming available in all time periods except for late nights after 1 am
• Consumer appreciation, consumers pay for an abundance of programming choices
• Inexpensive compared to broadcast television with similar benefits
• Summer season, typical cable’s rating increase during the summer, when broadcast television ratings decline due to re-runs

Cable Television Disadvantages

• Smaller audiences than broadcast television
• Cable does not reach 15 to 20% of the population
• Cable is costlier to buy than on-air TV networks
• Late night and early AM infomercial glut creates a bad image
• Excessive reliance on reruns
• Compared to broadcast television, greater number of commercials per hour

Cable Television and Outdoor

The combination of outdoor and cable television offers advertisers similar benefits to the combination of outdoor and broadcast television. Outdoor reinforces television messages when viewers are away from their homes during the course of daily activities.

Outdoor minimizes wasted coverage and improves advertising campaigns by providing greater targeting ability. Cable television delivers relatively small audiences compared to broadcast television. Outdoor improves cable televisions delivery by improving the overall reach of a campaign.

Outdoor offers localized media reinforcement of cable television’s visual message.

Radio

Radio continues to benefit from the upward trend of the growing listening audience. Driven largely by the increase in long auto-based commutes, the number of people listening to the radio in the average quarter hour has held over the last decade and grew 4.4% to 24.8 million in 1999. With various station formats, listeners have a multitude of choices to satisfy their particular preferences.

Despite the variety in station formats, most radio listeners tend to be loyal and identify with one or two stations. This loyalty to specific radio stations allows advertisers the ability to target selectively by choosing the station or stations that best fit the desired target demographic.

Although radio is positioned as a media that is connected to listeners throughout the course of the day, the greatest volume of listeners occurs during drive times. Naturally, radio markets to the mobile audience on commute. In fact, the radio reaches 43.3% of all adults while in the car, greater than any other location. But interestingly, radio listening decreases significantly after 7pm.

Radio Positioning

• Theater of the mind, production creativity has no limits
• Ubiquitous
• Targeting capabilities, audience fragmentation positioned as a benefit
• Inexpensive compared to other traditional media
• Frequency media
• Promotions and remotes to create an advertiser event
• No seasonal audience declines

Radio Disadvantages

• No visual, no product demonstration ability
• Advertisers must buy deep (multiple stations and formats) to accumulate audience reach of over 50%, offsetting the cost effectiveness of radio if the target is a large, broad group of consumers
• Audience is encouraged to tune out, change the buttons, seek out "commercial-free music blocks"
• Radio formats are becoming more homogenized, sounding the same from market to market and station to station. Many using satellite-delivered and syndicated programming with no local sound
• 90's trend with station ownership consolidation is to increase hourly spot loads; even if the audiences tune-out, push the buttons, they'll likely end up at another station owned by same group
• Peak listening is morning drive (6A - 10A); lowest listening levels are after 7 PM

Radio and Outdoor

The combination of radio and outdoor epitomizes the near perfect marriage of media. Both radio and outdoor market to the mobile audience, but this ideal combination offers other balanced dimensions for connecting to the desired audience.

Radio is considered a frequency media because radio listeners tend to be loyal and only tune into couple of stations. In order to buy broad market reach with radio, an advertiser is forced to buy multiple stations. Outdoor increases the reach of a radio campaign by providing mass-market appeal to all radio listeners.

Additionally, outdoor re-enforces a radio campaign by providing the visual to accompany the radio message. Radio messages are vulnerable to being tuned out when listeners switch from station to station. Outdoor can’t be tuned out. Consequently, including outdoor increases the frequency of the campaign by maintaining a constant presence.

Additional examples how outdoor can strengthen a radio campaign:

• Sight/sound combination. Outdoor captures customers’ attention; radio provides the details.
• Outdoor reinforces radio message and creates top of mind awareness
• Outdoor provides geographic targeting

Newspaper

The newspaper is one of the oldest and most highly regarded media in the U.S. It is widely accepted into subscribers’ homes and plays a functional role by providing news and information. Today, there are over 1,500 daily U.S. newspapers, representing a total circulation greater than 56.7 million.

However, for more than 20 years there has been a consistent decline in the number of Americans who regularly read a weekday newspaper. In 1977, an impressive 67% of Americans regularly read a weekday newspaper. By 1997, that figure had dropped to 51%. Even more alarming, single-copy readership has also dipped. Single-copy readers are generally characterized as a younger audience aged 18-35. In general, younger consumers are spending less time with newspapers than traditional newspaper subscribers.

With the increased fragmentation of media, consumers now have more choices for getting their news. The explosive growth of the on-line news sites has increased competition among traditional new sources. Today there are thousands of portals containing news content. This increased competition has forced traditional newspapers to establish an on-line presence, today more than 1,100 daily newspapers are accessible through the web.

Newspaper Positioning

• Broad reach, mass medium
• Newspaper offers targeting capability with regional delivery and special advertising sections
• Geographic selectivity available via small town/suburban papers
• Most newspapers retain high reputations for civic-mindedness & integrity
• Only a small portion of market is a ready buyer on any given day; buyers use newspaper to price shop; advertiser needs to run every day to hit the buyer target
• Extends retail showroom and can put many items on display (i.e. local furniture retailers, automotive, realtors, grocers, drugstores)
• Marketplace for comparison price shopping
• Competitive parity - a competitor is running more ad space, you need to be more competitive

Newspaper Disadvantages

• Decreasing market penetration - many newspaper achieve less than 50% penetration
• Generally declining readership
• Not a cost-effective frequency medium
• Low usage: browsers, not readers - spending less time reading newspaper; readers not reading every section
• Number of younger readers (18 - 35) declining, spending less time reading - TV generation
• Readers don't see ads - most ad recall studies show less than 50% of newspaper readers recall noting full-page ads; Starch research shows that 1/4 page ads generate noting scores almost equal to full-page ads
• Little targeting - difficult to accommodate selective market targeting; zoned editions often too large to match desired target
• Coupon redemption declining
• Clutter - profitable newspapers are 60-75% advertising, Sundays may be even more (not including FSIs, free-standing inserts), no exclusivity or separation guaranteed
• Losing exclusive status with classifieds in recruitment, automotive and real-estate; competition from Internet and other media
• Multiple rate cards - general/national rates up to 50% more than retail/local rates (agencies only commissioned 15% on general/national rates, though this is changing somewhat in remaining two-newspaper markets)
• Forty to forty-five percent of all adults do not read a paper every day—among the young, the figure is higher
• Variety of volume discounts, rate cards, zones, market sizes make cost effectiveness comparisons difficult

Newspaper and Outdoor

The use of outdoor can resolve some of newspapers’ shortcomings. Through the use of outdoor an advertiser improves its ability of selective targeting. Outdoor penetrates newspapers’ zoned areas that are too large for reaching the desired target.

Old news is old news. Newspapers have a short shelf life. Often advertiser’s messages are thrown out in the daily trash unread. Outdoor can extend the life of a campaign by working all day long, every day.

Readership rates are on the decline and will likely continue due to increasing number of alternate news sources. Outdoor’s very nature is unavoidable and impacts consumers lost to other news sources.

Additional examples how outdoor can strengthen a newspaper campaign:

• Outdoor repeats call to action message
• Outdoor can promote newspaper section/ad reference
• Outdoor increases the reach and ensures greater coverage among light readers and younger consumers
• Outdoor lowers CPM cost of expensive newspapers

Magazines

Over the last decade the number of consumer magazines titles has steadily increased. In 1990 there were slightly more than 14,000 consumer magazines available in the U.S. Today, that number has grown to more than 18,000 consumer magazines covering a wide range of topics and interests. Magazines offer advertisers fairly tight targeting opportunities based on demographics, product affinity, or lifestyle. Additionally, magazines offer advertisers high quality graphic capabilities for creating aesthetically appealing visuals.

Unfortunately, while the numbers of magazine titles has increased, the amount of time people spend reading has decreased. The growth in the diversity of magazine categories has led to the fostering of distinctive niche markets. This creation of distinctive niche markets has made an advertiser’s desire to reach the broad market increasingly more difficult. Equally concerning is the fact that the circulation of mass magazines is on the decline.

Magazine Positioning

• Offer high degree of selective targeting based on demographic, product affinity, or lifestyle
• High quality of visuals
• Unique editorial environment & targeting opportunities
• Consumers invest their own money to purchase favorite magazines
• Consumers turn to magazines as source for information and ideas
• Regional editions offer localized targeting capabilities

Magazine Disadvantages

• So many titles to choose from
• Magazines are weak in short term (daily/weekly) reach
• Timing opportunities limited: many readers reached weeks and months after publication
• Issue-specific audience data, let alone page-by-page readership not available
• Consumers are spending less time reading magazines
• Broad market reach is difficult to achieve with growing niche readership behavior

Magazines and Outdoor

Outdoor strengthens an overall magazine advertising campaign by providing a constant presence in the market.

Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages benefit from high penetration rates, almost 96% of U.S. households have at least one copy. After the 1983 breakup of the Bell System, a new era of competition began to reshape the directory business. Today over 250 companies publish and distribute nearly 6,000 different Yellow Pages directories in North America. The total number of directories distributed annually exceeds 350 million.

The Yellow Pages serve as an excellent reference tool providing timely information to consumers. In most cases consumers have a specific business or multiple businesses in mind, and they use Yellow Pages to locate addresses, telephone numbers or additional information on these desired contacts. As a consequence, information in Yellow Pages ads is helpful in learning about products and services and is considered in light of any other knowledge the consumer may have about the company. Once information from all sources is considered, then the decision as to whom to contact is made.

Despite having such high rates of household penetration, only 58% of all U.S. adults refer to the Yellow Pages in the average week. This makes an advertiser’s job of building top of mind awareness extremely difficult.

Yellow Pages Positioning

• One-call close
• Larger ads, more ads under multiple headings
• Color
• Prestige, perception by consumer based on size, color, number of ads
• Competitive parity, you must be there

Yellow Pages Disadvantages

• Limited exposure: Over 40% won't use each week; no chance to see ad; used by "ready to buy" consumers who are new customers; repeat/current customers for a business rarely use directory when making a purchase
• Minimal consumer awareness: directory advertising creates no top-of-mind awareness (remember "ready to buy" consumers); requires other advertising media to create stand-outs in directory and drive demand for products
• Nothing but advertising and advertiser is placed next to all competitors
• Inconvenient: Big, inconvenient to store; generally not available outside home or office
• Inflexible: No copy changes for life of book
• Long lead times: Pre-publication lead time (15+ months)
• Competition: Multiple directories in each market; internet, CD-ROM database products

Yellow Pages and Outdoor

Yellow Pages place advertisers alongside direct competitors. Outdoor cuts through the clutter and strengthens an overall campaign by exclusively communicating your advertising message.

Usage of the Yellow Pages is limited and infrequent. Outdoor builds top of mind awareness by maintaining a constant presence in the market directing consumers to Yellow Pages ads.

Here are additional examples how outdoor can strengthen a Yellow Pages campaign:

• Outdoor is continuous, increases repetition of message
• Outdoor provides the pre-sell to the Yellow Pages ads
• Outdoor’s flexibility accommodates change to creative messages
• Outdoor creates top of mind awareness by exclusively communicating your message, not competing with multiple ads on the same page

Direct Mail

More than 60 billion pieces of direct mail advertising are sent out each year. Using sophisticated computer databases and management techniques direct marketers can target consumers across a vast array of criteria including age, sex, education, financial status, profession, religion, hobby interests, and much more. In the U.S. a great variety of consumer and business lists are available. The list brokerage and list rental businesses in this country are highly developed and responsive to direct marketing customers' needs. Also, companies frequently share information about their customers and consequently consumer information in the U.S. is robust and deep.

While direct marketers enjoy the selective targeting available through direct mail, the reality is that direct mail advertising has a low response rate. Many envelopes filled with promotions, special offers, and discount certificates are quickly tossed into the trash unopened. Many consumers are simply fed up with junk mail. Many consumers are so dissatisfied that an entire industry has sprung up devoted to helping consumers get off mailing lists. Another concern for the direct mail industry is the rise of potential legislation aimed at restricting marketers’ access to potential customers.

Direct Mail Positioning

• Advertiser can target potential customers by geographical, product affinity, previous purchase, and potential interest based on database mailing information
• Broad reach, advertisers can potentially reach every household in the market
• Effective in building and reinforcing existing consumer relationships through personalized mailings
• Tracking capabilities, marketers can track response through coupon redemption and return-card/call-back options
• Allows an advertiser to convey highly detailed information about their product or service, as well as deliver product samples

Direct Mail Disadvantages

• Many consumers look at unsolicited mailings unfavorably
• Low response rates
• Increased mailing costs reduce cost-efficiency

Internet

Internet advertising began in 1994, and since then has been the fastest growing media in history. Today more than 52% of U.S. households have internet access. The average net user is characterized as being young, well educated, and affluent. The average net user spends nearly 8 hours surfing per month.
Since their first appearance on commercial Web pages, the value of banner ads has been debated. Many felt that they were physically too small to offer much branding. The recent decline in click through rates has lead to questioning of the validity of banner ads. And interestingly, recent reports by leading internet media research firms indicate that nearly 60% of all online advertising inventory goes unsold.

Internet Positioning

• Direct response-transactional opportunity available real-time with advertising message
• 1:1 Marketing realized
• 24x7 advertising/customer service presence
• Long-term reduction of operational and transactional costs for businesses, especially with repeat customers
• New, exciting place to be for advertisers and businesses
• Marketplace in the internet is the world

Internet Disadvantages

• High-speed access is not widely available yet, limiting creative technology applications; great graphics, animation, video, etc. that are slow-loading and crash prone on current dial-up providers
• High response rates to advertising can tax customer service, inventory, shipping and other operational areas of the advertiser business
• Online users are increasing rapidly each month, however only 52% have online access at home in the U.S.
• The perception of the "new, exciting," internet advertising is becoming more accepted and is also suffering declining awareness
• Limited frequency, there are hundreds of thousands of websites, but each surfer can only visit a few and re-visits even fewer
• Privacy concerns: See Tracking advantage; current consumer movement encouraging the opt-in feature to reduce junk e-mail and "Big Brother" data collecting
• Security concerns: Despite the secure server technology, horror stories of credit card numbers being hacked, stolen and published hold many consumers back from using credit cards online
• Time: Most home users are still stuck with 56K or slower dial-up speeds, making web browsing tedious and frustrating with graphics, video, audio, etc. Users move on quickly if advertiser information not worth the wait.

Internet and Outdoor

Interestingly, both the internet and outdoor market themselves to similar audiences. Both media market to a younger, educated, affluent, and mobile audience. Outdoor extends the reach and frequency of a campaign when net users are off-line. The brevity of outdoors’ copy is ideal for driving traffic to websites.

Sources

• Television Bureau of Advertising – TV Basics
• Cable Television Advertising Bureau – Cable TV Facts
• Radio Advertising Bureau – Media Facts, Radio Marketing Guide & Fact Book
• Newspaper Association of America – Facts About Newspapers
• Magazine Publishers of America – The Magazine Handbook
• Yellow Pages Publishers Association – Industry Facts & Media Guide
• Direct Marketing Association – 1999 Economic Impact: U.S. Direct Marketing Today
• Internet Advertising Bureau – Why Internet Advertising