28 Feb Advertising Reawakening
Even amidst the cultural dominance of the Internet, broadcast media still commands the largest share of the media advertising pie nationwide. Not only are radio and television the main media source of advertising today, they are also the only media source always developing new ways to reach their audience. The successful motto is – larger market share, stronger branding, and increased sales.
The Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) “How Advertising Works” study determined that abandoning media that is committed to researching consumer behavior causes sales to drop. On the coattails of this release, Procter & Gamble announced their brands were stagnate due to targeting too exclusively. So what does this mean for media?
Simply, advertisers are awakening from their hyper-targeting mindset to the three withstanding truths of media:
- Sales are directly reflective to reach quantity
- Commonality speaks in all languages
- Media is not meant to divide
With more and more advertisers realizing the narrow targeting trend is fading, the more media is shifting back to its origin.
Firstly, “it takes a big reach to make big sales”. It is as simple as big means more. The bigger and broader the brand messaging is the more products are needed to reach a large audience and with predictability, the media marketing equation can be set into motion.
Secondly, audiences like to have something in common with others. It creates an organic sense of community, which is marketing that money can’t buy. The more niche a brand targets its audience, specifically online, the more places the consumer comes from, which creates consumer unity.
Thirdly, quarantining media will be an immediate fail. Audiences, unlike advertisers, are not attracted to divides. They just want to be drawn to things they like. Keep it simple, keep it attractive, and keep it relevant.
Currently, we are in the throes of merging media. The more media paths a brand paves for their ideal consumer, the more presence they inevitably have. And on that same strategic course, if the brand listens to what the consumer is telling them they will create an efficacious brand/consumer relationship.