Print: No Room for Art for Art's Sake
Sales are part of print media's value proposition. That's why advertisers and agencies are best off relying on daily and weekly newspapers for advertising goals that involve sales.
Wholesalers and advertisers of pork belly ads know why. The industry refers to sales-oriented print advertising with specific prices as pork belly ads. They are the classic example of sales-oriented advertising. No room for l'art pour l'art. Here it's all about sales. Such ads may not win ADC cubes or beauty prizes, but they do arouse above-average desire among customers. According to a BAV study by the Bavarian Academy for Advertising and Communication, 68% of respondents consider an ad with price information to be credible, and 45% confirm that advertising with price information influences their purchase decision. In contrast to product and image campaigns, pork belly ads do not take a summer break. They appear for 52 weeks. Of course, there are double-page panorama ads with image objectives. And multi-page ad lines with the aim of increasing awareness from 0 to 100. That also works. But the core competence of the advertising hierarchy of the press lies elsewhere: in sales and updating. Whenever sales-oriented advertising is required to quickly trigger campaigns, the print media show their most effective side. Media specialists often refer to this as the so-called recency strategy. The aim of this strategy is to address consumers precisely when they are about to make a purchase. The effectiveness of the printed press, the regular use and the credibility of the medium make print media the preferred influencer for the shopping list.
As part of WEMF's ad hoc study "Media type decision" for the Media Research Day 2012, 179 advertising clients and advertising and media agencies were surveyed on the media type decision. In addition to recording the numerous factors that influence the media type decision, the respondents also provided information on which media types are particularly suitable for which advertising objectives. This showed that the individual media types offer differentiated conditions for achieving very specific advertising objectives (see table). For advertising objectives involving sales, 62% of respondents primarily rely on the daily and weekly press, followed by online media. While television tends to be prioritized for image and awareness, the strengths of print media lie in advertising objectives such as sales, updating, information and knowledge transfer. In the case of magazines, this also applies to image objectives. The study also shows that respondents position online media in the middle of traditional media. The complete results of the "Media type decision" study were summarized in a dossier compiled by the Swiss Media Association and the WEMF and are available from the publishers.
Otto Meier
18th Swiss Media Research Day Wednesday, September 24, 2014
What makes media users tick at the moment and how will they change? Users with a profile - escaped or under control? WEMF AG für Werbemedienforschung is hosting an event on this topic at the Kursaal in Bern as part of the Swiss Media Research Day 2014. You can find more information and register free of charge at www.wemf.ch
