Newspaper

Newspapers play a functional role by providing news and information. However, for more than 20 years there has been a consistent and steep decline in the number of Americans who regularly read a weekday or weekend newspaper. Many consumers today use online sources to gather news and information rather than printed materials. Nearly 100 million homes have an Internet connection, offering almost everything found in newspapers, including national and global news, classified ads, opinions, entertainment, sports, comics and horoscopes. Many traditional newspaper advertising sectors, such as job ads and real estate, have also moved online.

Advertisers in big cities have plenty of options to reach consumers, and newspapers are one of the most expensive. Newspapers can charge as much as $25 for every 1,000 people who might see an ad covering a half page.

According to The Media Audit, those who spend more than an hour per day reading newspapers spend 3.7 hours per day online. Internet newspaper reading represents almost 30 percent of time spent with newspapers.

A survey by the Pew Research Center asked readers if they would feel the loss of either print or online versions of their local newspaper. Forty-two percent said they would not miss their city paper much, or at all. Twenty-six percent didn’t think the loss would hurt civic life in their communities, and nearly 30 percent said there would be other ways to get news if their local paper shut down.

Newspaper Benefits

• Broad reach within a defined market area• Newspaper offers targeting capability with regional delivery and special advertising sections
• Geographic selectivity is available in small towns
• Marketplace for competitive price shopping

Newspaper Disadvantages

• Decreasing market penetration and readership with many newspapers reaching less than 50 percent penetration
• Low younger audience (18-24) readership
• Costly frequency medium
• Some ad recall studies show less than 50 percent of newspaper readers recall noting ads
• Ad clutter

Newspaper and Out of Home

Out of home can resolve some of newspaper’s distribution shortcomings by offering selective targeting. Out of home penetrates newspaper zones that are too large for reaching neighborhood target areas.

Newspapers have a short shelf life. Out of home can extend the life of a newspaper campaign by presenting ad messages in a marketplace 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Readership rates are declining and will likely continue due to increasing numbers of alternate news sources. Out of home’s very nature is unavoidable and impacts consumers lost to other source options.

Magazines

One of the core benefits magazine publishers can offer advertisers is the opportunity to use high production quality to influence core demographic audiences. But as more consumers are obtaining information from digital media platforms, more titles fold, circulation drops, and newsstand and subscription prices rise, the opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers through magazines are shrinking. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, the number of advertising pages in top magazines has dropped 42 percent since 2000.

Magazine Benefits

• High degree of selective targeting based on demographics, product affinity, or lifestyle
• High production quality
• Focused editorial environment
• Regional editions offer localized targeting capabilities

Magazine Disadvantages

• Specific issue audience data is not typically available
• Magazines produce minimal short term (daily/weekly) reach
• Broad market reach is difficult to achieve because of niche readership behavior

Magazines and Out of Home
Out of home strengthens an overall magazine ad campaign by providing a constant presence in the marketplace.

Internet

Internet advertising began in the mid-nineties and since then has been the fastest growing media segment. According to Magna Insights, nearly 100 million US households have Internet access today and over 90 percent of those households use broadband. The average user spends over 25 hours online per week. As a result, the Internet represents one-third of daily media use, according to The Media Audit. While new Internet ad options continue to evolve, the value of traditional banner ads is debatable as click through rates stay low.

Individuals are using social networking platforms where users generally hold negative views of advertising and consider ads a distraction. It is difficult to quantify the value of Internet advertising based on traditional media measures, and viable integration of advertising within social networking enterprises has proven tough to achieve.

Internet Benefits

• Direct response and transactional opportunity are available to consumers in real-time
• One-to-one marketing any time and any place• Long-term reduction of transactional business costs

Internet Disadvantages

• Limited frequency across millions of websites with users able to access only a fraction of sites available
• Privacy and security concerns

Internet and Out of Home
Internet and out of home advertising reach similar audiences. Both market to a younger, educated, affluent, and mobile audience.

Out of home extends the reach and frequency of an Internet campaign when users are offline.

The brevity of out of home’s copy is ideal for driving traffic to a website.

A 2002 research study shows:

• Mobile billboards are twice as effective in driving sales vs. static billboards
• 94% of respondents recalled mobile billboards with an amazing 80% recall of specific ads.
• Mobile Billboards resulted in an increase of sales of 107% versus a 54% increase for static billboards.

– SOURCE: Product Acceptance and Research, Inc.

The advertising effect of being on the side of a Tri-Action sign is 4.3 times better than traditional advertising.– SOURCE: Capital Communication Group

A study conducted by the Transportation Advertising Council found that:

• Messages on outdoor mobile billboards have a 97% recall rate
• 96% of respondents said mobile advertising is more effective than traditional outdoor advertising

– SOURCE: Outdoor Advertising Magazine

Findings in a recent study on mobile advertising effectiveness concluded:

• 91% of target audience noticed text and graphics on vehicle advertising.
• 29% of those surveyed said they would buy products advertised on trucks.
• 96% of viewers say mobile billboards have more impact than static billboards.

– SOURCE: American Trucking Association and 3M

• Americans report spending an average of 15 hours a week in-car, either as driver or passenger.
• Young men 18-34, elusive to TV advertisers, have huge exposure to outdoor media.
• In-car audiences are a vital advertising consideration in all-sized U.S. media markets.
• Outdoor and radio advertising are very complementary.

– SOURCE: Arbitron Inc./Edison Media Research

A European research study reported:

• Mobile billboards boost name recognition 15 times greater than any other form of advertising.

– SOURCE: European Outdoor Advertising Assoc.

Filed under: by LVMA