Page 496 - Foundations of Marketing

Advertising and Public Relations | Chapter 16 463

The content of the message sometimes affects media choice. Print media can be used
more effectively than broadcast media to present complex issues or numerous details in single
advertisements. If an advertiser wants to promote beautiful colors, patterns, or textures, media
offering high-quality color reproduction, such as magazines or television, should be used
instead of newspapers. For example, food can be effectively promoted in full-color magazine
advertisements but far less effectively in black-and-white media.
The cost of media is an important but troublesome consideration. Planners try to obtain
the best coverage possible for each dollar spent. However, there is no accurate way to
compare the cost and impact of a television commercial with the cost and impact of a
newspaper advertisement. A cost comparison indicator lets an advertiser compare the
costs of several vehicles within a specific medium (such as two magazines) in relation to
the number of people each vehicle reaches. The cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is the
cost comparison indicator for magazines; it shows the cost of exposing 1 , 000 people to one
advertisement. Media are selected by weighing the various advantages and disadvantages
of each (see Table 16.2 ).
Like media selection decisions, media scheduling decisions are affected by numerous fac-
tors, such as target audience characteristics, product attributes, product seasonality, customer
media behavior, and size of the advertising budget. There are three general types of media
schedules: continuous, flighting, and pulsing. When a continuous schedule is used, advertising
runs at a constant level with little variation throughout the campaign period. McDonald’s is an
example of a company that uses a continuous schedule. With a flighting schedule, advertise-
ments run for set periods of time, alternating with periods in which no ads run. For example,
an advertising campaign might have an ad run for two weeks, then suspend it for two weeks,
and then run it again for two weeks. Companies like Hallmark, John Deere, and Ray-Ban use
cost comparison indicator
a flighting schedule. A pulsing schedule combines continuous and flighting schedules: during
A means of comparing the
the entire campaign, a certain portion of advertising runs continuously, and during specific costs of advertising vehicles in
time periods of the campaign, additional advertising is used to intensify the level of commu- a specific medium in relation to
nication with the target audience. the number of people reached

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