As new means of entertainment are being created to bypass and/or limit the consumption of TV advertisements, the strength of using TV advertising is becoming more and more debatable. However, TV advertising still has its advantages and limitations for both major national advertisers and local companies.
The advantages to TV advertising are:
- Creativity and Impact: The interaction of sight and sound offers tremendous creative flexibility and makes possible dramatic, lifelike representations of products and services. TV commercials can be used to convey a mood or image for a brand as well as to develop emotional or entertaining appeals that help make a dull product appear interesting. (Belch 365)
- Coverage and Cost Effectiveness: Nearly everyone, regardless of age, sex, income, or educational level, watches at least some TV. "According to Nielson Media Research estimates, nearly 280 million people age 2 or older live in the nation's 114.9 million TV Households, nearly 77 percent of whom are 18 or older" (Belch 366). "In 2009, the average cost per thousand (CPM) homes reached was nearly $27 for network evening shows and $7.35 for daytime weekly shows" (Belch 366).
- Captivity and Attention: Television is basically intrusive in that commercials impose themselves on viewers as they watch their favorite programs. Unless we make a special effort to avoid commercials, most of us are exposed to thousands of them each year. (Belch 366)
- Selectivity and Flexibility: Some selectivity is possible due to variations in the composition of audiences as a result of program content, broadcast time, and geographic coverage. For example, Saturday morning TV caters to children; Saturday and Sunday afternoon programs are geared to the sports-oriented male; and weekday daytime shows appeal heavily to homemakers. (Belch 367) Cable TV allows advertisers to improve their coverage further by advertising on special interest channels such as sports, history, music, the arts, and different age, race, geographic, and gender demographics.
The limitations to TV advertising are:
- Costs: Production costs for a national brand 30-second spot average nearly $400,000 and can reach over a million for more elaborate commercials. (Belch 367)
- Lack of Selectivity: Advertisers who are seeking a very specific, often small, target audience find the coverage of TV often extends beyond their market, reducing its cost effectiveness. (Belch 367)
- Fleeting Message: TV commercials usually last only 30 seconds or less and leave nothing tangible for the viewer to examine or consider. "Thirty-second spots remain the dominant commercial length, accounting for 51 percent of network spots and nearly 70 percent of non network ads" (Belch 368).
- Clutter: The advertiser's message is only one of many spots and other non programming material seen during a commercial break, so it may have trouble being noticed (Belch 369). There is also the issue having to do with the potential decline in effectiveness.
- Limited Viewer Attention: Zipping and zapping often occur when it comes to TV advertisements. Zipping occurs "when viewers fast-forward through commercials as they play back a previously recorded program" (Belch 370). Zapping refers to "changing channels to avoid commercials" (Belch 370).
- Distrust and Negative Evaluation: Studies have shown that of the various forms of advertising, distrust is generally the highest for TV commercials. (Belch 372)
The advantages of TV advertising affect its use by national advertisers and local advertisers immensely. TV advertising's creativity and impact help advertisers gain more attention from consumers. The coverage and cost effectiveness of TV advertising assures a broad reach with little expense per individual. The captivity and attention of people who regularly watch TV makes manipulating audiences through advertising rather easy. Finally, the selectivity and flexibility of TV advertising allows advertisers to reach different demographic groups on a personalized basis. All these advantages explain why TV advertising accounted for an average of 54.3% advertising expenditures for American companies in 2011 (TV Basics).
The disadvantages of TV advertising affect its use by national advertisers and local advertisers to a lesser extent than the advantages. TV advertising still dominates as the most utilized medium for advertising regardless of its limitations. Still, national advertisers may have issues with clutter and limited viewer attention the most, due to their direct competition with other national, wealthy companies who advertise to a high extent on many different channels. Local advertisers may be most concerned with costs when it comes to TV for the use of advertisements. Advertising on TV is very expensive, especially for a small, local company with a much lower advertising budget than national companies.
Resources and Citations
"A Report on the Growth and Scope of Television." TV Basics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TV_Basics.pdf>.
"A Report on the Growth and Scope of Television." TV Basics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TV_Basics.pdf>.
Belch, GE. and Belch, MA. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies. 2012.
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