Advertising Articles

I am often asked to consult with small businesses, mid-size companies and large Fortune 500 corporations alike, to assist in the development and planning of a successful media advertising campaign. Most meetings inevitably lead us down a well-worn path where I am bombarded with important questions about the type of advertising campaign that is best suited to each particular client. As a general rule, there is no accepted panacea or miracle-infused pixie dust that will answer every age-old question about how best to advertise your product or service. However, experience has made us witness to a few steadfast precepts that should help you fine tune the score of your print advertising orchestration.

Advertising in color dramatically increases the readership of your ad. In another Cahners research study of nearly 90,000 magazine advertisements running between 1972 and 1992, four-color ads received 38% more readers than their black and white counterparts. The use of color in your advertising campaign attracts attention to your message and engages the reader to focus on the content of your
advertising agenda. Color makes your advertisement visually commanding, and will help you draw attention to important product and service benefits. Clearly, color enables you to reach your target market with maximum impact.

Aside from the importance of color in advertising, the size of your advertisement affects readership more significantly than any other variable. In a Cahners research study analysis of more than 100,000 ads during a lengthy 20 year period, two-page spread advertisements received 37% more readers than single page ads, and achieved a remarkable 133% more readers than fractional page ads. Why is bigger necessarily better when it comes to advertising? Consider that larger advertisements convey an unmistakable message to the reader about your brand, your credibility and the strength of your image. Like it or not, perception is the name of the advertising game. Seeing is believing.

How many times have you had to tell your children something before it finally sank in? Advertising is really no different. The simple truth is that repeating an ad is the surest way to increase recognition of your product or service and augment corporate or product brand awareness. I recommend that companies gauge their advertising campaign by three distinct stages of reader familiarity…Introduction,
Recognition and Call to Action. The first advertising exposure is an introduction to your intended target audience. The second advertising exposure in the same medium allows the intended reader to recognize your message and recall it with some familiarity. The call to action is often the result of a third and fourth advertising exposure in the same medium. This level of frequency pushes the message into a “Top of Mind” status, and often motivates the reader to act on the advertising message, one way or another.

Increased awareness of your products and services leads to greater recognition and familiarity, which in turn builds the intent to purchase. As advertisers, we become very familiar with our advertisement, often viewing it 50-100 times before it ever graces the pages of a given publication. Remember though…research proves that ads can be repeated with a high level of frequency without a notable loss in effectiveness.

Now that you’ve designated advertising as a corporate priority, the next question is fairly obvious. Where do we advertise our message? The answer is not as simple as might be expected, and is still a hot topic for discussion among advertising gurus and dilettantes alike. Does it make more sense to advertise with several print media vehicles, thereby achieving a broader market reach? Or is it best to concentrate our corporate message with greater frequency in only the top 1-2 publications? Good questions. Recent information however, sheds some important light on this ponderous issue.

Research shows that concentrating your advertising message in the top market publication will furnish a more significant return on your advertising investment than splitting your advertising budget among several competitor publications. In studies conducted across varying sectors, the leading publication in a given market reaches a considerable majority of readers. In fact, placing your advertisement in a secondary publication has been shown to add only 5%-6% additional market coverage. Adding a third publication to the mix adds only 2%-3% more market coverage.

Concentrating your advertising message within the top one or two publications in a given market is exceptionally cost-effective. A moderate to high frequency advertising campaign in one or two leading publications also rates you as a priority advertiser with those vehicles, and justifies increased valueadded and merchandising opportunities from those publications.

A short while ago during an informal meeting with a local fast food franchise owner, I was confronted with a very simple directive. “Help me sell more hamburgers,” he quipped. My answer surprised us both when I responded, “Who’s hamburgers do you want me to sell?” Clearly, his goal was to sell HIS hamburgers. The point I illustrate however is that far too often, companies focus only on selling a type of product or service, while not necessarily selling their particular name brand product or service. The question I posed was this. “What difference does it make if you’ve convinced someone to buy a hamburger, if it isn’t one of your hamburgers?” Without addressing this important issue, most companies don’t realize that they are indirectly advertising for their competitors.

What is the answer to this dilemma? In a word…Continuity. Continuity and consistency in advertising will increase the likelihood that customers will visit your store or ask for your brand rather than someone else’s. The simple truth is this. Customers are much more likely to purchase your brand at the point of sale if they are already pre-disposed to choose your brand over another. Maintaining a consistent
and continuous advertising effort throughout the year will help you achieve the valuable loyal, lifetime customers that make your business a perennial success.

You’ve heard the advice of investment gurus who chastise investors that attempt to time the stock market, hoping to make a quick profit and exit before the market curtain falls. In the world of advertising, this approach is also practiced by many managers that schedule their advertising around certain issues or a given editorial schedule, hoping to catch a reader’s attention at just the precise moment to impact a purchase decision. Contrary to this practice however, recent studies show that with most publications, both the editorial and advertising readership remains constant throughout the year, varying only 2%- 3% in any given three-month period.

Consider the importance of maintaining a consistent market presence to keep your particular brand name familiar to your potential customer throughout the year. With the abundance of products, services and retail establishments each vying for a sliver of recognition from a potential customer, it is more important than ever before to reach potential customers when they are most likely to make a purchase decision.

The success of your corporate advertising campaign hinges on several crucial variables. Each, no more important than the other. Good advertising can make a marginal year a bit better, and great advertising can take your business to the limits of success. Advertising is far removed from the certainties of science, however there are many insightful guidelines that will help you to achieve a successful return on
your advertising investment. If advertising seems to be a bit more than your company can handle inhouse, consider working with a professional advertising agency that will provide you with the image, strategy and direction you need.