Page 211 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Unit 12: Media Planning and Strategy

Use of newspapers allows advertisers to use creative options as the ads can be produced Notes
and run in very large to small sizes, shapes, and formats. To attract readers' attention, the
ads can be produced in colour, placed in the Sunday magazine section, or the newspaper
may carry the ads as special inserts.
3. Geographic and Language Selectivity: Advertisers can take advantage of newspapers to
reach selected geographic markets. They can also select newspapers published in several
Indian languages, besides English. This allows them greater flexibility in reaching specific
market areas by using a single or a combination of newspapers. For example, many large
consumer product marketers advertise in regional/local newspapers published in different
languages, besides national dailies.
Small budget local advertisers are particularly interested in geographic selectivity or
flexibility. Their customers are located within specific market or trade area and the objective
is to focus their advertising on areas with existing and potential customer concentration.
4. Reader Involvement: People devote some time every day to reading newspapers and
while they are exposed to news, entertainment, and information, their consumption
decisions are also influenced by what they read in advertisements. Many consumers read
ads about products in which they are interested or plan to purchase. Some go through a
newspaper because of advertising it contains.

Example: Job seekers particularly purchase The Hindustan Times or Times of India on
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Consumers look for ads offering attractive deals, to compare retail prices, or to learn about the
new introductions in certain product categories. Newspaper ads are rated more believable than
ads appearing in any other media.

Limitations

1. Reproduction Quality: This happens to be a major limitation of newspapers as an
advertising medium. The paper quality of newspapers is called coarse newsprint, not
suited to proper colour reproduction. Newspapers also lack time available to bring about
fine details required in high-quality reproduction of photographs and graphics of most
advertisements since they use high-speed rotary printing process. Good colour reproduction
is possible only in special newspaper supplements using better quality of printing paper,
such as Sunday supplements. Reproduction of high-quality colour is important when the
product appearance is critical in creating an impact. High-quality colour reproduction is
quite expensive and for this reason, not suited to many advertisers. When a product's
visual appearance is important in the ad, the advertiser will not use newspaper advertising.

2. Short Life Span: Another limitation of newspapers is their short life span. Newspapers are
not a leisure and pleasure medium and hence customers do not devote much time to
reading them. Most people generally read newspapers as soon as they are received and
then dump or throw them away. So a newspaper ad is unlikely to have any impact beyond
the day it is published and any chance of repeat exposure is rather remote. Many consumers
just skim through the newspaper and this increases the possibility of missing the ad or not
paying attention to most ads.
3. Limited Selectivity: As discussed earlier, newspapers can offer geographic selectivity but
beyond this, they are not a selective medium in terms of demographics and life-style
characteristics. Most newspapers have wide circulation and reach many different customer
groups making it difficult for an advertiser to concentrate on any specifically defined
target segment.

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