Page 226 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Sales and Promotions Management

Notes 13.1 Television

Television is believed to be the most authoritative, influential and exciting medium, reaching
very large audience. It is basically an entertainment/information medium and usually viewed
by the entire family. It is often said that television is the ideal medium for advertising because
of its ability to combine visual images, sound, motion, and colour, and achieve viewers' empathy.
These characteristics present the advertiser with maximum opportunity to develop the most
creative and imaginative ad messages than any other medium. However, in spite of several
advantages over other media, television does have certain problems that limit or even prevent
its use in specific situations.
Advantages

Creativity and Impact: The greatest advantage of TV is its ability to present the advertising
message in the most unique way. The integration of sight, sound, motion, and colour offers
extraordinary flexibility to make dramatic and lifelike portrayals of products and services. The
commercials can effectively communicate an image, or mood associated with the brand. The
commercial also can help build an emotional association, or creating entertaining messages that
might make an otherwise unexciting and common product seem to be interesting. Television is
quite adept at communicating humorous, serious, realistic, or tongue-in-cheek commercials.

If the nature of product is such that a demonstration would convey the ad message more effectively,
TV is the most suitable ad medium. The print ads of products, such as autos, TVs, and microwave
ovens, etc. can show the product and provide information about their features and benefits, but
a TV commercial can put the audience in a position to virtually sense driving or operating the
gadget. This can definitely lead to an impact not possible by any other advertising media.
People generally rate television as the most credible source of information. Advertisers gain a
qualitative edge because television enjoys the most positive image of all media.
Coverage and Cost Effectiveness: Advertising on television makes it possible to reach a large
number of audiences. Television is a home and family entertainment medium. Regardless of
location, income, age, sex, or educational level, most people watch at least some TV. A significant
number of audiences watch TV programmes on a regular basis. Television is credited as being
the single biggest factor in opening up the huge rural market for a variety of consumer products.
The simple rural people of India realised that there is a world outside, very different in many
ways. Television has been instrumental in raising the level of aspirations of the Indian middle
class.
Advertisers selling products and services appealing to broad target audiences find that by using
television they can reach mass markets in a cost-effective manner. This is a major reason that
television has become a particularly popular medium among advertisers of mass consumption
products.

Example: Companies having intensive distribution arrangements for their products,
such as HLL, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co, Nirma, and OTC (Over-the-Counter)
remedies etc., use TV advertising to reach large audiences at a relatively very low cost per
thousand.
Attention: Television commercials are intrusive in nature as they are imposed on viewers while
watching their favourite programmes, and except for those viewers who make deliberate effort
to avoid them; they are exposed to thousands of commercials each year.
Those who don't avoid are exposed to many advertising messages and quite likely to pay some
attention. Readers can recall the high frequency of some TV commercials, such as those of soft

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