Marketing communication: principles and practice

particular situation or context, i.e. to accomplish a desirable communication
objective. The efficiency of a medium is the amount of resource (time, money,
effort, etc.) expended in striving for the accomplishment of the desired
communication objective. Table 9.3 indicates performance characteristics
of various media options, and these must be considered in relation to the
communication objectives set and the cost of using the medium.
Against the performance characteristics of the media options set out in
Table 9.3, the following questions must be asked:
1 Is the medium interactive or not?
2 What is the cost of reaching the target consumer/buyer? 
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Reach
Number of people who pay attention, geographic
coverage, and penetration of the total population
Audience type
Profile of those who can and do pay attention –
values, lifestyle, etc.
Audience size
How many people to be contacted
Budget
Production costs and media purchase
Communication objective
What can be accomplished and what response is
required?
Time
Timescale for intended response, relation to other
media use, etc. 
Media-buying constraints
Air time is sold through competitive bidding and
requires booking many weeks in advance
Restrictions
Regulations exclude certain products from certain
media
Competitor activity
Where, when, and why are competing providers
advertising?
Figure 9.2
Systematic selection of media

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Table 9.3
Media characteristics
Medium
+ Reasons for using
– Reasons for not using
News press
Relatively inexpensive way to 
Passive; reproduction of 
generate news; short lead time; 
photographs may be poor; no 
wide reach; reader determines 
dynamics – attention-getting fairly 
consumption rate; good for 
poor; reading is a declining 
technical detail and third-party 
pastime
endorsement
Magazine
Quality of reproduction provides Visual only; long lead times; 
high impact; readers want 
cannot make a sale; does not 
advertisements; longevity; can 
foster a relationship
associate a brand with cultural 
icons among a mass audience
TV
Realism – sight, sound and 
Poor selectivity; detail often 
movement; repetition; regional 
missed; cluttered; relatively high 
zoning; entertaining; gives 
cost; long lead times; highly 
credibility to the product
regulated content; thinly spread 
fragmented audiences 
(proliferating channels); inflexible
Radio
Widespread use; active; local 
No visual content; transient; often 
targeting; targeting in time slots; used only as background, so 
relatively inexpensive; intimate 
attention is low; small audiences; 
and immediate; topical; can 
low prestige
involve listeners
Cinema
High impact; captive audience
Expensive, especially production; 
lacks detail
Billboard/poster
Low cost; localized; easily 
Low-attention capacity; limited 
changed; short runs are 
segmentation possible; vulnerable 
economical
to vandalism; lots of distraction; 
relatively poor image
Direct mail
Low-production cost; can be 
(Relatively) expensive to execute; 
kept for reference; allows 
a 2% response rate is typical! Junk 
details; targeted and testable
mail and telesales calls are 
unpopular!
Sales promotions
Direct impact on sales; 
Turns brands into commodities
encourages trial
Internet website 
Inexpensive presence; active; 
No national coverage; limited 
banner
allows movement, sound and 
access and not relevant for 
colour to attract; fast information perishable and ‘sensory’ goods 
provision; can have a sales 
such as perfume and food
facility

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3 How much flexibility is available?
4 What state of mind is the consumer/buyer likely to be in?
5 Can you afford the minimum cost of media space?
6 How will each option work with or against the brand values?
7 What is the level of accountability for performance, in terms of cost v.
return?
Table 9.4 summarizes the relative effectiveness of the three main modes of
marketing communication in the accomplishment of communication
objectives.
How would a marketing website compare with traditional advertising
(impersonal) and personal selling (personal)? See Box 9.18 for an example
of an alternative channel of distribution.
Of course, the website is available relatively easily and inexpensively as an
international marketing communication tool and has the potential to be a
major influencer of the various communicators that can be managed, in the
following ways: