MEDIA ADVERTISING

The largest category in your advertising budget is likely to be your media costs -- the rands you spend on advertising space in newspapers and magazines, or air time on radio. Most advertising agencies take a 16,5% commission on media purchasing, and it is the single greatest income earner for a large advertising agency.

Because of this, it makes sense for companies save their budget for placement by designing advertising material in-house, or allowing the publication to do it.

If your advertisements are out-dated or not working for you, let InterComm lend a hand. We provide you with the material in a format that can be emailed to magazines or newspapers. We don't take your 16,5% media commission. You, the client, remain "hands-on" in terms of media bookings.

Advertising Design & Copywriting

InterComm makes use of leading design software - InDesign, PhotoShop and Illustrator CS5 in the design of advertisements, newsletters and logos to ensure the highest quality graphics. This allows us to provide final material to magazines and newspapers with vector graphics and fonts (rather than bitmap images) to give clean edges and a consistent, professional printed result.

Many expensive ad campaigns are creative and win awards but do absolutely nothing for the client. Then there have been small ads in a local newspaper that may have not been inspirational, but moved product. The point I'm trying to make is that "good" isn't based on the amount you spend on media placement. Media placement only determines who sees your message, when, and how often.

InterComm aims for the following in advertisement design

• Did it grab your attention? We find that in South Africa including a price is an important attention getter.
• Did it communicate its message quickly and directly? We like to include a photograph of the product, preferably a product in use. We try to keep wording to a minimum, without losing the detail that makes the product unique.
• Did the message create a desire for the product or service? We reveal appealing features or positive qualities about the product or service.
• Was it linked to the brand? Advertisements based on a design template are not only cost-effective to produce, memorability improves over multiple placements.

Media Planning

InterComm can assist you to identify suitable local printed publication, research magazine and newspaper demographics, and liaise with publishing houses for rates and editorial. InterComm can analyse and research the target audience's characteristics, and advise on the most effective media combination for your budget.

Every advertising medium has characteristics that give it natural advantages and limitations.

newspaper advertising can be convenient because production changes can be made quickly, if necessary, and you can often insert a new advertisement on short notice. Newspaper advertising is sold by column x centimeters. The disadvantages of newspapers is they are short-lived (usually daily), the quality of paper is poor, and adverts can look very tiny and are easily missed.

Magazine Advertising falls into two main categories: trade magazines and consumer magazines. Trade magazines are "business to business" publications usually related to a certain industry or business sector.. Consumer magazines are generally the kind you find at CNA.

Magazine advertisements are usually A4, Half page (vertical or horizontal, 1/4 page and 1/3 page in size.. In South Africa, magazines are usually monthly. Advertising messages are more image-oriented and less price-oriented. The quality of the pictures and paper are superior to newsprint and colour advertisements are more common.

Radio Advertising is a relatively inexpensive way of reaching people, particularly if your business is regional. Voices or sound effects can be used to create moods or images that are impossible to create visually.

Stations are often looking for prizes they can give away to listeners. Radio is a personal advertising medium - the listener experiences a one-on-one communication. Radio is also a way to support your printed advertising, drawing attention to new products or competitions.

Unfortunately radio is a "synchronous" medium - if a person is not listening at the exact time of your advertisement, he cannot "replay" it later! Therefore it is critical to assess when your customers or prospects might be listening.

Television Advertising can be surprisingly inexpensive on certain local channels. Television reaches very large audiences. TV offers the greatest possibility for creative advertising. Since there are fewer television stations than radio stations in a given area, each TV audience is divided into much larger segments, which enables you to reach a larger, yet, more diverse audience. However, the popularity of DSTV in South Africa has meant that fast-forwarding over advertisement is possible for A/B income groups. A cost-effective method of television coverage is "product placement" or endorsement within a TV show.

Calculating CPM

CPM, or cost per thousand, is the method media buyers use to convert various rate and circulation options to relative terms. CPM represents the cost of reaching one thousand people via different types of media. To calculate CPM, you find the cost for an ad, then divide it by the total circulation the ad reaches (in thousands).

CPM is a good comparative tool but must be used with caution - readers are not "created equal". A magazine with a small but targeted readership is more valuable than a magazine that is posted free to addresses harvested from the internet. Many magazines inflate their circulation by stressing that each publication is read by 2-3 or more people. Use common sense; ask your clients if they have heard of the magazine and what they think of it. Try to use magazines with audited circulation figures.

Other Statistics

Penetration is related to circulation. Penetration describes how much of the total market available you are reaching. A magazine or local newspaper could have a small circulation, but an excellent penetration if you are a regional business in the area.

Reach is the total number of people exposed to a message at least once in a set time period, usually four weeks. (Reach is the broadcast equivalent of circulation, for print advertising.)

Frequency is the average number of times those people are exposed during that time period. To make reach go up, you buy a wider market area. To make frequency go up, you buy more ads during the time period.