Magazines

Newspapers

The typical newspaper circulates in a limited and well-defined area, and this offers advantages to the advertiser interested in geographical selectivity. Since almost everyone reads the newspaper, an intense coverage of the local market can. be obtained. Newspapers offer great flexibility because ads can be inserted or removed with only a few days' notice; this makes it feasible to feature prices in most newspaper ads. Circulation costs are low, and because most metropolitan areas have daily newspapers, messages can be presented fre­quently. But there are several significant limitations to news­paper ads. The paper has a short life - nothing is quite so stale as old news - so it is not likely that advertising will have much influence beyond the day of publication. Newspapers are hastily read, most studies indicate that the average reader spends between 20 and 30 minutes on the paper. Therefore, a message has to make an impression quickly pr not at all. Finally, newspapers, being printed on pulp paper, do not have the quality of reproduction and colour that can be achieved in magazine ads. This can be a disadvantage for some car and ~ food ads where the illustration has an important role to play.

Although magazines now rank only fifth among the media in total dollar revenue, more manufacturers advertise rather in magazines than in any other medium. A particular advantage of magazines is their selective readership: most magazines appeal to some groups and not to others, such as magazines on hunting and fishing, skiing, jogging, automobiles, etc. A manufacturer can direct a message to the segment of the total market that rep­resents the most potential and thereby have a minimum of waste circulation; in other words, the various specialized magazines enhance a selective market segmentation strategy. Magazines also offer a high degree of geographic selectivity.

Magazines are read in a leisurely fashion, compared with newspapers. Some, such as National Geographic and Fortune, may be kept for years. They are often found in doctors' and 'business' reception rooms, and thereby have a much wider readership than circulation figures would indicate. Most magazines are printed on good paper and provide excellent __ colour ads. But there are some limitations. Magazines lack ^flexibility: changes cannot be made for several weeks before publication date - a factor that discourages the use of price in most ads. The infrequency with which magazines reach the market, compared with other media, can also be a drawback.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29