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LESSON 8- MEDIA BASICS AND PRINT MEDIA

Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, students should be able to
1. Explain Sampling Theorem and Analog to digital conversion
2. Explain Nyquist criterion and its implication to aliasing
3. Determine minimum sampling rate of signal
4. Explain quantization error
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MEDIA BASICS 
According to Moriarty, People in our contemporary society live in a web of media-
delivered news and information, which is supported in most cases by advertising. When
we talk about media, we are refer ring to the way messages are delivered to target
audiences and, increasingly, from these audiences. Media is the go-between' step in the
communication model-the way messages are sent and returned by the source and
receiver (Chapter 4). 
The media costs in an advertising or marketing communication plan represent
the biggest part of a campaign budget. With advertising what you are buying, in addition
to the staff costs, are media time and space. In their book on media planning, Kelley
and Jugenheimer estimate that media costs account for 80 to 85 percent of the
advertising budget. Obviously, designing media activities with a goal of efficiency is
critical. 
This introduction to advertising media briefly discusses the changing media
landscape and the size of the advertising media industry, which was estimated at $960
billion in 2007. Then we turn to the key players, the planning and buying functions, and
some of the key concepts used in comparing and analyzing media. 
The Changing Media Landscape
Not all that long ago, most American audiences were involved with three TV
networks, a newspaper, and one or two magazines. But that media landscape has
changed dramatically, as Table 8.1 illustrates. The modern media landscape includes
up to 200 television channels in some markets, a huge number of special interest
publications, millions of Web sites, and new and novel media forms that weren't even
imagined 20 years ago. 
Study Table 8.1 and notice the differences in the childhoods of the traditionalists
and Generation Y. Where do you fit on this chart? Where do your parents and
grandparents fit? If you are in Generation X or Y and you are trying to develop
advertising for a senior market, then you must be able to imagine what seniors' lives
were like as kids and how that media environment shaped their current attitudes and
aspirations. Consider that, in some cases, they grew up before television was easily
available, some before the advent of personal and portable music (transistor radios,
cassette tapes, Walkmans, CDs), and many before personal computers (the Internet, e-
mail) and satellite communication (cell phones, satellite TV, and radio). How do you
think these media environments affected their lives and expectations, and how is that
different from your life and expectations? The observations in the Matter of Practice
feature will help you better grasp the impact of the changing media environment. 
Table 8.1 Evolution of Media Availability among the Generations
Traditionalists Baby Boomers Gen X GenY
[Born before 1946] [Born 1946–1964] [Born 1965–1976] [Born 1977–1994]
Newspapers    
Magazines    
Broadcast Radio    
Broadcast TV •   
Transistor Radio •   
8-Track Tapes • •  
Cassette Tapes • •  
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Consumer Media Usage. Another area of change is the amount of time people spend
with media. In their youthful days the traditionalists' and baby boomers' lives were
dominated by work and family activities. In contrast, more recent generations spend
more time with media, and those communication channels are more intertwined with
their family, work, and leisure time. Related to that trend are two major changes in
media use patterns: media-driven lives and media multitasking. 
 Media-focused lives. A landmark media research project in 2005, called
the Middletown Media Studies', study found that the average person spends
about nine hours a day with some type of media. The research team from Ball
State's Center for Media Design (CMD) used observational and ethnographic
research to shadow about 400 people in two cities in the state of Indiana,
recording some 5,000 hours of media time. They recorded their participants'
activities every 15 seconds and coded their media use in terms of 15 categories,
including television, radio, iPods and other music players, cell phones,
magazines, newspapers, books, the Internet, instant messaging, and e-mail,
among others. A key finding is that about 30 percent of the waking day was spent
with media as a sole focus versus 20.8 percent for work. That pattern of media-
focused lives also was found in a study released in 2007 by the Census Bureau,
which supported the Middletown estimate of nine hours of media per day. This is
also the same finding Thacker mentioned in the Matter of Practice box. That's
more time than people spend doing anything else, except breathing. It works out
to about five months dedicated to media during an average year.
 Media multitasking. Another study, the BIG research project, is actually an
investigation of simultaneous media use. It has tracked the increase in media
multitasking over the years. Its 2007 report found that most consumers are using
more than one medium at a time:
o 67.9 percent use other media while watching TV 
o 68.9 percent while reading newspapers 
o 70.7 percent while browsing online
o 56.4 percent while listening to radio (probably lower because a large
amount of radio listening occurs while driving) 
The Middletown studies also looked at simultaneous media use and found
that 30 per cent of the time people are using more than one medium. The study
also found that women are more likely to use multiple media at the same time
than are men and, contrary to popular opinion, levels of media multitasking are
higher for ages 40-65 than for those aged 18–39.
Advertising Media Use. Traditional advertising media is a huge industry with almost
$245 billion in spending. Table 8.2 summarizes the primary categories we refer to as
traditional advertising media. Although media ad spending slumped during the
economic downturn at the beginning of the century, it began to show a turnaround in
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2003 with an overall spending increase of 6 percent from the previous year. This pattern
continued between 2004 and 2005 but only with an overall increase of 3 percent. Note
that the greatest growth was in online newspaper advertising, cable TV, outdoor, and
Internet. National newspapers and network television were in decline. Why do you think
these various media either showed increases in advertising or declines? 
Study Table 8.2. Which are the three biggest media categories in terms of the
amount of advertising money they bring in? Which are the smallest? If you look at the
column that shows the increase or decrease, what does that say to you about the
dynamics of this pat tern? Who are the winners and who are the losers? 

Table 8.2 U.S. Media Advertising Expenditures

($ Millions)
2003 2004 2005 % Change % of Media
Television 60,746 67,794 67,947 .002 .25
Broadcast TV 41,932 46,267 44,293 -.04
Cable TV 18,814 21,527 23,654 .10
Direct Mail 48,370 52,191 55,218 .06 .20
Newspapers 46,155 48,244 49,436 .02 .18
National 7,797 8,083 7,910 -.02
Retail 21,341 22,012 22,178 .004
Classified 15,801 16,608 17,312 .04
Online* 1,216 1,541 2,027 .32
Radio 19,100 19,581 19,640 .005 .07
Magazines 11,435 12,247 12,847 .05 .05
Directory 13,896 14,002 14,229 .01 .05
Business Papers 4,004 4,072 4,170 .02 .02
Out of Home 5,443 5,770 6,232 .08 .02
Internet** 4,434 5,312 5,737 .08 .02
Miscellaneous*** 31,990 34,654 35,692 .03 .13
Total All Media $245,573 $263,867 $271,148 .03
*Advertising in online newspaper
**Non-newspaper Internet advertising
*** Includes weeklies, shoppers, penny savers, and cinema advertising
Source: Adapted from The Source: Newspapers by the Numbers 2006, Newspaper Association of America, January
2007,
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The Media Plan. The challenge advertiser’s face is how to manage all these media
opportunities and yet maximize the efficiency of budgets that are inevitably too small to
do everything the advertiser would like to do to reach every potential customer. All this
decision making comes together in a media plan, which identifies the best media to use
to deliver an advertising message efficiently to a targeted audience. The media plan is a
subsection within an advertising plan with its own objectives, strategies, and tactics. 
According to Randoll, Media planning is an exercise to find the best medium or
combination of media that will produce the best overall effect relative to the needs of the
advertised brand. Media planning in general should involve optimum benefits in the long
run. The media mix, in terms of balance of usage for TV, radio and print media or other
types of media vehicles, should be such that the best utility of the advertising budget is
obtained, and duplication of audience is avoided as far as possible.
There is no single best media strategy that is applicable in varied situations or
sometimes even in similar situations. Media strategies also differ because of changing
situations. For example, the state of the economy changes just as consumers‟ tastes
change. Advertisements for luxurious cars would therefore not be effective during times
of economic depression. Similarly, advertisements about blue jeans, when jeans are not
in fashion, would not have much impact.
To select the right media and to search the right target audience for a desired
response the advertiser or his advertising agency should go for a systematic media
planning.
The media plan and the creative plan are equally important and are developed
simultaneously. The overall appropriation, or available money for the campaign,
determines the media. Initial decisions about which media to use usually reflect the
availability of a budget big enough to use television, which is the most costly of all
media. The media mix is created by selecting the best combination of media vehicle
traditional media, and marketing communication tools to reach the targeted stakeholder
audiences. If a product has an awareness problem, widespread mass media will
probably use to increase the general level of awareness. If the problem is one of trial,
Sales promotion may be the most important tool. However, if the product only appeals
to a small target such as martial arts clothes for aikido devotees, direct mail (assuming,
of course, that '' –can find a list or build one) and the Internet may be more effective
ways to reach that target. In fact, although there may be a lead tool, such as
advertising, often a mix of supporting media is used to reach different stakeholder
groups.
Media planners allocate media dollars to accomplish reach and frequency
objectives. In a high-reach campaign, money is spent to get the message to as many
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people as possible. In a high-frequency campaign, the money is spent on fewer media

reaching fewer people, but repetition of the message is increased. The media plan
includes media objectives (reach and frequency), media strategies (targeting, continuity,
and timing), media selection (the specific vehicles), geographic strategies, schedules,
and the media budget. Usually a pie chart is used to show how the budget is allocated
to the various media activities.
STEPS IN MEDIA PLANNING
The following are the steps in media planning:
1. Decide Target Market: It is necessary to decide specific market where planned
efforts can be directed.
2. Media Objectives: Media objectives are often stated in term of reach, frequency,
gross rating points and continuity.
(a) Reach: It refers to the number of different persons or household exposed to a
particular media schedule at least once during a specific time period.
(b) Frequency: It refers to the number of times within the specified time period that an
average person or household is exposed to message.
(c) Gross Ratings Points: It refers to the total weight of a media effort in quantitative
terms. GRP‟s are equal to each multiplied by average frequencies. E.g. 80% of the
homes watch Chitrahar and they are exposed on average 2.5 times within the 4 week
period. The total impact or GRP‟s = 80 × 2.5=200.
(d) Continuity: It refers to the timing of the media insertions.
3. Selection of Media Types:
Every media plan requires that specific media types to be selected. There are a
number of advertising media available to the advertiser for advertising the goods etc.
These may be grouped under the following heads:
1. Press Advertising Media - (a) Newspapers and (b) Magazines and Journals.
2. Outdoor or Mural Advertising Media - (i) Posters, (ii) Advertising Boards, (iii)
Sandwich Boards, (iv) Electric Display, (v) Vehicular, (vi) Sticker, and (vii) Sky Writing.
3. Direct Mail Advertising Media - (i) Circulars, (ii) Price-lists, (iii) Booklets, (iv) Leaflets,
and Folders, (v) Business Reply Envelops and Cards, (vi) Gift Novelties, and (vii)
Personal Letters.
4. Broadcast Advertising Media - (a) Radio, (b) Television
5. Promotional Advertising Media - (i) Window Display, (ii) ShowRoom, (iii) Exhibitions
and Fairs, (iv) Interior Display, (v) Trade Shows, (vi) Samples, Coupons and Premiums
etc.
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6. Miscellaneous Advertising Media - (a) Cinema and Cinema Slides, (b) Speciality
Advertising, (c) Purchase Point Advertising, and (d) Video Advertising etc.
4. Selecting Specific Media Vehicle: Once a decision is made on media types, specific
media vehicles within each medium must be chosen.
Media Mix: Once the media selection is decided upon, the next step is to
determine the mix of the media one must use. This will be arrived at by
considering the advertising company’s marketing objectives, its target market,
media characteristics, and it’s matching with the target market. The overall
advertising budget also influences the nature of such mix, in addition to the
available audience. For example, to achieve certain advertising objectives, one
may require to use a mix of 50% newspaper, 25% magazine and the rest 25%
television. However, more than one mix may fulfill the advertising objectives, and
yet be within the overall budget cost. But one should aim at balanced mix. Some
advertisers prefer to concentrate on one media type mix whereas others like to
have a widely varied mix. While the former offers the advertiser an opportunity to
make a great impact on a specific market segment, the latter, being an
assortment of media, can deliver different messages about the same product in
different market segments more effectively.
Media Buying: The specialist who is the counter part of the media sales
representative is the media buyer. Most of these specialists work for advertising
agencies, although some are retained by advertisers and some work for firms of
media specialists who offer media buying services to both advertising agencies
and advertisers. Media buying service is likely to be more personal and direct.
The media buying specialist helps to decide what media should be used
for a product, purchases the media, and controls and evaluates the performance
of the media purchased. There is growth of Media Buying Units (MBUs)
throughout the world. Advertising Agencies merge and form a group and then set
up an independent MBU to buy advertising space. The MBU benefits not only the
advertising agencies, and the advertisers because of cost-effective rates, but
also the media sellers. The media sellers can negotiate for rates, with one media
buying unit on behalf of a group of ad agencies.
5. Allocation of Funds: The planner should than decide on the amount of funds that
would be allocated to each media type and vehicle.
6. Media Scheduling: Media scheduling could be used depending upon the
requirements of the advertisers.
MEDIA-VEHICLE CHOICE
After indemnifying the various advertising Medias, as available for a company,
the subsequent managerial task is to evaluate each media vehicle against certain
criterion and then only to decide which of the particular vehicles are suitable for him. For
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such a decision, he has to evaluate the available media vehicles against certain
criterion. The major vehicle evaluation criterion are as follows:
1. Coverage: It is the most important and powerful criterion for evaluating vehicle
media. Coverage refers to the number and spread message outlets provided by the
media vehicle. When the media vehicle provides large coverage, the changes of
message exposure to customers is also greater. Thus a media vehicle providing larger
coverage should be more acceptable. For example, in case of a newspaper, the
coverage refers to the circulation of that particular newspaper. But this is not enough.
We must also consider other criteria which are as follows.
2. Consumer Confidence: It is also an important criteria for evaluating the selection of
a vehicle media. Consumer confidence refers to the credibility of media in the mind of
target customers. It is a relevant criterion for evaluating a media vehicle since the
credibility of advertising message is positively related to the media vehicle’s credibility.
For example, a recent study in India revealed that newspapers and magazines are
considered to be the most credible of all media, scoring high on usefulness and
information.
3. Reach: Reach as an evaluation criterion refers to the vehicle’s access to different
homes or individuals over a given period of time. In case of press media, it is indicated
by readership which is arrived at by multiplying circulation of the paper with the average
number of readers per copy.
4. Cost: Cost is also an important criterion against which each media vehicle choice
should be evaluated. Cost refers to the money spent on using a particular vehicle
media. In order to make a decision, it is suggested that the advertiser should make out
an inter-vehicle cost comparison.
5. Timing: The last but also equally important criterion for evaluating vehicle media
choice is the timing of advertisement. The reasons for the importance of the decision
may be two-fold - (i) Seasonal ability of product sales, and (ii) staggered effects of
advertising. The advertiser should, after considering these two elements, decide on the
scheduling of advertisements to improve the effectiveness.
Key Media Players
In the media industries, there are professionals who both sell and buy
advertising. It is important that you understand the difference. First let's look at the
professionals who sell space or time in media. 
 Media salespeople work for a specific vehicle, such as a magazine or local
television station, with an objective to build the best possible argument to
convince media planners to use the medium they represent. A media
salesperson is responsible for assembling packets of information, or sales kits,
on the medium he or she represents, which usually means compiling profile
information about the people who watch, listen, or read the medium, along with
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the numbers describing audience size and geographical coverage. Currently

media conglomerates prevail. In 2007, for example, the broadcast TV and Media
Company CBS announced the creation of a coordinated ad-selling division,
called CBS RIOT, which stands for radio, Internet, outdoor, and television. The
new division will serve primarily local markets and can offer cross-media (also
called cross-platform or multi-channel) integrated deals. Disney is
reorganizing its ad sales to deliver a similar cross-media ad sales program for its
kids' media properties.
 Media reps or brokers are people (or companies) who sell space (in print) and
time (in broadcast) for a variety of media. If an advertising agency wants to buy
space in all the major newspapers in the West, for example, the agency's buyer
could contract with a media rep firm whose sales rep and brokers handle national
sales for all those newspapers. This allows the media buyer to place the buy
with one order, 
On the buying side, media planners, buyers, and researchers work
primarily for agencies, although they can also be found working for marketers
who handle their own media work in house. Their challenge is to determine the
best way to deliver a message, which is called media planning. The job functions
are as follows: 
 Media researchers compile audience measurement data, media costs,
and availability data for the various media options being considered by the
planners. 
 Media planners develop the strategic decisions outlined in the media plan, such
as where to advertise geographically, when to advertise, and which type of media
to use to reach specific types of audiences.
 Media buyers implement the media plan by contracting for specific amounts of
time or space. They spend the media budget according to the plan developed by
the media planner. Media buyers are expected to maintain good media supplier
relations to facilitate a flow of information within the fast-changing media
marketplace. This means there should be close working relationships between
planners and buyers, as well as media reps, so media planners can tap this
source of media information to better forecast media changes, including price
and patterns of coverage.
 Media buying companies, mentioned in Chapter 2, are independent companies
that specialize in doing media research, planning, and buying. They may be a
spin-off from the media department in an advertising agency, but because they
are now independent companies, they work for a variety of clients. They
consolidate media buying to get maximum discounts from the media for the
volume of their buys. They then pass on some of this saving to their clients. 
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Now let's consider some of the basic concepts that drive the media advertising
industry. You will need to be familiar with certain terms to understand the review of
basic media forms discussed in this chapter and the chapters that follow. 
Key Media Concepts
According to Wells, in most cases a media plan will outline a set of media, called
a media mix, to be used in achieving the objectives of the advertising plan. This media
mix is the way various types of media are strategically combined to create a certain
kind of impact. For example, the iPod campaign used posters and magazine ads to
announce the new product, followed by tele vision advertising that showed how to use
the product and billboards that re 
Targets and Audiences. One of the biggest challenges in developing a media plan is
matching the advertiser's target audience with the audience of a particular medium. The
same terms that are used to describe target audiences (Chapter 5) can be used to
describe media audiences. A major study by the Newspaper Association of America
(NAA), for example, grouped media audiences into four useful categories by generation:
traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y (see Table 8.1). The media planners'
problem, however, is knowing where to find these people. 
The iPod target audience, for example, is a technologically sophisticated young
adult. They also need to have enough discretionary income to buy the product. That
audience profile led initially to a target of innovators, people who are into cool gadgets
and who love music. Now where do you find those people? One place to start was with
posters in subways and other urban sites. The campaign also used outdoor boards,
print media, and TV commercials in ways that would generate buzz. A key strategy was
to get people talking about this new gadget. 
Advertisers use a variety of terms to measure print audiences. (Note: We'll
discuss broadcast media measurements in the chapter that follows.) The terms are
easy to confuse, so let's explain some here before we begin talking about specific print
media forms.
 Impressions. An impression is one person's opportunity to be exposed one time
to an ad in a newspaper, magazine, or outdoor location. Impressions can be
added up as a measure of the size of the audience either for one medium (one
insertion in print) or for a combination of vehicles in a media mix. 
 Circulation. Impressions are different from circulation, because impressions (at
least in print) estimate the actual readership, rather than just the circulation,
which refers to copies sold.
 Gross impressions. Circulation doesn't tell you much about the actual
readership of an ad. A magazine may have a circulation of 1 million, but it might
be read on average by 2.5 people per issue. This means impressions for that
issue would be 2.5 million. If the ad ran in three consecutive issues, then the
estimate of total impressions, called gross impressions, would be 7.5 million. 
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Reach and Frequency. What are the measurements used in the decisions to use one
vehicle versus another? The reasons behind these choices are based on two critical
factors--- reach and frequency—that are stated as objectives in a media plan. 
The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target audience
as often as the budget allows. Reach is the percentage of the media audience exposed
at least once to the advertiser's message during a specific time frame. When we say
that a particular media vehicle, such as the Super Bowl, has a wide reach, we mean
that a lot of people are watching the program. When we say it has a narrow reach, such
as the El Nuevo Herald, we mean that a small percentage of the newspaper audience is
reading that publication. The idea for the iPod launch was to reach not just everyone
who likes music, but specifically to target technologically sophisticated people who are
also opinion leaders (whose thoughts on innovations like the iPod would influence many
others). 
Equally as important as reach is frequency, which refers to the number of times
a person is exposed to the advertisement. There's a rule of thumb that you have to hear
or see something three times before it makes an impact. That's the reason frequency is
so important in many advertising campaigns. Different media have different patterns of
frequency. Radio commercials, for example, typically achieve high levels of frequency
because they can be repeated over and over to achieve impact. Frequency is more
difficult to accomplish with a monthly magazine because its publication and an ad's
appearance in it-is much more infrequent than a radio broadcast. 
Media Industry Trends 
According to Mitchell, Advertising media are in an incredible state of flux,
particularly because of the introduction of the computer and the Internet but also
because of the way people choose to spend their time for business and leisure
activities. The Part III Introduction includes a discussion of change by Professor Don
Jugenheimer, with a focus on five trends: convergence, interactivity, engagement,
commoditization, and cadence. He explains that the media landscape is reshaping itself
dramatically: “Already there are predictions that newspapers are fading away,
magazines are merging and becoming fewer in number, and broadcast is predicted to
decline." Media are changing so rapidly that it is difficult in a textbook to keep up with
the new forms and patterns of use. 
One of Jugenheimer's trends is engagement, a media buzzword that refers to the
captivating quality of media that the audience finds engrossing. Certainly this can apply
to television commercials and cinema advertising, but it can also be applied to print and
Internet ads on which readers concentrate. Media experts describe engagement as the
closeness of fit between the characteristics and interest of viewers and the relevance of
the media content. It describes how and why ads capture (or don't capture) the attention
of the audiences. This is the way media delivers on that critical "perception" step in the
Facets Model. 
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We conclude this discussion of trends by calling your attention to a trend that is

re defining our understanding of media as message delivery systems-brand touch
points, a particularly important concept for IMC programs. 
We have referred to "traditional media advertising" in several places in
recognition of the fact that the definition of media is changing. The term touch points
refers to all the various ways a consumer comes in touch with a brand. In addition to
traditional media, these points of contact include such experiences as product use,
operations (checking in at the airline counter), customer service, and word-of-mouth. All
of these deliver important message opportunities about a brand and contribute to
positive or negative brand impressions. Traditional mass media are becoming less
important, not only as the media landscape fragments, but also as other types of
experiences are recognized as important points of contact between a brand and
consumers. Because of the influence of IMC on media strategy, more effort is being
made to analyze the impact of all touch points, including and beyond traditional media. 
With this brief introduction to the basics of advertising media, let's turn to a
review of print media and the characteristics that make them different from other
advertising media forms. 
PRINT MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS 
Print advertising includes printed promotional messages in newspapers,
magazines, brochures, and on other printed surfaces, such as posters and outdoor
boards. The last two examples move us into a category called out-of-home media. The
difficulty with this cate gory is that although the various media types included here have
their roots in print, many of these media are also appearing in electronic or digital
forms. 
In terms of impact, print media generally provide more information, rich imagery,
and a longer message life than other forms such as broadcast. It's an information-rich
environment so, in terms of our Facets Model of Advertising Effects, print media are
often used to generate cognitive responses. If you want someone to read about
something new, then a newspaper ad is useful. If you want to explain how something
works or give detailed information, then your strategy might call for magazine
advertising. If you want to give directions on how to find a store, then you may use an
outdoor board or phonebook ad. Some types of print media also deliver rich graphic
imagery, such as fashion magazine ads and posters. As a result, print can also be good
for brand image advertising. For that same rea son, outdoor advertising is used for
brand image reminders as well as directions. 
Readers find that reading a publication is more flexible than watching or listening
to broadcast because they can stop and reread, read sections out of order, or move
through the publication at their own speed and on their own time. They can also save it
and reread. Because the print message format is less fleeting than broadcast and more
concrete, people tend to spend more time with print and absorb its messages more
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carefully. They can also put it aside and reread at a later time. Print is also highly
engaging when targeted toward audiences that have a special interest in the
publication's content, such as women and women's magazines. 
Print has the ability to engage more of the senses than other media because it
can be both tactile (different types of paper and other surfaces) and aural (smell).
Magazines, for example, have long offered scratch 'n' sniff ads, particularly for perfume,
and that's becoming more common in newspapers. Three newspapers announced the
availability of aromatic ads in 2007, so the smell of coffee may waft from your morning
newspaper. 

According to Linton, Print media advertising is a form of advertising that uses

physically printed media, such as magazines and newspapers, to reach consumers,
business customers and prospects. Advertisers also use digital media, such as banner
ads, mobile advertising, and advertising in social media, to reach the same target
audiences. The proliferation of digital media has led to a decline in advertising
expenditure in traditional print media, but print isn't dead.

NEWSPAPER BASICS 
According to Mitchell, Advertisers trying to reach a local market use newspapers,
as most newspapers (other than national ones) are identified by the geography of the
city or region they serve. Newspapers' primary function is to carry news, which means
that advertisers with news to announce, such as a special sale or sale price, may find
them a comfortable environment. Studies have consistently found that people consider
ads—that is, commercial information to be news, too, and they read newspapers as
much for the ads as they do for the news stories. 
A $59 billion industry, newspapers remain an important advertising medium,
although newspaper readership has been declining for years, particularly among young
people. As Table 8.2 showed, newspapers are third to television in terms of advertising
revenue. The two largest U.S. newspapers, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal,
remain healthy, al. though circulation continues to erode for many local newspapers. In
order to balance the budget, Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, has sold
six newspapers, cut WS] costs, including reducing the page size, and increased its
emphasis on its other media and Internet publishing opportunities to lessen its
dependence on print ad revenue
For the most part, newspapers are a local mass medium and their primary
advertising revenue comes from local retail advertising and classified advertising. Other
sources of revenue include reader subscriptions and single-copy sales at newsstands.
Circulation is the primary way newspapers' reach is measured and compared with the
reach of other media. USA Today's circulation is different from other daily newspapers
in that it is targeted to travelers and its primary sales consist of single-copy sales and
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bulk sales to hotels, rather than subscriptions. The following chart summarizes the key
characteristics of newspapers that media planners use in their media strategies.
Newspaper Basics
Types of Circulation
Subscription. Copies delivered to individuals and companies that sign up to receive the
publication over a specified time for a certain fee.
Single Copy Sales Copies sold at newsstands.
3rd Party Copies bought by hotels, restaurants, and airlines that are distributed to
guests.
Frequency of Publication
Dailies. About 1,500 dailies in the United States, usually published in cities and larger
towns; combined circulation of more than 53 million with an average of 2.3 readers per
copy.
Weeklies. About 6,700 serving towns, suburbs, and smaller cities; also includes "penny
saver" papers that specialize in classified advertising.
Sunday Editions. Published by about 30 percent of dailies and a few weeklies, with
combined circulation of 55 million and an average of 2.6 readers per copy.
Business or Organization Newspapers. May be published weekly, monthly, quarterly,
bimonthly (every other month), or semimonthly (twice a month). 
Editions
Morning. Yesterday's events, advance coverage of today's events.
Evening. Today's events (through midday) and advance stories for tomorrow.
All-day. Frequent updates with different editions published during the day.
Special Interest. For example, ethnic (Spanish language, Asian, and African American)
and upscale neighborhoods by zip code. 
Format and Size
Broadsheet Standard size generally 22 inches deep and 14 inches wide with eight
columns.
Tabloid Half the size of a broadsheet with five or six 2-inch columns 
Although newspapers go to a mass audience, they offer market selectivity that
allows them to target specific consumer groups. Examples of market selectivity are
special interest newspapers, ethnic editions, such as El Nuevo Herald, special interest
sections (business, sports, lifestyle), and advertising inserts delivered only to particular
 15

zip codes or zones. Newspapers also exist for special interest groups, religious
denominations, political affiliations, labor unions, and professional and fraternal
organizations. For example, Stars & Stripes is the newspaper read by millions of U.S.
military personnel. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are considered
specialty newspapers because they concentrate on financial business. 
Newspaper Ad Sales
Newspaper advertising is sold based on the size of the space. The charges are
published on rate cards, which are lists of the charges for advertising space and the
discounts given to local advertisers and advertisers who make volume buys. National
advertisers are quoted a different, and higher, rate. 
Most advertising sales are handled locally by the sales staff of the newspaper;
however, brokers are also available to make national buys, which saves an advertiser or
its agency from the need to make a multitude of buys to run a national campaign in
newspapers. The system is known as one-order, one-bill, The Newspaper National
Network is a partnership (http://www.nnnlp.com) of a group of American newspaper
companies that place ads in some 9,000 newspapers. Google has also gotten into this
business, allowing advertisers to buy ads in more than 50 daily newspapers through its
Web site. 
Types of Newspaper Advertising
Mirroring the circulation patterns, newspaper advertising can be described as
national or local (retail), as well as classified and online. Table 8.3 breaks out these
categories in terms of sources of ad revenue. Note that the decline in revenues
bottomed out in 2001 and 2002 and began to reverse in 2003, although most argue that
the industry is still not healthy and numbers in 2006 showed dramatic declines in
advertising revenues. Notice also that the revenue increase in 2004 and 2005 is
supported, to a large extent, by increasing online advertising revenues. More and more
heavy newspaper advertisers, such as automobile dealers, are cutting back on
newspaper advertising and moving to the Web.

Table 8.3 Newspaper Advertising by Category

National Local/Retail Classified Online Newspaper Total

$Mil %change $Mil %change $Mil %change $Mil %change $Mil %change
2000 $7,653 13.7 $21,409 2.4 $19,608 5.1 $48,670 5.1
2001 $7,004 - 8.5 $20,679 -3.4 $16,622 -15.2 $44,305 -9.0
2002 $7,210 2.9 $20,994 1.5 $15,898 -4.3 $44,102 -0.5
2003 $7,797 8.1 $21,341 1.7 $15,801 -0.6 $1,216 $46,156 1.9
2004 $8,083 3.7 $22,012 3.1 $16,608 5.1 $1,541 26.7 $48,244 4.5
2005 $7,910 -2.2 $22,187 0.8 $17,312 4.2 $2,027 31.5 $49,435 2.5
Adapted from Value of Newspaper Medium, Newspaper Association of American, 2007.
 16

Three types of advertising are found within the local newspaper: classified, retail)
display, and supplements. 
 Classified. Two types of classified ads include advertising by individuals to sell
their personal goods and advertising by local businesses. These ads are
arranged according to their interest to readers, such as "Help Wanted” and “Real
Estate for Sale." Classified ads represent approximately 40 percent of total
newspaper advertising revenue.
 Display. The dominant form of newspaper advertising is display advertising.
Display ads can be any size and can be placed anywhere in the newspaper
except the editorial page. The Wall Street Journal made headlines in late 2006
when it announced it would add a “jewel-box" ad space to the lower right corner
of its front page (think an ad the size of a CD case). Display ads can even be
found in the classified section. Display advertising is further divided into two
subcategories: local (retail) and national (brand). Advertisers who don't care
where their display ads run in the newspaper pay the run-of-paper (ROP) rate. If
they want more choice over the placement, they can pay the preferred-position
rate, which lets those select sections in which the ad will appear.
 Supplements. Newspaper supplements are magazine-style publications inserted
into a newspaper, especially in the Sunday edition, that are either syndicated
nationally or prepared locally. Syndicated supplements, such as Parade and USA
Weekend, are provided by an independent publisher that sells its publications to
newspapers throughout the country. A free-standing insert (FSI) is the set of
advertisements, such as the grocery ads, that are inserted into the newspaper.
These preprinted advertisements range in size from a single page to more than
30 pages and may be in black and white or full color. This material is printed
elsewhere and then delivered to the newspaper. Newspapers charge the
advertiser a fee for inserting the supplement into the newspaper. FSI advertising
is growing in popularity with retail advertisers for three reasons: (1) it allows
greater control over the reproduction quality of the advertisement; (2) it
commands more attention that just another ad in the paper; and (3) advertisers
can place free-standing inserts in certain newspapers that are delivered to
certain neighborhoods, or even certain people. 
Newspaper Readership Measurement
By all demographic standards, the newspaper is a solid mass-market medium,
connecting with 78 percent of the U.S. population at least once a week, according to the
Newspaper Association of America. The Newspaper National Network reports that
newspapers are read daily by 78 million people or 52 percent of American adults.
Nearly half of all adults receive home delivery of a Sunday or weekday newspaper;
delivery levels are highest in medium-sized cities and lowest in rural locations and
larger metropolitan areas. Historically, newspaper reading tends to be highest among
older people and people with a higher education al and income level. It is lowest
 17

among people in their late teens and early twenties and among lower education and
income groups. Newspaper readership tends to be selective, with a greater percentage
reading specific sections rather than the whole paper. Business and organizational
newspapers, such as Ad Age, have particularly high readership levels. 
Newspapers measure their audiences to attract advertisers who want to reach their
readers. This type of information facilitates the media planner's ability to match a certain
newspaper's readership with the target audience. Newspapers obtain objective
measures of newspaper circulation and readership by subscribing to one or both of the
following auditing companies: 
The Auditing Bureau of Circulations (ABC). The ABC is an independent auditing
group that represents advertisers, agencies, and publishers. This group verifies
statements about newspaper circulation statistics and provides a detailed analysis of
the newspaper by state, town, and county. ABC members include only paid-circulation
newspapers and magazines. Newspapers that do not belong to an auditing organization
such as the ABC must provide prospective advertisers with either a publisher's
statement or Post Office Statement. 
Simmons-Scarborough. Simmons-Scarborough Syndicated Research
Associates provides a syndicated study that annually measures readership profiles in
approximately 70 of the nation's largest cities. The study covers readership of a single
issue and the estimated unduplicated readers for a series of issues. Simmons
Scarborough is the only consistent measurement of audiences in individual markets. 
Newspaper Industry Trends
The biggest problem newspapers face is declining readership, particularly among
young people. Although newspapers still make money, their reps are having a harder
time selling advertisers, particularly national advertisers, on the medium. 
The increased costs of newspaper production have resulted in a general
consolidation in the newspaper industry. This consolidation has helped the industry
implement new technologies and delivery mechanisms. Some technological advances
include online circulation information systems, electronic libraries, and database
publishing. 
The emergence of the Internet as a mechanism for delivering a newspaper, or
part of a newspaper, has had a tremendous impact on the newspaper industry. Virtually
every major newspaper and many medium-sized newspapers are now online and it’s
becoming a growth area for the newspaper industry. Data from the Nielsen audience
research company has found that newspaper Web site visitors are online more often
than other Internet users (72.6 percent versus 57.8 percent for overall Internet users).
Furthermore 88 percent of newspaper Web site visitors are online five or more times a
week.20 In addition to conventional Internet sites, stories are now being distributed
through Web-enabled phones, pagers, e-mail, and Palm Pilots. Busy executives are
 18

now able to download stories from business oriented newspaper stories via a cell phone
anytime and anywhere. Likewise these online publications are becoming more
important as advertising vehicles. The Newspaper Association of America reports
double digit growth in online advertising for 13 straight quarters since NAA began
keeping track in 2004. 
MAGAZINE BASICS 
We know that 92 percent of all American adults read at least one magazine per
month and the average reader spends 44 minutes reading each issue 22 Furthermore,
80 percent of these readers consider magazine advertising "helpful as a buying guide.”
In general, media planners know that people tend to pay more attention to magazine
advertising than to television advertising because they are concentrating more on the
medium and the ads are relevant to their interests. Readers also spend more time
reading a magazine than they do reading a newspaper, so there is a better opportunity
to provide in-depth information. 
Quality of reproduction is one of the biggest strengths of magazines and
therefore magazine advertising. It allows the advertiser's products and brand image to
be presented in a format superior to the quality of newspapers. 
A $36.6 billion industry, the more than 6,000 magazines appeal to every possible
interest. Only a few of them in the United States ---Time, Newsweek, Reader's Digest,
for ex ample-reach a general audience. Most magazines today aim at niche markets
with a focus on every hobby, every sport, every age group, every business category,
and every profession. These special-interest publications, however, are not necessarily
small. The number one American magazine in terms of circulation is AARP The
Magazine with a circulation of 23 million, followed by Reader's Digest at 10 million.
These circulation leaders are not necessarily pulling in the highest advertising revenue-
Reader's Digest is number 8 and the AARP magazine is number 42 in terms of ad
revenue. 
Types of Magazines
According to Wells, the focus of audience interest is the number one factor in
classifying magazines. The three main types of audiences that magazines target are
consumer and business audiences. Consumer magazines, directed at consumers who
buy products for personal consumption, are distributed through the mail, newsstands,
and stores.
Business magazines target business readers; they include the following types of
publications: 
 Trade papers aimed at retailers, wholesalers, and other distributors; Chain Store
Age is an example. 
 Industrial magazines aimed at manufacturers; an example is Concrete
Construction. 
 19

 Professional magazines aimed at physicians, lawyers, and other

professionals; National Law Review targets lawyers, and Media Week targets
advertising media planners and buyers. 
 Farm magazines aimed at those working in agriculture; Farm Journal and Feed
and Grain are examples. 
Business magazines are also classified as vertical or horizontal publications. A
vertical publication presents stories and information about an entire industry. Women's
Wear Daily, for example, discusses the production, marketing, and distribution of
women's fashions. A horizontal publication deals with a business function that cuts
across industries, such as Direct Marketing. 
The following factors also explain how magazines are classified. 
 Geography. Many magazines have a national audience, but some cater to
certain sections or regions of the country or have regional editions. The area
covered may be as small as a city (Time Out Paris and Boston Magazine) or as
large as several contiguous U.S. states (the southwestern edition of Southern
Living Magazine). Geographic editions help encourage local retail support by
listing the names of local distributors in the advertisements. Most national
magazines also offer a zone edition that carries different ads and perhaps
different stories, depending on the region of the country. 
 Demographics. Demographic editions group subscribers according to age,
income, occupation, and other classifications. Some magazines for example,
publish a special edition for upper-income homes sent to subscribers who live in
specific postal codes and who typically share common demographic traits,
primarily based on income. Newsweek offers a college edition, and Time sends
special editions to students, business executives, doctors, and business
managers.
 Editorial content. Each magazine emphasizes a certain type of editorial content.
The most widely used categories are general editorial (Reader's Digest),
women's (New Woman), shelter (House Beautiful), business (Forbes), and
special interest (90 Minutes Soccer).
 Physical characteristics. Media planners and buyers need to know the physical
characteristics of a magazine because ads containing various elements of words
and pictures require a different amount of space. The most common magazine
page sizes are 84 X 11 inches and 6 X 9 inches. Ads running in Reader's Digest,
which is a 6 X 9 format, allow for fewer visuals and little copy.
 Ownership. Some magazines are owned by publishing companies (Glamour,
Gourmet, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker are owned by Condé Nast), and
some are published by organizations such as AARP. Some magazines are
published by consumer companies, such as Kraft's Food & Family, that sell ads
and carry stories and ads for many of their own products.
 20

 Distribution and circulation. Magazine revenues come from advertising,

subscriptions, and single-copy sales. According to the Magazine Publishers
Association (MPA), advertising in general contributes 55 percent of magazine
revenue and circulation is 45 percent (subscriptions 32 percent, single-copy
sales 13 percent). 
Traditional delivery is through newsstand purchases or home delivery via
the U.S. Postal Service. Nontraditional delivery methods include hanging bagged
copies on door knobs, inserting magazines in newspapers (such as Parade
magazine), delivering through professionals' offices (doctors and dentists), direct
delivery (company magazines or those found on airplanes), and electronic
delivery, which is being used by organizational publications, such as university
alumni magazines. Nontraditional delivery is referred to as controlled circulation,
meaning that the magazine is distributed free to specific audiences, 
Magazine Advertising
According to Wells, Media planners and buyers analyze a magazine's circulation
so they can assess circulation potential and determine whether the audiences that best
match a campaign's target will be reached. In deciding in which magazines to place ads,
advertisers need to consider factors such as format and technology.
Format. Although the format may vary from magazine to magazine, all magazines
share some format characteristics. For example, the inside and back cover pages are
the most costly for advertisers because they have the highest level of exposure
compared to all the other pages in a magazine. The inside back cover is also a premium
position. 
Normally, the largest unit of ad space that magazines sell is the double-page
spread, in which two ad pages face each other. A double-page ad must jump the gutter,
the white space running between the inside edges of the pages, meaning that no
headline words can run through the gutter and that all body text is on one side or the
other. A page without outside margins, in which the color extends to the edge of the
page, is called a bleed page. Magazines sometimes offer more than two connected
pages (four is the most common number) that fold in on themselves. This kind of ad is
called a gatefold. The use of multiple pages that provide photo essays is an extension
of the gatefold concept. 
Another popular format for advertisers is a special advertising page or section
that looks like regular editorial pages but is identified by the word "advertisement" at the
top. The content is usually an article about a company, product, or brand that is written
by the advertiser. The idea is to mimic the editorial look in order to acquire the credibility
of the publication's articles. Multiple-page photo essay ads are more common in
magazines such as Fortune and Business Week; these magazines may present, for
example, a 20-page ad for businesses in a foreign country. Finally, a single page or
double page can be broken into a variety of units called fractional page space (for
 21

example, vertical half-page, horizontal half-page, half-page double spread, and

checkerboard in which ads are located on double page upper left, lower right, on both
pages). 
Technology. New technologies have enabled magazines to distinguish themselves
from one another. For example, selective binding and ink-jet imaging allow publishers to
personalize issues for individual subscribers. Selective binding combines information on
sub scribers kept in a database with a computer program to produce magazines that
include special sections for subscribers based on their demographic profiles. Ink-jet
imaging allows a magazine such as U.S. News & World Report to personalize its
renewal form so that each issue contains a renewal card already filled out with the
subscriber's name, address, and so on. Personalized messages can be printed directly
on ads or on inserts ("Mr. Jones-check our new mutual fund today''). 
Satellite transmission, along with computerized editing technology, allows
magazines to print regional editions with regional advertising. This technology also
permits publishers to close pages (stop accepting new material) just hours before press
time (instead of days or weeks as in the past) so that advertisers can drop up-to-the-
minute information in their ads. Sophisticated database management lets publishers
combine the information available from subscriber lists with other public and private lists
to create complete consumer pro files for advertisers. 
Magazine Readership Measurement
Several companies attempt to verify the paid circulation of magazines, along with
demo graphic and psychographic characteristics of specific readers. Magazine rates are
based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to provide. Magazine
circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold, not the readership of the
publication. A single copy of a magazine might be read by one person or by several
people, depending on its content. 
Time magazine turned the industry upside down by announcing that in 2007 it
will trim its rate base by almost 20 percent to 3.25 million from 4 million. More
importantly, it will also offer advertisers a figure for its total audience, which it estimates
at 19.5 million. Because of Time's leadership role, this move is expected to start a trend
among magazines to better report the real readership as total audience, rather than just
guaranteed circulation.
Magazine Advertising Trends
Magazine editors are under constant pressure to include product placements in
their editorial content. That means marketers would pay the magazine for running an
article that features a product, usually just seen in a visual, as part of the story. The
Magazine Editors Association is against this, but members have conceded that it will
probably happen. 
 22

As with newspapers, emerging technology--particularly online technology-is

changing the magazine industry. For example, American Profile.com is a virtual
magazine distributed weekly on the Internet. Circulation experts question whether
Internet subscription sales will be large enough to supplement more traditional
methods. 
Magazines and newspapers have existed for several years in their current format
because they provide interesting writing in a portable form. The Web is most certainly
not that yet, which begs the question: Will people really want their newspapers and
magazines on line after the novelty has worn off? 
The question is not the inherent superiority of the Internet over traditional print.
The question is which works better as part of an intelligently developed media strategy
for a particular target audience. And that leads us to the diverse category we'll discuss
later in this chapter-out-of-home advertising. 
DIRECTORY ADVERTISING 
According to Mitchell, Newspapers and magazines are important print media
types, but directory advertising is another form that is particularly effective at driving
specific types of consumer responses. Directories are books like the phonebooks that
list the names of people or companies, their phone numbers, and their addresses. In
addition to this information, many directories publish advertising from marketers who
want to reach the people who use the directory. 
One of the biggest advantages of advertising in directories is that if people have
taken the initiative to look for a business or service, then the listing is reaching an
audience already in the market for something. Directory advertising doesn't have to
create a need because it is the number one shopping medium. That's why directory
advertising's biggest advantage is directional advertising: It tells people where to go to
get the product or service they want. If you are going to move across town and you want
to rent a truck, you will consult the local phone book. Directory advertising is the main
medium that prospects consult once they have decided to buy something they need or
want. The key difference between directional advertising and brand-image advertising is
this: Di rectory advertising reaches prospects, people who already know they have a
need for the product or service, and brand-image advertising seeks to create a need
and attractive personality for a brand. Almost 90 percent of those who consult the
Yellow Pages directory follow up with some kind of action. 
The most common directories are those that a community's local phone service
produces. The listings and ads in the Yellow Pages are a major advertising vehicle,
particularly for local retailers. The Yellow Pages, which lists all local and regional
businesses in the United States that have a telephone number, was a $16 billion
industry in 2006. National advertisers such as Pizza Hut also use them extensively. In
fact, the Yellow Pages is Pizza Hut's second largest media expenditure after TV. The
industry's core advertisers are service providers (restaurants, travel agents, beauty
 23

parlors, and florists, for example). For some small businesses, the Yellow Pages is the
only medium of advertising, because it's where customers find out about them and it's
affordable. In addition to the phone number listing, retailers can buy display space and
run a larger ad. 
Because AT&T never copyrighted the name “Yellow Pages," any publisher can
use it. As recently as 1995, local phone companies controlled around 96 percent of
yellow page directory advertising space; that share has dropped to around 86 percent,
and phone companies continue to lose share to competing directories in many markets.
In fact, there are so many competing directories in some areas that publishers advertise
their directories to build customer loyalty. 
Because a directory ad is the last step in the search for a product or service by a
com mitted consumer, the ads don't have the intrusiveness problem, but there is a
clutter problem. Finding that breakthrough concept or a dramatic graphic image is the
key to creating impact. Other decisions are driven by the budget and competition, such
as decisions about ad size, use of color, and listings in several sections of the directory. 
In addition to the Yellow Pages, an estimated 7,500 directories cover all types of
professional areas and interest groups. For example, the Standard Directory of
Advertisers and Advertising Agencies (known as the Red Book) not only lists
advertisers and agencies; it also accepts advertising targeted at those who use the
directory. The Creative Black Book, another directory used by advertising professionals,
also takes ads for photographers, illustrators, typographers, and art suppliers. Most of
the directories have been transformed into an electronic version accessible through the
Internet. 
OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING 
According to Wells, Out-of-home (OOH) advertising includes everything from
billboards to hot-air balloons. That means ads on public spaces, including buses,
posters on walls, telephone and shopping kiosks, painted and wrapped cars and semi-
trucks, taxi signs and mobile bill boards, transit shelters and rail platforms, airport and
bus terminal displays, hotel and shopping mall displays, in-store merchandising signs,
grocery store carts, shopping bags, public restroom walls, skywriting, in-store clocks,
and aisle displays. And don't forget blimps and airplanes towing messages over your
favorite stadium. There's not much that's standard about these formats, although many
use some form of print to convey the message. 
Outdoor Advertising
One of the growth areas in the out-of-home category is outdoor advertising,
which refers to billboards along streets and highways, as well as posters in other public
locations. By the end of 2005, outdoor advertising increased 8 percent from the
previous year. Of the $5.8 billion spent on outdoor, billboard ads accounted for
 24

approximately 60 percent, while street furniture, such as signs on benches, and transit
ads brought in the rest. 
An advertiser uses outdoor boards for two primary reasons. First, for national
advertisers, this medium can provide reminders to the target audience, as the
McDonald's board illustrates. A second use for billboards is directional; it acts as
primary medium when the board is in close proximity to the product. The travel and
tourism industries are major users of billboards directing travelers to hotels, restaurants,
resorts, gas stations, and other services. 
Size and Format. In terms of size and format, there are two kinds of billboards: printed
poster panels and painted bulletins. Printed posters are a type of billboard created by
de signers (provided by the advertiser or agency), printed, and shipped to an outdoor
advertising company. They are then prepared and applied in sections to the poster
panel's face on location, much like applying wallpaper. They come in two sizes based
on the number of sheets of paper used to make the image-8 sheet (5 x 11 feet) and 30
sheet (12 x 25 feet). 
The other kind of billboard is the painted bulletin. Painted bulletins differ from
posters in that they are normally created on site and are not as restricted as billboards
in size or shape, although their standard size is 14 x 48 feet. They can be painted on
the sides of buildings, on roofs, and even natural structures, such as the side of a
mountain. 
Designers can add extensions to painted billboards to expand the scale and
break away from the limits of the long rectangle. These embellishments are sometimes
called cutouts because they present an irregular shape. 
More recently an outdoor advertising innovation for billboards, electronic posters,
and kiosks is the use of digital displays using wireless technology, which can be quickly
changed to reflect an advertising situation (rainy weather) or the presence of a target
audience member. Google has filed for a patent for the new technology. Mini USA
invited some of its owners to join a pilot test of a new program called Motorby. The
drivers provide some basic information and agree to participate. They are given special
key fobs that trigger Mini billboards to deliver personal messages.
Because of the very short time consumers are normally exposed to a traditional
bill board message, typically, three to five seconds, the message must be short and the
visual must have stopping power. No more than 8 to 10 words is the norm. An example
of an unusual billboard with immense attention-getting power is the Microsoft Vista
billboard with wire dancers that appeared in New York. A similar spectacular featured
two live players on wires playing a game of (vertical) soccer in the Adidas “Football
Challenge" outdoor board that captivated audiences in Japan. 
Buying Outdoor Space. The outdoor advertising industry uses a system based on
showings, which refers to a standard unit for space sales based on the opportunity a
 25

person has to see a particular outdoor board. This is typically based on a traffic count—
that is, the number of vehicles passing a particular location during a specified period of
time. If an advertiser purchases a 100 showing, the basic standard unit is the number of
poster boards in each market that will expose the message to 100 percent of the market
population every day. If three posters in a community of 100,000 people achieve a daily
exposure to 75,000 people, the result is a 75 showing. Conversely, in a small town with
a population of 1,200 and one main street, two boards may produce a 100 showing.
From that it should be clear that the number of boards required for a 100 showing varies
from city to city. 
Advertisers can purchase any number of units (75, 50, or 25 showings daily are
common quantities). Boards are usually rented for 30-day periods, with longer periods
possible. Painted bulletins are bought on an individual basis, usually for one, two, or
three years. 
On-Premise Signs
According to Wells, Retail signs that identify stores have been with us throughout
recorded history and are today the most ubiquitous form of advertising. Signs are found
on small independent businesses, restaurants and chains like Starbucks, hospitals,
movie theaters, and other public facilities like zoos and large regional shopping centers.
In this complex environment an effective sign may be relatively simple, like McDonald's
giant M or more complex, like those found on the strip in Las Vegas with their large
illuminated and animated visual extravaganzas. Signs that are mounted on a store or its
property are described as directional as well as informational. The Signage Foundation
describes them as “The Speech of the Street." Without signs consumers would find it
difficult to locate the shops they patronize and businesses would become largely
invisible to their prospective customers. For some businesses, a sign, along with an ad
in the local phone directory, may be the most important forms of advertising. For
businesses that serve travelers, such as fast-food restaurants, gasoline stations, and
motels, the sign is their primary way to attract business. 
Posters
Posters are used on kiosks, bulletin boards, and the sides of buildings and
vehicles. In London, daily hand-lettered posters are used to announce newspaper
headlines, and the walls of the subway or Tube stations are lined with posters
advertising all kinds of products, but particularly theater shows. The iPod was launched
in London with walls of posters that Tube riders encountered coming up or down the
escalators. The walls were papered with the distinctive silhouetted images against their
neon backgrounds. The repetition of the images created a strong billboarding effect. 
More enduring posters than the hand-lettered London newspaper sign are
printed by lithography, which is a high-quality, color printing process. Lithography
created the "golden age” of the poster beginning in the late 1880s when posters were
the work of serious artists. These posters are now considered art and valued as
 26

collector items, as are movie posters, both historic and contemporary. Obviously the
impact of a poster is derived primarily from its striking design. In most cases there are
few words, although posters designed for places where people wait, such as transit
stops and kiosks, may carry longer messages, as well as take-along materials such as
tear-off coupons. The impact of a poster is also determined by its location. 
Special structures called kiosks are designed for public posting of notices and
advertising posters. Kiosks are typically located in places where people walk, such as a
many-sided structure in a mall or near a public walkway, or where people wait. The
location has a lot to do with the design of the message. Some out-of-home media serve
the same function as the kiosk, such as the ad-carrying bus shelter. 
Transit Advertising
Transit advertising is mainly an urban advertising form that places ads on
vehicles such as buses and taxis that circulate through the community as moving
billboards. Some of these use striking graphics, such as the designs on the sides of the
Mayflower moving trucks. Transit advertising also includes the posters seen in bus
shelters and train, airport, and sub way stations. Most of these posters must be
designed for quick impressions, although people who are waiting on subway platforms
or bus shelters often study these posters, so here they can present a more involved or
complicated message than a billboard can. 
There are two types of transit advertising: interior and exterior. Interior transit
advertising is seen by people riding inside buses, subway cars, and taxis. Exterior
transit advertising is mounted on the sides, rear, and tops of these vehicles, so
pedestrians and people in nearby cars see it. Transit advertising is reminder advertising;
it is a frequency medium that lets advertisers get their names in front of a local audience
who drive a regular route at critical times such as rush hour. 
Transit messages can be targeted to specific audiences if the vehicles follow a
regular route. Buses assigned to a university route will expose a higher proportion of
college stu dents, while buses that go to and from a shopping mall will expose a higher
population of shoppers. 
PACKAGING
In today's marketing environment, a package is both a container and a
communication vehicle, and it works both in home and out of home. In particular, it is
the last ad a customer sees before making the decision to buy a product, and once on
the shelf at home or in the office, it is a constant brand reminder. That's the reason we
include it in this chapter. An article in Advertising Age explained the importance of the
package as a communication medium: “Even if you can't afford a big advertising budget,
you've got a fighting chance if your product projects a compelling image from the shelf." 
Impact on the shelf is the goal of packaging strategy. In an attempt to win over
undecided consumers at the point of purchase, many manufacturers focus on creating
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innovative, eye-catching packages. Although the industry has never developed a

standard for measuring impressions from a shelf, advertisers are aware of the
billboarding effect of a massed set of packages, a practice that Pepperidge Farm uses
to good effect. 
When the package works in unison with consumer advertising, it not only catches
attention and presents a familiar brand image, it can communicate critical information
and tie back to a current campaign. The package serves as a critical reminder of the
product's important benefits at the moment the consumer is choosing among several
competing brands. Sometimes, the package itself is the focus of the advertising,
particular if there is a new size or innovation, such as Coca-Cola's introduction of a
plastic bottle in its classic curved shape. In sum, packaging is a constant communicator,
an effective device for carrying advertising messages, and a strong brand reminder. 

EXERCISES

TRUE OR FALSE.
_________1. People in our contemporary society live in a web of media-delivered news
and information, which is supported in most cases by advertising. T
_________2. In the media industries, there are professionals who both sell and buy
advertising. T
_________3. A media salesperson is responsible for assembling packets of information,
or sales funnel, on the medium he or she represents, which usually means compiling
profile information about the people who watch, listen, or read the medium, along with
the numbers describing audience size and geographical coverage. F
_________4. Media planners compile audience measurement data, media costs,
and availability data for the various media options being considered by the planners. F
_________5. In most cases a media plan will outline a set of media, called a media
target, to be used in achieving the objectives of the advertising plan. F
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_________6. Impressions are different from circulation, because impressions (at least
in print) estimate the actual readership, rather than just the circulation, which refers to
copies sold. T
_________7. The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target
audience as often as the budget allows. T
_________8. Media Advertising includes printed promotional messages in newspapers,
magazines, brochures, and on other printed surfaces, such as posters and outdoor
boards. F
_________9. Advertisers trying to reach a local market use newspapers, as most
newspapers (other than national ones) are identified by the geography of the city or
region they serve. T
_________10. Two types of classified ads include advertising by individuals to sell their
personal goods and advertising by local businesses. T
_________11. The biggest problem newspapers face is declining readership,
particularly among young people. T
_________12. Quality of reproduction is one of the biggest threats of magazines and
therefore magazine advertising. F
_________13. Media planners and buyers analyze a magazine's circulation so they can
assess circulation potential and determine whether the audiences that best match a
campaign's target will be reached. T
_________14. Newspapers and magazines are important print media types, but
directory advertising is another form that is particularly effective at driving specific types
of consumer responses. T
_________15. Transit messages can be targeted to specific audiences if the vehicles
follow a regular route. T

MULTIPLE CHOICE.
1. People (or companies) who sell space (in print) and time (in broadcast) for a
variety of media.
a. Media reps c. media buyer
b. Cross- media d. cross- platform
2. Develop the strategic decisions outlined in the media plan, such as where to
advertise geographically, when to advertise, and which type of media to use to
reach specific types of audiences.
a. Media researchers c. Media planners
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b. Media buyers d. Media buy

3. The way various types of media are strategically combined to create a certain
kind of impact.
a. Marketing mix c. Promotional mix
b. Media mix d. Advertising mix
4. One person's opportunity to be exposed one time to an ad in a newspaper,
magazine, or outdoor location.
a. Impressions c. Gross impressions
b. Circulation d. Reach and Frequency
5. Refers to the number of times a person is exposed to the advertisement.
a. Impressions c. Reach
b. Circulation d. Frequency
6. Copies delivered to individuals and companies that sign up to receive the
publication over a specified time for a certain fee.
a. 3rd Party Copies c. Dailies
b. Subscription d. Weeklies
7. Can be any size and can be placed anywhere in the newspaper except the
editorial page.
a. Display advertising c. Supplements
b. Classified ads d. free-standing insert (FSI)
8. An independent auditing group that represents advertisers, agencies, and
publishers.
a. Simmons-Scarborough c. Newspaper National Network
b. The Auditing Bureau of Circulations d. AARP The Magazine
9. Aimed at retailers, wholesalers, and other distributors; Chain Store Age is an
example.
a. Professional magazines c. Trade papers
b. Industrial magazines d. Farm magazines
10. Subscribers according to age, income, occupation, and other classifications.
a. Geography c. Demographics
b. Editorial content d. Ownership
11. A page without outside margins, in which the color extends to the edge of the
page.
a. Gutter c. Bleed page
b. Double-page spread d. Format
12. Lists all local and regional businesses in the United States that have a telephone
number.
a. The Yellow Pages c. The White Pages
b. The Blue Pages d. The Red Pages
13. Advertising includes everything from billboards to hot-air balloons.
a. Outdoor Advertising c. Printed posters
b. Out-of-home (OOH) advertising d. Extensions
14. Expand the scale and break away from the limits of the long rectangle.
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a. Outdoor Advertising c. Printed posters

b. Out-of-home (OOH) advertising d. Extensions
15. Industry uses a system based on showings, which refers to a standard unit for
space sales based on the opportunity a person has to see a particular outdoor
board.
a. Outdoor Advertising c. On-Premise Signs
b. Out-of-home (OOH) advertising d. Buying Outdoor Space

ACTIVITY

1. Your team has been asked to advice on where advertising should be placed for a
new restaurant in town that specializes in low-fat and low-carb healthy food. Have
different members contact as many media as possible in your community. Consider
newspaper, magazines, outdoor, and directory advertising business. What do you need
to know about the appropriateness of these media for this restaurant? Ask as many
questions as you need to develop your recommendations. Compare the types of
information and services available. Was the customer service helpful? Is this the right
media choice for your company? Analyze the results in a brief report; begin by stating
your advertising goals, then state what you might or might not accomplish by advertising
in each print medium.
2. Assume that you are part of a creative team for an advertising agency and you’ve
been commissioned to create a print ad on their new product of milk tea. The client
wants the ad to be colorful, sexy and posh. Create a print ad based on the request of
the client.