Density of Media Platforms

I had a 50 minute long conversation with my friend Justin yesterday. He is based out of Mumbai, and is supremely proficient at his craft.

While discussing social media, I made an argument that TV as an advertising platform is dead. It is a sentiment a lot of people would have agreed with. But Justin said something that made me realize how wrong I was.

He said " There is a difference in Density between a TV ad and a Facebook ad". This took some time to sink in. But I realized how true it is.

MY REALIZATIONS

When you look at an ad on television, have you even thought ' God, I hope this isn't fake' or ' I hope they have good quality'.

If it is on TV, it is a huge deal. It is already a quality approved product/brand. It has density. Let me give you an example. I used to be in the FMCD (consumer durables) field before being a digital marketer. When I went to the retailers with a new product, all they cared about was, the margins, and if the product would sell. Had I told them that we run Facebook ads and the product will sell for sure, the retailer would have pushed me out of his shop. What you need for the broad market to trust you, is a TV ad.

REMEMBER MAGGIE BACK IN 2014?

When the infamous Maggie scandal happened back in 2014, Nestle had to remove all the Maggie packets from the retail outlets to make sure customer remained safe of lead poisoning. The retailers were badly hit, since Maggie is the nation's darling. So when the brand came back, the TV ads were targeted more towards the retailers and Kirana shop owners. The purpose of TV ads is to maintain brand and keep the product flowing. I have even seen retailers favor one product over another based on the quality of the TV ad.

" If the company is making effort to sell, only then will we make the effort to promote the product", and a retailer's promotion of a product is a huge deal....trust me.

All this can't be achieved through Facebook ads. They just don't have the density!

Same goes for FMCG products, mobile phones, any product with a big brand and a wider market.

Does this make sense to you? The density of platforms, how it differs. TV advertising is still a very effective branding technique. Almost tantamount to influencer marketing in the online space.