PERSONALITY OF MARKETING CHANNELS

Just like humans every brand has its own personality. One as a customer would get intrigued about the brand when one draws similarities and belongingness with the personality of the brand. It is therefore critical for the marketing manager to choose the right mix of channels for advertisement which would fit the Brand’s and Target audience’s Personality traits. Every marketing channel has its own characteristics which create synergies with the perception that marketers are trying to build for their brand. 

Let’s have a look at different channels of advertisement and its personality traits.

• Newspaper
• Television
• Radio
• Digital
• Outdoor

NEWSPAPER

This medium is apt when your product is for mass media. Newspapers are timely and pervasive. Newspapers are available in a variety of local languages and therefore provide maximum flexibility of choosing the publications for targeted advertising to reach the intended literate audience.

This media is most suitable to educate the customer about the product features. Moreover, If the goal of a campaign is to drive sales through limited periods offers and discounts, this media can provide a quick access to a large set of audience.

TELEVISION

This medium is known for the ‘Big Daddies’ of the market. This is so because it is the most expensive medium. Well the value of this medium is worth the money as it provides complete demonstration of the product visually with sound effects. This medium not only helps demonstrate product attributes but also explains corresponding consumer benefits. It also helps dramatically portray user and usage imagery, brand personality and other intangibles.

This media contributes a largest share in the total investment that marketers do in brand promotion. One study states that total money spent in television advertising in 2011 is estimated to be Rs 101.5 billion with the average category growth rate of over 11 %. 

The perception in the mind of the consumer when seen an ad on Television medium would be – This Company is credible and rich. It is surely not a small company. The look and the feel of the brand is somewhat me. Let’s try it out.The brand personality would be conveyed to the audience in the most effective manner through this medium provided the content and creative of the ad is in place

RADIO

This medium is perfect for the business which is mainly into intangible goods and services. As the major obvious drawback is it lacks visual images. Never the less radio ads can be extremely creative as the clever use of music, sound, and other creative devices can tap into listener’s imagination to create powerfully relevant and liked images. The cost of the radio ad is relatively low. The impact of the radio ad is higher in the morning and evening spots.

The targeted audience is fixed as radio is generally a part of their routine. Brands which cater to mass markets and not niche can surely go for radio ads. It is generally the jingle that is recalled and not the product ad.

This media is quite relevant if you product appeals to middle class as this media predominantly cater to them only. Moreover the listeners are comparatively less repulsive to a radio ad than a TV ad. This media provides much higher returns if complemented by some other outdoor media channels which provides a visual representation to customer.

DIGITAL

This is a media which provides marketers an opportunity to target a specific and defined set of audience. It is comparatively much easier to measure the performance of a digital campaign. The best feature of this channel is that it gets aligned with premium, sub-premium, mass market and all other kind of brands.

Another main advantage this channel offers is that it provides an opportunity to engage the customers and capture their response. Cost of designing a campaign is reasonably low. Major corporations use this channel heavily for a variety of Through The Line (TTL) campaign. Some major drawback of this channel is that its penetration is considerably lesser than other major media channels. Only a limited set of audience (English speaking middle and rich class) can be targeted through this medium. A digital ad if not engaging enough, can be perceived as a spam and attract negative perception about your brand. Moreover, a rising trend of ad-blockers is also a growing threat to the credibility of this channel. But, whatever the drawbacks are, this channel is taking care of itself and growing at an alarming pace.

OUTDOOR

This medium mainly consist of advertisements displayed at traffic junctions, railway station, airports, mobile vans, commercial vehicles, inside trains and buses and on highways. Number of travelling and household vehicles has risen six times faster than the population rate. People are spending less time reading and watching television because they are spending more time travelling to and from work.

Relevance of outdoor advertisements is on the rise also because not only we are having more and more eyes on the road but also this media provides an opportunity to engage the customer. Also, you can’t turn off an outdoor ad. It’s always in your face. Even the customers in general do not see an outdoor ad as a privacy breach. In fact, people in general tend to appreciate a good outdoor ad. Moreover, this channel gives marketers an access to a blue ocean of opportunities to engage the customer in creative ways. Small businesses benefit the most from billboard advertising. 
It also acts as a media multiplier which improves the ROI of other media when you include them in the mix.

PERCEPTION ABOUT OUTDOOR AD

Outdoor in general is a customer friendly media and provides an opportunity to geographically target a wider set of audience. People, In general are supportive to the idea of outdoor. Outdoor advertisement is not the best media to explain product features to the customers or to educate the customers. It is a media to create product recall and to strengthen the brand image. Also, this is one such media which is open for all sorts of companies irrespective of their financial positioning because it offers a wide range of option spanning across even wider pricing range.