Marketing Communications

MEDIA OBJECTIVES 263

As mentioned before, some researchers argue that the most important thing is to reach

consumers near the point of purchase. Jones^25 suggests that one exposure is sufficient and

may have a much greater influence than frequent exposures. According to him, trying to

reach as many people in the target group within the period near their purchasing is more

effective than trying to reach a particular segment more frequently during the same time

period. Ephron^26 shares this view and compares being off-air, as is the case with a flighting

schedule, with being out of stock at the sales point. According to him, advertisers reach this

week’s buyers with this week’s advertising, and next week’s buyers only with next week’s

advertising, and not with this week’s advertising. Also, a recent study investigating the impact

of 1482 radio commercials reveals that media consistency and spending the advertising budget

in complementary media and radio channels, i.e. focusing on reach rather than frequency of

exposure (and, as a consequence, using a continuous rather than a flighting or pulsing schedule),

are important explanatory factors for both ad and brand recognition.^27 Others argue that

both reach and frequency remain important.^28 When the purpose of advertising is to give

information, frequent exposure can be important; when the objective of advertising is to

remind people (e.g. in the case of mature products), one exposure may be enough.^29 But, even

in the latter case, a positive effect of frequent exposure can be measured.^30 Moreover, it cannot

be stressed enough that a drop in ad spending during recessions is not a wise decision. More and

more studies find strong support for the argument that recessions provide special opportunities

for maximising the benefit of advertising euros.^31

Another aspect worth considering when deciding on whether to use a continuous, pulsing

or flighting schedule is how long people remember the message. Too much focus on a certain

period of time without any repetitions during the rest of the year can be detrimental, since

people easily forget the communications they have been exposed to.

Two scheduling tactics worth mentioning are double-spotting and roadblocking.^32 With

double-spotting, two spots are placed within the same programme to increase the likelihood of

obtaining the effective frequency. Roadblocking refers to placing the same ad across many

channels at the same time. In this case, reach can be seriously increased since everyone watching

TV at, for example, 9 p.m., will be confronted with the ad. Moreover, it is also a partial solution

to the zapping phenomenon since even zapping will not help consumers to avoid the ad.

Cost

The cost of a medium is usually expressed as the cost per thousand (CPT), meaning the cost of

reaching 1000 people. Cost per thousand (CPT) is usually referred to as CPM, the ‘M’ referring

Figure 8.9 Flighting advertising

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