Marketing Communications

272 CHAPTER 8 MEDIA PLANNING

Newspapers

The major advantage of newspapers is the number of people that can be reached in a very

short period of time. Furthermore, newspapers are a flexible medium in the sense that last-

minute changes are possible in case the company’s needs change or when the company wants

to take advantage of, or make use of, recent events. Ads referring to recent events are called

top topicals and can usually count on more attention. The readers are usually highly involved

in their newspaper, and the objective, informational context makes newspapers a credible

medium with a high impact, not only for ads but also for PR messages. Newspapers also

provide the possibility of working regionally. In contrast with several other media, newspapers

can convey large amounts of information.

Disadvantages of newspapers are the limited selectivity of the medium and the low quality

of reproduction. Furthermore, they are a transient medium in the sense that the message has

a very short life since a newspaper lasts only one day.

In 2002, Compaq won an award for the best use of newspapers. Full-page newspaper ads were created that

resembled actual news reports. The ads contained testimonials from leading businesses and governments

indicating that Compaq had never been more dependable. For example, one of the headlines read ‘Hong Kong

SAR: Government Teams with Compaq to Deliver Online Public Services to Hong Kong Citizens’. Moreover, in

some newspapers Compaq had fixed positionings on a certain day of the week, always featuring the same headline,

e.g. ‘BT: Business Tuesday from Compaq’. In the first instance, Compaq wanted to go for business magazines

and information technology trade magazines. In the end it chose newspapers because of their ‘credibility and

immediacy’.^37

business insight

Compaq wins award for best use of newspapers

as customer media. According to the British Association of Publishing Agencies, the market for customer media

was €910 million in 2004, and €1.3 billion in 2011. Customer media are financed by the issuing company or, in the

case of retailers, by means of ads that are placed by the brands sold in the retailer’s shops and promoted in the

magazine.

In the Netherlands and the UK especially, customer media have a long tradition. The Dutch retailer Albert Heijn

has distributed the magazine Allerhande (All kinds of things) since 1983. Around Christmas, about 2.5 million copies

are distributed, and it reaches one in three Dutch households. The magazine is fully paid for by ads of brands sold

in Albert Heijn. A.S. Magazine, issued by A.S. Adventure, a Belgian chain of outdoor stores, focuses on adventurous

travellers, and has featured articles about, for instance, rafting in Sweden and the diary of a pharmacist who climbed

Mount Everest to raise money for Médecins sans Frontières. After each article, a list of products that relates to the

article is given. Of course, only gear that can be found in A.S. Adventure shops is featured. Ads of, among others,

Gore-Tex, North Face and Suzuki provide the budget for the magazine.

Customer media are ideal media to support the image of a company and its products and to place the products

and brands in an experiential context, adding emotional depth to the brand perception and experience. Research

indicates that a professionally made and well-targeted magazine is read on average for half an hour, a substantial

and high-quality level of exposure.^36

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