Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

16. Advertising and Sales
    Promotion

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

Advertising and Sales Promotion 461

that “Seinfeld” was like the Super Bowl for women, and that Gardenburger was just

the ticket for their needs. Yet only about 8 percent of consumers have ever tasted

a veggie burger. A 30-second ad, even a memorable one, isn’t likely to change a

basic mind-set for most people. So in betting the farm on its “Seinfeld” ad, Gar-

denburger had to pay to reach a very large group of women, and men, who were not

at all interested in what the company had to offer. Gardenburger is an extreme case,

but research suggests that many of the firms that sponsor ads on such big-audience

shows would get more for their money if they placed ads on shows that reached

more-targeted audiences.^17

Because it’s hard to pick the best media, media analysts often focus on compar-

ing quantitative measures—such as cost per thousand of audience size or circulation.

This may seem to be an objective approach, but advertisers preoccupied with

keeping these costs down may ignore the relevant segmenting dimensions and slip

into mass marketing.

Today the major media direct more attention to reaching smaller, more defined

target markets. The most obvious evidence of this is in the growth of spending on

direct-mail advertising to consumers in databases. However, other media—even tra-

ditional ones—are becoming more targeted as well.

TV is a good example. Cable TV channels—like MTV, Cable News Network

(CNN), Nickelodeon, and ESPN—are taking advertisers away from the networks

because they target specific audiences. ESPN, for example, has an audience heavily

weighted toward affluent, male viewers. British Sky Broadcasting does a good job of

reaching homemakers with young children. Moreover, being specialized doesn’t nec-

essarily mean that the target market is small. MTV appeals most strongly to affluent,

young viewers, but its programming is seen in over 300 million homes worldwide—

more than any other programmer.

Infomercials—long commercials that are broadcast with a TV show format—give

a glimpse of how targeted cable TV will become when more consumers have access

to hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of TV channels. With many channels

competing for attention, most will succeed only if they offer programs and commer-

cials that are very specific to the interests and needs of smaller, more homogeneous

target markets.

Radio has also become a more specialized medium. Some stations cater to par-

ticular ethnic and racial groups—such as Hispanics, African Americans, or French

Internet advertising and ads

delivered by e-mail make it

possible for advertisers to be very

targeted in getting the right

message to the right audience.

Some media help zero

in on specific target

markets