286 CHAPTER15 DESIGNING ANDMANAGINGINTEGRATEDMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS
Rust and Oliver see the proliferation of newer media such as the World Wide
Web hastening the death of traditional mass-media advertising as we know it. They also
see a greater amount of direct producer-consumer interaction, with benefits to both
parties. Producers gain more information about their customers and can customize
products and messages better; customers gain greater control because they can choose
whether to receive an advertising message.^28
Although Web-based advertising is growing rapidly, many companies are reluc-
tant to spend heavily on banner ads and hotlinks because they have no reliable way of
knowing who sees or clicks on these ads. The Internet is not simply another medium;
it is a profoundly different experience where on-line consumers can pull what they
want out of cyberspace and leave the rest behind. Therefore, advertisers have to be
creative enough to make these consumers want to pull in their cybermessages.
Table 5.2 Profiles of Major Media Types
Medium Advantages Limitations
Newspapers
Television
Direct mail
Radio
Magazines
Outdoor
Yellow Pages
Newsletters
Brochures
Telephone
Internet
Flexibility; timeliness; good local
market coverage; broad acceptance;
high believability
Combines sight, sound, and motion;
appealing to the senses; high
attention; high reach
Audience selectivity; flexibility; no ad
competition within the same
medium; personalization
Mass use; high geographic and
demographic selectivity; low cost
High geographic and demographic
selectivity; credibility and prestige;
high-quality reproduction; long life;
good pass-along readership
Flexibility; high repeat exposure; low
cost; low competition
Excellent local coverage; high
believability; wide reach; low cost
Very high selectivity; full control;
interactive opportunities; relative
low costs
Flexibility; full control; can dramatize
messages
Many users; opportunity to give a
personal touch
High selectivity; interactive
possibilities; relatively low cost
Short life; poor reproduction quality;
small “pass-along” audience
High absolute cost; high clutter;
fleeting exposure; less audience
selectivity
Relatively high cost;“junk mail”
image
Audio presentation only; lower
attention than television;
nonstandardized rate structures;
fleeting exposure
Long ad purchase lead time; some
waste circulation; no guarantee of
position
Limited audience selectivity; creative
limitations
High competition; long ad purchase
lead time; creative limitations
Costs could run away
Overproduction could lead to
runaway costs
Relative high cost unless volunteers
are used
Relatively new media with a low
number of users in some countries