TVTelevision Advertising.

Television Advertising has 2 basic types, Network & Cable.  Network TV are stations that are broadcast over the air and don’t require a cable subscription to watch.  Cable TV is subscription based for the user, it offers a much broader selection of channels in the lineup. Cable TV does offer the network stations in it’s lineup, but when we start talking about Cable television the market becomes more fragmented and the advertising buys can be more difficult to acquire because of nation television buyers.

Television advertising is a creative media, sometime referred to as intrusive advertising. Television advertising is sold in CPM, (Cost per Mil/thousand) what this means is that $30 CPM means you pay $30 for 1000 people to hear your message.  Television is designed to convey a message, or special, but is generally considered NON-ACTIVE engagement.

Strong Points:

  • Network TV is free, however Cable television is subscription based.
  • TV is the most influential medium, engaging  your senses in sight and sound.
  • The Average American Spends 20% of their day watching TV.( Nielsen)
  • TV format allows for :10 Second, 15 second, 30 second, 60 second spots, and long form infomercials.
  • TV can be targeted by viewer audience groups.
  • You can personalize your message (American Furniture Warehouse).
  • Extremely large geographical reach.
  • Strong  medium for  newly invented products that are being introduced to a market.
  • Cable TV can be purchased in zones or areas

Weaknesses:

  • People change the station when commercials start.
  • Cable  Television is fragmenting viewership and taking away viewers from Network TV.
  • TV is very difficult to buy because each program reaches a different demographic.
  • TV generally has high CPM, $30 to $50 CPMS, Cable is far less.
  • TV has NO track-ability other than, “Mention this ad.”
  • TV is hard to track by asking the customer, “Did  you see us on the TV?”
  • Ad Production is a high cost , and not easy to interchange messages.
  • Do to high fragmentation  of audience it is difficult to reach a high frequency .
  • DVR’s are allowing viewers to record their favorite shows and skip unwanted advertising.

Working with other forms of media:

Television does a good job with branding, but ultimately other forms of advertising are normally used for point of sale transactions.  Allowing television to deliver the message about some deal your business is offering to create interest in the brand, special, or product is a good start of getting the customer in to the buying funnel, but backing it up with the ability to be found in a directional format, like internet, allows the ability for business to capture the customer when they are ready to buy.