The communication networks employed for advertising like printing press, radio, television, etc., are termed as media. Offering various entertainment functions to either mass or individuals, transferring information and news, or delivering messages of advertisement. are the various functions that these advertising media serve. These networks help marketers in delivering the advertising message across and also act as an important link between sellers and buyers. In the marketing and business process of companies, the advertising media has a very important role to play. In the current environment, there are a number of companies operating and it is difficult for customers to remember all the products or brands. Hence, advertisements and advertising media are used by companies to reach the target audience. The suitable advertising media and campaign is selected by company by analysing various factors such as advertising budget, organisational objectives, target segment, customer demographics, etc. This helps the company to create awareness about the brand, inform about products, satisfying the needs of customers, and creating a strong brand image. There are numerous types of media available for advertising. These forms can be grouped into the following heads are as follows:
Types of Advertising Media
- Print Media
- Broadcast Media
- Internet Advertising
- Direct Advertising Media
- Out of Media
- Other Advertising Media
Comparative Study of Different Advertising Media
| Types of Media | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Television | Television is creative and impactful, its reachability is at high. has mass coverage, combines effect of sound, motion, & sight, has low cost, gains attention of customers and has prestige value. | Television has high production cost, high advertisement confusion. low selectivity, distrust & negative evaluation. high ad clutter, and short life of message. |
| Radio | Radio has local coverage, high frequency, low cost, mass coverage, focused segment selection, wide reachability and evaluable rating. | Radio is audio based, is less attention seeking, has short span of message life, problem In purchasing space & scheduling. lacks visual aids, involves noise, and has listener inattention, |
| Newspapers | Newspapers are good for ads which are recently aired, are flexible, affordable, on-time, have mass coverage, possibility of ad positioning, readers control exposure, large space and coupons can be inserted. | Newspapers have short span of message life, selective exposure, bad production quality, low attention seeking, and high ad confusion. |
| Magazines | Magazines have high information content, readers involvement, long life of message, potential for focused segment. more readers per copy, very good production quality, and high had prestige. | It is only visual, absence of flexibility, long lead time, low frequency, competition, & clutter, and limited reach. |
| Outdoor / Out of Home | Outdoor media have high visibility, ability to create awareness, high frequency, flexibility, wide coverage of local market, and are good specific location. | Outdoor media have short span of message life, short exposure time, image problems, measurement problems, short message, and wear out or clutter problems. |
| Direct Advertising | Advertising has personal touch, opportunity for repeat exposure, result measurability, high level of selectivity, deeper impact, readers control exposure, and high information content. | Advertising has short span of message time, high cost per contact. low interest of reader, high cost, warrants specialised skill, and are often thrown as junk mail. |
| Internet | Internet has wide contact with customers, information accessibility, creativity, high involvement and attention. speed, updated ads, user controlling and message tailoring. | Internet has limited production quality, irritation and clutter due to repetition, measurement problems, potential for deception, and privacy issues. |
Other Advertising Media
There are various other types of media other than the main classification. Following are the other forms of advertising media:
Exhibition and Trade Fair Advertising: Although both ‘trade fair’ and ‘exhibition’ are used interchangeably by people but they both are very different from one another. Exhibition refers to the public show of art work or other similar items. These exhibitions are organised in museums, trade shows, or art galleries. The term exhibition has been taken from the word exhibit which stands for show or display. On the other hand, trade fairs are an organised activity where and traders come together to showcase or demonstrate their new products and services.
Video-Film Advertising: The video advertisements cover a large amount of portion in the budget of small as well as big organisations. This medium of advertising is very effective as it uses visuals, motion, timeliness and sound.
Cinema and Theatre programme Advertising: Promotion through Cinema advertising is an efficient publicity medium. The recollection of ads in the theatres is four times higher than television ads. Ads in the movie theatres have creative messages and delivered to the target audience efficiently.
Directory Advertising: A yellow page like book which contains names, addresses and contact numbers of people and companies is called a directory. If the target audiences are the people who use directory, then marketers give their advenisement in directories. In today’s era, people have started looking up for services or businesses on their own. Therefore, advertising in the directories seems very fruitful and beneficial. Yellow pages list the telephone numbers of all local and regional businesses. Moreover, businesses can also purchase space to show their advertisement in addition to listing the telephone numbers. The companies who deal as core advertisers are the service providers such as travel agents, florists, travel agents, and restaurants. Yellow pages are the source of advertisement for the small businesses as it is economical and customers use it to search for businesses.
Factors Affecting Media Selection
The following factors affect the media selection:
Class of the Audience: The educational and social status, religion, age structure, income level, gender ratio and cultural interests of the audience divide them into different categories. These classes/categories of the target customers highly influence the type of media to be used for advertising.
Extent of Coverage: Extent of coverage or total number of target customers to be covered in the advertising, strongly affects the type of media to be selected. Every media leads to two types of circulation, i.e., general and effective. Total number of people subscribing or reading the media forms the ‘general Whereas, target customers reading the media and customers influencing the sales (not involved in buying), constitute ‘effective circulation’. Therefore, determining effective circulation of a medium is very crucial for matching the extent of coverage of advertising. Different media have different levels of effective circulation. Level of overlapping or extent to which a medium reaches within a target area already covered by another media, is also a significant factor affecting the media selection.
Nature of the Product: The kind of the products offered by the organisation is a key factor which influences the selection of the medium. The products offered may be consumer products or industrial products.
Nature of the Competition: The nature of competition also has significant impact on the selection of the media. Huge advertising budget and high level of care are required in case of immense competition. In case of advertising message being similar to that Of competitors, selection of appropriate media is the only way to get competitive advantage.
Cost of the Media: Cost associated With a particular medium is also an important factor in media selection. Advertisements in media like radio and television require a big amount of money. Whereas, comparatively less amount of money is incurred on advertisement through newspapers or magazines. But there are some newspapers or magazines which charge high amount of money due to their reputation and large circulation.
Time and Location of Buying Decisions: The location of the target customers and the time consumed by the medium to reach them, are two important factors affecting the media selection.