Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Emilija Duraki, Media manager, Media S
Over the last two or three years, TV media planners are faced with a major crisis of TV content, or rather lack of quality programs on TV stations to match more urban and younger target groups. Some TV stations in recent years have tried to respond to this challenge by offering various forms of content and increased investment in their development, but the profitability of those activities was lower than expected. The consequences are stagnation and visible decline in the quality and diversity of programs.
Currently we are witnessing the uniformisation of program schemes, where one television responds to activities of another one by copying it, and offering almost identical content. We are swamped with reality shows, Turkish shows, reruns of domestic series and music competitions that have appeared several years ago. Ratings of the national broadcasters are in constant decline (except for RTS that carries a lot of sporting events and has programs that always have an audience, such as Slagalica quiz) which causes a lot of fuss in the programming blocks. Apparently, the trend is destined to continue.
Clients insist on content, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to plan well, because on some televisions it’s simply impossible to choose a program that has a good affinity for the target group. And then there is the commitment that should be met. Meanwhile, cable television is slowly but surely growing, and investment in them is increasing, but not as much as there is space.
What to do then? How to wisely invest your budget?
Although the trend is that clients are increasingly investing in online advertising, TV is still the dominant medium that plays an important role, reflected primarily in the possibility that the message reaches a large number of consumers. Online is not an expensive channel, and has its advantages, but it also has its limitations. Similar considerations apply to other communication channels.
Only TV planning carries with it some uncertainties. One of them is whether to go broader and use multiple TV stations in order to reduce the average CPP, or less TV stations with carefully selected programs. For clients selling consumer goods, the decision is not difficult to make – in order to reduce the average CPP they can use a cheaper TV station, with not-so-quality programs, but some more expensive products and those products that have a specific target group require thorough consideration.
Sometimes risks have to be made and use more expensive TV stations and more expensive programs, which will lead to a higher average CPP, but at least it will reach at least one part of the population with a greater capacity to pay, and which despises reality shows and Turkish series.
In any case, a poor quality TV scheme certainly affect the commitment among clients for more expensive products, and if this trend continues, it will be more and more difficult to decide how best to allocate the budget and whether to cut investment on TV, and pay premium for better targeting.
Planning therefore faces two alternative roads. We can take the easy path where the arguments for this road are a lot of GRP’s and great reach. The second road is the less trodden one, where a media plan includes a number of programs with lower ratings, and higher cost. When you put things like this, the logical question is why would someone decide for the road where CPP will be higher, and reach smaller?
There are several good arguments for this alternative. The first is the possibility of more precise targeting, which will largely miss the various target groups that are not consumers of our products, and will only reach the “quality” target group with higher purchasing power. Another reason are shorter advertising blocks. If we choose advertising on cable channels, the possibility that our ad will be noticed is much higher, which contributes to greater memorability of the advertising message. In addition, it is important to bear in mind the parameters that cannot be seen in direct TV monitoring. The very context in which an ad appears will create a long-term relationship between the consumer and the brand. For example, if the planning was done precisely so that it largely corresponds to the interests and lifestyle of consumers, and if your brand appears in the shorter commercial block of his/her favorite series, the memorability of the ad will be higher and the consumer connection with the brand strengthens. Memorability and deeper impact of an ad on the consumer depend on the broader context. Not only is the content of the ad important, but also where and when we hear it.
The main barrier to the acceptance of this approach is that it requires a review of the traditional view on planning, where measures are GRP, share and reach, and parameters such as recognition, preference and likeability are put aside since they cannot be measured by using standard programs for media planning. That is why this new approach calls for a courageous client.
Some clients want to experiment. They want to try a different approach and check how it will affect their sales. Of course, provided that the investment and risk are not too great. For example, our agency has had an experience with a client who was selling a more expensive product than the competition, and who had poor sales results despite constant advertising. We decided to stop the campaign on national TV stations and advertise only on cable over a longer period of time. Sales results were much better, in spite of data that showed smaller amount of collected GRPs and small reach. Of course, this cannot and will not “work” for all clients, so you should take a good look at the whole situation and have a client who is ready for such a decision.
Because all evidence suggest that program on TV stations will hardly get better, big reach will definitely remain an important parameter in the media planning, and will be a smart solution for consumer goods, which target the general population. However, for more expensive products and for niche, younger target groups, the strategy of careful selection of specific programs with higher prices can be very profitable, although at first glance it does not seem so.