OOH and the future

Out-Of-Home media or OOH is a subject we have spent a lot of time discussing lately in class. It mostly included billboards, street furniture, transit and alternatives. According to Brad Tully, president of Choice Media which is located in Amarillo, OOH media is growing at a rate of 8.2% per year which comes in second to Internet which is growing at 11% a year. Additionally, digital advertising is also growing very quickly. The digital aspect of OOH includes primarily digital billboards that can be found in large cities such as LA, and Dallas. Although sadly, Amarillo will not allow digital billboards, formed from the belief that it will be a dangerous distraction for drivers. Personally, I think digital advertising would be a very successful outlet in this area.

Endless Opportunities

I think one of the best things about OOH is that it's very creative and allows room for out of the box thinking and advertising. Especially when it comes to billboards. Choice Media is one of the local businesses in Amarillo that is making large advances in creative advertising. http://www.choicemedia.biz/

These billboards are just a few examples of the endless creative options with OOH advertising. 

With digital advertising there is even more room to be creative and develop unique ads. Another benefit to according to marketing scoop.com, OOH is the fact that it is easier to reach your target market on a 1 on 1 basis and figure out their needs and how to best reach those needs. People can't just turn off the TV or change the radio station it's almost a guaranteed audience.

These reasons and many more are what have helped jump start the excessive growth rate of OOH and the bright future it currently has.

Stairway to Success

The word "analysis" just makes me cringe because it makes me think of math equations or algebra. Which essentially makes me want to be sick. However, media analysis is something that is crucial to the industry and has an art to it. It truly is a stairway to success and unlocks everything in media.

The Process

According to the textbook, there are three crucial "steps" or success tools that make for good media planning and analysis.

1) Matching media with Markets

As Azzaro so clearly states in the textbook, you have to understand your market inside and out in order to come up with a detailed analysis. It is crucial to know the needs, strengths and weaknesses of the company you're coming up with an analysis for. This way, it will send the right and accurate message to your demographic and the market you're trying to reach. After doing some online research, I came across 

2) The Local Market Profile

It's important, as Azzaro so clearly states, to know your market and research their strengths and weaknesses. This way, you can have a better understanding of how to reach your market and how to best reach the demographic. After some online research, I found a media analysis company called Carma that creates custom media analysis on a global level. Which is a bit different then the "local" profile but still gives the same idea. http://www.carma.com/customized-analysis/

3) Research on a Local Level

This is a continuation of the previous step, essentially it is knowing your market inside and out. Eating, sleeping and breathing your market and knowing everything about it. Knowing everything about them will help you know what to fill in on your profile and how to reach your demographic.

Media analysis is an endless road of opportunity that leads to incredible accomplishments. It helps you know your market and how to reach them in the most effective way possible. Once you know their needs and wants you can come up with creative ways to ignite their interests and evoke emotional responses that will increase advertising. Media analysis isn't boring math equations but instead a stairway that leads to success and an open road full of opportunity. 

Media Buying & Opportunity

There is more to media advertising than meets the eye. A large portion of successful media begins with media buys and eventually sales. According to the textbook there are three basic job functions when it comes to buying and selling media.

1) Media Planning (creating a successful plan)
2) Media Buying (buying media that will work for your demographic)
3) Media Sales  (presenting information to media buyers)

Out of Home

I'm going to focus mainly on the buying aspect of media in this blog. We have spent a lot of time in class focusing on the media buying aspect especially out of home advertising. According to president of choice media in Amarillo, TX, Brad Tully OOH media has one of the fastest growing rates each year at 8.2% increase per year. It comes in second to internet which has a growing rate of 11% per year. OOH media is endless in the opportunities it creates, it's allows for a variety of buying options and can be "personally" tailored to meet clients.

The Buy

The textbook states how crucial the actual media buy itself is. The whole point of the buy is to target specific media that will effectively carry out the media plan. The textbook goes on to say that it's very important to have good skills in analysis and negotiation when making the buy. This way it's easier to find better prices for the client's money. Media buying seems to be an art in and of itself and is crucial to the industry. OOH seems to be one of the areas where media buying is definitely excelling. Choice Media is one of the local Amarillo companies that is making huge strides in making buys and taking on clients and advertising in creative ways. OOH gives the opportunity for more creativity and unique ads for clients. Choice Media specializes in billboards, directories and banners in the Texas area. They are a perfect example of a company making smart local media buys for clients. http://www.choicemedia.biz/

Creative billboard advertising

Make it or Break it

Media lives and dies by its audience.

Media is all connected and influences each other. But audiences make it or break it

Audiences "make or break it" for media. In all forms.

Culture's Influence

 Without an audience media wouldn't exist or have the impact that it does in daily life. I'll be completely honest, I really wasn't sure what media measurements were prior to researching it and I never thought about how crucial ratings are to media's existence. I think the biggest challenge today for media is adapting to how consumers view or utilize the content. For example, it's much more common in today's culture to watch TV from a mobile phone or the internet than from an actual television screen. That changes ratings and how ratings are measured. For the purpose of this blog I'm going to focus mainly on television measurements.

Television (Nielson Media Research)

Network television viewings are managed by the Nielson Media Research measurement service. They use a people meter; a meter that is attached to about 5,000 homes across the country, every time someone tunes into a program it's measured and tells the network. This whole idea of being "measured" is crazy. It's like a whole new world I never knew existed! According to the Strategic Media Decisions textbook 2nd edition, the findings from the meters are used to project program ratings, audience size and characteristics for network shows. According to the textbook there has been some controversy with Nielson and their practices, evidence has shown that their ratings measure programs and not commercials. The whole point is for advertising commercials to be seen and truthfully how many people really sit and watch commercials? (unless it's Super Bowl Sunday!) The textbook also states that advertisers spent between $60 and $70 billion on television ads alone. Quite a bit of money for commercials! Personally, I know I am not one to watch commercials, I change the channel as soon as an ad shows up. 

Problems?

The textbook mentions some issues that Nielson has with their measurements and the impact of them. Truthfully, I think there are some good points that get brought up. (all of these points come from the textbook which was published in 2008 so these issues are pulled from that year)

1) In 2008, Nielson was making some changes in how they used their meters, every change that is made in how viewings are measured has a great impact. It can increase ratings or decrease them. This begs the question, can a measurement company "play" or "tweak" the viewings to their benefit so they can spend more money on advertising? How reliable are the ratings? 

2) In some cases, it's programs that are rated not commercials. The commercials is what is advertised not the actual network show. People (like myself) are more than capable of tuning into their program and as soon as a commercial comes on they change the channel. But because of how Nielson measures the ratings the meters count when a remote clicks into a channel even if it's when the program is on. Not the commercial. This leads to another question, are advertisers really utilizing their money wisely on where they place ads?

I don't have answers to these questions but they're very thought provoking about how reliable the measurements truly are. I just thought it was interesting and definitely made me think beyond just retaining information! I also think it can help us get more creative in how we advertise and where commercials are placed! 

Changing Times

I think it's interesting to also consider the changing times that we live in now as it relates to media. According to a study on Nielson's website they show this image which states that only 50% of viewers actually view programs from a television. 30% use a computer or a mobile device, 9% use mobile and 11% watch TV and use mobile. Half only watch TV from their homes. I think that definitely influences ratings because there's more to measure than just homes. In my mind, media is the best industry because it constantly evolves to match the changing times.

Nielson's website has this information on their website, the top 10 television shows (prime time) each week. A great resource for advertisers and knowing where ads fit! http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10s/television.html

Audiences make or break media. The industry is a puzzle of constantly evolving and adapting to ever changing viewing audiences and achieving success.