In the world of advertising – and moreso that of working in an agency – if I had a dollar for every time, I heard a client, friend or even colleague say… ‘but nobody watches television anymore,’ I could honestly nearly retire.
These conversations occur often… and likely on the back of presentation of new consumer and media research, and the recommendation of tweaks to a client’s advertising strategy based on this research. Or even more often upon meetings with new clients or potential clients that have previously developed their own advertising strategy.
The conversation often continues with…… well I definitely don’t watch that television network/ channel / show……. OR I don’t read that magazine…… OR I don’t listen to that radio network and I really don’t like their breakfast team…… OR I never see billboards or transit advertising! You name it we’ve heard it, multiple times over.
I honestly believe this leads to possibly one of the biggest disconnects in the world of advertising, with company’s choosing to advertise in mediums that they like (which may or may not resonate with their target audience at all). Whilst we know that business Owners and Directors know their businesses better than anyone, this doesn’t always continue to understanding the best mediums to reach their target audience.
At Sunny Media, we often use the phrase – you are a sample size of one.
We have grounded Sunny Media on our research capabilities, using independent tools such as Roy Morgan, Neilsen, Census, GFK, Deloitte and many more, so we remain unbiased in our media strategy and selection. The truth is that all media channels have their strength in specific scenarios, with specific budgets and in reaching specific audiences, which is always underpinned and uncovered by research.
What we do know, is that research shows time and time again television advertising reigns supreme when it comes to influencing buyers. Only earlier this month, a report was released by B&T stating that 56% of respondents – to a 2000 participant survey – agreed that they were more likely to buy something as a result of seeing a TV commercial, more than any other medium. Beyond this, the same survey showed that 65% of respondents agreed that advertising helped them make a purchase (great news for us at QA 😊).
There is often concern that the TV landscape has become diluted with the inclusion of digital channels (the like of 7mate, 7Two, Go, Gem, Peach, Bold etc), catch-up television platforms and multiple subscription video services (Netflix, Stan, Foxtel etc), which have all made audiences harder to reach.
The truth is that people are still watching the same (if not more) television than ever, it is just across different platforms and rather than advertisers focussing solely on a linear free-to-air television strategy, we now must develop a video strategy to encompass advertising consistency across multiple platforms. The 2019 Consumer Media Survey by Deloitte supported these trends, finding that the average Australian watches 22 hours of television per week (12 hours broadcast, 3 hours catch-up and 7 hours SVOD – subscription video on demand).
A similar story can be told across the audio landscape, with people deeming that the launch of podcasting, Spotify, Apple Music and multiple streaming services has diluted live Australian radio, when nothing could be further from the truth. In 2019, 61.3% of all audio consumed in Australia was on live radio. However, similarly to television, developing a multi-faceted audio strategy to include live radio, podcasting, streaming etc has quite often replaced the linear live radio strategy of the past.
Essentially, what all of this means is that RESEARCH IS KING.
At Sunny Media we pride ourselves on being experts at media, however we can never know what every consumer group in every market is doing (it would be impossible). So, we remain unbiased, conduct all the necessary research to ensure that every media strategy is grounded in reaching the highest percentage of a client’s target audience within the parameters given.
Author: Sarah Davis, General Manager