6 – THE ADVERTISING MEDIA MIX

To achieve satisfactory results, the bank should use a mix of the various media options available to them.

The most traditional ones are:

• Open TV and Cable TV;
• Radio;
• Newspapers and magazines;
• Outdoor billboards;
• Merchandising;
• Digital marketing;
• Consumer sampling;
• Sponsorship.

Until 15 years ago, any media or advertising professional had seven ways to apply Above the Line marketing, but now they must deal with the richness of digital marketing with the same budget. The response data available from each media, including digital marketing, has improved a lot, as well as the measures of coverage and frequency. Sometimes, with less budget than they had previously, they can achieve more than they did 15 years ago.

Banks need to know that they have achieved the coverage and frequency desired. Digital media can provide accurate coverage and frequency data to the advertising or media department, which works closely with media agencies. As a result, the agency can build a media plan and give the bank a very good understanding of the cost to achieve each incremental percentage in coverage and frequency. When using digital media, banks can improve on their media spend by paying for proven interactions, when the consumer clicks a button to read or experience the message.

There are different ways to get the desired coverage and frequency, and it is important for the bank to discuss these with the media agency. Normally, a creative combination of various media is cheaper and allows the bank to have a richer coverage amongst its target market. There are many variables, but as much as the bank focuses on its target market by having a precise definition of who they are, the cheaper it will be to achieve their goals. The bank’s target market will ultimately define what is the most effective combination of medias, meaning the cheapest way to achieve the highest coverage and frequency.

There is no right or wrong media. There is only the right one for your target market and the budget you have.

An example of an excellent combination of media was used during a FIFA World Cup tournament. A beer company could not buy their billboard advertising in the stadium that would air, via TV coverage, to millions of people across the world and faced a significant loss of opportunity. However, they took a highly innovative approach to solve their problem. As  spectators entered the stadium, they were provided with free red-coloured t-shirts (which is the beer’s brand colour). The spectators wearing these t-shirts created blocks of red in the stadium.  TV crews covering the matches focused on the blocks of red t-shirts as spectators held up one finger as the ‘number one’ beer (also part of its brand image), everyone in the world could see the beer’s ‘brand advertising’. They also reinforced it with a TV campaign calling it ‘the number one beer. This brand is INBEV, the owner of the number one beer conglomerate in the world. This is one example where a business can be creative above line with a small budget.