Essay/Term paper: Radio and television advertising

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Economics

Radio and Television Advertising

We are constantly surrounded by advertising. From bus stop benches to televsion
commericals. Everywhere we lookd something is being advcertised. Two of the
best ways to advertise are radio and television. These two mediums effect
virtually everyone. Most of us listen to the radio or watch televison at some
point each day. Because of this, many of us are able to remember products by
the jingles or slogans that are used. An example of this is the slogan for
Charmin tissue. Anytime you see Mr. Whipple you think of Charmin, and the
slogan "Don't squeeze the Charmin." This type of advertising keeps the products
in the mind of the consumer. Therefore, when the consumer goes to the market,
he will reach for the Charmin.

Before deciding which medium youshould advertise in, there are some questions
you should ask yourself. The potenetial advertiser should know who they are,
what they are selling and to whom they are selling it. When you advertise you
should have a realistic profile of your customers. By defining yout target
audience, you will be able to aim your advertisments at them. Therefore, a
business should take the time to do some research and plan their adveritising
strategies.

For the small advertiser rafdio is the most effective mediom. It can reach a
target audience and propl are likely to herar the advetissment more than once.
Most prople spend a great deal of time listening to the radio. They listen
while they are commuting to work, are at the office, and while communting home.
Radios greatest advantage is mobility. It can and does go everywhere. Its
weakness, which can also be viewed as a strength is that it sis limited to tow
things, sound and silence. Radio also works on the power of suggestion and the
imagination of the listener. Radio advertising rate are determiend by the size
of the listening audience. The size os the audience is determined by polls,
census data and surveys. Because radio has a lost of competition for its
audience, the audience you are paying for is anticipated and potenetiol, it is
not guaranteed. Audvertising in radio is bought in "spots." These spots can
run form 10 seconds to 60 seconds. You have the option to choose when you would
lke the spot to run and how many times you would like for it to run. If you
choose prime rate, the spot will cost you more, however it is guaranteed to run
at a certain time.

Televeiosn is the strongest medium to advertise in and also the most expensive.
Like radio, the cost of advertising on television in. The television day is
broken down as follows, morning, midday, early fringe, primetime and 11 pm to
sign off. Morming and midday are usually filled with local shows, game show,
soaps and perhaps even a midday movie. This time period is aimed at the
housewife or homebody. Early fringe runs from 4pm to 7:30pm, during this time
varied programs are shoenincluding news, kiddie shows or rerun comedies.
Primetime is the most expensive time to advertise. This is when most people are
in fromt of their televisions and the network shows are run. Primetime is from
8:00 to 11:00 pm. From 11:00pm to sign off, the audience dwindles. Most people
retire for the evening. During this time the news is shown, movies and other
reruns. There are seaasons in televeison programming. The most expensive
season to advertise in is fall. This is when new network programming begins.
Duringthis time an abundance of back to schoold ads are shown. Then before you
know it the holidays are here and there are even more reasons to advertise.
Then again at the end of summer things pick up and the cycle begins again. Both
radio and televiosion advertising are good ways to make your product or service
known. Hoever the key to any successful advertising is to know your market. By
doing this you will know the best way to promote your product.