College Student - Advertising
& Marketing Examples
If you are a student doing research for an advertising or
marketing class you are not alone! We have had so many requests for help that
we have posted this page on our website just for you. We are often asked vague
questions like "Please give me a ball park figure on the cost to advertise
on TV, the radio, in magazines and on billboard signs". The problem is
that this is a question that can't be answered any better than asking what
does a car or a house cost. I would be correct in stating that a house will
cost $300,000.00 and I'd also be correct if I stated that it would cost $3,000,000.00
and $30,000,000.00 may seem extreme but it is also a correct answer. The correct
answer to What does it cost to advertise and what does it cost to buy
a house and what does it cost to buy a car is a question. The question
is; what is your budget? Tell me your budget and I can find you the right
car, the right house and the right advertising plan.
As an example radio advertising is often more expensive during
the times that we drive our cars and often less expensive during the middle
of the day. Of course if you have a talk show with a loyal fan base then that
show even in the middle of the day could cost more than a morning or evening
drive time show.
TV advertising is also very complex. There once was a time
when you could advertise on just three broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and CBS.
If you wanted to reach one third of the American public you had only to pick
one of the three. Today we literally have hundreds of networks which each
have dozens of show. Every show in every city has a rating and that rating
along with supply and demand as well as the number of households covered will
determine the cost to advertise on that particular show in a given city.
Of course the same is true of newspaper and magazine advertising.
Each newspaper and magazine in the country sets their own prices based upon
market conditions. You could buy an ad in a magazine or newspaper in a wide
range of sizes which would alter the costs. Also, magazines and newspapers
will offer substantial discounts based upon the contract you will sign with
them. If you agree to buy a large number of ads during the year the rate reduction
compared with a one-time ad will be huge.
This is all interesting to know but you've got a school project
due and still need to know what will it cost to advertise!
I'll give you some real examples of costs. As long as you
understand that these are just examples then you can make some guesses about
your project. If this was for a real client rather than a school project then
we would be asking a lot of questions. Who you are trying to reach is important
for us to know as well as the monthly budget. For example you may be trying
to reach women age 20-35 and in that case there are TV shows we would suggest
while there are other shows we'd never recommend. Maybe your budget won't
allow us to get the exposure we need on this show so we may go after a less
expensive show (reaching fewer people) or we may advertise in fewer market
areas. Always remember that every show sells for a different price so our
prices are only to give you an idea of what something cost a particular client
of ours. These prices have nothing to do with what it may cost to reach a
real client of yours when you graduate and become a marketing director for
a company
Here are the examples you've been waiting to see which will
show you what it cost different clients of ours to advertise.
A client in Tampa Florida sells and installs satellite TV
systems. His clients are typically 50 years old and older and they are happy
to switch from cable to satellite if they can save $15.00 per month. He wanted
to advertise this on TV but the cable companies will never agree to allow
you to advertise satellite TV so we recommended broadcast TV. The client wanted
to spend $10,000.00 per month on his advertising. Click to view the pdf file
showing a broadcast TV advertising
schedule.
This schedule is for a client who wanted to spend only $1,500.00
per month to advertise a product which would only be purchased by people who
like to snow ski. Click to see a pdf file showing a schedule
for cable TV adverting in Denver.
Now you may ask how is one client spending $10,000.00 per
month to be in one city and another client spends only $1,500.00 in another
city. The answer is that with broadcast TV the signal is broadcast into the
air (yes it is on cable too) so everyone all over the city can see that show.
For less money using cable TV advertising we can buy just a neighborhood within
a big city. So the answer is that when you reach fewer people you pay less.
Compare a restaurant chain with locations all over town and a single mom
pop restaurant. The mom pop could spend $1,500.00 on cable TV advertising
and reach just the people in their own neighborhood. The chain could spend
$10,000.00 per month and reach the entire city. If the restaurant chain has
20 locations within the city then they are paying only $500.00 per location.
So it is more economical for the big chain to spend $10,000.00 to cover the
advertising needs of 20 locations than it is for the mom pop restaurant
to spend $1,500.00 (three times as much) to cover a single restaurant location.
For a better understanding of how it is perfectly reasonable
for us to ask one client to spend $10,000.00 on TV while another spends only
$1,500.00 please take another look at the pdf files of the two examples above
and check out the reach and frequency. Here is an explanation of these media
terms.
GRPs, TRPs, Reach and Frequency
The aggregate total (the sum) of the ratings is called Gross
Rating Points or GRPs. The sum of the ratings of a specific demographic segment
may be called Target Audience GRPs or more simply TRPs. The term GRPs is generic
and may refer to household GRPs or to specific target segment GRPs.
Reach is the number or percent of different homes or persons
exposed at least once to an advertising schedule over a specific period of
time. Reach, then, excludes duplication.
Frequency is the number of times that the average household
or person is exposed to the schedule among those persons reached in the specific
period of time. Because it is an average frequency, dispersion of frequency
of exposure will differ between specific schedules and daypart mixes.
GRPs, reach, and frequency are mathematically related in the following ways:
GRPs = Reach X Frequency Reach = GRPs / Frequency
Frequency = GRPs / Reach
Here is an example of how a large car dealership spent their advertising
dollars. Click to see a car dealership advertising
budget.
It is my sincere hope this these examples help you with your class project.
When you graduate and find yourself involved in a career as a marketing director
please contact us and we will be happy to assist you with planning how to
use a real advertising budget to get results for your employer.
Sincerely,
Rick Goldman
President
2450 Hollywood Blvd Suite 300
Hollywood FL 33020
Full Service Advertising Agency - TV Commercials - Website Designer - Brochure Design - Logo - Package Design - TV Advertising
Miami - Hollywood - Fort Lauderdale - West Palm Beach - South Florida
