Justificación de la adecuación de los medios materiales disponibles

ONAL MIX

Figure 2.4 The promotional mix (Source: Belch & Belch, 2004: 16)

2.3.2.1 Direct marketing

Direct marketing is a form of advertising by which an organisation communicates directly with target customers in order to generate a response and/or a transaction (Belch

& Belch, 2004: 18). This is a method of marketing that enhances loyalty to a brand or company rather than to a retailer. Direct marketing programs have the ability to generate greater profits due to the absence of middle channel members (the middlemen) (Clow &

Baack, 2005: 61).

Mass media often forms part of direct marketing campaigns. It is also known as mass communication as a message can be sent to many consumers at one time (Clow & Baack, 2005: 61). Mass media consists of broadcast media (television and radio) and print

media (newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and billboards) (Belch & Belch, 2004: 143).

However, the most common forms of mass media used in direct marketing are television, radio, magazines, and newspapers (Clow & Baack, 2005: 61).

(i) Broadcast media

Television is a unique and powerful advertising medium as it contains the elements of sight, sound, and motion to create a variety of advertising appeals and executions (Belch

& Belch, 2004: 286). Radio, in contrast, has a limited sense-appeal as it only contains the element of sound. This broadcast medium, despite its setback, remains an excellent reminder and support medium that is estimated to “touch the lives” of nearly all South African adults (Brewer, 1998: 222).

Television, however, is the most highly desirable advertising medium due to its rate of exposure to consumers. In a survey conducted in 1987 by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) it was identified that the average person in SA watches 3.48 hours of television per day and 24.36 hours per week (Brewer, 1998: 218).

The Television Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS^TM) conducted by the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) over a 12 month period (July 2002 to June 2003) also indicated that adults in SA watched television an average of 3.01 hours per day and 21.07 hours per week. This survey also indicated that 67.3% (20.023 million) of the adults in SA watched television on a daily basis during this period (South African Research Foundation, 2007). These figures show that television is an excellent medium to reach many consumers with a single message (Clow & Baack, 2005: 62).

Radio does not have the same degree of consumer exposure as television, but can still be used to convey strong advertising messages as it is a constant companion in peoples’ cars, at home, and even at work (Belch & Belch, 2004: 351; Clow & Baack, 2005: 62). This broadcast medium, however, has no reference capability for listeners and they are often also unable to cope with all the detail present in, for example, advertisements (Brewer, 1998: 223).

Figures identified by the Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS^TM) conducted by SAARF over a 12 month period (January 2002 to December 2002) indicated that SA adults listened to the radio an average of 27.12 hours per week. In a similar survey done between July 2002 and June 2003, it was found that SA adults listened to radio an average of 29.54 hours per week (South African Advertising Research Foundation, 2007).

These figures indicated that during these times SA adults spent more hours in a week listening to the radio than watching television.

(ii) Print media

Newspapers generally appear daily (for example, Die Burger, The Herald, Daily Despatch) or weekly (for example, Sunday Times and Rapport). This print medium is mostly regionalised which allows for more flexibility and accuracy in target marketing (Brewer, 1998: 208). Newspapers are the largest advertising medium in terms of its total advertising volume. However, this medium has fallen behind television and magazines as a medium for national advertisers. In the USA it was found that only four and a half percent of the estimated $144 billion dollars spent on national advertising in 2002 was spent on national advertising in newspapers (Belch & Belch, 2004: 425).

As a result of newspapers having a sense of “urgency” in its nature, it creates a healthy environment for an “urgent” type of advertisement, for example, an announcement of a sale (Brewer, 1998: 208). For this reason it is usually community pharmacy advertisements that appear in newspapers and not direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements. In comparison with other media types, it is generally more cost-effective to advertise in newspapers (Brewer, 1998: 208).

However, the disadvantages of this print medium are that it has poor reproduction quality and a short “shelf-life”. Poor reproduction quality is as a result of newspapers having a poor paper quality and also because of the limited use of colour. If the visual appearance of a specific print advertisement is of importance, newspapers should not be the print medium of choice (Belch & Belch, 2004: 420). Newspapers have a short life span as they are generally not kept for longer than a day. This results in advertisements only

having an impact on the day of publication with repeat exposure highly unlikely (Belch &

Belch, 2004: 420; Brewer, 1998).

According to the All Media and Products Survey (AMPS^TM) conducted during a 12 month period by SAARF (January 2002 to December 2002), 17.1% of SA adults read any newspaper on a daily basis whereas 30.8% read weekly newspapers. From July 2002 to June 2003 there was an increase in these figures with 18.6% of SA adults reading newspapers on a daily basis while 31% read weekly newspapers. These results also indicated that there was an increase in daily readership in both males and females as well as in the age group, 16 – 34 years (South African Advertising Research Foundation, 2007).

In contrast to these disadvantages, magazines have excellent reproduction quality and a much longer life span than newspapers (Brewer, 1998: 208; Wells, et al. 1995: 353).

Magazines use high quality paper for printing and many colours are used. This print medium has the longest life span of all the media as readers will often page more than once through a magazine (Brewer, 1998: 208). Magazines also have a very high reach potential due to a large pass-along to friends, family, customers, and colleagues (Wells, et al., 1995: 353). Therefore, in contrast to newspapers, advertisements in magazines will have a much longer impact on consumers resulting in increased repeat exposure. A disadvantage may be that most magazines circulate nationally and are not geographically specific (Brewer, 1998: 353). This, however, makes them an excellent medium to expose consumers to direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements.

The AMPS^TM was also conducted and revealed that in the 12 month period, January 2002 to December 2002, there were 40.1% adult readers of any magazines (weekly and monthly magazines) in SA. There was only a slight increase in these figures for July 2002 to June 2003, with 40.7% (12.112 million) SA adult readers of any magazines. The AMPS^TM also found that in this period the average of any magazine title (weekly or monthly publication) read by a SA adult was 3.19 titles (South African Advertising Research Foundation, 2007).