In a previous post, I addressed the importance of location to a media plan. The most clever advertising in the world won’t be effective if the wrong people see it due to its location. Equally important to location, or “reach,” as it’s known in advertising circles, is frequency. It stands to reason that the more often you see something, the more memorable it will be.
For example, I recently went to the U.K. and initially got lost in the surrounding neighborhood of my hotel, even though I was only a few blocks from it. However, as the week wore on, I became more familiar with the surroundings. By traveling the same route frequently, I found my way back to my hotel even at night.
Advertising works in a similar way. The more often one sees an ad, the more likely it will be remembered and processed. Think about the TV commercials during Red Sox games. You probably remember the Sullivan Tire and Bob’s Discount Furniture placements. You don’t think of them for their quality, but for the amount of times they’ve aired, and you remember their names.
However, constant advertising does come with a large financial commitment; therefore, advertisers strive to create “effective reach.” This is the number of times required for an advertisement to be seen to effectively register in a person’s memory. Industry standards typically state that three to four print placements in a nine-month period will generate effective reach.
This means that placing your ad once to one million readers would not be an effective use of your marketing dollars. Most people would forget it the next month. However, placing the ad consistently to the same audience over a period of time will allow the message to slip into the memories of potential customers.
So when your dollars are limited, you have to carefully consider a balance between location and frequency. Without it, opportunities will be lost—sort of like a media consultant on the streets of London.
Brendon Basile is media manager for Seidler Bernstein and has been in the advertising business for nearly 10 years. A graduate of Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, Brendon develops media plans as well as analyzes, evaluates and recommends print and electronic media options for companies in medical devices, diagnostics and the life sciences. A diehard Boston sports fans, he’s also loyal to the Syracuse Orangemen.
