Newspapers and television advertising is top for cars

BRAND ACTIVITY

Jul 26th, 09:58

Ads24’s Path to Persuasion Wave 4: Automotive (passenger cars) category

Consumers have been “conditioned” by advertisers to know where to look for the brand information that they need when purchasing products and services. So, when marketing a new car an ideal media mix was found to be a combination of television (TV) and newspaper advertising, according to Ads24’s most recent Path to Persuasion (P2P) research. This was one of the insights in the passenger cars category researched in Wave 4 of P2P that was conducted by Freshly Ground Insights (FGI) on behalf of Ad24. This media neutral research aims to understand the role that different media formats play in delivering information to consumers in their path to purchase in over 20 consumer product categories.

“Some media traditions remain unchanged and one of these is launching a new automotive advertising campaign with a TV commercial on a Friday night to introduce consumers to the new car, to capture their attention through entertainment and then to follow this up with more in-depth information, education and a means for comparison through print advertising in the Sunday newspapers. The on-going observance of this marketing strategy, backed by our P2P research, illustrates the effectiveness of these two media formats in delivering an automotive brand to the public.” said Vimla Frank, head of Marketing and Business Strategy at Ads24.
The Path to Persuasion (P2P) is a media format measurement tool that identifies what role different media formats play in delivering product and brand information to different consumer markets.

“The need for measurability and ‘empirical proof’ that media deliver positive returns on investment is critical to the media investment decision and formed the basis for the decision to commission research that tracked individual media against consumer decision-making needs,“ commented Frank, “To date, more than 4,400 respondents were recruited over four waves of P2P fieldwork and interviewed throughout SA.”

The passenger car category formed part of Wave 4 of P2P (2013) and comprised of a sample of motor vehicle owners across all ethnic groups.

The intrinsics of different media types enable planners to engage with consumers in the right place, at the right time, with the correct message in order to persuade them to take a step closer to the end of the path to purchase. Similar to the factors influencing consumer behaviour, FGI research has learned that different media types are more or less effective in delivering relevant brand information at each stage of the path to purchase cycle.

The “media path to persuasion” takes consumers through seven stages, namely: “introduction, entertainment, education, information, comparison, persuasion and retention,” explains Brad Aigner CEO of FGI.

The best media strategy is one where the media mix is integrated optimally to deliver relevant and appropriate brand information through every stage of the media path of persuasion.
“We have found that consumers have their own individual information type preferences when looking to buy something in the market. Some prefer detailed and explanatory information, whilst others require comparative and persuasive information in order to make a brand decision. This is why it is important that marketers use media mixes that best amplify the types of information that most consumers seek when in the market for their brands. Usually, the most effective media mixes include media formats that play differentiated roles across the Path to Persuasion,” continued Aigner.

In order to access the latest P2P research data please use the revamped Ads24 Widget. It is a user friendly, quick and secure desktop application. It contains P2P graphing to facilitate finding the best media mix per industry vertical. To access the Widget please go to www.ads24.co.za/widget. P2P research can also be accessed on Telmar.