Increased Markets

   Traditional marketing can be expensive. One full-page print ad can cost anywhere between a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars, depending on the publication. Television spots can be even more expensive. Thirty seconds of time can cost between a few hundred dollars to air in a single county on a relatively unpopular cable show, to nearly three million dollars to air during the Super Bowl. This can add up quickly, limiting reach and exposure.

   Technically, the Web’s exposure is limitless and easily accessible to anyone, regardless of demographic or geographic boundaries.

Individual Message Delivery

Traditional mass marketing tools and branding efforts address the audience as a single entity, regardless of how many people that might include. This approach offers no flexibility in speaking to individual members of a target market. It sends messages to large demographics based largely on assumptions made from the shows being watched. The investment firm Charles Schwab can take a calculated risk that they are more likely to reach people interested in their services by running their ads during The Suze Orman Show on CNBC than they would by advertising on The Real World on MTV.

The Web’s Hybrid Status

Advertising is used to promote a product or service, or increase awareness of a brand. It’s a single-effect communication requiring the audience to take action themselves. A reader of a print ad, for example, cannot make a purchase from that print ads. He or she must take some sort of action, such as making a phone call or visiting a store in order to make a purchase. The ad promotes the brand, and the company or the store sells the product. The Web, however, falls between the promotion and sales processes.

The Web’s Place in Brand Building

Later in this book we will analyze how marketers communicate their messages through a variety of vehicles including television, radio, print advertising, direct mail, and roadside billboards. Each has pros and cons, including price, reach, and an ability or inability to be targeted to a specific audience. Marketers set their strategies by mixing and matching the marketing vehicles that they expect will be the most effective in communicating their brand to the desired audience for the budget they have available.