Media Choice: The Misplaced Advertisements

Media Choice: The Misplaced Advertisements Phenomenon

As consumers watch television, read magazines, and peruse newspapers, most expect relevant advertising. For instance, parents reading baby magazine often see advertisements for baby swings, pre-schools, or infant clothing stores, while musicians or music lovers watching Vh1 would expect hear about the latest CD releases or music equipment stores. In most cases, both the consumer and marketing planners benefit from this arrangement. Consumers find something they can use and marketing planners achieve a higher volume of sales. The balance between consumers and marketing planners, however, is not always at equilibrium. Sometimes, marketing planners seem to advertise in obscure markets, media venues that seem to have nothing to do with what the company is selling. Whether this is a mistake on the part of marketing planners or a strategic way to target another market is up for debate, but three examples of misplaced advertising -- a magazine advertisement, television commercial, and Internet advertisement -- will serve to illustrate the misplaced media phenomenon.

When flipping through Game Informer, a magazine for serious video gamers, most of the advertisements readers encounter have to do with a new game, game system, or, in some cases, colleges that offer degrees in video game programming. But in the June 2008 issue of the magazine, tucked amongst the photos of games and screenshots, was an advertisement for a car, the Honda Fit. This is clearly an example of an advertisement appearing in a venue that is not frequented by its target market. The target market for the Honda Fit is the young businessperson or entrepreneur. The target market must be young enough to be wowed by the car's sleek design and powerful engine, but old enough to be able to afford a car. Better places for Honda to advertise would include trade magazines and magazines for young, busy professionals, in addition to men's television networks like Spike, where the design and power of the car will be appreciated.

The media outlet of Game Informer is wrong for this product because readers are hobbyists more concerned with graphics and game systems than cars. When given the choice to indulge in a new "toy," readers of this magazine are more likely to buy expensive computer equipment or video games than a new car. Additionally, while this magazine's readership most likely spans a large age gap, many readers in Game Informer's circulation are probably very young, perhaps too young to drive, let alone own a car.

Though at first glance the readership of Game Informer seems completely unsuited for an advertisement concerning a car, the marketing planner of this product may have been thinking strategically when he or she placed the advertisement in the magazine. Perhaps the marketing planner hoped readers of Game Informer would see the car's powerful engine as similar to the power gamers receive from becoming super human characters through video games. Also, the marketing planner may have considered the readership to be young men in college, a group that might earn sales for Honda by asking their parents for the car.

In addition to magazine advertising, misplaced ads on television often leave viewers wondering how a certain product or service is related to them. This happens frequently on channels that are narrowed to fit one particular audience. For example, MTV is a network dedicated primarily toward music lovers and people familiar with pop culture and all things "in." Generally, MTV's audience is composed of younger people, high school and college students, who do not yet have or need professional jobs. Commercials on this network usually reflect this target market. Video games, CDs, and clothes for the young and hip are displayed on the breaks between shows. Once and a while, however, a different kind of advertisement sneaks in. This time, it was a television commercial for a community college targeted toward adults who want to go back to school. The purpose of the college, Cortiva Insitute, was to train adults returning to school in practical job related fields such as massage therapy.

The target market of this advertisement is most likely adults who are either unsatisfied with their jobs, have recently lost their jobs, or who have never been employed. The MTV audience, however, is traditionally made up of young people who are not yet ready to consider a professional career. Though an advertisement for a four-year college seeking high school students or students who had recently graduated might be appropriate for this audience, a commercial targeting adults who want to move on with their careers is not. By advertising on MTV, the marketing planner choose to advertise to an audience too young and too inexperienced with the work world to desire going back to school or moving up in their careers.

Because the commercial was aired during the daytime, however, the marketing planner may have assumed a target audience -- the unemployed -- would be watching the program. The marketing planner may have noted that unemployed people are often home during the day while others are at work or school. Because this advertisement is targeted toward those who do not have jobs or want to improve theirs, this may have been a motivation for the marketing planner.

But misplaced advertisements T.V. And in magazines have just scratched the surface of the bulk of misplaced advertisements. The Internet has become a social, political, and information highway, in addition to a haven for advertisement. Companies can now market their products and services on the web and reach far more consumers than they would if advertising in a traditional media outlet, but misplaced advertising still occurs. For example, the popular social networking site Facebook is primarily geared toward students. In fact, the site was open first to college students, then to high school students, and only recently became available for everyone to host a page. Many Facebook users were unhappy about the change, and though the site now allows anyone to join, the community still caters primarily to students.