Duane B. Thomas, MBA
Marshall University / WV State University
CHAPTER 13
SUPPORT MEDIA
I.
THE SCOPE OF THE SUPPORT MEDIA INDUSTRY
Support media are referred to by several titles, among them alternative media, non-measured media and
nontraditional media. Many advertisers, as the top 10 advertising agencies, have increased their use of
both traditional and nontraditional support media, and as new alternatives are developed, this use will
continue to grow.
II.
TRADITIONAL SUPPORT MEDIA
A variety of out-of-home advertising are available to the marketer. Outdoor billboards and signs, transit
ads, station posters, and skywriting are just a few of the alternatives that can be used.
A.
Outdoor Advertising—while one of the oldest advertising mediums, outdoor advertising has
come under attack by environmentalists, city governments, and the public as a whole. The net
result has been a decline in the number of billboards across the nation.
At the same time, the outdoor advertising industry continues to grow and be successful as the
amount of dollars billed in this medium has increased continuously since 1982. Much of the
reason for this success can be attributed to the ability of the industry to become more creative and
innovative through the design of billboards as well as new media such as inflatables, rolling
boards and point-of-purchase materials. In addition, an increasing focus on keeping the
advertising message in front of the consumer has contributed to the increased adoption of this
medium.
B.
Alternative Out-of-Home Media—as noted, the outdoor advertising industry has been able to
remain successful through the development of new outdoor media, as well as innovations in
existing ones. Some additional outdoor media of note are aerial advertising, mobile boards, pointof-purchase media and a variety of others such as parking meters, ski-lift poles, etc.
C.
In-Store Media—Advertisers promote their products in supermarkets and other stores with
untypical media like displays, banners, and shelf signs. These point of purchase materials include
video displays on shopping carts, kiosks that provide recipes and coupons at counters and cash
registers, LED boards, and ads that broadcast over in-house screens.
D.
Miscellaneous Outdoor Media—Figure 13-5 lists a number of additional out-of-home media that
can be used.
E.
Transit Advertising—another form of out-of-home advertising is transit advertising. While
similar to outdoor in the sense that signs and electronic billboards are often employed, transit
differs in that these ads are oriented around transportation. Buses, taxis, commuter trains,
airplanes, and subways are some of the transit forms employed.
1. Types of transit advertising—three types of transit advertising are most commonly employed:
a. inside cards are found on the insides of buses, taxis or commuter trains.
b. outside posters are those found on the backs and tops of taxis, and/or on the backs, sides
and fronts of buses.
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Duane B. Thomas, MBA
Marshall University / WV State University
c. station, terminal and platform posters are found in bus and train stations, airport
terminals, and on train platforms. (Exhibit 13-8)
F.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Outdoor Advertising
1. Advantages of outdoor advertising:
 wide coverage of local markets
 frequency
 geographical flexibility
 creativity
 ability to create awareness
 efficiency
 effectiveness
 production capabilities
2. Disadvantages include:
 high waste coverage
 limited message capabilities
 wearout
 high cost
 measurement problems
 image problems
3. Advantages and disadvantages of transit advertising—In addition to sharing some of the
advantages and disadvantages of outdoor media, transit offers the advantages of long
exposure and frequency while being limited in reach and influenced by audience mood.
III.
PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS MARKETING
The Promotional Products Association International defines promotional products marketing as:
“The advertising or promotional medium or method that uses promotional products such as ad
specialties, premiums, business gifts, awards, prizes or commemoratives”
This definition succeeds the older definition of specialty advertising:
“...an advertising, sales promotion and motivational communications medium which employs useful
articles of merchandise imprinted with an advertiser’s name, message, or logo.”
Over 15,000 advertising specialties such as ball-point pens, matchbook covers, mugs, or expensive gift
items have been used to account for over $17.3 billion per year in expenditures in this medium.
A.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Promotional Products Marketing—because of the wide variety
of forms that this form of advertising might assume this medium offers advertisers a variety of
advantages. As stated in the book, selectivity, flexibility, frequency, low cost, goodwill and the
ability to supplement other media are just a few of these. At the same time, image problems
brought on by the perception that many of these specialty ad forms are little more than junk, and
the fact that there are so many different companies employing this medium (leading to saturation)
often offset some of the advantages.
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Duane B. Thomas, MBA
Marshall University / WV State University
B.
Audience Measurement in Promotional Products Marketing—the Promotional Products
Association International (PPAI) is the trade organization of the industry. While no formal
audience measurement organizations or effectiveness measures currently exist, this organization
continues to originate and support research in these areas. Some of the findings of these studies
are presented on page 426.
C.
Yellow Pages Advertising—one of the more commonly utilized—and overlooked—forms of
advertising is the Yellow Pages. Over 250 publishers produce more than 7,000 Yellow Pages
throughout the U.S. Online versions of the Yellow Pages are also now available.
1. Advantages of Yellow Pages Advertising
 wide availability
 action-oriented ads
 costs
 high frequency of exposure
 non-intrusiveness
2.
Disadvantages include:
 highly fragmented markets
 timeliness
 lack of creativity
 long lead times for ad placements
 clutter
 size restrictions
IV.
OTHER TRADITIONAL SUPPORT MEDIA
Almost everyday a new advertising medium seems to emerge. (The instructor might stimulate a lively
discussion at this point by asking students where they have seen ads recently. All of those present for this
discussion will be surprised!) Ads are appearing on restroom walls, in elevators, on movies and
videotapes, and seemingly everywhere a message can be fit. Some of the more common and more
pervasive ones are discussed here.
A.
Advertising in Movie Theaters —one of the fastest growing advertising mediums is ads at the
movies. While the practice has come under fire from movie makers and consumers, they are
being used more and more for the advertising of new movies and videotapes as well as products
and/or services.
1. Advantages and disadvantages of movie and theater advertising—the text notes that the
advantages associated with these forms of advertising include: high exposure, ability to create
mood, low costs, high recall, and the avoidance of clutter. Disadvantages may also include
cost (relative to some other media) and irritation. It is noted that the latter of these is
particularly critical, as strong opposition has been voiced in this regard.
B.
In-flight Advertising- In-flight television commercials are one of the more rapidly growing
mediums in use. United Airlines distributes over 1 million of its in-flight magazines per month,
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Duane B. Thomas, MBA
Marshall University / WV State University
reaching and estimated 1.9 million exposures. Other forms include in-flight videos, radio and
catalogs.
1.
Advantages and Disadvantages of In-flight Advertising—advantages of in-flight advertising
include a desirable audience (high income), a captive audience, and low cost and good
segmentation capabilities. Disadvantages include: irritation, limited availability of media time,
lack of attention, and wearout.
V.
NON-TRADITIONAL SUPPORT MEDIA
As advertisers attempt to find different ways to reach consumers when and where consumers want to be
reached, they are turning to a variety of new media. In this section of the chapter we discuss some of
these new media.
A.
Branded Entertainment—this form of advertising blends marketing and entertainment through
television, film, music talent and technology. Branded entertainment takes on a variety of forms
including:
1. Product Placements —whether one considers product placements an advertising form or a
form of promotion, no one can argue the fact that this means of getting exposure to a product
is on the increase. Ever since the incredible success of Reese’s Pieces (in the movie ET) more
and more products are appearing in movie theaters and on television. (Again, an interesting
discussion can be stimulated by asking students to name products that have appeared in
movies or on TV.)
2. Product Integration—product placements are integrated throughout the program, and in some
instances being a key part of the script (i.e., The Apprentice; Extreme Makeover Home
Edition)
3. Advertainment—the creation of video or music content in an attempt to entertain viewers
while advertising their products.
4. Content Sponsorship—advertisers sponsor specific programs, receiving placements,
integrations and/or promotions in return for content sponsorships.
5. Ad-supported Video on Demand (VOD)—content programs offered to cable operators for
free with advertising included (i.e., NFL 10 Minute Game Summaries).
6. Others—Various other forms of branded media also are increasing in use.
B.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Branded Entertainment
Advantages include:
 high exposure
 potential for high frequency
 support for other media
 source association
 cost
 recall
 the ability to bypass regulations
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 acceptance by viewers
 targeting
Disadvantages include:
 high absolute cost
 limited exposure
 limited appeal
 lack of control by advertiser
 negative public reaction
 competition
 negative placements
 clutter
C. Measurement in Branded Entertainment—While there is no accepted standard of measurements
in branded entertainment, a number of companies are not offering measurement services—see
page 438 in the text.
D. Guerilla Marketing—often referred to as stealth, street, buzz, ambush or viral marketing, this
form of promotion attempts to have the product or brand exposed through a variety of no or lower
cost methods that attempt to capitalize on free exposures, benefit from competitors’ promotional
efforts, etc.
E. Miscellaneous Other Media—while the list is too extensive to include all here, some media
increasing in usage include videogame advertising, ads in parking lots and garages, restroom ads,
place-based ands and more.
1. Advantages of these media may include
 gaining awareness and attention
 targeting
2. Disadvantages of these media may include
irritation
wearout
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