The path to persuade us to buy a new car

Advertisers are mixing media to get the message across

ONSUMERS have been “conditioned” by advertisers to know where to look for the brand information 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 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 Ads24.

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 more than 20 consumer product categories.

Vim la Frank, head of Marketing and Business Strategy at Ads24, said: “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 ongoing 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,” she added.

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

Cthat tracked individual media against consumer decisionmaking needs,” commented Frank. “To date, more than 4 400 respondents were recruited over four waves of P2P field work and interviewed throughout South Africa.”

The passenger car category formed part of Wave 4 of P2P (2013) and comprised 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 learnt 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: introduction, entertainment, education, information, comparison, persuasion and retention, says Brad Aigner, chief executive 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, while 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,” said Aigner. MOST older people are probably guilty of drawing comparisons and beginning a sentence with: “in my day…”

At what point does one simply tell the guy he’s a pedantic old fart?

I’m a retired marketing communications consultant with experience in writing copy and production of ads and video programmes. I’m a stickler for pronunciation and enunciation and have crossed swords with a few voice-over artists.

I know you’ve touched on the following in your Media & Marketing column, but I must also bemoan not so much poor grammar, but poor delivery and production values.

There is a newish TV com- mercial for Investec that features some sort of natural phenomenon with regard to the tides. The voice-over is so soft, you can hardly hear it; the music over it drowns whatever narrative there was!

Another ad is for Discovery Insurance, which has negotiated a deal with BP whereby members can get up to 50 percent back on what they spend on fuel. The caption on screen talks about getting “up to 50 percent of your fuel spend”? It doesn’t make sense; either it should have said “off ” and not “of ” or expanded the point.

Another TV commercial that has been running for some time is for Knorr Cup-a-Soup. It’s a great ad with good visuals and well directed.

As a brand owner, I’d be happy with it, except for the voice- over at the end that places emphasis on the wrong word, and in so doing, delivers the wrong message. Watch the ad and you’ll see what I mean.

My point is this: if considerable money is being spent on advert production, who signs off sloppy work that reflects negatively on the brand?

Bob Broom I TRY hard not to be a grammar Nazi, but when a company says the opposite of what it presumably means, it’s challenging.

The company in question is The Bed Shop, whose TV commercial promotes its bamboo mattresses as “hyperallergenic” that is, more likely to provoke allergies than normal. I think they mean hypoallergenic! I wonder if their sales are up or down? IS IT just me?

Has nobody looked at the Pepsodent ad?

On the beach, apparently with no adult supervision, a boy is happily digging himself into a hole, which is eventually above his head.

Several small children a year worldwide do exactly as this little chap is doing and are suffocated by cave-ins.

It only takes a second for the child to be engulfed.

I don’t think the creators of this ad have children, or they may have given it more thought. D Sherwood WHAT is up with SABC 3 news? Their headlines and titles have changed to a colour scheme which looks so much like the old orange, white and blue flag it puts me off watching them. I don’t have a bigscreen TV and find their print size in the “old flag” difficult to read.

Pamela WHY, oh why do South African agencies flight local commercials using foreign voice-overs?

I shop at Golfers’ Club and am satisfied with their products, but why do they need coarse Cockney commentary for the Callaway ad broadcast repeatedly during coverage of The Open last weekend?

Neville Barber