Source: Advertising Age
Over the past few years, we’ve gotten accustomed to hearing how the internet was going to reduce TV viewing and how it’s going to supplant TV as the primary advertising medium. Much to the surprise of the pundits, these expected outcomes have yet to take place. TV usage is actually up compared to the year 2000 and continues to increase despite the fact that people are spending more and more time online. And the TV market remains very healthy. Not even the impact of a crippling strike and a recessionary economy could keep the upfront broadcast TV market from registering year-to-year gains.
From where I sit, the internet as a marketing medium has enhanced, not diminished, the value of TV advertising for marketers.
Steps to making a purchase
To understand how this could be, let’s step back to Marketing 101 and the Consumer Adoption Process — a progression of stages that bring the consumer to purchase a product or service. The four basic stages describe the consumer as first becoming aware of the product, then interested in it, then desirous, and finally a purchaser.
Traditionally, TV advertising has been viewed as having its greatest influence in the early stages of the model, making the consumer aware of the product, creating interest in the product and, to a lesser extent, creating a desire. As the consumer moves through this process, the role of TV is diminished and supplemented by other marketing forces.
The role of the internet is more pronounced in the latter stages of the process. The interested consumer goes to the web to learn more about the product. When the consumer finds more information about it, his or her desire for it increases, and the information leads to an actual purchase.
