Last week I discussed how to sell out of home versus local radio. Today I’ll talk about selling out of home versus print advertising.

Consumer print advertising encompasses many forms, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, journals. I doubted the current impact of print advertising. I found consumer print advertising still garners four times the revenue OOH garners (consumer print was $27.2 billion in 2020 versus $6.9 billion for out of home). OOH reps will always have work!!

Strengths of consumer print advertising:

• Affordable, an ad option for any budget
• Perceived high credibility/stability/longevity depending on the publication
• Habitual purchasing by advertisers
• Ego gratification. Advertisers get a thrill from a side-by-side full page (Double Truck) ad
• Safe ad choice (won’t be questioned by internal supervisor/review)
• High engagement/time-spent by the reader
• Ads stay around for a period of time (reference advertising)
• Readers tend to be “high-influencers”
• Reaches older, more established demographics
• Can reach “unplugged audience” segment
• Potential for multiple readers of a single copy
• Can target different demographics
• Great creative platform
• Little creative/layout cost
• Color/images convey emotion
• Targetability by publication and specific section
• Proven/accepted direct-response media
• Accepted media for co-op tag advertising

Weaknesses of consumer print advertising:

• No longer a mass reach medium
• Can’t achieve 100 weekly gross rating points across a market
• Advertiser’s share of voice in local print advertising is diluted in two ways:
  • Advertisers only get a portion of the total ad space an because ad space is “unlimited”,
  • publication can add pages in busy times, causing greater dilution of an advertiser share of voice
  • There are hundreds of thousands of alternative choices for the same content, often at no cost
• Hard to reach many important demographics, Millennials, busy adults, Soccer Moms
• Ads are overpriced based on cost per thousand comparisons
• Requires lead time so can’t be real-time advertising
• Print advertising can make the advertiser seem “dated”
• No control over exact placement within the publication
• May end up being too close to competitors

How OOH can capitalize on consumer print advertising weaknesses:

• OOH can amplify any consumer print campaign by adding a lot of reach and frequency for proportionately little budget
• The medium is the message. Research proves consumers believe advertisers using DOOH are: “more relevant”, “more in tune with the times”, “more interesting”
• OOH can convey intense emotion with visuals and ad copy
• OOH is media consumers are migrating “to” and not “from”
• OOH ads are not skippable, can’t page past the ads
• Doesn’t wait to be opened and read
• OOH delivers 24/7 share of ad voice on each printed unit
• Can singularly achieve 100 weekly Gross Ratings Points within the market
• Reaches every demographic at once and for the same dollar
• Low cost per thousand ad impressions
• Gratifies advertiser’s ego better than any other media
• Highly creative ads create buzz, street talk, and social media posts amplifying the reach at no extra cost
• DOOH can “roadblock” key times, running an advertiser 100% in key time parameters
• A powerful co-op ad medium, especially with DOOH
• Can achieve direct-response results equal or better than any other media
• Reaches “unplugged audience” segment

Next week pros and cons of direct mail advertising.

If I can leverage my experience to help you or your company sell more ooh faster contact me at   kevinjgephart@gmail.com or use the form below.

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