Chapter 13 – Support Media
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CHAPTER 13
SUPPORT MEDIA
Chapter Overview
In addition to the broadcast and print media discussed in the two previous chapters, marketers have a
variety of alternative media from which to choose. In fact, the number of support media continues to
increase almost daily, with advertisements appearing almost everywhere. In addition to the familiar
outdoor ads and transit ads, a number of new media have recently appeared. Parking meters, trash cans,
Learning Objectives
2. To recognize the various traditional and nontraditional support media available to the marketer in
developing a promotional program
4. To know how audiences for support media are measured.
Chapter and Lecture Outline
I. THE SCOPE OF THE SUPPORT MEDIA INDUSTRY
Support media are referred to by several titles, among them alternative media, non-measured media and
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.
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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
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. Digital outdoor is one of the fastest growing areas in all outdoor advertising. Some
additional outdoor media of note are aerial advertising, mobile boards, point-of-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
D. Miscellaneous Outdoor Media—Figure 13-4 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.
F. Advantages and Disadvantages of Outdoor Advertising
1. Advantages of outdoor advertising:
• wide coverage of local markets
• frequency
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2. Disadvantages include:
• high waste coverage
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.
Professors Notes
III. PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS MARKETING
The Promotional Products Association International defines promotional products marketing as:
“…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 $18.1 billion per year in expenditures in this medium.
A. Advantages and Disadvantages of Promotional Products Marketing—because of the wide variety
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C. Yellow Pages Advertising—one of the more commonly utilized—and overlooked—forms of
advertising is the Yellow Pages. The Yellow Pages account for over $31 billion in worldwide
expenditures ($13 billion in the U.S.), and 80% of consumers who visited the pages (print or
online) said they made a purchase.. Online versions of the Yellow Pages are now commonly used.
1. Advantages of Yellow Pages Advertising
• wide availability
2. Disadvantages include:
• highly fragmented markets
• timeliness
IV. OTHER TRADITIONAL SUPPORT MEDIA
Almost everyday a new advertising medium seems to emerge. (The instructor might stimulate a lively
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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
1. Advantages and disadvantages of movie and theater advertising—the text notes that the
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
2. Product Integration—product placements are integrated throughout the program, and in some
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
6. Others—Various other forms of branded media also are increasing in use.
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B. Advantages and Disadvantages of Branded Entertainment
Advantages include:
• high exposure
• potential for high frequency
• support for other media
Disadvantages include:
• high absolute cost
• limited exposure
• limited appeal
C. Measurement in Branded Entertainment—While there is no accepted standard of measurements
in branded entertainment, a number of companies are now offering measurement services,
including Nielsen Media Research.
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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
Professor’s Notes
Teaching Suggestions
As the instructor is no doubt aware, there is a lot of information that can be (and needs to be) conveyed
regarding support media. When students think about advertising, they usually think about broadcast and
print media. In fact, there is a great deal of moneys spent to advertise in these alternative support media—
both traditional and nontraditional. More and more advertisers are shifting their monies previously spent
Our lectures generally follow the outline set forth in the text. We discuss the characteristics of the various
media, the advantages and disadvantages, and some of the sources of information that are available. We
then tie these materials back to the media strategy chapter and the communications models chapter to
demonstrate how and when such media might be employed. It is also possible to integrate films, videos
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Answers to Discussion Questions
1. Digital out-of-home media have been experiencing rapid growth. Give examples of some of these
new media forms and why they have an advantage over existing traditional out of home media.
(LO2)
Digital has taken on a variety of new forms, including digital billboards as well as smaller signs.
These digital media offer a variety of advantages over existing media. Besides being able to
2. Promotional products, often referred to as advertising specialties, constitute a multi-billion dollar
industry. Explain some of the various forms of promotional products, and how they might be used.
(LO2)
Promotional products and advertising specialties consist of products and gifts that are given to
clients and/or prospective customers for a variety of reasons. These products may range from
Potential disadvantages of promotional products include the potential for waste (the items are lost
or thrown away), potentially harmful effects to the company’s image (cheap products) and they can
be expensive. Some companies will not permit their employees to accept promotional products that
exceed a certain cost, expressing concerns that the employee may favor the giver in future deals, to
the detriment of those not providing specialties.
Chapter 13 – Support Media
3. Traditional out-of-home advertising such as billboards, transit, etc. have recently experienced
growth in years when other media forms have seen their business decline. Why is this so? Give
examples as to when outdoor may be more attractive to advertisers than other media. (LO3).
Consumers are increasingly attempting to avoid advertising. Using DVRs, they skip or fast forward
through commercials, use pop up blocker software on their computers and switch stations when
4. Discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of branded entertainment. Do you see business
in this area increasing or decreasing in the future? Explain your answer. (LO3).
The chapter describes the various forms of branded entertainment. No doubt, by now, even more
forms have been added. As noted therein, a number of reasons for their popularity are evident,
including cost factors, lack of unobtrusiveness and novelty.
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5. In the lead –in to the chapter, there was discussion of Lady Gaga’s extensive use of product
placements. There have already been reports that Gaga has sold out. Discuss whether you agree or
disagree with these comments. Explain your answer. (LO1)
In her videos Telephone and Bad Romance, Lady Gaga had numerous product placements including
brands such as Miracle Whip, Diet Coke, and Wonder Bread among others. While placements in
6. Recently there has been an increase in the showing of commercials before movies. Discuss some
of the advantages and disadvantages of this practice and some of the reasons there has been an
increase in the use of this medium. (LO1)
Pages 460-461 in the text lists out the advantages and disadvantages of advertising in movie theaters.
The advantages include, exposure, mood, cost , recall, lack of clutter, segmentation capabilities and
proximity. The disadvantages include irritation, and relative costs.
7. It seems like guerilla marketers are becoming more and more aggressive. One agency, while not
revealing the client, said that the client actually asked him to break the law so as to get some
publicity. Others seemingly have already broken the law by defacing property and other means.
Discuss some of the potentially unethical or illegal practices of guerilla marketers. What should be
done to curb these activities? (LO1)
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Guerilla marketers have attempted everything from giving out free hats at sporting events to gain free
exposure to paying tolls at the Lincoln Tunnel to painting sidewalks with ads. While many of these
may be harmless (they can pay my toll anytime!) others have led to defaced property, potential for
injury and other negative possibilities.
8. Discuss some recent examples of product placements and/or integrations. Describe the context in
which they were used, and how they intended to reach their target markets. Do you think these
placements/integrations were successful? Why or why not? (LO4)
One of the more natural, use of product placements occurred in the movie Sex and the City. Skyy
Vodka, Tiffany’s, Nieman Marcus, and Apple computers were just some of the placements that
appeared therein. The movie, a makeover of the TV hit, was all about shopping, sex and drinking, and
the stores shopped in, and the vodka were a natural fit. In addition, star Sarah Jessica Parker—a
newspaper writer—prominently displayed her work using a Mac. In this case, the placements seemed
to be a natural part of the movie.
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9. Advertising in video games is becoming more popular. Discuss some of the reasons this medium
is attractive. Do you see any downside to advertising through video games? (LO3)
Once again, it all comes down to the target market. The size of the videogame target market continues
to increase. Likewise, the video gamers’ lifestyles make the advertising of certain products a natural
for this medium. Finally, the gamers obviously have money, or they wouldn’t be buying games.
10. Over the past few years there has been enormous growth in the use of product placements. Explain
some of the reasons for this growth. Do you think this growth will likely continue into the future?
Why or why not? (LO2)
While product placements are really nothing new, their recent increase in use is somewhat amazing.
Some companies like Apple and BMW have extensively increased their placements, and likely will
continue to do so. Others have just entered the game, and are finding placements an inexpensive way
to get product exposure.
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Additional Discussion Questions (Not in Text)
11. What is going to happen to the Yellow Pages directories? The Yellow Pages, which have been in
existence for quite some time, seem to be at a crossroads for their future. As consumers become
more and more comfortable with the Internet, there are indications that customers are using this
medium to provide the services the traditional hard-copy books have provided. Do you think the
traditional Yellow Pages directories will eventually go away? What should the Yellow Pages be
doing to ensure their survival? (LO2)
There is little doubt that the Yellow Pages as we know them will need to undergo significant
changes to continue to exist. Changing media habits and lifestyles have affected all print media,
and the YP are no exception. A quick glance through your local YP will indicate some of the
12. Discuss some of the various means of measuring effectiveness in branded entertainment, and their
advantages and disadvantages. Given the emphasis by marketers on ROI, discuss how these
measures fit in with this attempt to determine return on investment.(LO4)
A review of the measures provided in the chapter will indicate the paucity of available
effectiveness measures for branded entertainment. The companies listed there—while highly
respected companies—are new at measuring these new media. As can easily be seen, they mostly
discuss their future plans. Many of these will necessarily involve more traditional measures such
as tracking, etc.
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13. Transit advertising takes a variety of forms, and many advertisers may be reluctant to use these
media. Discuss some of the various forms of transit advertising and their relative advantages and
disadvantages. Give examples of which products and/or services might effectively utilize this
medium. (LO3)
As noted in the text, there are a variety of types of transit advertising including (1). inside
cards(ads inside of busses, subways, etc); (2) outside posters (those that appear on the sides of
busses, trains, trolleys, etc., and on the tops of taxis; and (3). Station, platform and terminal
14. Describe what is meant by “guerilla marketing.” Give examples of products and/or services that
you know have employed this strategy. Then describe some of the characteristics of companies that
might most benefit fro stealth marketing. (LO3)
A variety of terms including stealth marketing, viral marketing, guerilla marketing and ambush
marketing all have been used to describe a strategy of attaining free or very low cost exposure to
one’s products and/or services. Akin to guerilla warfare, in which the warrior is not large enough or
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15. Advertising in movie theaters is on the increase. A variety of reasons as to why this medium
may be effective are offered in the chapter. Discuss the reasons why movie theater advertising
may be advantageous. Then discuss some of the reasons why it might not be as successful as
planned. (LO2)
The primary reason for the attractiveness of movie theater advertising is the exposure. As noted
Low cost in both relative and absolute terms is an advantage of this medium, as is the lack of
clutter. Movie theater ads also enjoy high recall with as many as 83% stating they recall an ad
they saw in a theater—four times as many as might on TV. Because of the ratings of movies,
the marketer can segment the audience. G rated movies, for example will be attended primarily
by children and their parents. R rated movies (at least are supposed to) reach only those over the
age of 17, etc. Thus, depending on the movie playing and the rating, the advertiser can get a
.
IMC Exercise
Have students find examples of what they feel are product placement and product integration efforts
being used by marketers. They should explain the objectives they believe are being sought through
the use of these techniques, who they are targeting, and whether they feel they will be effective.
Chapter 13 – Support Media
AdForum Exercise: “ Examining the Objectives of Airline Media Usage”
(See Advertising and Promotion Playlist, Chapter 13)
In chapter 13 a number of support media were explored. In the playlist for Chapter 13 are a
number of ads for airline companies that have used a variety of media to deliver their messages
from cinema advertising to posters. Review these ads and then answer the following questions:
1. What is the objective being sought with each ad?