I have sat in many meetings over many years where the topic of such meetings has been ‘how to promote’ whatever it is that we are discussing. And it invariably leads to everyone listing out about a 1000 media tools / channels through which communication can be done. Everybody feels that what they have suggested is the most important medium. Let me tell you that usually such listing is based on two things:

  • What media they regularly consume
  • What media comes top-of-mind

But is that how media tools or channels are selected? Obviously not. Every communication of falls into an ‘objective’ category. They would be:

  • Introduction & Awareness Creation
  • Feature / Benefit Explainers
  • Lead Generation
  • Maintenance Marketing
  • Consumer Interaction

From the objectives it is very clear that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ media strategy. For example if you want generate leads for participation in an event, you will not or should not choose a media tool that helps only in awareness. For example if you put the communication on a hoarding, how will you get leads? On the other hand if you are doing maintenance marketing i.e., keeping the brand awareness levels where they are, you would not do a direct marketing campaign.

Choosing a media tool or channel strategy is not just based on communication objectives but also the industry type you are in or the industry that your products or services operate in. B2C products or services (business to consumer) would use more mass media channels as compared to B2B (business to business). Why? Because they need to reach a much bigger target audience. The cost of reach is also dependent on the ticket value of the product or service. The higher the value, the more exclusive the media because your target audience becomes narrower as you go higher in terms of premiumness or value.

In summary your media choice should be based on:

  1. Communication Objective
  2. Industry / Product / Service Category
  3. Target Audience

So the next time somebody says “I need to inform people of how to build a nuclear power station. Make me a hoarding on the airport road” – you know what to say!