Is anybody out there listening?

Johannesburg - It is not enough to know how well you are doing; it is imperative to know how the competition - in this case, other media - is faring. The Out of Home Consumer Study (OCS) has been conducted to show how consumers interact and are influenced by communication across various platforms, as well as their thought patterns.

When asked which media influenced opinions about brands and companies, consumers ranked magazines tops. This is in contrast to more than half of the participants saying they were spending less time reading or even noticing magazine offerings. Mall advertising was shown to be more influential than outdoor for out of home.

Digital media has been gaining ground, with just under 7 million internet users in the country. The OCS reports that 77% of people are spending less time on websites. This is not cause for panic as it is just a reflection of how fast digital media evolves. More time is spent on social forums and more targeted use searches directing users to the most relevant places, therefore less time is spent trawling websites.

"When websites aren't the first to show up in a search for a brand, chances are there will be at least three blogs ranked higher than the brand website itself." With growth comes decline and cinema features on the low end, in terms of time spent and power of persuasion. Traditional media still packs a punch when it comes to impact on attitudes though.

Couch potatoes sitting pretty

The time spent with these media is more mixed. Television is holding its own, with 68% spending more time on the couch. Sponsored programmes, product placement and any talk of goods in shows reflect a higher buy-in than straight advertising. There is a 2% to 4% difference.

Radio findings differ somewhat from the Radio Audience Measure (Rams) by the South African Advertising Research Foundation, which revealed a decline in listenership. Over half of respondents report reading more newspapers; this is not too surprising since this area has consistently shown mixed results, with emerging publications rising with the fall of established ones.

Zooming in on the amount of attention given to the various types of advertising, outdoor billboards received the most attention measured against other media. Respondents revealed that billboards, TV and cinema advertising received most of their interest.

While 42% said they noticed all billboards, 30% said this was only the case when they featured products they were interested in. TV commercials receive full attention from 40% while cinema stands at 34%.

Out of Home Communications Agency Posterscope conducted the survey to reveal the effectiveness of out of home and how it stacks up against other media. A sample of 200 (LSM 4-10) was used based on the South African census. Gauteng made up 25% of the total.

- Fin24.com