The Marketing Corner: Shift in Consumer Viewing Habits

Television is still deemed king for media vehicles on which consumers spend the most time.
The Marketing Corner: Shift in Consumer Viewing Habits
Shoppers look at televisions at a Walmart in Los Angeles (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
12/17/2016
Updated:
12/17/2016

Television is still deemed king for media vehicles on which consumers spend the most time.

Even though traditional television viewing wins out at the top vehicle used, it doesn’t mean that marketing plans can stop there. Television viewership continues to be fragmented. This fragmentation is causing a few headaches for marketers and their agencies who are attempting to have their messages seen and heard.

In today’s landscape, marketers are attempting to automate their messages so that they are delivered to an audience more suited to the product/service. This can take the form of what the industry calls “addressable television.”

While technology has advanced to allow capturing only the type of person who is predisposed to your message via modeling, measurement metrics haven’t kept the same pace with the many screens consumers are viewing video. Do you see how a gap can exists within the measurement side?

As consumers demand more control of their viewing preferences and how they choose to interact with companies and their brands, it’s clear that marketers have the difficult task of working through these issues. It becomes increasingly important when deploying messages, as they must be unique and engaging to capture the attention of consumers in this clutter-filled landscape.

Consumers do not only use a single media vehicle such as television, mobile, social, or streaming. The vehicle they use is based on their need at a given moment.

Don’t confuse content with the device consumers are using. Therefore, as a marketer, you need to treat all viewing regardless of screen or platform as an opportunity to reach a given audience cohesively. Factor in how different platforms can work together to create synergy with your company or brand. Lastly, be authentic and transparent in your message development. This also means developing specific messages for the platform (vehicle) it will be seen on.

The marketing industry will need to agree on the right way to evolve the measurement metric of all viewing regardless of platform. However, marketers should also be earnest in their ability to fuse all viewing and seamlessly deploy the right messages within the right format to consumers to achieve the return on investment.

If all this sounds like a complicated math formula, it is! But, remember that experts are available to help you navigate these uncharted waters.

Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant, freelance writer and author of “Elements of Buying” (a self-help advertising guide), available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed as Black Enterprise’s 2016 Women of Power in Advertising & Marketing and 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]