Why Television is still an influential marketing tool in Lagos, Nigeria

Despite the growing strength of social networks, Television advertising is still the most influential medium in people’s buying decision. Television is an important component of a media plan because of its persuasiveness, Impact and targeting abilities.

The primary function of advertising is to persuade people to buy something. Consequently, understanding how advertising influences people is an exercise in understanding how persuasion techniques are used in advertising to trigger buying decisions. Persuasion techniques can be either rational, irrational or a combination of both.

Features of TV advertising;

• Medium Properties: Television has the properties of sight, sound and motion that traditionally set it apart from other media such as radio (sound only) or print (sight only). With its three-pronged assault on its viewer’s senses, TV is able to create broad awareness for a product. Television is considered a mass medium because of the numbers of people it reaches.
  
  
• Pervasiveness of TV: National broadcasters like Channels TV, Silver bird TV, AIT reach thousands of households and viewers. Television reaches more than 60% of the population in Lagos, a huge potential audience for a television commercial. But even TV’s mass audience gets segmented as viewers fragment along age, gender and racial groups to watch particular networks, channels and programs.
  
  
• Television Broadcasters: All national broadcasters have affiliated local stations. Local broadcast stations have some autonomy in program lineup, especially during the daytime and late-night periods. Local news is the bread and butter of local TV. Local stations have their own inventories of local ad units for sale and are given a share of some time slots available in prime-time programming for local ad sales. Buying local ads might provide a savings over national ad prices in the same TV program.
  
  
• Cable: Television advertising brings a new level of audience targeting and cheaper advertising costs. Cable TV practically invented the long-format commercial known as Infomercials, which even national broadcasters use to sell available time inventories, especially late night.
  
  
  Effectiveness of TV Ads;
  
  
• The actual effect or impact of a television ad depends on the kind of product being advertised. Some product categories are just naturally more interesting than others. More important is the creativity of the message itself.
  
  
• Take a look at these three examples:
  
  
• TV Impact on children: Television nurtures in children a desire to have freedom of choice, which is important in making purchase decisions independently of their parents. Advertisers find them easy to influence into spending money on the advertised product. Some children become so obsessed with products they see on TV ads that they pester their parents to get the products for them. TV commercials further expose children, teaches them that they can acquire anything with the right price.
  
  
• Voters Decision: Political ads on TV can influence voter decisions. Using TV to promote a political campaign helps to avoid selective exposure and gains people’s attention. People who have little information about a political candidate or are not interested in a political campaign often change their attitude toward candidates after viewing their advertisements. Political commercials also influence the way voters evaluate a candidate.
  
  
• Social Influence: Television advertising promotes the notion that buying products equals happiness. It nurtures a consumer culture that encourages people to buy new products as a way to conform to the society’s goals, values and pleasures. Advertisements also create public awareness about important issues such as diseases, charitable causes or environmental degradation. For example, health agencies can use TV for health advertisements focusing on Alzheimer’s disease. NGOs or social organizations use commercials to attract volunteers for a charitable activity to better the welfare of others in the society.

If you are thinking of advertising in Nigeria, please contact PoiseMedia Communications at www.poisemedianigeria.com or check our contact at the bottom of this blog. We can help you identify your market and reach them. We apply both BTL and ATL strategies to project our clients’ brands to the right audience. We can do same for you at very affordable price.

Lilian Izuorah
Business Development Officer
PoiseMedia Communications Ltd