Eyeing target consumers with media research

When the Opel Blazer Montera was first introduced in Indonesia in late 1999, many people questioned the decision to choose television station TPI as one of the media where the automobile was advertised.

"Automobile commercials are rare on this particular television station," many marketers commented. In reality, the choice of TPI brought about fantastic results. The airing of the commercial had to be stopped after five months because the indents went beyond the set target.

"This example illustrates how a commercial can be successful after careful media research," said Achjuman A. Achjadi, consulting director of Starcom.

Media research does play an important role in advertising. It is especially useful for media planners as it enables them to choose the media that will suit the target market. This is a process known as a communications plan. Armed with media research, a media planner is expected to be able to ensure that an advertisement will be seen by the right people, and to know how many people will see the ad. In this way, he or she will be able to avoid speculation.

Irawati Pratignyo, executive director of Nielsen Media Research, refers to media research as one of the tools supporting the success of a product, and considers the research to be part of a comprehensive marketing process. Other supporting factors include, among other things, the suitability of a product for its target, the way a product is promoted and the choice of areas for promotion.

"It must be borne in mind that the figures in research data are not absolute, in that the data is only a benchmark enabling marketers to find out which media will be most suitable for a particular brand," Irawati said.

In Indonesia, many multinational clients and major local companies like Unilever, P & G, Nestle, Indofood and Kalbe Group generally make use of research data as their reference in advertising their products.

The results of media research are particularly useful for products to be maximally promoted with only a limited budget. Take, for example, Engran multivitamin. Back in 1996 it was decided to jack up sales nationwide, but the budget available for promotion was much lower than that allocated for similar products.

Data obtained from market monitoring showed that there was a positive correlation between advertisement exposure and sales in a number of regions. In Jakarta and East Java, for example, Engran recorded excellent sales, but not in Central Java and Sumatra. In comparison, similar products enjoyed good sales in these latter regions. It was later found that the reason for this was the level of advertising exposure in these places.

In view of the limited budget, the team of planners decided to focus on increasing advertising exposure in Central Java through radio advertisements for three months. This resulted in a gradual increase in sale in the province.

The results would have been different if the limited budget had been spent on a nationwide sales campaigns, or, in other words, if the budget had not been spent to the maximum in Central Java.

Research gives a picture of the market in a given period. Aside from data regarding advertising exposure, research can also provide us with a profile of the audience and a picture of advertising spending.

The media index research of Nielsen, for example, gives a picture about print media consumption and readers' habits in nine major cities in Indonesia.

An important thing to remember in this respect is that it is not possible for one research study to provide information about everything. The right methodology is necessary for the compilation of accurate data. A question about why the ratings for a particular television program are high, for example, requires qualitative not quantitative research. Still, the results cannot be generalized because they may differ from one region to another.

Nielsen also possesses data called the Advertising Information Service, which measures advertising spending by monitoring advertisements. The results are multiplied by the advertising rate of the television or print media. The outcome is not a net value because this information cannot take into account factors that are considered prerogatives of media and advertising agencies, such as discounts, bonuses, advertising packages and so forth.

"Of course, the results can give us general tendencies, for example the size of the discounts," Irawati said.

In the case of advertising research in Indonesia, particularly in respect of media research, there are still many aspects that can be improved and developed. One complaint that is often lodged is that the data and data analysis are not fast enough to keep up with developments. In this context, it must be remembered that the available data has yet to be maximally made use of.

In Indonesia, not many people have detailed knowledge about research. We are still highly dependent on data suppliers. Today, the biggest data supplier is Nielsen. Besides, data can also be obtained from polling centers or from internal research conducted by the media concerned.

"Actually, we have enough research but not enough research data wealth. Still, the data available is yet to be maximally made use of. There are still many things for us to do. From the media index, for example, we can learn whether there is an even distribution of readers in different cities or whether our products suit urban people better than those living in rural areas. A claim that a particular media publication is read nationally can be put to the test in this research. The result will show which media publications have a bigger readership," Achjuman said.

Media index research can also provide information about whether a particular TV program suits a given product that is going to be advertised.

Sometimes media planners have to deal with frequently changed television programs. In this case, they must be able to use previous data to determine whether a certain program is good for the product they wish to advertise and then predict what the advertising results will be. Unfortunately, this is time- consuming research, Achjuman noted.

To be able to get a perfect picture, the different data available can be combined because they are basically complementary.

"It must be understood, however, that the figures in research data are not absolute in that they are just a benchmark to find out which media publications may be most suitable for a particular brand." --- Kompas