Eyeing target consumers with media research

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