TV no threat to print media's role

TV no threat to print media's role

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Advertising executives and market
researchers do not see the power of airwaves, notably television,
as a threat to ad spending in print media.

Nick Elliott, a technical advisor to the Jakarta-based PT
Komunika Cergas Ilhami integrated communications company,
asserted yesterday that TV will never replace the print media's
role in advertising.

"We never rely on a single media for our market
communications," Elliott said in commenting on the impact of the
expanding television industry.

Holman Purba, president of Landas Advision, also a Jakarta-
based advertising agency, concurred that ad campaigns on TV and
in print media should supplement each other.

"It is not a matter of media selection but rather a creative
media mix," Purba noted.

Ira Watipratiknyo, the media manager of Survey Research
Indonesia, a market survey company in Jakarta, said TV is
effective in generating awareness.

"But products which require more detailed information are
better promoted in the print media," Ira added.

The executives were interviewed during the 19th Asian
Advertising Congress here which ended yesterday.

According to the Indonesian Association of Advertising
Companies, print media's share of total ad expenditures,
including cinema and outdoor ads, in the country declined sharply
from 54 percent in 1991 to 42.8 percent in 1993. But the share
was down only slightly to about 40 percent in 1994 and is
estimated to remain at that level this year when total ad
spending is estimated to exceed Rp 3.1 trillion (US$1.5 billion).

"I think in absolute terms, ad spending in print media will
continue to increase steadily along with the rise in total ad
spending," Ira said.

Purba and Elliott also foresaw a steady increase in ad
expenditures in print media, as it has over the past two decades,
though their share of total ad spending will likely remain
stagnant at the current level.

Purba said consumers usually seek more information when they
consider buying big-ticket items, and such technical details are
suitable only for the print media.

"The different categories of media have specific
characteristics of their own and each characteristic has inherent
limitations as regards the impact of ads," Purba added.

In fact, according to Ira, a print ad may even be more
effective for advertisers who aim for a specific clientele
because of the emergence of so many special-interest
publications.

"We want our target consumers to hear about our product on the
radio while they are driving to work and then to learn more about
it when they read newspapers and later see it in sound, motion
and color when they view the TV in the evening," Elliott said.

Moreover, he said, print media is the most effective means for
communicating sophisticated information, graphics or maps which
are often needed to amplify the message of an ad.

Elliott complained, though, that in so far as the print media
in Indonesia is concerned, advertisers have no other choice than
Kompas daily when they want to reach the medium and high-income
consumers groups.

"We need more competition, we need another newspaper of the
same influence and market niche," he said.

He said if Kompas is the New York Times of Indonesia, we need
The Washington Post for our ads. If Kompas is the Times of
London, we need the Daily Telegraph.

In other countries, Elliott added, not a single newspaper is
as dominant in the same market segment as Kompas is in Indonesia.

"Look around the region, and you will find two or sometimes
three major newspapers of the same line. In Hong Kong, The South
China Morning Post has a dominant role but that does not stop the
fact that you have the Hong Kong Standard. Bangkok has The
Nation and The Bangkok Post," Elliott noted. (vin)