Media dispersion vs media concentration

As a result of the forever changed landscape, reaching audiences has become more difficult and costly than ever before. With so much choice between free to air TV, subscription, catch up, on demand and digital mediums, multiple channels and that is before we introduce other mediums and platforms – making the correct decision and budgeting difficult when accessing what mediums are the right mix.

The fact is consumers are ‘consuming’ more media than ever before, but often at the same time, therefore the size of the potential audience available to reach is continuing to grow. The problem is there is so much choice as to what they consume, when and how. In this article, we look at two fundamental and apposing media strategies

1) Media Concentration Approach –

Summed up; In this approach, businesses try to concentrate their campaigns only via a few media types  in order to reach their target demographics and campaign objectives. This may include, using only one medium, such as TV or breaking it down further, only one type of programming or time of campaign, hoping to saturate the market and place heavy emphasis on frequency of messange.

2) Media Dispersion Approach –

Summed up; A media dispersion approach uses a wide variety of different media categories to reach its intended and targeted audience, usually employed when the target is small, not clearly identified or difficult to reach.

Summary –

So as a media planner / buyer what is the best approach? Whilst that is impossible to answer as a blanket statement, it is and will be long debated over as much as reach vs frequency. In our opinion, it is fundamental in any campaign (budget permitting), to have a combination of mediums targeting both a concentrated and targeted demographic, along with the preferred above the line medium or mass media component to capture and create awareness to those not necessarily originally targeted or believe they need the product or service. When drilling down further however, a campaign should seek a level of ownership or frequency on a particular medium, station, program or session time as to not spread the messaging too thin. Consider consolidating your campaign to focus over three days leading into a weekend, or ownership of a session time or program or day, so that those you are reaching see your message more than once – in the industry we call this Share of Voice (SOV). Along with the reinforcement that multiple messaging brings, consumers who see multiple ads in multiple media for a given brand may be more likely to buy.