Is Every Marketing Channel Justifiable?

Can it be that companies will do almost anything to get their brand in front of prospective customers? The answer is apparently "yes." Do you need to justify the effectiveness and ROI of doing "almost anything" in order to get it approved by senior management? Apparently the answer is "no."

I've wondered for quite some time now how a boardroom presentation would sound like where a marketing manager stands in front of his/her PowerPoint screen and introduces toilet / urinal ads as an effective channel for their brand to reach a targeted audience. "Our research has shown that our customers are most receptive to our message when they have their pants (or skirts) down." Or, "we believe we have the greatest chance to communicate our message in a captive bodily function environment."

In some ways, bathroom advertising has been around for decades; remember "For a good time call..."? It may be effective, depending on the target audience and the message presentation, but can you really measure it? "How did you hear about us?" asks the merchant. "I saw your ad in the toilet..." is the response. Will anyone readily admit to reading an ad in the loo? This mystifies me.

Then there is the latest rage of placing advertising in the bottom of the airport security trays. Here's a medium, that if used properly, completely obscures the message. It's covered by shoes, coats, laptops or bags. Well, maybe for three seconds you'll see the ad for an aspirin company, but are you really thinking about your headache at that moment? And, how do you measure the up-tick in sales of aspirin contributed to the tray ads? If you ask me, I'm too busy taking my shoes off and worrying about where my stuff is, to even look inside the tray. Somebody is shelling-out good money to have these ads produced and placed. How do they justify their spend?

Now, the latest media channel clamoring for my attention is at (drum roll, please) at the gas pump!


I was floored to find my local gas-'n-go had installed flat-screens above each pump, with an audio feed of Gas Station TV. As the photo above will attest, I'm not making this up. Evidently, NBC has put money behind this and combines national spots with local gas station ads, ("Did you know you can get fresh coffee inside?"). And it even has a competitor! PumpTop TV claims: "PumpTop TV is the breakout platform for reaching a highly captive audience by delivering a fully programmed mix of advertising and entertainment content on state of the art displays mounted above gas station pumps." They continue to offer a vehicle for those, "who want to place their message on a medium that delivers true, verifiable impressions." Well, I could not find any reference to what kinds of impressions they were delivering, but impressions don't necessarily tie to ROI which is the old complaint about "audience estimates" and print publication pass-along rates. However, GSTV claims, "Gas Station TV delivers advertisers a data driven, verifiable, identified consumer with measurable frequency. GSTV is the only gas station network with verified audience measurement by Nielsen Media Research." ( Wow. Maybe Nielsen Media Research can help me figure out why the light on my garage door opener stays on, too?) So I'm to believe that they can correlate sales of a pack of cigarettes to the TV above the pump? Now that's an impressive bit of audience research!

I don't mean to make fun of these vehicles, and certainly some of the arguments can be made that they are no different than transit, outdoor, bus bench or even broadcast advertising. But in this day and age where numbers are the name of the game, and attributing sales to the spend, how can you justify these media outlays? Or, are we just totally enamored by new and unusual media approaches and want to be a part of it? Sometimes, there just aren't any good answers, but there are certainly many, many questions.

© 2010 Bob Chernet - Need assistance with your marketing initiatives? Contact him today to see how he can be of help. View all of Bob's articles at: Bob Chernet's Marketing Best Practices . Reproduction of Bob Chernet's Marketing Insights in any manner is unlawful, without the written permission of the author.