The groundbreaking Path to Persuasion research done by Ads24 last year has been boosted by new information gleaned as a result of follow-up investigation into new industry segments. Last year’s research probed the “clear and differentiating role for newspapers across multiple product categories”.
“Most importantly,” says Linda Gibson, CEO of Ads24, “the conclusions validate the previous finding that there is indeed a bright future for newspapers and their digital platforms.”
The original research, conducted by Freshly Ground Insights (FGI), the Johannesburg-based market intelligence research specialist, was designed to optimise advertisers’ return on media investment.
During ‘wave one’, over 1 000 respondents were canvassed and the research covered the banking, cellular, automotive, retail and pharmaceutical sectors of the economy. Now ‘wave two’ has taken into account the opinions of 1 300 respondents who were asked for feedback on fast food; washing powders; gambling; learning institutions; furniture; and skin care.
“We now have an overall database of 2 300 respondents, giving us the ability to look at optimum media mixes according to demographic information on 11 business categories,” says Gibson. “Bearing in mind that the key strength of Path to Persuasion is a media-neutral approach to optimising the media mix, it’s a powerful tool to aid media planners in their media investment strategies.”
Brad Aigner, CEO at FGI, says that motivated by the need to optimise return in media investment, buyers of advertising space expect accountability from their media owner partners. “The need for measurability and ‘empirical proof’ that media brands have delivered positive returns on investment is critical to media owners wanting to retain and grow their market shares,” he says.
The two waves of Path to Persuasion find that different media channels and media brands play clearly differentiating roles in the delivery of information to consumers. In effect: “There is a clear and differentiating role for newspapers across multiple product categories.”
The report concludes: “The clarity of the research result has enabled the development of a media-neutral model for the measurement of media return on investment.”
Aigner emphasises the awareness among marketers of consumers’ “path to purchase” in their buying behaviour process – a path that starts with awareness and ends with a purchase decision and action.
“Ultimately,” he points out, “the goal of marketing is to encourage consumers to make a positive buying decision at the end of the path to purchase. The intrinsic of different media types enables planners to engage with consumers in the right place at the right time with the correct message to take them a step closer to the end of the path to purchase.”
