Does Traditional Media Still Work? Part 2

For years we've been told that traditional media such as network television, newspapers, radio, and yellow pages are not very relevant in reaching people anymore. The marketing community is abuzz about trends it finds sexier such as social networking, click on ads, viral marketing, experiential marketing, etc.

Yet presidential candidate Barack Obama, who is known for using the Internet to build his campaign, is spending several million dollars for a half hour slot on several prime time, network television stations. From a marketing, PR and advertising perspective, what do you think of that? Does traditional media still work?

I posed this question to a few experts and here are their responses.

Bonnie McEwan, Owner, Make Waves: Impact Marketing for Nonprofits said:

I believe that traditional media is, on the whole, as effective as it ever was. It is just that it is now relevant to a more targeted demographic. When publicists say that traditional media doesn't work anymore, I think they are reacting to that fact that it is more difficult to make a good placement in traditional media than it once was, especially if a publicist is using traditional media relations tactics. News holes have gotten smaller and media has become consolidated and corporate, with less regulation, so there are fewer of the socially obligatory stories than there used to be and getting a good placement is tougher.

For at least the next 5 to 10 years there are going to be baby boomers who are in decision-making positions of power and they continue to use traditional media, especially television, as a news source. There was recently a poll done by Ragan, in which respondents gave TV a 6.6 rating (out of a possible 10) for credibility, the highest of any medium, traditional or online. Most online outlets scored in the 5 - 5.5 range. See my blog on this topic.

This same group of boomers also tends to make charitable contributions at a level above what younger audiences make, so for nonprofit organizations this is a group that remains important to reach. And, of course, these folks vote. I think that's why Obama has put so much money into television. At this point, he can't afford to take the chance of missing people with his message if he neglects television.

Until this current election cycle older Americans voted far out of proportion to the rate of younger voters, although this will most certainly not be true in this particular election. We don't know, however, if this voting trend among younger people will continue. (Let's hope.) At any rate, there is no way to accurately assess whether the younger cadre will carry the election for Obama, so he really doesn't have a choice other than to stick with the tried and true advertising format.

Many boomers also use online media and are on social media sites and we know that many younger people prefer online news to other, older formats. So digital media strategies must be added into any good marketing mix, along with traditional media and other communications techniques. In my company we give a lot of thought to how we can leverage exposure in traditional media to increase online attention and vice versa. The two together are the way to go at this juncture.

This is a great question, Karin, and I have enjoyed reading the answers that you have gotten so far. I will be interested to see the other answers that you get too.

Paul Gruenther, MBA, Real Estate Investor & Realtor said:

First, Obama bought 30 minutes of air time on the 79th anniversary of "Black Friday". October 29, 1929 was the day that the stock market crashed, officially setting off the Great Depression. Guaranteed... Obama will make this a shocking media event, not just a 30 minute TV show.

Second, keep in mind that each generation gets information in different ways from different sources. The AARPer's and Boomers will read newspapers, watch TV news and listen to talk radio. Generation Xer's tap into progressive media like the internet. An effective campaign must cover all media outlets with a variety of messages to reach all potential voters.

Karin's comment: I didn't realize Senator Obama bought air time on the anniversary of Black Friday. This solidifies my opinion stated in previous post that this does fall under marketing and advertising and not akin to a presidential address.