Target Audiences

Who Controls the Media?

• Media messages are designed to appeal to specific groups.
• Audiences are "rented" to advertisers.
• Individuals can belong to multiple niche audiences.

Identifying Niches

• Geographic segmentation is key for local TV, newspapers, and radio.
• Geographic segmentation is becoming less relevant with national distribution.
• Demographic segmentation uses characteristics like gender, age, ethnicity, education, and income.
• Lower class individuals have low income and limited control over their fate.
• Middle class individuals believe in controlling their fate and are willing to invest long-term.
• Upper class individuals have high income, more power, and resource control.
• VALS Typology categorizes consumers based on motivations, lifestyle, and product usage within psychographic segmentation.

Creating Content for Target Audiences

• Methods include tracking records, R&D, surveys, focus groups, and data analysis.
• Success can be measured through sales figures or audience ratings like Nielsen and Comscore.

News Media Key Concept

• News is not an objective reflection of events.
• News is a constructed product shaped by corporate interests, ratings, budgets, deadlines, and biases.

Subgenres of News

• Hard news includes firsthand reports on significant events such as politics, disasters, and conflicts.
• Hard news must be objective and accurate.
• Four key criteria for hard news are timeliness, unusualness, conflict, and proximity.
• Investigative reports involve in-depth analysis of significant issues.
• Investigative reports require extensive time and research.
• Editorials include opinion pieces expressing viewpoints, columns, and blogs.
• Soft news includes human-interest stories, lifestyle, entertainment, and community events.

Quality Journalism

• Truthfulness from journalists and sources is essential.
• Neutrality includes a lack of bias and balanced perspectives.
• Context refers to a complete and accurate story.

Advertising

• Advertising is defined as messages aimed at promoting goods/services.
• Advertising includes product placement, which is subtle brand promotion in media content.

Subgenres of Advertisements

• Informational ads provide direct details about a product/service.
• Hard-sell ads use urgent and aggressive persuasion.
• Soft-sell ads use emotional appeal and brand association.

Distribution and Exhibition

• Distribution is the delivery of content to an audience.
• Exhibition is the presentation of content for consumption, like streaming or shelf space in stores.
• Vertical integration involves control over production, distribution, and exhibition.

Funding Models

• Advertising is a funding model.
• Subscriptions are a funding model.

Broadcasting & Cable Terms

• Broadcast uses airwaves for signal transmission.
• MVPD (Multi-Channel Video Program Distributor) includes cable and satellite providers like Comcast and Dish.
• vMVPD (Virtual MVPD) includes Internet-based streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu Live.
• Retransmission fees are payments from cable operators to networks.

Advertising Industry Structure

• Advertising agencies create and place ads.
• Agency holding companies own multiple advertising-related firms.

Ad Agency Categories

• Business-to-Business vs. Consumer Agencies
• General vs. Specialty Agencies
• Traditional vs. Direct-Marketing Agencies
• Agency Networks vs. Stand-Alone Firms

Advertising Production

• Key roles in advertising production include account executives, creatives, market segmentation, and branding.
• A sales pitch is the presentation of an advertising concept to potential clients.

Media Planning

• Media planning considers audience reach, cost efficiency, and psychographic data.
• Cost Per Thousand (CPM) is a metric used for ad pricing.

Public Relations (PR) Definition

• Public relations is the process of managing public perception through media coverage.

Key PR Activities

• Corporate communications manages a company's image.
• Financial communications involves PR for financial stakeholders.
• Healthcare PR promotes medical advancements and public health messages.
• Crisis management handles company scandals and emergencies.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

• IMC merges PR and advertising to create a unified marketing strategy.
• Branded entertainment associates a brand with an enjoyable activity.
• Event sponsorship supports major events for brand exposure.
• Product placement embeds brands into media content.

Media Convergence

• Media convergence blurs advertising and Public Relations.
• Paid, owned, and earned media are interconnected.

Types of Media

• Paid media is directly purchased advertising.
• Owned media is company-controlled content, like social media and blogs.
• Earned media is free publicity gained through media coverage.