(4) Advertising: Media Mix

In this overview of what to do and avoid with the advertising budget, it’s only logical to address the media mix:
 
4. Media Mix

The concept of an advertising campaign inherently involves the synchronized and complementary use of multiple media. Any campaign worth its salt must employ various advertising channels with a unified message, over a specific timeframe, and in a consistent style (graphic, audio, and visual). These media should work together so that the message reaches each potential customer not just once, but repeatedly, and not through a single channel, but many. Television, radio, press, internet (nowadays), outdoor advertising, promotions, demonstrations, public address systems, mail (now solely email), giveaways, contests, offers, brochures (digital or printed), sponsorships… Anything a creative advertiser can dream up fits into a campaign, and these channels can complement each other. It’s not about using them all—that would be overkill—but selecting several in each case to shape the campaign.
 
Sales teams, however, often settle for a single medium and smugly declare, “We’ve done advertising.” But no, “doing advertising” isn’t just “making an ad.”
 
(To be continued…)
 

A journey through the history of the pharmaceutical industry and one of its great laboratories that had its origins in Alfred Nobel...

“From Alfred Nobel to AstraZeneca”: https://a.co/d/9svRTuI 

(3) Advertising: Concentration of efforts

Now, onto the third point about managing the advertising budget:

3. Concentration of efforts (Products, Regions, Time)
 
For an advertising campaign to succeed, it must be “intense,” ensuring messages hit potential customers hard. But budgets are limited—always less than ideal. The only viable solution is “concentration.” This doesn’t mean sacrificing intensity, but avoiding scatter.
 
Concentration can take many forms: targeting a specific region, focusing on one product, or shortening the campaign to cluster impacts within a tight timeframe for maximum effect.
 
Often, we’ll need to narrow efforts to smaller areas, fewer products, and less time.
Sales teams, however—great at sales but not advertising—don’t grasp this. With a small budget, they aim to cover vast regions, promote multiple products, and stretch the campaign over months. The result? Scattered, weak impacts that might reach a customer once, if at all, far from the “bombardment” they intended. Spreading ads this way wastes money; it’ll never achieve its goal. For instance, 30 radio spots on one station in a single day will outshine 30 spots split across three stations (10 each) over 10 days (one per day). Equally critical is choosing the right medium to reach our target audience effectively.
 
(To be continued…)

A journey through the history of the pharmaceutical industry and one of its great laboratories that had its origins in Alfred Nobel...
“From Alfred Nobel to AstraZeneca”: https://a.co/d/9svRTuI