Media Saturation
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
A story in Monday’s New York Times about media saturation in the NYC market and elsewhere, particularly the growth in out-of-home executions creates food for thought about the potential pitfalls of messaging at every turn. Advertising is so pervasive today that you have to wonder if it’s becoming just background noise. Yankelovich estimates that a person living in a city today is exposed to 5,000 ad messages daily, compared with about 2,000 messages 30 years ago.
“Marketers used to try their hardest to reach people at home, when they were watching TV or reading newspapers or
magazines. But consumers’ viewing and reading habits are so scattershot now that many advertisers say the best way to reach time-pressed consumers is to try to catch their eye at literally every turn…Ubiquity is the new exclusivity.”
Eggs, airplane seatback trays, elevator doors, restroom signs, turnstiles, even outpatient treatment rooms are fair game for advertising. You have to wonder how far this trend can go before consumers revolt. In San Francisco, a series of complaints led to the removal of ‘Got Milk’ billboards that emited the odor of chocolate chip cookies at bus stops.