Every day you scroll past, drive by and skip hundreds of ads, and you remember almost none of them. Advertisers know this, so every campaign answers two separate questions. The media question: where and when should the ad run so the target market actually sees it, and sees it enough times to remember? The message question: what should the ad say and show so that, once seen, it changes what people think or do? A brilliant ad in the wrong place is wasted, and a perfectly placed ad with a forgettable message is wasted too. Advertising is paid, non-personal communication from an identified sponsor, and this lesson covers how professionals plan both halves of it.
Comparing Advertising Media
| Medium | Strengths | Weaknesses | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Television and streaming video | Sight, sound and motion; huge reach; streaming allows some targeting | High production and airtime costs; viewers skip or use ad-free plans | Big brands building awareness and emotion |
| Radio and streaming audio (including podcasts) | Low cost; reaches commuters; local targeting by station or region | No visuals; often background listening | Local businesses, frequent reminder messages |
| Print (newspapers, magazines) | Detailed information; magazines target interests; trusted local papers | Shrinking readership; long lead times for magazines | Detailed offers, older audiences, niche hobbies |
| Out-of-home (billboards, transit, digital screens) | Seen repeatedly on daily routes; hard to skip | Only a few seconds of attention; limited targeting | Short, bold reminders near the point of sale |
| Search ads | Reach people at the moment they are looking for the product | Competitive keywords get expensive | Capturing demand that already exists |
| Social media and online video | Precise targeting by age, location and interests; easy to measure | Crowded feeds; short attention; ad blockers | Younger audiences, launches, building community |
| Direct mail | Personal, tangible and easy to target by postal code | Cost per piece is high; often seen as junk mail | Local services, catalogues, donors |
Reach, Frequency and GRPs
Media planners measure a schedule with two numbers. Reach is the percentage (or number) of the target audience exposed to the ad at least once during the campaign. Frequency is the average number of times each reached person is exposed. They pull against each other: with a fixed budget, you can show the ad to many people once or to fewer people many times. Gross rating points (GRPs) combine them into one measure of total weight: reach as a percentage multiplied by average frequency. A campaign that reaches 40% of the target an average of 3 times delivers 120 GRPs. GRPs let planners compare schedules on different media, and dividing cost by GRPs gives the cost per point. Impressions, the total number of exposures, equal the number of people reached times the average frequency, and they connect to the cost per thousand (CPM) you met in the promotion lesson.
Media Scheduling
| Pattern | How it runs | When it fits | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous | Ads run at a steady level all year | Products bought all year round | A grocery chain's weekly flyer and radio ads |
| Flighting | Bursts of heavy advertising separated by periods with none | Seasonal products or tight budgets | A snow-removal company advertising only in October and November |
| Pulsing | A low continuous base with heavier bursts at key times | Year-round products with seasonal peaks | A toy brand advertising all year, much more before December |
The Creative Brief and the Appeal
- Objective: what the ad must achieve, in measurable terms (for example, raise awareness among Hamilton cyclists from 15% to 30% by June).
- Target audience: who the ad speaks to, described as real people, not "everyone."
- Key message: the single most important thing the audience should take away, in one sentence.
- Support: the facts or proof that make the message believable (reasons to believe).
- Tone and appeal: how it should feel (friendly, urgent, funny, serious) and which appeal it uses.
- Call to action and mandatories: what the audience should do next, plus required items such as the logo, website, legal lines and bilingual versions.
- Media, budget and timeline: where the ad will run, what it can cost and when it is due.
| Appeal | How it works | Watch out for | Hypothetical example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rational | Facts, features, price and value: gives logical reasons to buy | Can feel dull; works best for high-involvement products | "Our winter tires stop 20% shorter on ice than our previous model, based on our track tests" |
| Emotional | Creates feelings such as pride, nostalgia, belonging or love | Must still link the feeling to the brand | A grandparent teaching a child to skate on a backyard rink |
| Humour | Grabs attention and makes the ad memorable and shareable | The joke can overshadow the brand, wear out fast or offend | A dog dramatically "fainting" when its favourite treat runs out |
| Fear | Shows the risk of not acting, then offers a solution | Too much fear makes people look away; always show a clear way to avoid the harm | A crash scene that ends with "Put the phone away. Arrive alive." |
Writing Headlines and Copy
In print, online and out-of-home ads, most people read only the headline, so it must do most of the work: stop the reader and promise a benefit. Strong headlines speak to the reader ("you"), are specific, and lead with a benefit rather than a feature: "Ride all winter without a sore back" beats "New ergonomic bike seat." Body copy then supports the headline with the proof from the creative brief, in short sentences and plain words. A slogan or tagline is a memorable line repeated across many ads to build the brand. Every ad ends with a clear call to action telling the reader exactly what to do next. On a billboard, which drivers see for a few seconds, the rule of thumb is a handful of words; on a website, there is room for detail, but the headline still decides whether anyone reads it.