Whom do television advertisers most want to reach?
    That's easy: adults ranging in age between 18 and 49.
    Why do we know this? Because we read it everywhere.
     Trouble is, it's not true, as it turns out. Or at least it's less true now than in the past.
      In reality, television advertisers are most anxious to reach a slightly older group of viewers, those 25 to 54 years in age.
     "Over the past five to 10 years adults 18-49 have aged a bit and that demo--adults 25-54--now has the concentration of that increase," says Kris Magel, vice president of national broadcast at Optimedia International U.S.
    It appears tradition as much as anything accounts for the 18-49 focus, in no small part because Nielsen widely reports the 18-49 demo ratings and because those ratings are then picked up and reported by the trades.
    The influence of that reporting is felt widely across the media business, affecting countless media planning, buying and selling decisions.
   The increasing importance of the older demo is confirmed in a study called Mediaenomics from The Myers Group, to be issued next week, that polled 250 advertisers and agency executives.
    "Clients have very narrow, refined demos that they use for marketing and creative. When it comes to media, though, they still use relatively broad demo groups," observes Jack Myers, chief economist and chief executive officer of The Myers Group.
    "Adults 18-49 is the second most popular but 25-54 is, by far, the predominant demo."
    There are a number of reasons for the shifting emphasis to the older demo.
    The population is aging, for one thing, as Optimedia's Magel points out. And a number of advertising categories, like pharmaceuticals and financial institutions have beefed up ad spending in the past few years, and they tend to target older consumers.
    "Those marketers that need to attract a highly affluent market are well aware that empty-nesters often have dramatically higher discretionary income. But for broad-based marketers, it’s a reflection of the aging of America," says John Rash, senior vice president and director of broadcast negotiations at Campbell Mithun.
    Another media buyer agrees: "I would think more than anything it would be a response to the graying of America, which is where the money is. And some of the advertisers may have been in such a rush to reach younger consumers that they alienated older consumers.
    "Plus, with parents being older now, women 25-54 is just as relevant as women 18-49 for packaged goods advertisers," he says.
    The shift to adults 25-54 primarily impacts broadcast buyers.
    That’s because Nielsen ratings have long been the standard for determining television advertising costs. Nielsen is largely limited to measuring ratings based on age and gender demographics.
   While that has been viewed as a less than perfect system for years, it’s still the primary currency for the selling and buying of ad time on TV, even while planners have more in-depth information to work with.
    There are better tools emerging for buyers that may eventually allow buying and selling to be done with targets like "purchasers of domestic cars."
    Until that time, buyers say they use a variety of research tools to better understand their clients’ customers.
     That research ultimately results in the development of a demographic target that represents a client’s best prospects.
    "Nielsen is a good base," says Magel, "but then you want to look at qualitative data. We tend to cross-reference a lot of information."
    The new emphasis on the older demo that has come out of that research suggests that networks like CBS, which has an older audience, will benefit while networks targeting younger viewers will suffer.
    Media buyers say the shift is subtle, though, and should not result in any dramatic changes.
    In general, it’s easy to reach adults 25-54 because they are such a large group and make up a good portion of all TV viewing. That makes them inexpensive to reach as well, relative to smaller, niche audiences.
    The result is that target audiences that are tougher to come by, like young men, will continue to be in high demand and command higher prices.
    The likely outcome is that younger-skewing networks may feel a pinch from the shift to older consumers but not much.
    "So many networks skew adults 18-49 and adults 25-54, so I don’t think it’s a major detriment to anyone," says Andrew Donchin, senior vice president and director of national broadcasting at Carat.
   John Rash concurs: "It happens to coincide that the older a person is, the higher the propensity to use broad-based media, especially network TV.
    "But cable penetration is so ubiquitous now, there is not a big demo difference between niche and general networks."
   Although buyers say the shift to 25-54 has been evolving for several years, the industry-wide attachment to adults 18-49 remains firmly entrenched.
   Part of the reason for that, they say, is because the trade media has latched onto adults 18-49 as a simple representation of a wide-ranging group of target audiences.
    "But on the buying side," Donchin says, "it has always been more evenly split between 18-49 and 25-54."

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

 Printer-Friendly Version |  Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us

© 2001 Media Life