Price, product, promotion and place (4Ps): television

The idea

Television is a broadcast promotional medium that businesses use within the promotion element of the marketing mix. A business buys airtime for a commercial, either on broadcast channels or through streaming and on-demand services. For example, a supermarket might run a prime-time advert before a popular programme to reach millions of viewers. Television offers wide reach, sight, sound and movement, and strong impact, but airtime is expensive, production costs are high, and adverts can be skipped or watched on demand. Audiences are also fragmenting across many channels and streaming platforms. A business must therefore judge whether television reaches enough of the right customers at an acceptable cost compared with other promotional methods.

What earns the marks

• Identifies television as a broadcast promotional medium where a business buys airtime for a commercial.
• Explains reach: a single advert can be seen by a very large audience, including on streaming and on-demand services.
• Explains advantages: sight, sound and movement create impact, and mass audiences can be targeted through programme choice and scheduling.
• Explains drawbacks: high airtime and production costs, audience fragmentation, and viewers skipping or avoiding adverts.
• Applies the medium to a given business context, judging whether television suits the product, budget and target market.
• Compares television with other promotional methods, such as magazines or social media, in terms of reach, cost and targeting.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Confusing television with the product element of the marketing mix.

  Put it right by linking television to the promotion element.

• Assuming television is always the best choice because it reaches many people.

  Put it right by weighing its high cost against the budget and target market of the business.

• Ignoring audience fragmentation and advert skipping.

  Put it right by explaining that viewers spread across channels and streaming services and may avoid adverts.

Exam tips

• Link television advertising to the case study business by naming a suitable programme, channel or streaming service and its audience.
• Use the context in each application point instead of describing television advertising in general terms.
• When evaluating, reach a balanced judgement that weighs mass reach and impact against cost, fragmentation and advert avoidance.