It is certainly more economical to shoot a single commercial or put together a single type of ad banner to use across all your different ad placements. It’s easier to run the same full page ad in the local newspaper, a trade journal, and a popular magazine. However, this may not be the best implementation and it may not reap the greatest rewards.

Consider the captive audience and how you can best utilize that opportunity. I was driving around town the other day when I saw an ad on the back of a bus. Instead of being generic, it asked if I was stuck in traffic again. It then reminded me that the oil change service location was open late every day, telling me that there was still time for to get the proper maintenance on my car. That’s timely and appropriate, given the likely situation I’d be facing if I was reading the ad on a back of a bus.

Another great example comes from the movie theater situation. If someone is sitting in an auditorium waiting for their selected feature film to begin, they may represent a certain demographic and a certain type of customer. If you’re a candy company, you can remind them that your snacks are available in the lobby. If they are there to watch a movie, there’s a good chance that they may also be interested in subscribing to your movie channel on TV.

Yes, it may be more costly to put together these “specialized” or highly targeted types of advertising, but they could bear more fruit than the generic ad you have running across all media possibilities.