communications where an immediate consumer response can be elicited. Digital communications tools include: websites, blogs, social media, email, mobile, and search engines as a few examples. It is important for an advertising campaign to carefully select channels based on where their target consumer spends time to ensure market and advertising efforts are maximized. Marketing professionals should also consider the cost of reaching its target audience and the time (i.e. advertising during the holiday season tends to be more expensive). Modern day implications to the advantages & disadvantages of traditional media channels In the rapidly changing marketing and advertising environment, exposure to certain consumer groups and target audiences through traditional media channels has blurred. These traditional media channels are defined as print, broadcast, out-of-home and direct mail. The introduction of various new modern-day media channels has altered their traditional advantages and disadvantages. It is imperative to the effectiveness of the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategy that exposure to certain demographics, consumer groups and target audiences is anticipated to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact. Print media Print media is mainly defined as newspapers and magazines. With the transition in around 2006 – 2016 to digital information on phones, computers and tablets, the main demographic that is still exposed to traditional print media is older. It is also estimated that there will be a reduction of print material in the coming years, as print media moves online. Advertisers need to consider this; in some cases, they could use this to their advantage. The advantages of newspaper advertising are that it is low cost, timely, the reader controls exposure, and it provides moderate coverage to the older generations in western society. Disadvantages are the aging demographic, short life, clutter and that it attracts less attention. Magazines are similar in some cases, but as they are a niche product they increase segmentation potential; they also have high information content and longevity. Disadvantages are that they are visual only, they lack flexibility and a long lead time for advertisement placement. Broadcast media Traditional broadcast media's primary platforms are television and radio. These are still relatively prominent in modern-day society, but with the emergence of online content such as YouTube and Instagram, it would be difficult to anticipate where the market is headed in the next decade. Television's advantages are that it has mass coverage, high reach, quality reputation, low post per exposure and impacts