In advertising, reach refers to which definition?

• A. The geographic area where an ad is seen
• B. The number of different media carrying the ad
• C. The number of people who see the ad
• D. All of these are correct

Answer: (C)

Reach is the number of individual people who are exposed to an advertisement at least once during a specified period. It measures the audience size or breadth of a campaign, focusing on unique viewers rather than how many times each person sees the ad. This helps advertisers estimate how many potential customers had the opportunity to notice the message. Frequency, on the other hand, is how often a person sees the ad, which is a different metric used alongside reach to understand total exposure. The geographic area where an ad is seen describes where the ad runs, not how many people are reached. The number of different media carrying the ad describes cross-channel presence, not the size of the audience reached. Therefore, the definition that matches reach is the number of people who see the ad.