Advertisiement Media Planning1

1. INTRODUCTION

“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark; you know what you are doing, but nobody else does.”

Stewart H. Britt

In this one line we can fathom the importance of advertising to any firm, organization or institution. A firm needs to communicate to its target audience, about the existence of its products or services. The best way to reach this mass market is to advertise through mass communication media.

For the purpose of effective advertising, firma usually approach advertising agencies to hone the expertise of professionals in a wide array of communication fields.

Thus, “advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor.”

-American Marketing Association, Chicago.

The organizational structure of an advertising agency is as follows,

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Here, we see that an ad agency creates an advertising message and produces it in tangible form through copy and visualization. Once the ad is prepared, it is to be sent to different media. Depending upon the total budget, decisions have to be taken on:-

1. Which media to be selected?

2. What would be the frequency?

3. Size and position of the ad?

4. When it would be published?

This process is called Media Planning which is done by the media plan controlling department of the advertisement agency.

In this project, what is the concept of media planning; its importance in advertising campaigns; the whole process of media planning.

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2. CHANGING SCENARIO IN INDIA

The great media explosion:

You can read the news today from any of the 6,830 English or 39,825 vernacular newspapers published in India, Catch it on the 8 news channels out of the 100 satellite channels; log on and surf the net for the latest or get days headlines on your mobile.

With 70 million television households India boasts the third largest television market in the world and its print industry ranks fifth globally. Bouquets of private channels have segmented the market in terms of viewer ship and advertising. There are 35 million cable and satellite households in the country.

Media planning is gaining dominance in India because of the following factors:

1. Increasing number of media options – There are around 16 different magazines for women in India only in English!

2. Audience fragmentation – The number of people watching a particular TV programme or reading a particular publication has become considerably smaller. This is known as Audience fragmentation. Reaching these specialized audiences requires careful selection of the best combination of media.

3. Growing Number of Media literate clients – Advertisers today are becoming more cost conscious and media savvy. They want to get maximum mileage for their campaigns within limited advertising budgets. Hence the media planner has to select innovative media to reduce costs.

4. Growing importance of Media research- Media research was in its infancy stage till recently, now a number of independent research organizations have sprung up over the last years. Media research is now being carried out by different agencies using different tools.

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Report on media trends of 2007 - Lintas Media Group

The Lintas Advertisement Media Group has released the Lintas Media Guide 2008, a comprehensive analysis of media spends and buys in 2007. The report includes in-depth analyses of the media environment and industry trends along with various genres, including television, print, radio, Internet, cinema and outdoor.

According to the study, ad spends reached Rs 17,356 crore in 2007, growing by a mere 3.5 per cent as compared to 2006. Print continued to hold a major share with 50 per cent of the total media spends (Rs 8,591 crore). Internet ad spends grew by 43 per cent as compared to 2006, touching Rs 215 crore.

Radio, cinema and outdoors saw an increase of 28, 16 and 17 per cent, reaching Rs 529 crore, Rs 194 crore and Rs 1,062 crore, respectively. TV revenues showed a decline of 1 per cent as a result of the competitive pricing offered by general entertainment channels to retain market shares. The ad revenues for TV were Rs 6,766 crore.

The report predicts that with increasing media reach amongst the rural masses, 2008 is set to offer enormous advertising opportunities as well as tremendous challenges.

The Internet medium grew by leaps and bounds because of factors such as the increasing number of households with computers and growing awareness of the Internet as a tool for empowerment. Several one time non-communication applications such as exam results and e-ticketing have encouraged the less affluent to get on to the Internet. Initiatives such as the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) are likely to increase Internet use amongst the lower SECs in the next couple of years.

It is estimated that television will grow at a dynamic pace in the next two years and the total number of channels will touch the 500 mark. India, which is currently Asia’s second largest pay TV market after Japan, is expected to become the No. 1 pay TV market by 2015. Although the direct impact of such a boom is going to be greater ad avoidance, the time spent on watching any channel will move up.

Currently, India has 551 million literate people. This increase in literacy is proving beneficial for the print medium as more people in rural and urban areas are able to read newspapers and magazines. The print media industry still has the potential to grow by 236 million literate people in India, a number which is still not tapped by any publication. The print media is among the acknowledged segments for global investors who like to put the maximum foreign investment here. The year 2007 also saw the launch of various foreign publications such as Vogue, FHM and The Economist.

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Of the total amount spent on ads in 2007 in India, radio had a 3 per cent share. The report suggests that this share is expected to rise to 5 per cent during 2008-09. Several new radio channels, especially in Tier II and III towns, were launched in 2007. The new channels have given a boost to creative content and the demand, it has been estimated, may reach as much as 1.5 million hours of content annually for around 300 channels.

The OOH industry is expected to see a growth rate of 17 per cent annually and to rise from Rs 1,000 crore in the present year to Rs 2,150 crore in 2010. The panel set up by MRUC and Hansa Research to measure the efficiencies of outdoor advertising will play a crucial role in the growth factor for the advertisers.

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3. MEDIA PLANNING - THE CONCEPT

Definition:

The process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be used for advertising.

Explanation:

The series of decisions involved in the delivery of an advertising message to prospective purchasers and/or users of a product or service.The two basic tasks of advertising is message creation and message dissemination. Media planning supports message dissemination. It helps you to determine which media to use—be it television programs, newspapers, bus stop posters, in-store displays, banner ads on the web, or a flyer on Facebook It tells you when and where to use media in order to reach your desired audience. Simply put, media planning refers to the process of selecting media time and space to disseminate advertising messages in order to accomplish marketing objectives. Media planning is a process of choosing a course of action. Media planners develop yearly plans that list each media outlet—print or broadcast. Planning then gives way to buying, as each separate contract is negotiated, then finalized.

Importance:

- It helps to effectively disseminate advertising message.

- Choosing which media or type pf advertising to use is sometimes tricky for small firms with limited know-how. Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive for a company that services only a small area. Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much territory to be cost- efficient for a small firm, although some national publications offer regional or city editions. Metropolitan radio stations present the same problem as TV and metro newspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local radio station and newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm’s audience. Thus, it is important to put together a media plan for an advertising campaign.

- The largest category in advertising budget is likely to be the media costs—the amount spent for air time on radio or for ad space in newspapers, magazines and more. Thus, it makes sense to have a sound plan to manage this investment.

- Advancement of new media: new media – cable and satellite television, satellite radio, business-to-business e-media, consumer Internet, movie screen advertising and videogame advertising- is playing an increasingly significant role. Spending on advertising media is growing at a compounded annual rate.

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- An agency needs to set goals, describe strategies to achieve them and organize the days to day tasks of carrying out the strategies. The tool required to do all this is a media plan that begins with an over view and works its way down to the details. It assists in every phase of advertising.

- Planning advertising media well is a fundamental part of giving the ad campaign the very best chance of success. Without good planning there is a risk of lot of wasted time, effort and money.

- Media planning eventually gives way to media buying process.

Advertising media:

1. Television2. Radio3. Newspapers4. Magazines (consumer and trade)5. Outdoor billboards6. Public transportation7. Yellow pages8. Direct mail9. Specialty advertising (on such items such as matchbox, pencils, calendars, telephone

pads, shopping bags and so on)

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4. THE MEDIA PLANNER

Definition:

A media planner is an advertising agency employee in the media department who is responsible for the planning of media to be used in an advertising campaign.

The primary function of a media planner is to match the target audience in each campaign with the appropriate media. The media planner will identify the desired target audience (from the advertiser's or account executive's input) and then make media selections based on the profiles of the various available media while also evaluating the media in terms of cost. The planner will make client recommendations as to the medium or combination of media that will best reach the target audience and meet the media objectives. In a smaller agency, the media planner is also the media buyer, but larger agencies will have a staff of buyers usually grouped according to media classes.

In short, a media planner decides which media vehicles to use, how frequently the ads should run and where they should be placed to achieve maximum reach (the number of people who see the ad) as well as the maximum impact, all within the advertiser’s budget.The buying or placement function involves contacting the various media for proposals, analyzing and modifying as needed, negotiating rates, programs etc. to assure that the advertiser’s needs are met efficiently and effectively.

Traditionally, the role of the media planner was quite close to that of the Media Buyer, the obvious distinction being that the planner would devise a plan for advertising and the buyer would negotiate with the Media proprietor on things such as rates, copy deadlines, placement, merchandising etc. The role of the modern media planner is more wide reaching however. Today many agencies are actually eschewing the job title of 'media planner' in favor of titles such as communications planner, brand planner or strategist. This reflects the shift away from 'traditional' media planning to a more holistic approach, with the planner now having to consider (as well as standard above-the-line channels such as TV, print, radio and outdoor) PR, below-the-line channels, in-store, digital media, product placement and other emerging communications channels all for the purpose of ensuring the client's advertising budget is well spent as well as adhering to the overall marketing strategy devised by marketing consultants or the client themselves. Their expanded job scope has thus made more demands of their time, placing them in immensely pressured situations matched by the states faced by their creative (copywriters and art directors) counterparts.

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Though many media planners are housed within ad firms, Initiative Worldwide, Carat, ZenithOptimedia, Starcom, Mindshare and OMD are examples of stand-alone global media planning agencies for general consumer brands.

Role of media planner:

The media planner develops a statistical advertising model for the audience

Circulates the advertisement by planning the time effectively

Plans to cut and minimize costs

Makes amendments to maximize the advertisement time

Manages, controls and purchases air time, media time or space.

Makes recommendations to the clients and also allocates the time and space

Plans billing terms for clients that is beneficial for both client and the advertising company.

Requirements of a media planner:

1. The job requires a lot of practical knowledge; however, it also depends on the theoretical knowledge of the media industry. The more a person understands the dynamics of the media industry in the world of advertising, the better it is for them.

2. He should have excellent communication skills.

3. The knowledge in accounting would help when it comes to managing the air time and maintaining records of the air time. In the end, the media planners are the ones who are responsible for airing or printing the respective advertisement, and it all depends on them whether the ad will be successfully publicized. They come in the last step of the advertising process, and yet they play a crucial role. The most essential education the person should have is computer knowledge and operating MS office and other tools.

4. Overall the media planner should have an eye for details, and must be capable of deciding which advertisement to place when. They should know all the TRP ratings of the television industry, and should have a good knowledge of handling prime time ads.

5. Ability to analyzing target audiences, keeping abreast of media developments, reading market trends and understanding motivations of consumers (often including psychology and neuroscience).

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5. STAGES IN MEDIA PLANNING

Following are the typical stages in formulation of a media plan:

Media Brief

Media Strategy & Plan

Media Buying

Implementation

Post Analysis

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5.1. CONSUMER MEDIA BRIEF

Purpose:

A media brief is required to provide with all the information necessary to translate marketing goals into effective media plans.A media brief consists of Key Brand Considerations, Geographical Priorities, Budget, and Key Learning’s from Past activity, Key Planned Activity, Competitive Environment, Creative Considerations Timelines.

A complete media brief equips a media planner with the following information:

1) Marketing Objectives:

• Launching a new product?• Testing?• Maintaining an existing service/brand?• Will creative/strategies be researched?• Will there be supporting components?• Public Relations• Direct Marketing• Sampling• Trade Support• Consumer Promotions?• Sales Promotions?• What sales targets have been set?

2) Competitive Considerations:

• Who are the major competitors?• Historically, what is their media pattern?• What is your share of voice/share of market?Advertising Objectives:• Where are we positioned now?• Where do we want to be positioned?

3) Target Audience:

• Their age, sex, income, occupation, etc• What is their lifestyle/lifecycle?• Has research been done to establish their current attitude towards ourService/product?• Is this existing attitude to be maintained, or changed?

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4) Geographic Areas to be covered:

• What metropolitan and regional areas to be covered?• Do these broad areas coincide with draw areas?• Should specific draw areas be considered?

5) When do we talk to them?:

• What is the purchase cycle?• Are some purchase cycles more important than others?• Are there specific sales troughs, which need to be addressed?

6) Creative requirements:

• Do we require action?• Must we show a demonstration or a product pack?• Do we require colour?• Will we be prompting emotion?• Is a lot of copy required? (is it a detailed message)• Will the message be a simple one – or will it be involved?

7) Budget:

• Is the budget based upon a percentage of anticipated sales?• Is the budget based upon our competitors?• Do you want the media planner to recommend?

Media objectives:

The media brief helps to develop on the media objective which is based on the marketing objectives and advertising objectives.

Media objectives are positive statements of what the media plan will achieve on a specific budget.

An example: P&G's launch of the Gillette Fusion shaving system for men in early 2006. P&G's media objectives called for a $200 million media blitz to reach men in the U.S.

MARKETING OBJECTIVE

MEDIA OBJECTIVE

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5.2. MEDIA STRATEGY

Purpose:

To recommend how best to invest in media to accomplish the task and media objectives set forth in the brief.

A strategic decision is how to allocate the media budget geographically; that is, deciding in which markets to advertise and how much to spend in each of these markets.

A defensive media strategy allocates more money in a market where sales are high,

An offensive strategy allocates more money in a market where sales are low but there is potential to grow.

The other strategic decision involves advertising scheduling over a campaign period.

Media planners make three crucial decisions:

Where to advertise (geography), When to advertise (timing), and What media categories to use (media mix).

Moreover, they make these decisions in the face of budget constraints.

The actual amount of money that an advertiser spends on marketing communications can vary widely, from billions of dollars for multinational giants such as Procter & Gamble, to a few thousand dollars for local "mom-n-pop" stores.

In general, companies spend as little as 1% to more than 20% of revenues on advertising, depending on the nature of their business. Regardless of the budget, some media options are more cost effective than others.

It is the job of media planners to formulate the best media strategies -- allocating budget across media categories, geographies, and time.

5.3. THE PROCESS OF MEDIA PLANNING

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5.3.1 TARGET AUDIENCE DEFINITION:

Target Audience Definition

Market Prioritization

Setting Objectives

Media Selection

Scheduling

Who

How Much

What

When

Where

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As the basic function of media planning is to select the media that reach the target audience, the media planner must know the target audience with as much precision as possible. The high cost of media and need to minimize the waste exposures emphasizes on the importance of a precise target market definition.Target audience means the people whom the media plan attempts to influence through various forms of brand contact.

Target Audience should ideally be defined in terms that makes it measurable

Might vary from marketing TG to make them relate to media usage and decisions-select from profile of media vehicle audiences those vehicles whose audience is closer to the marketing TG

Might change according to markets

May to some extent be governed by competition.

Target audience may be specified in a number of ways as follows:

1) Demographics and Psychographics

The target audience is often defined in terms of demographics and psychographics. Demographics involves classification of markets on the basis of gender, age, education, household income, marital status, employment status, type of residence, and number of children in the household. Using demographic variables, for example, the target audience of a media plan could be "individuals who are 26-to-45 years old with yearly household income of $50,000 or more" or "all households with children age 3 years or younger." Some advertisers believe that demographic definitions of a target audience are too ambiguous, because individual consumers that fit such definitions can be quite different in terms of their brand preference and purchase behavior. For example, think about the students in a media planning class. Even though some of them are the same age and gender, they may like different brands of toothpaste, shampoo, cereal, clothing, and other products. Therefore, media planners use psychographics to refine the definition of the target audience.Psychographics is a generic term for consumers' personality traits (serious, funny, conservative), beliefs and attitudes about social issues (opinions about abortion, environment, globalization), personal interests (music, sports, movie going), and shopping orientations (recreational shoppers, price-sensitive shoppers, convenience shoppers). The target audience is not defined by age, income or gender, but by psychographic principles. For example, the target could be people who have a need for self-expression, are young at heart, and love to drive.

One psychographic system which media planners often use is called VALS (short for Values and Lifestyles). VALS places adult consumers into one of eight segments based on their responses to the VALS questionnaire. The eight segments are: Innovators, Thinkers, Achievers, Experiencers, Believers, Strivers, Makers and Survivors.

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Each segment has a unique set of psychological characteristics. For example, Innovators are "successful, sophisticated, take-charge people with high self-esteem. Because they have such abundant resources, they exhibit all three primary motivations in varying degrees. They are change leaders and are the most receptive to new ideas and technologies. Innovators are very active consumers, and their purchases reflect cultivated tastes for upscale, niche products and services."

Defining a target audience by psychographic variables helps not only creative directors with the development of advertising appeals but also media planners with the selection of effective media channels. If a psychographic group of consumers likes playing golf, for example, they are likely to read golf-related magazines and visit golf-related Web sites.

2) Generational Cohorts

In addition to demographics and psychographics, generational cohort is another useful concept for selecting the target audience. Because the members of a particular generational cohort are likely to have had similar experiences during their formative years, they maintain analogous social views, attitudes, and values.

For example, Generation X (about 17 million people born in 1965-1978), and Generation Y (about 60 million people born between 1979 and 1994). Each of the cohorts possesses distinct characteristics in their lifestyles and often serves as a reference group from which finer segments of the target audiences can be selected for specific advertising campaigns.

An interesting example of a generational cohort is "kogals" in Japan. Originating from the world for "high school," kogals are a unique segment of young women in urban Japan who conspicuously display their disposable incomes through unique tastes in fashion, music, and social activity. They have the leisure time to invent new ways of using electronic gadgets. For example, they started changing mobile phones' ring tones from boring beeps to various popular songs and changing screen savers from dull defaults to cute pictures. Manufacturers observe kogals and listen to what they say is unsatisfactory about the products. In some cases, manufacturers simply imitate the new usages that kogals spontaneously invented and incorporate these usages part of their own new commercial services, thereby increasing sales.

3) Product and Brand Usage

Target audiences can also be more precisely defined by their consumption behavior. Product usage includes both brand usage (the use of a specific brand such as Special K cereal or Dove soap) and category usage (the use of a product category such as facial tissue or chewing gum). Product use commonly has four levels:

heavy users, medium users, light users and non-users.

The levels of use depend on the type of product.

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For example, Simmons defines heavy domestic beer users as those who consume five or more cans in the past 30 days, medium beer users as those who consumer two to four cans, and light users as those who consume one can in 30 days.

For travel, Simmons' definitions are: three foreign trips per year indicate heavy travel users, 2 foreign trips per year are medium travel users, and 1 trip per year are light travel users.

There is a popular saying in the industry: "the twenty percent who are heavy users account for eighty percent of the sales of a product." This highlights the importance of heavy users for a brand's performance.

Examples of defining a target audience by product usage can be "individuals who dine out at least four times in a month" or "individuals who made domestic trips twice or more last year."

Similarly, brand usage has several categories.

Brand loyals are those who use the same brand all the time. Primary users use a brand most of the time but occasionally also use other brands in the same category; they are secondary users for these competing brands.

Brand switchers are those who have no brand preference for a given product category but choose a brand on the basis of situational factors. An analysis of the brand usage pattern is helpful for the identification of the appropriate target audience

4) Primary and Secondary Target Audience

The target audience in a media plan can be either primary or secondary.

A primary target audience is one that plays a major role in purchase decisions, while a secondary target audience plays a less decisive role. In the case of video game players, for example, children's requests often initiate a purchase process; parents often respect their children's brand selection. Thus, it is reasonable to consider children as the primary target audience and their parents as the secondary target audience. If the parents are aware of the advertised brand, it will be easier for children to convince them of the purchase.

Media planners need to examine and identify the role of consumers in shopping, buying and consuming a product or service to target the right groups of consumers effectively.

The Size of Target Audiences:In the process of defining a target audience, media planners often examine and specify the actual size of a target audience -- how many people or households fit the definition. Knowing the actual size helps advertisers to estimate the potential buying power of the target audience. For example, if the target audience of a campaign is defined as working women 26-to-44 years old who are interested in receiving daily news updates on their mobile phones, media planners should estimate the number of these women to quantify the sales potential.

As another example, if the target audience consists of 2,000,000 households and each household purchases the brand two times a month, the monthly sales would be 4,000,000 units.

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Often, certain qualifiers are added on to the target group definitions to sharpen the focus. These could be:

Psychographics Working Status (E.g. Housewife/ Students ) Consumption Patterns ( High/Medium/Low User of a product) Buying Patterns Brand Usage segments (sole users/ primary/ secondary/ non users) Hobbies / Interests ( Cookery / Gardening / Golf Lovers ) Mediagraphics- media consumption/ interaction

5.3.2. MARKET PRIORITIZATION

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Market prioritization refers to geographic allocation of the advertisement

In general, a company that sells nationally can take one of three approaches to geographic spending allocation:

A national approach (advertise in all markets):

Media planners will choose a national approach if sales are relatively uniform across the country, such as for Tide laundry detergent or Toyota automobiles. A national approach will reach a national customer base with a national advertising program.

A spot approach (advertise only in selected markets):

for many products, a company’s customers are concentrated in a limited subset of geographical area, which many a spot approach more efficient than the national approach.

For example, the sales of leisure boats are much higher in markets such as Florida, California and Michigan due to the large water areas in these markets. A spot approach will target these states. Therefore, a leisure boat manufacturer such as Sea Ray might use a spot approach to target Florida, California and Michigan while not advertising in other states like Iowa or Nebraska.

A combined national plus spot approach (advertise in all markets with additional spending in selected markets).

Media planners perform geographic analyses by assessing the geographic concentration of sales in two ways:

1. The first method is called the Brand Development Index (BDI) of a geographic region. BDI measures the concentration of sales of a company's brand in that region.

2. The second method is called the Category Development Index (CDI) and measures the concentration of sales of the product category (across all brands) in that region.

3. Growth Potential Index (GPI)

1) Brand Development Index:

Media planners use BDI to measure a brand's performance in a given market in comparison with its average performance in all markets where the brand is sold.

Mathematically, BDI is a ratio of a brand's sales in a given geographic market divided by the average of its sales in all markets. BDI is calculated for each geographic area (Market X) using the following formula:

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Indicates relative strengths and weaknesses for the brand

For example:

Consider the BDI for visitors to the state of Louisiana -- the geographic concentration of people who travel to Louisiana for business or pleasure.

The BDI for Houston is 658 because Houston is 1.8% of the U.S. population, but Houstonians make up 11.8% of visitors to Louisiana (100 * (11.8%/1.8%) = 658). Because Houston's BDI is higher than 100, it means that many more Houstonians come to Louisiana than the average from other cities.

In contrast, the New York City area has a very low BDI of only 10 because even though New York City has 7.2% of the U.S. population, this city contributes only 0.7% of visitors to Louisiana.

This disparity in BDI influences Louisiana's advertising strategy. Media planners will tend to allocate more resources to high BDI markets (greater than 100) than to low BDI markets.

The point is that even though New York City has a much larger population, it has a much lower concentration of travelers to Louisiana.

Given that the cost of advertising is often proportional to the population it reaches, advertising in New York City will be far more expensive than advertising in Houston. Because such a low percentage of New Yorkers travel to Louisiana, advertising to New Yorkers will be less effective than advertising to Houstonians.

However,

BDI doesn't tell the whole story.

BDI only measures the concentration of current sales.

BDI doesn't reflect the concentration of potential sales as measured by sales of the entire product category.

So, media planners use another number, CDI, in addition to BDI when allocating resources for spot advertising.

2) Category Development Index:

CDI is a measure of a product category's performance in a given geographic market in comparison to its average performance in all markets in the country.

The sales of a product category include the sales of all the brands (the company's and competitors' brands) or at least all major brands that fall in the category.

X 100

% of a brand’s total sales in Market X% of total population in Market X

BDI =

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The CDI formula is:

Notice the similarities and differences of the CDI formula compared to the BDI formula:

The denominator of the CDI formula is the same as that of the BDI formula

But the numerator for CDI is the share of the product category in a given market.

For example,

If the sales of the product category in Market X account for 2 percent of its total sales in the U.S. and the population in that market is 3 percent of the U.S. population, then the CDI for that market will be 67, which is 33 percent below the average of 100.

That means a poorer-than-average consumption of the product category, which means that Market X may be less promising for spot market advertising. On the other hand, markets with a high CDI (higher than 100) may be a better market for that product category.

Because BDI and CDI can vary independently, media planners use both numbers to guide allocation decisions.

In general, BDI reflects the concentration of existing sales while CDI reflects the concentration of potential sales in a geographic region.

Returning to the example of leisure boats, we find that states such as California, Florida, and Michigan have high CDIs. Yet the maker of a line of small boats that aren't suitable for the ocean may have very high BDI in Michigan but a very low BDI in California and Florida. Because a BDI or a CDI for a given market can each be either above or below the average.

There will be four possible combinations, as shown in the table below:

Four Scenarios of BDI and CDI

CDI

BDI

High Low

HighHigh CDIHigh BDI

Low CDIHigh BDI

LowHigh CDILow BDI

Low CDILow BDI

X 100

% of a category’s total sales in Market X% of total population in Market X

CDI =

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The four combinations represent two extreme cases and two mixed cases.

At the one extreme, in a market with both a high CDI and a high BDI (both above 100), media planners will seek to maintain high market share (implied by high BDI) and might even consider more advertising to gain market share because of the good category potential (implied by high CDI) of the market.

At the other extreme, in a market with both a low CDI and a low BDI, media planners may eschew spending their advertising dollars there due to the low concentration of potential consumption -- the small boat maker may ignore New Mexico.

The mixed cases represent situations in which the percentage of brand sales in a region differs significantly from the percentage of category sales.

A market with a high CDI and a low BDI deserves serious consideration because it suggests a large opportunity for increased sales. Before devoting advertising dollars, the company will want to understand why it has such poor sales of its brand (low BDI) in an area with high category sales. For example, the maker of small boats may learn that Californians don't buy the brand's boats because the boats are unsuitable for the ocean. If the causes of the poor brand performance can be identified and solved (such as by changing the product or finding better distribution), then more advertising should be worthwhile.

A low CDI and high BDI represents the enviable position of selling well in a market that does not otherwise buy products in that category. A market with low CDI and a high BDI requires continued advertising support to maintain the superior brand performance.

The above is summarized in the table below:

BDI/ CDI Relationships

One approach to resource allocation uses a weighted sum of BDI and CDI -- spending money in each geography in proportion to a combined BDI plus CDI score. With this approach, media planners need to first assign a weight to the BDI and to the CDI. These two weights represent the relative importance of the BDI and CDI, and the sum of two weights should equal 1.

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On the one hand, media planners might choose a high weight on CDI if they feel their brand is representative of the broader category and they expect their brand to attain a geographic pattern of sales that matches that of the category.

On the other hand, they might place a high weight on BDI if their brand is unique, the category is very diverse, or the company wants to grow sales among current customers.

Consider a hypothetical example in which a media planner thinks the BDI is three times more important than the CDI in allocating spending. He or she would use a weight of .75 with the BDI values and .25 with the CDI values of each geography to calculate a weighted sum and a percentage for each of the markets.

Then, she can use the percentage as a base for spending allocation in each market, as show in the table below. That is,

1. Market A will receive 16 percent of the media spending,

2. Market B will receive 22 percent, and so on. All the percentages added together will equal 100 percent.

Hypothetical Spending Allocation in Markets with 75% BDI and 25% CDI

Geographic Market

BDI CDI 75% Weighted BDI

25% Weighted CDI

WeightedSum

SpendingPercentage

North 74 89 56 22 78 16%

East 111 99 83 25 108 22%

Central 93 129 69 32 102 20%

South 139 109 104 27 131 26%

West 83 74 63 19 81 16%

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3) Growth Potential Index:

Media planners can use another index -- growth potential index (GPI) -- to assess growth opportunities in geographic markets.

GPI is simply the ratio of the CDI over the BDI and is one way of quantifying the discrepancy between category sales (the potential sales for the market) and brand sales (current sales) to measure of the growth potential of a brand in a market.

The formula of the GPI is as follows:

Market X's CDI

GPI = ---------------------- X 100

Market X's BDI

For example, if Market X has a CDI of 120 and a BDI of 80, then the GPI will be 150. This high value of GPI suggests a growth potential of 50% in this market -- that if the brand sold as well in that market as it does nationwide, sales would grow 50%. Of course, media planners should examine the specific conditions of a high GPI market before allocating resources to assess the true possibilities for growth. When a brand sells in many markets, the GPI can facilitate the selection of markets for additional spot advertising spending.

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5.3.3. SETTING OBJECTIVES

This section deals with setting of communication objectives.Because the primary purpose of media is to deliver the advertising messages, communication objectives should be expressed with terms of delivery ability- reaching the target audience with sufficient frequency and appropriate timing.

These objectives are expressed in the following terms: Reach Frequency Continuity

Because all the media plans contain these factors, they can be called as the parameters of an effective media plan. A parameter is a quantity that is constant in a particular case, such as in a particular media plan, but what varies in different cases, such as in alternative media plans that are being considered.

1) Reach : to set their objective for the total number of people exposed to the media plan.Reach refers to the number of different individuals or homes exposed to the advertising message in a purpose cycle.A purpose cycle is the time interval between purposes in the product category, for the average target audience member.Generally, reach is expressed as a percentage.

Reach is one of the most important terms in media planning and has three characteristics:

Reach is a percentage, although the percentage sign is rarely used. When reach is stated, media planners are aware of the size of the target audience. For example, if a media plan targets the roughly 5 million of women who are 18-25 years old, then a reach of 50 means that 50% or 2.5 million of the target audience will exposed to some of the media vehicles in the media plan.

Reach measures the accumulation of audience over time. Because reach is always defined for a certain period of time, the number of audience members exposed to the media vehicles in a media plan increases over time. For example, reach may grow from 20 (20%) in the first week to 60 (60%) in the fourth week. The pattern of audience accumulation varies depending on the media vehicles in the media plan.

Reach doesn't double-count people exposed multiple times if the media plan involves repeated ads in one media category or ads in multiple media categories. Media planners use reach because it represents that total number of people exposed to the marketing communication.

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Gross Rating Points:

Besides reach, media planners use Gross Rating Points as a shorthand measure of the total amount of exposure they want to buy from media outlets such as TV networks. For example, the 2006 Super Bowl game received a rating of 42, which means 42 percent of U.S. television households tuned in to the program. If an advertiser planned to run a commercial once during the Super Bowl, that ad would appear in 42% of households. If the commercial was run only once, the reach is equal to the rating of the program, a GRP of 42. If the advertiser's media plan called for running the ad twice during the Super Bowl, the GRP would be 2*42 = 84.

Media planners often think in terms of gross rating points because ad prices often scale with this measure. As a rule of thumb, it costs about twice as much to obtain a GRP of 84 as to obtain a GRP of 42. A media plan that calls for a GRP of 84 doesn't necessarily mean that the advertiser must advertise twice on the Super Bowl. The advertiser could also buy 6 spots on popular primetime shows that each have a rating of 14 (6*14 = 84) or buy a large number of spots (say 42 spots) on a range of niche-market cable TV programs, radio stations or magazines that have a rating of 2. Some media vehicles are best-suited to specific target audiences. For example, the Nickelodeon TV channel controls 53% of kids GRPs.

Notice the difference between GRP and reach:

GRP counts total exposures while reach counts unique people exposed.

Thus, GRP does double-count people who see ads multiple times.

To see this relationship between GRP and reach, let's consider what happens when an advertiser puts two spots on the Super Bowl -- one during the first half of the game and another in the second half. As mentioned earlier, this example plan has a GRP of 84. But what is the reach? That depends on how many people watch both halves of the game. Rating services such as A.C. Nielsen monitor who watches the game, when they watch, and whether they watch the first half or the second half or both halves of the game.

These rating services know that, for example, 1/3 of the game-watching households stop watching after the first half and 1/3 of game-watching households start watching during the second half. This means that, although 42% of households are tuned in to the game during each half, it's not the same 42% for both halves. Thus, the reach of the first ad is 42, but then one-third of these households (42%*1/3 = 14% of all households) tune out before the second ad during the second half. This means that only 28% of all households watch both first and second halves of the game and see the ad twice. This 28% of households who are still watching when the second spot shows won't add to the reach when they see the second spot. During the second half, a different 14% of U.S. households tune in. These new watchers do count toward the reach during the second half because they didn't see the ad during the first half. Thus, the total reach for the game for the two-ad plan is 42+14 = 56.

2) Frequency : is the ratio of GRP over reach. Frequency is a measure of repetition.

In simple words, frequency refers to the average number of times the audience is exposed to the advertising message. Individuals may be exposed to the advertising once, twice or many times between purchases. The most difficult decision in media planning is how many times the target audience needs to be exposed to the advertising per purpose cycle to maximize the chances of creating an impact. The minimum number of exposures that will maximize the

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likelihood of the average target audience member purchasing the brand is known as minimum effective frequency (MEF).

The formula of calculating frequency is:

Frequency = Gross rating points / Reach

Using the Super Bowl example again, if the GRPs were 84 and the reach was 56, then the frequency would then be 1.5 (84/56=1.5). A frequency of 1.5 would mean that, on average, audience members of the Super Bowl game had one-and-a-half opportunities to watch the ad.

The media objectives of a media plan often call for some combination of reach and frequency. Media planners want the highest reach possible because that means more people will be exposed to the campaign, which should lead to more brand awareness, customer loyalty, sales, and so on. Media planners also seek high frequency if they feel that consumers will only take action (that is, buy the product) after multiple exposures to the campaign. For example, launching a new brand or teaching consumers about the features of a product (like the features of a five-bladed shaving system) may take several impressions.

Thus, reach indicates the media dispersion while frequency shows the media repetition. Notice that the formula for frequency can be flipped to make a formula for GRPs; GRPs are the product of reach multiplied by frequency. If a media plan calls for a broad reach and a high frequency, then it calls for very high GRPs (lots of ad exposures to lots of people). Achieving a very high GRP is very expensive, however, and budget issues may preclude such a high GRP. Thus, media planners may start with budget, then estimate the GRPs that they can afford and then either sacrifice reach to maintain frequency or let frequency drop to one in order to maximize reach.

Frequency Distribution, Effective Frequency and Effective Reach:

Media planners also consider frequency distribution in order to fully understand exactly how many exposures different people experience; that is, how many people will see the ad once, twice, three times, etc. This lets the planner estimate the effective reach of the plan at the effective frequency needed by the campaign. The number of people who see the ads a sufficient number of times for the media plan to be effective.

Effective frequency refers to the minimum number of media exposures for a

Effective reach is the reach (% of households) at the effective frequency level.

Media planners choose an effective frequency based on the communication objectives. Communication objectives vary across the continuum from awareness, preference, attitude change to trial, purchase, and repurchase. To change brand attitude requires more exposures (higher effective frequency) than does creating brand awareness. If the effective frequency is set for a given communication objective, the reach at that effective frequency level will be the effective reach.

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Let's go back to the Super Bowl example:

A total of 28% of households see the ad twice by watching the entirety of the game. During the first half, 14% of households see the ad once but then don't watch the second half.

Another 14% join the game in progress and see the ad once during the second half. Thus, 14+14 = 28% see the ad just once.

This leaves 44% of households (100% - 28% - 28%) who never see the ad.

In summary, the frequency distribution is: reach of 28 at the frequency of 2; reach of 28 at the frequency of 1; and reach of 44 at the frequency of 0 (also called non-reach).

On continuing this hypothetical campaign.: On the Thursday after the Super Bowl, the advertiser does one more media blitz, showing an encore of their Super Bowl ad on all major networks during the prime time slot of 8:00 to 8:30 PM.

This practice of advertising on multiple channels at the same time ensures that most people will see the ad regardless of which channel they watch. The following table shows the viewer data, collected from households across the country, with the percentage of households who were watching during various combinations of the three time slots.

Ratings of the Three Time Slots

Viewers of the Ad's Time

Slot

Data

Segment Super Bowl First Half

Super Bowl Second Half

Prime Time Blitz

Frequency % of Households

1 0 30

2 X 1 3

3 X 1 2

4 X 1 14

5 X X 2 5

6 X X 2 11

7 X X 2 12

8 X X X 3 23

Rating 42 42 60

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Media planners can process this data to compute the frequency distribution, as shown in the table below, by tallying the total percentage of households that saw the ad 0, 1, 2, etc. times.

Frequency Distribution of the Plan

Frequency Reach

0 30

1 19

2 28

3 23

If the advertiser believes that its ads are only effective if they are seen at least twice, then the advertiser will want to know what percentage of households saw the ad two or more times. In this example, the effective reach is 51 because that is the sum of the reaches for frequencies 2 and 3 combined.

GRPs of this media plan were 144 and reach was 70, because 30% of households did not watch during any of the three times the ad was shown, resulting in an average frequency of 2.1. The frequency distribution of the plan is in Table 9B. That is, 23 percent of the households watched the time slot three times, 28 percent twice, 19 percent once, and 30 percent did not watch at all.

Media planners can set objectives based on the level of reach. That is, how many of the target audience should be reached with the media plan, say 50%, 75% or 95%.Theoretically, a reach of 100 is possible, but it is rarely an objective because some audience members may not use any of the media, making them unreachable.

What, then, would be the optimal level of reach for a given product category or a market situation? There is no quick answer to this question; it all depends on the media planner's analysis of major factors facing the brand.

Media experts suggest high reach is appropriate when something new is associated with the brand, such as new features, new sales incentives, new packaging or new service opportunities. The newness requires a high level of awareness among the target audience. A high reach is also often necessary in three other situations:

a) advertising in support of sales promotion activities,

b) for reminder advertising for a mass market product, and

c) when the brand faces severe competition.

When setting levels of frequency, media planners have more rules of thumb to choose from when setting levels of reach. For example, media planners have often been setting a frequency of 3 during a purchase cycle, following Michael Naples' seminal study of effective frequency published in 1979.

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Naples' study suggests that there is a threshold level of repetition; advertising below the threshold level will be ineffective. Therefore, three exposures during a purchase cycle are necessary. Many media planners still use this rule in setting the effective frequency of a media plan.

More recently, Philip Jones found that one exposure generates the highest proportion of sales and that additional exposures add very little to the effect of the first.

Erwin Ephron further developed the concept of "recency planning" and suggested that one exposure within a purchase cycle should be set as close to the actual purchase moment as possible. Recency planning starts with the idea that when is more important than how many; That is, advertising will be most effective if it is timed to when a consumer is in the market to buy the product or service. In the short-term, therefore, additional exposures are likely to be wasteful because audience members are not in the buying mode. In some cases, advertisers know when consumers are in the market, such as Wyoming's ads during the spring when many people are planning summer vacations.

Joseph W. Ostrow created a decision model to help media planners determine the optimal frequency level through assessing marketing factors, copy factors and media factors. Starting with a base effective frequency of 3, the media planner makes frequency adjustments based on a series of 20 factors in three categories.

As illustrated in the following table, each category includes several statements, upon which the media planner makes judgments by circling an appropriate rating in that row of the chart.

For example, the first factor asks the planner to rate whether the product is an "Established brand" or "New brand."

A totally new brand will require higher frequency than an established brand, and so the planner would circle the "+.2" frequency adjustment.

After assessing the factors, the media planner sums the adjustments to calculate the recommended effective frequency.

Media planners may modify the model by adding or removing statements to make the estimate more appropriate.

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The Ostrow Model of Effective Frequency

Low Required Frequency Frequency Adjustment High Required Frequency

Market Factors

Established brand -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 New brand

High brand share -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low brand share

High brand loyalty -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low brand loyalty

Long purchase cycle -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Short purchase cycle

Less frequent usage -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Frequency usage

Low share of voice -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High share of voice

Target other group -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Target old people or children

Message Factors

Low message complexity -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High message complexity

High message uniqueness -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low message uniqueness

Continuing campaign -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 New campaign

Product-focused message -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Image-focused message

Low message variety -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High message variety

High wearout -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low wearout

Large advertising units -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Small advertising units

Media Factors

Low clutter -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High clutter

Favorable editorial setting -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Neutral editorial setting

High audience attentiveness -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low audience attentiveness

Continuous scheduling -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Pulse or flight scheduling

Few media vehicles -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 More media vehicles

High repeat exposure media -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low repeat exposure media

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When setting frequency level goals, media planners know that higher-level communication goals such as persuasion and lead generation require higher frequency levels.

For example, brand awareness usually requires a lower level of frequency than advertising persuasion and lead generation.

In other words, a media plan that intends to change the brand preference among consumers of competing brands would need a higher frequency of advertising exposures than a media plan that intends to introduce a new brand.

3) Continuity: refers to the pattern of distributing the advertising messages during the entire planning period (usually one year). The planning period usually contains multiple purchase cycles.

People may be exposed to the advertising in every purchase cycle- high continuity.

In few of these cycles-low continuity.

Continuity patterns can take many forms and so this is the third parameter of media planning.

Media Balloon:

Reach, frequency and continuity are not unlimited open ended quantities in most media plans. Rather their amounts have to be traded off against one another by the planner, in order to allocate the media budget. These trade offs are most easily illustrated with the visual metaphor of media balloon.

The planner cannot make one sphere target without squeezing once or twice the other two.

However, if the manager is allowed to “inflate” the balloon to any necessary size (representing the open media budget) then all three spheres will enlarge and a more comprehensive media plan will result.

Reach

Budget

Frequency Continuity

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Reach versus frequency:

A media plan with a fixed budget can either be designed to reach a lot of people a few times, or a few people a lot of times. This is the trade off between reach and frequency.

For example,

By scattering the budget and hence the advertising exposures across a lot of different media types (such as TV, radio, magazine, outdoor media) and across many media vehicles (such as different TV $ radio programs, and newspapers) a large number of people will be exposed to the advertising but they wont be exposed very often.

In contrast spending the same budget to only one media type such as magazines, a much smaller number of people will be exposed to advertising but they will be exposed very frequently.

Frequency versus continuity:

There is no sense in trying to stretch a limited budget over entire year just because it is supposed to be an annual budget and the planning period is one year. This is the trade off between frequency and continuity. It follows from the same axiom of selling, some people completely rather than many not at all.

For example, for instant coffee at least two exposures within average purchase cycle of 21 days seems to be an effective frequency. If this effective frequency means that the annual budget would be used up in first three months so be it. If good results are demonstrated in first three months then the budget should be increased for the next three months and likewise, to be till the end of the planning period.

If the budget cannot be increased to cover a more time period then the manager should retain the effective frequency concept and consider the budget over the period.

Reach versus continuity:

Trade off also occurs between the number of people reached by the advertising and the continuity over the advertising period unless the budget is increased.

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5.3.4. MEDIA SELECTION

Once the objectives are set, the media planner selects the media vehicles magazines, newspapers television programs, radio stations etc. The factors considered are:

• Reach of different media in your target audience• Involvement levels i.e. the amount and type of assistance needed from the media.• Role of each media in the lives of its audience and audience attitudes towards it.• Brand fit• Efficiency

Media planners will choose vehicles with high ratings and less cross-vehicle audience duplication when they need high levels of reach.

They also evaluate the geographic coverage of media vehicles when implementing spot advertising such as heavy advertising in certain geographic regions.

Attention is also paid to the costs of each media vehicle.

When two media vehicles are similar in major aspects, media planners choose the less expensive media vehicle.

Types Of Media:

Traditional Media (Unconventional Media):

Puppetry

Folk Theatre

Demonstrations

Haats & Melas

Wall Paintings Post Cards

 Conventional Media

Radio

Web

Print Out Door Advertising

SMS (Short Messaging Services) Television

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Comparison of different media vehicles

Cross comparison Between Traditional media & Internet

Vehicle Reasons for using LimitationsNewspapers Flexibility Hasty reading

Community prestige Poor reproduction qualityIntents coverage High costsReader controls exposureLocal emphasis

Magazines SelectivityEarly closing dates for material

Fine color reproduction Lack of immediacyPass along readership Slow build-up of reachFocus audienceCatalog value

TelevisionSight and sound for dynamic selling High total costGeographic flexibility ClutterFocus and mass markets Audience FragmentationCost efficiency

Radio Focus audience/ market Fleeting messagesLow cost frequency No visual / no colorGood supporting medium No demonstration possibleExcellent for mobile audiences

Cinema Low cost frequency Low reachGeographic selectivity Difficult to monitorImpactful presenceCaptive audience

Out of home Local coverageConstant exposureHigh impactGeographic flexibilityFocus communicationCoverage of mobile populationNavigational possibilities

Internet Targeted activity can be Low basepersonalized extensivelyInteractiveDetailingCost efficient

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Parameter Traditional advertising

Internet advertising

Cost effectiveness Expensive Expensive and not value for money.

Type of brand Mostly National Brands

Mostly National Brands

Target audience Audience fragmented – very small share of target audience actually influenced

Niche audience usually passive viewing. Mostly Age group 15-35 (SEC AB)

Recall of brands Immediate but may not lead to action immediately

Recall instant, can lead to action at times only e.g. shopping websites

Measurement of advertisement effectiveness

Not easy and specific

Easy and specific

Way of communication

One way Two way

Dependency Independent Dependent with other modes of Media Vehicles

Visual appeal Best ModerateCredibility of content

Highest Average

Product Life cycle Maturity stage GrowthTime spent with the unit

On an average for every 1.5 hrs spend on the Internet, a user spends 2 hrs watching TV and 1 hr reading a magazine or newspaper because of high cost of internet usage and low impact of web based advertising.

Customers Mostly B2C Mostly B2BPoint of access Usually Homes/

officesUsually Homes / offices

Cost Efficiency Measurement Tools For Media Selection:

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There are two basic calculations of media vehicle cost.

Cost Per Rating Point (CPRP) : The cost of a broadcast ad per rating point (1% of the population) provided by the media vehicle that shows the ad.

Is used primarily for broadcast media vehicles.

Used for comparing/evaluating cost efficiency of program/program mixes

It is the cost of buying one rating point in the audience.

CPRP = Total Cost / Total GRP

For example, if the cost for a 30-second commercial ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" television program is $440,000 and the rating of the program is 9.7, then CPP for this buy will be $25,360.

CPRP will differ from channel to channel and from audience to audience.

Cost Per Thousand (CPT) : the cost per 1000 impressions for an ad.

Defined as the cost of reaching 1,000 people in the target audience within a given medium or specific vehicle

CPM = Medium/ Vehicle Cost / Target Audience (in ‘000s)

Used to compare efficiency of different media or different markets.

One difference between CPP and CPT is that CPT also contains the size of a vehicle audience.

Media Mix Decisions:

Which media should the advertiser use? Media planners craft a media mix by considering a budget-conscious intersection between their media objectives and the properties of the various potential media vehicles. That is, they consider how each media vehicle provides a cost-effective contribution to attaining the objectives, and then they select the combination of vehicles that best attain all of the objectives.

When making media mix decisions, planners look to a whole spectrum of media, not just to traditional media vehicles such as TV, radio, and print. That is, media planners consider all the opportunities that consumers have for contact with the brand. These opportunities can be non-traditional brand contact opportunities such as online advertising, sweepstakes, sponsorships, product placements, direct mail, mobile phones, blogs, and podcasts. The scale and situations of media use are especially important when evaluating suitable brand contact opportunities. For example, product placement in a video game makes sense if the target audience plays video games. Sweepstakes make sense if many of the target audience find sweepstakes attractive.

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Mix Strategy: Media Concentration vs. Media Dispersion

A media planner's first media mix decision is to choose between a media concentration approach or a media dispersion approach.

The media concentration approach uses fewer media categories and greater spending per category. This lets the media planner create higher frequency and repetition within that one media category. Media planners will choose a concentration approach if they are worried that their brand's ads will share space with competing brands, leading to confusion among consumers and failure of the media objectives. For example, when Nestle launched its 99% fat-free cereal Fitnesse, the similarity of ads actually increased the sales of the competing Kellogg's Special K Cereal.

Media planners can calculate or measure share of voice to estimate the dominance of their message in each category of media they use.

Share of voice is the percentage of spending by one brand in a given media category relative to the total spending by all brands that are advertising in that media category.

A company can create a high share of voice with a concentrated media strategy. That is, the company can be the dominant advertiser in a product category in the chosen channel.

Moreover, because only one set of creative materials will need to be prepared, a concentrated media strategy lets advertisers spend a higher percentage of their budget on frequency and reach.

But a concentrated strategy is also an "all-eggs-in-one-basket" strategy. If the particular ad is not well received or the particular media category only reaches a fraction of the intended target audience, then it will perform poorly.

In contrast, media planners choose a media dispersion approach when they use multiple media categories, such as a combination of television, radio, newspapers and the Internet.

Media planners will use dispersion if they know that no single media outlet will reach a sufficient percentage of the target audience.

For example, a concentrated approach using only ads on the Internet might reach only 30% of the target consumers because some consumers don't use the Internet. Similarly, a concentrated approach using national news magazines might reach only 30% of the target audience, because not every target customer reads these magazines. But a dispersed approach that advertises in print magazines as well as on Web sites might reach 50% of the target audience.

Media planners also like the dispersion approach for the reinforcement that it brings -- consumers who see multiple ads in multiple media for a given brand may be more likely to buy.

The media concentration approach is often preferable for brands that have a small or moderate media budget but intend to make a great impact.

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Media Category Selection

Whether media planners select media concentration or media dispersion, they still must pick the media category(ies) for the media plan. Different media categories suit different media objectives.

Most media options can be classified into three broad categories:

1. mass media,

2. direct response media, and

3. point-of-purchase media.

If the media planner wants to create broad awareness or to remind the largest possible number of consumers about a brand, then he or she will pick mass media such as television, radio, newspaper and magazine.

If the media planner wants to build a relationship with a customer or encourage an immediate sales response, then direct response media such as direct mail, the Internet and mobile phone are good choices.

For example, online ads for car insurance such as link directly to the application process to capture the customers right at the time they are interested in the service.

Finally, if media planners want to convert shoppers into buyers, then they might use point-of-purchase media such as sampling, coupons and price-off promotions.

In short, each of these three categories of media serve a different role in moving the customer from brand awareness to brand interest to purchase intent to actual purchase and then to re-purchase. An integrated campaign might use multiple categories -- combining national TV ads to introduce the product, Internet media to provide one-to-one information, and in-store displays to drive sales.

The creative requirements of a media category also affect media planners' decisions. Each media category has unique characteristics. For example, television offers visual impact that interweaves sight and sound, often within a narrative storyline. Magazines offer high reproduction quality but must grab the consumer with a single static image. Direct mail can carry free samples but can require compelling ad copy in the letter and back-end infrastructure for some form of consumer response by return mail, telephone or Internet. Rich media ads on the Internet can combine the best of TV-style ads with interactive response via a clickthrough to the brand's own Web site. Media planners need to consider which media categories provide the most impact for their particular brand. The costs of developing creative materials specific to each media category can also limit media planners' use of the media dispersion approach.

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Media tactics:Among the major factors that affect media vehicle selection are reach and frequency considerations.

Reach Considerations

As a major component of media objectives, the planned level of reach affects not only media mix decisions but also what media vehicles are used in each media category.

High levels of reach will require a different set of media vehicles than low levels of reach. That is, high levels of reach can be better served with a mix that includes multiple media vehicles with different audiences so that cross-media duplication of audience is minimal.

For example, if there are three magazines that each reach a portion of the target audience but that have few readers who read more than one magazine, advertising in these three magazines would reach the widest target audience possible because of the low overlap of the readers of the these magazines.

What are some ways to maximize the levels of reach?

One way is to analyze the audience composition of media vehicles by using syndicated media research. For example, to identify several magazines that reach the target audience of women aged 35 to 55, with little cross-title duplication -- few readers of one magazine also read other the magazines. These magazines can be used to implement high levels of reach in the media plan.

When audience data are not available for cross-vehicle comparisons, you can select competing media vehicles in the same media category, because there is usually less duplication among the competing media vehicles.

For example, most people who are interested in news may read one of the three major news weeklies: Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report; few people read all three of them. Therefore, running a print ad in all the three news magazines can reach a wide audience.

Roadblocking: In television, media planners sometimes use roadblocking, which means the placement of commercials in all major television networks in the same period of time.

No matter which television channel an audience member tunes in at that time, they have the opportunity to watch the commercial.

The roadblocking approach has become more expensive and less effective recently because of increasing fragmentation of television audience.

The term has been extended to the online world, however, where it has been very effective.

To roadblock in the online world, a media planner can buy all the advertising on a Web site for a 24-hour period, such as Coke did for its launch of C2 and Ford did for its launch the F-150.

Each company bought all the ad space on the front page of Yahoo for a 24-hour period. The Yahoo front page draws 25 million visitors a day. Alternatively, media planners can roadblock Yahoo, MSN, and AOL all on the same day, as Coke and Pepsi have both done. The results can produce "an astonishing, astronomical amount of reach," said Mohan Renganathan of MediaVest Worldwide, one of the biggest services for buying ad space.

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Frequency Considerations

In contrast to high levels of reach, high levels of frequency can be effectively achieved through advertising in a smaller number of media vehicles to elevate audience duplications within these media vehicles.

A commercial that runs three times during a 30-minute television program will result in higher message repetition than the same commercial that runs once in three different programs.

Broadcast media are often used when high levels of frequency are desired in a relatively short period of time. Broadcast media usually enjoy a "vertical" audience, who tune in to a channel for more than one program over hours. Another phenomenon in broadcast media is audience turnover, which refers to the percentage of audience members who tune out during a program. Programs with low audience turnover are more effective for high levels of frequency.

Selection of Media Vehicles:With reach and frequency considerations in mind, media planners will compare media vehicles in terms of both quantitative and qualitative characteristics.

Quantitative characteristics are those that can be measured and estimated numerically, such as vehicle ratings, audience duplication with other vehicles, geographic coverage, and costs.

In contrast to these quantitative characteristics, qualitative characteristics of media vehicles are those that are primarily judgmental, such as vehicle reputation, editorial environment, reproduction quality, and added values.

Media planners can use tools, like the one shown below, to make the process of selecting a media vehicle easier. To use the selection tool shown in the following figure,

1. Develop a list of the potential vehicle candidates you are considering.

2. Then, select several quantitative and qualitative characteristics that are relevant to reach and frequency considerations, such as quantitative characteristics like CPM or GRP, and qualitative characteristics like reputation and added value.

3. Next, make a table that lists the vehicle candidates in rows and the characteristics in columns.

4. Rate each of the characteristics of each vehicle on a scale of 1 to 3.

5. Then add all the numbers in each row, dividing by the total number of characteristics (columns) to arrive at the rating for each vehicle.

6. The best media vehicles to choose are those with the highest index numbers.

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In the table below, Vehicle 2 and Vehicle 3 are the best ways to reach the target audience.

Selection of Media Vehicle Based on Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics

Qn1 Qn2 Qn3 Ql1 Ql2 Ql3 Index

V1 3 2 1 3 1 1 1.8

V2 1 2 2 2 2 3 2.0

V3 1 3 3 1 1 3 2.0

V4 1 1 2 1 2 1 1.3

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5.3.5. SCHEDULING

Scheduling is having decided how to advertise (the media mix) and where to advertise (allocation across geography), media planners need to consider when to advertise.

In advertising media planning, scheduling refers to the pattern in which advertising is timed. It is represented as plots on a yearly flowchart that indicates the pattern of times advertising should appear so that it coincides with the most favorable selling periods.

In simple words, scheduling refers to Distribution of advertising weight across the campaign period

Here the question is- Given a fixed annual budget, should all months receive equal amounts of money or should some months receive more of the budget while other months receive less or nothing?

The schedule shows the number of advertisements that are to appear in each medium, the size of the advertisements and date on which they are to appear.

Advertisers have to schedule the advertisement campaigns over time. The more dominant media are adopted first, followed by less effective media over a period of time. All media are scheduled on the basis of dominance. Exclusive schedule is not effective since all the media are intermediately used.

Continuous advertising is not preferred. The gap between one campaign and another campaign should be logically designed to make advertising more effective.

Correct media scheduling primarily depends on the planner’s capacity to estimate the minimum frequency of exposures to the average target audience member in the purchase cycle that will effectively achieve the communication objectives.

The best estimation method would be by experimentation, but this proves to be very expensive and is not without problems even when affordable.

Scheduling is influenced by:• Sales - Peak vs Low• Budget • Competitive Activity• Brand Goals (increase market share, new launch)• Brand Availability• Promotional Requirements• Consumer Interest Levels

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Decisions in scheduling:

1. Calculation of minimum effective frequency (MEF) aids the planner to think about the right sorts of issues in determining how frequently the advertising should be scheduled.

2. Geographic scheduling is the next decision. It is indefensible to advertise below the MEF level in any market also effective reach should govern the media plan. One exception to this advertising in an area for retail support. If the retailer is also advertising the brand, consumer advertising combined with retailers may reach the MEF or it may nevertheless encourage the retailer to push the brand.

3. The final scheduling decision is scheduling over purchase cycles in the planning period. The continuity parameter in case of “outer target” audiences- new category users, other brand loyals and non-favourable brand switchers- is important. The MEF requirement is reduced if the campaign is successful and these audiences change to become more favourable or “inner” customers. For “inner target” audiences of routinized favourable brand switchers and brand loyals, advertising at MEF is the best strategy.

Types of scheduling:

Media planners can choose among three methods of scheduling:

4. Continuity,

5. Flight, and

6. Pulse.

Continuity scheduling spreads media spending evenly across months. For example, with an annual budget of $1,200,000 a year, continuity scheduling would allocate exactly $100,000 per month. This method ensures steady brand exposure over each purchase cycle for individual consumers. It also takes advantage of volume discounts in media buying. However, because continuity scheduling usually requires a large budget, it may not be practical for small advertisers.

a. Primarily for non-seasonal products.

b. Advertising runs steadily and varies little over the campaign period.

c. There may be short gaps at regular intervals when no advertising is done. For instance, one ad every week for 52 weeks.

d. This pattern of advertising is prevalent in service and packaged goods that require continuous reinforcement on the audience for top of mind recollection at point of purchase.

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Advantages:

Works as a reminder

Covers the entire purchase cycle

Cost efficiencies in the form of large media discounts

Positioning advantages within media

Employing a single level of GRPs for the entire media buy fails to take into account variations that occur during the campaign.

The flight scheduling approach alternates advertising across months, with heavy advertising in certain months and no advertising at all in other months.

The phrase advertising flight describes the time when commercials are aired. When flighting is used in relation to a scheduling technique, it refers to a method that has advertising going on and off the air.

The advantage of the flighting technique is that it allows a campaign that does not have funds for running spots continuously to conserve money and maximize the impact of the commercials by airing them at key strategic times during the campaign.

For example, a board game maker like Parker Brothers might concentrate its advertising in the fall when it knows that many people buy board games as gifts for the holidays. Or, with the same budget of $1,200,000, for example, a different brand could spend $200,000 per month during each of six months -- January, March, May, July, September and December -- and spend nothing during the other months, in hopes that the impact of advertising in the previous month can last into the following month.

Commonly employed in media scheduling for the seasonal product categories.

Flighting strategy involves intermittent and irregular periods of advertising alternating with shorter periods of no advertising at all.

Advantages:

Advertisers buy much heavier weight than competitors for a relatively shorter period of time

Little waste since advertising is concentrated during the best purchasing cycle period

Series of commercials appear as a unified campaign on different media vehicles

Pulse scheduling combines the first two scheduling methods, so that the brand maintains a low

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level of advertising across all months but spends more in selected months.

For example, an airline like United Airlines might use a low level of continuous advertising to maintain brand awareness among business travelers. United Airlines might also have seasonal pulses to entice winter-weary consumers to fly to sunny climes. In budget allocation terms, a consumer goods brand may spend $5,000 in each of the twelve months to maintain the brand awareness and spend an additional $10,000 in January, March, May, July, September and December to attract brand switchers from competing brands.

The pulse scheduling method takes advantage of both the continuity and flight scheduling methods and mitigates their weaknesses.

However, this does not mean it is good for all products and services. Which method is the most appropriate for a given campaign depends on several important factors.

Product categories that are sold year round but experience a surge in sales at intermittent periods are good examples. For instance, deodorant sprays are sold heavily during the summer months.

Advantages:

Covers different market situations All the advantages of continuity and flighting are possible

Selecting the right type:How do media planners select among continuity, flight, and pulse scheduling approaches?

The timing of advertising depends on three factors:

Seasonality,

Consumers' product purchase cycle, and

Consumers' interval between decision-making and consumption.

Seasonality:

The first, and most important, factor is sales seasonality. Companies don't advertise fur coats in summer and suntan lotions in winter. Likewise, some products sell faster around specific holidays, such as flowers on Mother's Day, candy on Halloween, and ornaments around Christmas.

Companies with seasonal products are more likely to choose flight scheduling to concentrate their advertising for the peak sales season.

Other goods, however, such as everyday products like milk and toothpaste, may lack a seasonal pattern. Everyday goods may be better served by a continuity approach. Media planners can use a breakdown of sales by month to identify if their brand has seasonal fluctuations, which can serve as a guide for the allocation. They can allocate more money to high-sales months and less to low-sales months.

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Product purchase cycle:

The second factor that affects when advertising is scheduled is the product purchase cycle: the interval between two purchases.

Fast-moving consumer goods such as bread, soft drinks and toilet paper probably require continuous weekly advertising in a competitive market to constantly reinforce brand awareness and influence frequently-made purchase decisions.

In contrast, less-frequently purchased products such as carpet cleaner or floor polisher may only need advertising a few times a year.

Time interval between decision making and consumption:

A third factor that affects media scheduling is the time interval between when the purchase decision is made and when a product or service is actually bought and consumed.

For example, many families who take summer vacations may plan their trips months before the actual trips. That is, they make purchase decision in advance. Thus, travel industry advertisers will schedule their ads months before the summer, as we saw in the Wyoming example. Destination advertising has to be in sync with the time of decision making, instead of the actual consumption time.

New product launches usually require initial heavy advertising to create brand awareness and interest. The launch period may last from a few months to a year.

If consumers like the product, then personal influence in the form of word-of-mouth or market force (brand visibility in life and media coverage) will play a role in accelerating the adoption of a new brand.

Personal influence and market force are "unplanned" messages, which often play an important role in new product launches.

Media planners should take advance of these "unplanned" messages in a new product launch campaign.

Short term adjustments to planning schedule need to be made for renowned event occurring in the planning period. Some of the budget has to be shared for concentrating frequency to meet unanticipated very short term contingencies.

5.4. MEDIA BUYING

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Media buying is also a sub function of advertisement media planning. Media buying is strategic planning, negotiation and buying of media to place your ad.

Definition:

The buying of advertising space from a company operating media properties. The cost of a media buy varies depending on the specific media property on which the buyer wants to advertise, the size of the advertising campaign, the specific times at which the advertisements are to be displayed, and other specific features of the advertising campaign.

Once you’ve acquired a budget, identified exactly who you are trying to target and exactly which medium to use, along with identifying the desired TV, Radio or publications, and have created an appropriate media schedule, you need to purchase the media.

media buying function can be carried out with the advertising agency or can be outsourced to media buying services.

Media buying services: is a media wholesaler that purchases large amount of media time or space and then resells it to the advertisers or small advertising agencies who do not have their own media buying department. Media buying services can be compensated on a fee basis on the margin between their cost of media and their selling price, or on a commission system.

In house media group: some advertisers find it convenient and profitable to do their own media buying. In house media departments or groups are formed to perform all, or a part of the media schedule and leave other portions of the media plan to either advertising agency or an independent media buying service. The in house media group is very common among the retailers and business-to-business advertisers.

Media buyers:

Media Buyers are individuals responsible for purchasing time and ad space for the purpose of advertising. When planning what to buy, they must evaluate factors based on but not limited to

station formats,

pricing rates,

demographics,

geographic, and

psychographics relating to the advertisers particular product or service objectives.

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The Media Buyer needs to optimize what is bought and that is dependent on budget, type of medium (radio, internet, TV, print), quality of the medium (target audience, time of day for broadcast, etc.), and how much time and space is wanted.

Media Buyers can purchase spot, regionally, or nationally.

Media Buyers might have to factor in determinates based on a state by state basis.

Rates, demand of leads, space, and time, and state licenses will vary from state to state.

There is an apparent distinction between General Marketing Media Buyers and Direct Response Media Buyers.

General Market Media Buyers enact or actualize media plans drawn up by media planners.

They negotiate rates and create media schedules based on a media plan constructed by a Media Planner. Through the Media Planner, General Market Media Buyers rely on published cost per point guides which in actuality, are often based on hypothetical benchmarks, and rather outdated models.

An experienced Direct Response Media Buyer knows what stations generate a specific quantity of response and knows within reason, the break even point of the expenditure versus the return.

With that information, the Direct Response Media Buyer is efficient in negotiating a functional rate and in purchasing media from the appropriate stations.

The Direct Response Buyer attaches unique phone numbers to each station they purchase media from and track the sales, and make adjustments to the media plan and schedule as necessary to optimize results.

With these differing methodologies, Direct Response Marketing can be considered a specialized arena. Few advertising and marketing agencies are qualified to support clients in their Direct Response efforts.

Media Research Planning can be done by Media Buyers as well as Media Specialists. Depending on product and service, Media Buyers and Media Specialists must do a fair amount of research to determine how best to spend the allotted budget. This includes research on the target audience and what type of medium will work best to reach the largest amount of consumers with the most effective method.

Media Planners and Media Specialists have a vast array of media outlets at their disposal, both traditional media and new media.

Traditional media would include radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, and out of home.

New media might include Satellite TV, cable TV, Satellite radio, and internet.

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The internet offers a number of Online Media that has surfaced with the improvement of technology and the accessibility of the internet. Online Media can include emails, search engines and referral links, web portals, banners, interactive games, and video clips.

Media Planners and Specialists can pick and choose what and/or which combination of media is most appropriate and effective to achieve their goal, whether it is to make a sale, and/or to deliver a message or idea.

Most ad agencies and media buyers make a 15% commission on the media they purchase. This seems more like the fox watching the hen house. Media buyers are supposed to get you the best rates in the correct publications.

Some media buyers are fantastic--within corporations and within outside agencies. They are well trained (especially if they have gone through the Media Buying Academy), understand the media industry from the selling and buying side, are skilled negotiators and can often garner twice the number of coverage/impressions for 60 - 70% of the best cost you can negotiate yourself (even after their “commission”).

They can also strategize and make use of product placements and Positioning. Inserting advertisements as print ads in newspapers and magazines, buying impressions for advertisements on the internet, and airing commercials on the radio or TV, can be utilized by Direct Response Advertisers as well as Remnant Advertisers.

The Cost Factor:

Media buying main involves establishing and negotiating media prices.The price of media buying varies considerably. Factors to consider include:

Short or long-form Cable network or local broadcast station Rating and size of audience delivered Package deals Seasonal influences on available media inventory Time slot for your target audience

Most media have rate cards that list the cost of time and space as well as other available services. The rate paid by the advertiser is determined by the volume and the frequency of advertisements. Discounts are usually available to large volume advertisers. Media rates are also some times negotiated, particularly in broadcast and outdoor media.

Example: • How To Negotiate - Print Ads

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Media buyers keep following considerations while negotiating print space.

1. Don’t go by the rate card. Buying advertising is like buying a car. As such, there are multiple terms, options, time frames and sale techniques--of which you need to counter to negotiate, not just “buy” your medium. As such, this is not the position for the timid negotiator, unless you have a tiger behind the person talking to the ad reps that is making the final decisions.

2. Negotiate magazine position and page position. Try and get within the first third of the magazine, since the readership is higher. The exception is going for a front or back cover, or wish to have your ad next to an

editorial (opp ed) that is reviewing your product category. Negotiate left or right hand positioning on the page (right hand ads typically pull more).

3. Negotiate research. Magazines conduct regular readership campaigns to find out what their constituents would like to see. This information can be used as a cheap way to get quantitative research at no additional cost. They also run advertising awareness research campaigns. It is useful to negotiate some coverage in both of these as part of the placement.

4. Negotiate web site adjuncts. Most publications nowadays have a web component of their printed publication. Negotiating for banner ads and coverage for their on-line constituents also- -especially

if they may be adding their on-line readership to their overall posted circulation.

5. Negotiate use of their mailing lists.Gain access to their list for your direct mail efforts (through a bonded mail house (they won’t just give you the list). This saves the cost of purchasing lists, and the chances of having the correct targets are very high.

6. Negotiate free ad space in special editions.

7. Negotiate more color. Some publications charge less for two colour than four. Buyers use the two color rate card and then negotiate for the extra colors as part of the buy.

8. Require approval to close.

9. Negotiate toward the best rate on the rate card, even for a short campaign.

10. Negotiate an escape clause. If they want a long-term commitment for the better rates, then buyers ask for an escape clause (ask regardless). This means that buyers can cancel the remaining ads if the publication doesn’t pull, or if the product slips or is canceled, or if the budget gets kills (especially during the 4th quarter at a large public company) without paying a short rate. 11. Base your value on the LPP.

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Sales reps will try to use cost per thousand (CPM) to establish value. This helps to know the potential reach, but the % of the total reach that matches your profile and their influence within the buying process is the most important factor. This is why buyers to use the cost per lead per publication (LPP). This ratio will cut through all the chaff and tell if you are “fishing in a stocked pond” or if you’re not fishing where your buyers swim.

12. Re-negotiate based on CPM rate For example, when deciding which publications to keep and which to drop, buyers do an analysis to get the cost per lead per publication. If there is border line, they can ask them to match the pricing that you need to keep them--or they are out.

13. Make sure the editorial matches the readership. If the sales representative uses CPM, and their editorial content for the target is only 10% of the publication, then re-quote the CPM in those terms and go from there.

14. Contract for no rate changes. Some contracts say the publication can change the rate at anytime with a 30 day notice. Buyers try a clause that says the rates are guarantee during the length of the contract.

17. See for any alliance ad deals. Buyers check if they can split the ad cost with an alliance and develop the campaign jointly (works best for products that require another to work (i.e., a modem to use AOL, etc.).

18. Negotiate the payment due terms. Some publictions require money up front, others allow to pay afterwards--this is obviously better, or worse, depending on the budget.

19. Take into account seasonal ad buying. Some publications may offer discounts during certain times of the year (it helps them solidify their ongoing business if they have commitments in advance).

20. Negotiate editorial coverage. Some publications typically have a Chinese wall between sales and editorial. However, with other publications it may be the actual editor in chief that is soliciting ad space. In these cases, buyers can actually “buy press” with their placement. It is not worded as such, but these publications will commit to reviewing the product (first looks and complete reviews) if buyers commit to advertise. If they will do it, buyers can double the number of impressions by taking advantage of their “financial connections” (some editors realize - no ads, no paycheck).

5.5. IMPLEMENTATION OF MEDIA PLAN

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Once the media plan is finalized the next step is to implement the plan.Media plan is executed through a process of writing media contracts and issuing insertion orders:

Contracts:

A media contract is a document that expresses the agreement between the medium and the media buyer.

The contract specifies The rate earned, The amount of time and space to be purchased, The dates of exposures and The total price to be paid.

Insertion or release orders:

An insertion order is a formal, printed order to run an ad campaign. Typically, the insertion order identifies the campaign name, the medium receiving the order and the planner or buyer giving the order, the individual ads to be run (or who will provide them), the ad sizes, the campaign beginning and end dates, the CPM, the total cost, discounts to be applied, and reporting requirements and possible penalties or stipulations relative to the failure to deliver the impressions.

An insertion order is sent to the medium along with the commercial or advertisement when the advertisement is placed. The order confirms the details of the contract and explains any special requirements.

Any kind of ad space ordered on behalf of a client should be tracked with insertion orders. They are essential for accurate job costing. They allow media costs to be committed to a job before the publication’s invoice is posted. Buyers can know at any given time how much media space is ordered.

An insertion order should include:

Your name, address and contact information The buyer’s name, address and contact information The date and the term of the campaign The campaign elements and the name of the campaign if applicable The campaign start and end dates What to do if you don’t deliver the inventory in the stated time-frame - for example,

will you offer a make good to run the program until the guaranteed amount of downloads/listens/views is achieved?

The campaign costs, by units and total Reporting elements promised and frequency of the reporting

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Any discounts offered (prepayment etc.) The payment terms, i.e. net 30 days Cancellation terms Ad formats, technical specifications if required

5.6. POST ANALYSIS

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Post analysis refers to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the media plan.

The approach to evaluating the media plan is straightforward: the most appropriate measure of effectiveness is the one that provides the most valid and reliable data of the objectives achieved.

The guide for assessment of media plans should be the objectives- the degree to which the media plan delivers the desired reach, frequency and continuity.

Accountability is increasingly important in media planning, as more advertisers expect to see returns on their investments in advertising. Because media spending usually accounts for 80 percent or more of the budget for typical advertising campaigns, the effectiveness of media plans is of particular importance.

As a result, media planners often make measures of the effectiveness of a media plan an integral part of the media plan. Although sales results are the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, the sales result is affected by many factors, such as price, distribution and competition, which are often out of the scope of the advertising campaign.

Increase in sales and market share are achieved by skillful management of specific marketing activities. The media plan is one part of the advertising element within promotion. Therefore, it should be held accountable for only those tasks that are capable of performing locating and reaching target markets.

It is important, therefore, to identify what measures are most relevant to the effectiveness of media planning and buying.

There are many sources of media information, most of which are designed to help the advertiser determine:

Whether the media they selected reached the designated target market. Whether the media plan delivered the desired levels of reach and frequency. Whether the media plan was efficient.

Two considerations in evaluation of the media plan are:

What to measure and

How to measure

What to Measure:

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Because of the hierarchical nature of the media effects, the effectiveness of media planning should be measured with multiple indictors.

1) The first measure is the actual execution of scheduled media placements. Did the ads appear in the media vehicles in agreed-upon terms? Media buyers look at "tear-sheets" -- copies of the ads as they have appeared in print media -- for verification purposes. For electronic media, media buyers examine the ratings of the programs in which commercials were inserted to make sure the programs delivered the promised ratings. If the actual program ratings are significantly lower than what the advertiser paid for, the media usually "make good" for the difference in ratings by running additional commercials without charge.

2) The most direct measure of the effectiveness of media planning is the media vehicle exposure. Media planners ask: How many of the target audience were exposed to the media vehicles and to ads in those vehicles during a given period of time? This question is related to the communication objectives in the media objectives. If the measured level of exposure is near to or exceeds the planned reach and frequency, then the media plan is considered to be effective.

3) Several additional measures can be made of the target audience, such as: Brand awareness -- how many of the target audience are aware of the advertised brand? Comprehension -- does the target audience understand the advertised brand? Is there

any miscomprehension? Conviction -- is the target audience convinced by ads? How do they like the advertised

brands? Action -- how many of the target audience have purchased the advertised brand as a

result of the media campaign?

The measured results of brand awareness, comprehension, conviction and action are often a function of both advertising creative and media planning.

Even effective media planning may not generate anticipated cognitive, affective and conative responses if the ads are poorly created and not appealing to the target audience.

On the other hand, ineffective media planning may be disguised when the ads are highly creative and brilliant.

Thus, these measures should be reviewed by both creative directors and media planners to make accurate assessments of the effectiveness of the media plan.

How to Measure:

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The measurement of the effectiveness of a media plan can be conducted by the advertising agency or by independent research services, using methods such as surveys, feedback, tracking, and observation. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses.

For example, surveys can be conducted among a sampling of the target audience in the different periods of a media campaign, such as in the beginning, the middle and the end of the campaign. Surveys can ask questions about the target audience's media behavior, advertising recall, brand attitudes and actual purchase. Radiowatch, for instance, conducts monthly surveys on advertising recall of radio commercials in England. Radiowatch surveys 1000 adults age 16-64 and asks them which radio commercials they remember hearing. In the April 2006 survey, the most-recalled ad was for T-Mobile, with 46% of respondents recalling the ad. An ad for McDonald's had 36% recall, while the ad for Peugeot received 18%.

Besides surveys, feedback can be collected to measure the media and ad exposure of the target audience. Feedback devices such as reply cards, toll-free numbers, coupons and Web addresses can be provided in ads so that tallies of the responses or redemptions can be made to estimate the impact of advertising media.

Advertisers often use a different code in direct response ads to identify different media vehicles. For example, in the April 3 2006 issue of BusinessWeek, the reply card for subscribing to the magazine had a code of JS6D1, whereas the reply card bound into the May 29, 2006 issue of the magazine had a code of JS6E2.

Similarly, when the Garden of Eatin' gives coupons for its tortilla chips, the UPC code on the coupon indicates which media vehicle the coupon was in, such as whether the coupon came from the 2006 Bolder Boulder promotional calendar or from the Organic and Natural Experience (ONE) 2006 Tour book of coupons. In short, by reviewing the different codes recorded, media buyers can assess the response rate of each media vehicle.

As you can see from the Radiowatch and Garden of Eatin' examples, one advantage of surveys over feedback devices is that surveys reach people who have taken no action on the product, whereas feedback devices require the consumer to mail back, click or call a toll-free number. In this way, surveys can help media buyers evaluate the effectiveness of an ad in relation to other ads, whereas feedback devices help them evaluate the effectiveness of one media vehicle over another.

Tracking is measurement method that media buyers use to track the effectiveness of online ads. When a user visits a Web site or clicks on a banner ad, Web servers automatically log that action in real time. The logs of these visits and actions are very useful for media buyers, because the buyers can use them to estimate the actual interaction of audience members with the interactive media.

For example, a banner ad may have a code for each Web site where the ad is placed. Media buyers can compare the click-through rates of the banner ad across all Web sites daily, to estimate the effectiveness of each Web site. Media buyers are making more use of the tracking method given the increasing use of interactive media.

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Finally, in the physical world, media buyers can use observation to collect audience reaction information at the points of purchase or during marketing events.

For example, researchers can be stationed in grocery stores to observe how consumers react to in-store advertising or how they select an advertised brand in comparison of other brands. The advantage of observation is that it provides rich, detailed data on how consumers behave in real situations in response to the marketing communication. The downside is that direct observation is more costly to conduct and tabulate.

6. CASE STUDIES

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1) Agency: Madison Media

Client: Tata AIG

Background: Tata AIG is one of the leading players in the life insurance industry. They advertise actively using both TV and Press. Unlike other companies, they however do not use the advertising for only a brand awareness creation exercise, but aggressively practice direct marketing using the two media. In all their creatives, there is a response mechanism, through which the consumer can directly contact them for information and the sale is also done thro’ this response mechanism. Viewer watching Viewer calls / SMS’s Call center answers TATA AIG Ad the call center the viewer’s queries containing a resp # & sells the product

Marketing Objective : To deliver the maximum response from every communication at the lowest possible cost.

Target Audience: Males 25-44 Sec A, interested in buying insurance for self and / or family. The Situation Analysis :

1. Target audience is a light TV viewer and hence more expensive to reach a. Viewing skewed to prime time due to working TG b. Prime time most expensive

2. Past Media plans were based on traditional Reach/ Frequency planning. a. Response per spot (RPS) was not very high and Cost per response (CPR) was

very high, leading to the conclusion that television was not a desirable medium for response generation

3. Multiple media and within each media, multiple channels / publications had to be used simultaneously since usage of one at a time would not have yielded enough results to achieve the sales targets. (Usage of one at a time would have indicated the best performing vehicle for future use).

4. The additional challenge was also to streamline the responses to ensure an almost equal distribution of responses at the call center throughout, so that all responses were attended to by the call center. This was necessary since it was noticed that any peak in response at the call center resulted in too many abandoned calls and hence loss in sales opportunities.

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5. Hence, the challenge was to : a. devise a system to attribute the response generated accurately to the medium /

vehicle generating that response b. use that system, to fine tune the media plan to maximize response and minimize

cost.

The Solution & Execution :

The media strategy was worked out in three stages : Stage 1 : Experimentation stageOne or two channels were chosen from all the major genres and spots were taken across different timebands in each of the channels. This stage was limited to a very few days due to the cost constraints.

Stage 2 : Response attribution stageResponse data collected at the Tata AIG Call Centre was analyzed alongwith the spot telecast data from TAM Adex. A technique known as “Data Fusion” was used to fuse the two databases on common variables, in order to attribute the response generated by each spot. The key challenge at this stage was to match the huge number of responses generated with the individual spots which generated those responses (from the multiple spots which were on air simultaneously). This matching of responses to spots was done using a complex algorithm. The complex algorithm consisted of two steps : (1) Mapping the spot telecast time to the responses generated time at different lag intervals, using the TVR of the spots to allocate the responses proportionately to the spots within the lag time. The optimal time lag (which is the lag time by which the bulk of the responses are generated) was thus identified. (2) All further analysis was done on the basis of the optimal time lag. A special software, “MATCHPOINT” was then created in order to handle the large amounts of data and to do the data fusion process on an ongoing basis, so as to minimize the turnaround time for the data analysis. TV ADEX (Campaign Activity) TATA AIG CALL CENTRE (Responses) DATA FUSION

The following questions were thus easily answered : 1. Which are the best channels on both RPS and CPR ? 2. Which are the best timebands ? 3. Which timeband within each channel is the most effective ? 4. Which channel gives us maximum responses in the metros ? 5. Which channel gives us the best conversions ?….etc.

Stage 3 : Optimizing the media plan The media plan was then optimized using the two variables of RPS and CPR. The objective was to maximize RPS while minimizing CPR.

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Result :1. A very clear, optimized media plan was arrived at which helped in maximizing responses at minimal cost. 2. There were quite a few myths which were busted along the way : a. Myth 1 : High TVR programmes have to be a part of the media plan. NOT REALLY. They are really not very good on CPR. b. Myth 2 : A media plan without high TVR programmes on mass channels does not really deliver.

2)Agency: Total Media Group

Client: National Army Museum

Brief: Raise awareness of the Painting the Troubles exhibition and drive footfall to the museum.

Response Summary: Total Media suggested that in order to encourage people to visit the collection of Painting the Troubles artwork they could use a virtual gallery to give a sneak preview of what was on offer in the museum. They recommended the creation of a microsite which included a revolving picture gallery as well as details of opening times, address and a link through to the National Army Museum website.

• The Telegraph was selected as a good fit both in terms of the audience profile and their extensive coverage of the Arts & they negotiated an ‘advertorial’ style campaign that ran over a 2 month period • This gave the opportunity to not only showcase the exhibition but also to convey essential information about the museum itself – location, opening times, etc

Result: Nearly 3,000 users visited the National Army Museum microsite and over 800 users clicked directly through to the museum’s own website. Following monitored attendance figures against advertising activity, all attendance targets were met and the client was extremely happy with the campaign results.

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3)Agency: Total Media Group

Client: Concern Worldwide

Brief: Concern, the Dublin based international relief and development charity adopted a five-year growth strategy based on direct marketing. One particular event needing immediate attention happened in early 2003. An emergency conflict began in the impoverished region of Darfur after a rebel group began attacking government targets. Millions have fled their destroyed villages, with many heading for camps near Darfur's main towns. But there is not enough food, water or medicine for the huge numbers of displaced people affected by the fighting and rebel attacks. At the start of the conflict world attention was not focused on Darfur and this crisis needed immediate attention and money.

Response Summary: Total Media Charities & Campaigning Organisations worked with Concern to get a direct response ad made at speed, to help focus attention AND raise funds on main TV and cable stations in the Republic of Ireland. The TV was pre-tested in the UK using whole page copy on back page of the Guardian and "washed its face" so TV stage beckoned first in ROI. Campaigns pursuing monthly donors have used a wide variety of integrated media including: cold direct mailings, reciprocal mailings, door drops, press inserts, display ads, email and banner ads all in addition to DRTV.

Result: Concern’s 5-year goals have been achieved within two years, during which fundraising income increased by 76% and regular donors have rocketed from 8,000 to 95,000. Winner 2002 Institute of Direct Marketing Custometrics / Marketing Week Business Performance Gold Medal

4)Agency: Bernard Hodes Group

Client: CITIBANKDirect Mail/Diversity

Assess: Citibank's Las Vegas call center needed to hire 30 Bilingual (Spanish/English) Customer Service Sales Associates by the end of the first quarter. To achieve this goal, they ran radio spots on their local stations and placed print ads in the local Spanish papers. By mid March, they had only filled half of the associate positions, making it vital to find a solution that could quickly garner more hires.

Strategize: The agency’s strategy entailed finding a solution that was quick and cost-effective, and would help them reach the Spanish-speaking community of Las Vegas. They decided on an e-mail blast as it could provide everything needed. It was not only a low-cost, targeted solution, it would also be much faster than a traditional direct mail postcard.

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Implement: They purchased a third-party e-mail list and created a jump page (www.citifamily.com) to exclusively target Spanish/English bilingual candidates. An e-mail promoting the associate positions was sent out to approximately 14,000 Spanish-speaking candidates in the Las Vegas area.The subject line became “Great careers with Citibank,” and the body copy was “If you're ambitious, enthusiastic and able to communicate in both English and Spanish, Citibank Nevada has the perfect opportunity for you. Click here to learn more about immediate openings for Customer Sales/Service Associates.”When interested candidates clicked on the link, they were taken to the jump page, which included information on accolades Citibank has received for their work with the Hispanic community and allowed them to apply online.

Measure: The e-mail blast was effective in targeting the candidates we were looking for. It received a 3% open rate, with 1% of recipients clicking through to the landing page, which is on par with the expected outcome for this type of solution. In addition, statistics gathered from the microsite showed that over 150 unique visitors went to the page. The blast quickly resulted in 6 additional hires for Citibank, and the client was extremely pleased with the results.

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7. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, in this project we see how it is not enough to stop at creating an advertisement but also need to pay equal attention to the planning of media to disseminate the information.

Media planning plays an important role in advertisement management, such that a separate department with a media planner exists in an agency to carry out this function.Creating an advertisement without considering planning of media is a huge mistake because there are lesser chances of your message reaching the target market.

In this project we saw step-by-step the various stages in media planning

Media brief Media strategy and plan Media buying Implementation and Post analysis

The project also discusses about how various factors such as target audience, reach, frequency, cost efficiency etc affect the media plan given a specific budget and objective.

Today, organizations are continuously innovating and coming out with new products. Ways of communicating with people are changing. Communicating with people has become very easy and economical. More and more medium of communications are being developed, and so are being developed the – media vehicles. India also has revolutionized with these emerging innovative media vehicles.

These emerging media vehicles are 1. Net Advertising. 2. SMS advertising. 3. Cable Advertising. 4. Kiosks. 5. ATM centers. 6. WAP.

All these further enhance the importance of media planning so as to ensure effective reach of the advertising message at controlled costs though innovations.

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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

1. Advertising, Design and Media—study material of Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research.

2. Marketing Management (Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control)- Philip Kotler.

3. Advertising media planning- Peggy J. Kreshel, Kent Lancaster and Margaret Toomey.

WEBSITES

1. Agencyfaqs.com2. Admedia.org3. Yahoo.com4. Ask.com5. Bernardhodesgroup.com6. Totalmedia.co.uk7. Madisonindia.com

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