Download 21. Media Buying and Planning

Advertising and Direct Marketing
Media Buying and Planning
Marketers are seeking “measurable results” for every marketing communication
dollar they spend. Through the use of marketing research organizations, marketers
have access to detailed information on the media habits and purchase behaviors of
target audiences. Organizations such as Media Research (MRI) and Simmons Market
Research Bureau (SMRB) correlate product usage data with the media habits of
target audiences (i.e., indexes indicating the particular segments of a population that
are heavy users of a particular brand expressed as a share of volume.) Sophisticated
data is available through services such as Nielsen’s Home Scan and Information
Resources’ BehaviorScan, offer information not only on demographics, but on
brands, purchase size, purchase frequency, prices paid and media exposure.
Media planners identify media that cover the same geographic area as the
advertiser’s distribution system. Geo-targeting is the placement of ads in geographic
regions where higher purchase tendencies for a brand are evident (this reinforces
high-volume users). A Brand Development Index (BDI) is a method of allocating
advertising budgets to those geographic areas that have the greatest sales potential.
Message weight is the gross number of advertising messages delivered by a vehicle
in a schedule. The measurement includes duplication of exposure. The message
weight indicates the size of the advertising effort being placed against a specific
market.
Gross impressions represent the sum of exposures to all media placement in a media
plan. Some are duplicated (the same person had several exposures perhaps through
different media ) referred to as between-vehicle duplication as well as within-vehicle
duplication (exposed to same ad in same medium on different days.)
Media objectives provide the foundation for media selection. The true power of a
plan is within the media selection – the decisions made with respect to a media
vehicle’s reach and frequency, the continuity of a media placement, audience
duplication, length and size of advertisements. Media strategy decisions help ensure
that messages placed in the chosen media have as much impact as possible.
Reach refers to the number of people in a target audience that will be exposed to a
media vehicle or schedule at least one time during a given period of time and is
often expressed as a percentage. Media vehicles with broad reach are ideal for
consumer convenience goods like toothpaste with simple features and that are
frequently purchased by a broad cross section of the market.
Effective reach is the number or percentage of consumers in the target audience
that are exposed to an ad a minimum number of times (the minimum number
estimate for effective reach is based on a determination of effective frequency. In
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other words, if effective reach is set for 4 exposures, then a media schedule must
achieve this.
Frequency is the average number of times an individual within a target audience is
exposed to a media vehicle in a given period of time (typically a week or a month).
Effective frequency is the number of times a target audience needs to be exposed to
a message before the objectives of the advertisers are met (either communication
objectives or sales impact.) New brands or brands with features that demand high
frequency for consumers awareness whereas a simple message for a well known
product requires less frequency. The old rule of thumb was 3 exposures was best,
but as few as 2 or as many as 9 may be needed to achieve effective frequency.
Continuity is the pattern of placement of ads in a media schedule. Three strategic
scheduling alternatives are continuous, flighting and pulsing.
Continuous scheduling is a pattern of placing ads at a steady rate over a period of
time.
Flighting is achieved by scheduling heavy advertising for a period of time, usually 2
weeks, and then stopping advertising altogether for a period to return with another
heavy schedule.
(A “flight” is the length of time a broadcaster’s campaign runs.) This pattern
supports special seasonal merchandising efforts or new product introductions or as a
response to competitors’ activities. The advantage of this pattern is that discounts
may be gained by concentrating media buys in large blocks. The communication
effectiveness is enhanced because a heavy schedule achieves repeat exposures that
are necessary to achieve consumer awareness.
Pulsing combines continuous and flighting patterns. Advertising is scheduled
continuously in media over time periods of heavier scheduling. This pattern is most
appropriate for products sold regularly all year long but have, like clothing, certain
seasonal requirements.
Media planners also make decisions regarding the length or size of an ad. Most
television ads are :30, though they can range from :10 to :60 and occasionally 1:20.
The length depends on creative requirements, media budgets and the competitive
environment. Advertising attempting to develop an image may need to be longer or
larger. A simple message announcing a sale can be short or small but may need
heavy repetition.
Media Choices: The advertiser and the agency determine which media class is
appropriate for the current effort and consider 3 issues: media mix, media efficiency
and competitive media activity.
The media mix is the blend of different media used to reach the target audience.
There are two options: a. concentrated mix and b. assorted mix.
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A concentrated mix focuses all media placement dollars in one medium. The
rationale here is that this approach allows an advertiser to have a great impact on a
specific audience segment and gives the brand an aura or mass acceptance
especially within an audience with restricted media exposure. Being dominant in
one medium heightens brand familiarity particularly in a high visibility medium like
television. This also creates enthusiasm and loyalty in the trade channel and thus
may impact treatment in inventory or shelf displays. Also, concentrating media
dollars in one medium may result in volume discounts from media organizations.
An assorted mix employs media alternatives and can be advantageous because it
facilitates communication with multiple market segments and an advertiser can
place different messages for different target audiences in different media. In this
way the message can be tailored to the target’s unique interests. Moreover
different messages may enhance the learning effect as well as increasing the reach.
Media efficiency incorporates the use of various mathematical formulas such as cost
per thousand (CPM) and cost per rating point (CPRM).
The CPM is the dollar cost calculated for reaching 1,000 members of the audience
using a particular medium. CPMs are the standard measure of media efficiency.
CPM calculations can be used to compare the efficiency of two media choices within
a media class or between media classes. (CPM=cost of media buy as a numerator
over the total audience x 1,000 as the denominator).
Cost per rating point is the calculation used for television where the cost of a spot on
TV is divided by the program’s rating (a rating point is equivalent to 1 percent of the
television households in the designated rating area tuned to a specific program. The
CPRM gives a dollar figure: CPRM = dollar cost of ad placement with a particular
program/schedule.
These efficiency assessments are based on cost and coverage and do not consider
the quality of the advertising and therefore can not be considered as indicators of
advertising effectiveness.
Competitive media activity or assessment provides a perspective for the brand. This
is important for product categories in which the competitors are focused on a
narrowly defined target audience (snack foods, soft drinks, beer, chewing gum).
When the target audience is narrow and attracts the attention of several
competitors, an advertiser must assess the competitors’ spending and their “share of
the voice”. The share of the voice is a calculation of any one advertiser’s brand
expenditures relative to the overall spending in a category: share of voice = one
brand’s advertising expenditures in a medium as a numerator over the total product
category advertising expenditures in a medium as the denominator.
Research provides an assessment of the share of the voice so that advertisers can
know what their competitors are spending.
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