Getting Started on the Media
Plan
Chapter 11
Know Your Market
• Familiarize yourself with the market
• Get to know the sales reps of the respective
mediums available for your audience
• Find and use research tools to analyze media
options Ex: Ag Media Research (AMR) radio study
• The (AMR) measures stations' listenership levels and
compares them on factors such as farming enterprise
and geography.
Information Sources
• Other available information for the media planner
includes:
– Reports on market share for chemicals and seed by Maritz
– Association of Equipment Manufacturers Report (AEM) on
equipment market share and purchase information
– Doane reports on acreage and chemical usage
– The USDA Census of Agriculture which is conducted every
four years and is available online at www.usda.gov.
– Many manufacturers have substantial databases on the
agricultural market.
Budgeting
• Zero-based budgeting- Come back to client
with costs, efficient if client is big
• Most clients have a predetermined budget
• Get a solid figure from the client and work to
best achieve the client’s objective
• Determine goals after your input and initial
analysis
Budgeting cont.
• Make the most of your budget
• Be flexible and ready for changes
• Know how many potential customers you can
reach with the budget
• Have justified data and rationale to support
your recommendations
• Avoid emotional arguments
The Target
• The client and agency should agree on:
– The target audience
– The prioritized market geography
• Media research will allow you to break out the
results based on these factors
• Effectively and efficiently invest your client’s
money to reach the right people with the right
message with the optimum frequency
Geographic Considerations
• Get agreement on the selected geography
• Target geography is determined on a county
basis
• Single most important factor to agree on
• Allows for the most effective spending
• Much of the information, i.e. weather, market
prices, and legislation is of a local nature
Timing
• Timing is crucial and needs agreement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
When is the smartest time to advertise to your target?
What are you trying to accomplish with the advertising?
Is it brand awareness?
Brand preference?
Product news?
Price announcements?
Special deals?
Insect or weed treatment?
Are you trying to change a cultural practice?
Why are you advertising?
Is it corporate awareness or brand awareness?
Timing
• Takes time for any campaign to become
effective
• The shorter the lead-time, the greater the
frequency and reach level of media it may
take to be effective
• Know what the client expects the media to
accomplish
AMR Reports
• The Ag Media Research project measures
listenership levels for Ag radio yearly
• Deals with farming enterprise
• In even numbered years, the Midwest states
are surveyed
• In odd numbered years, the states outside the
Midwest are measured
AMR Methodology
• Uses unaided recall gathered by telephone
interviewing
• Participants must operate a farm/farms
generating more than $40,000 in sales
• The respondents are then asked to identify
what stations they listened to
• Min. of 100 in the sampled demographic to
generate a ratings report
AMR Methodology
• To determine commodities, the respondents are asked if in the previous
year they produced the following acreage or livestock levels:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
200+ acres of cotton
100+ acres of corn
100+ acres of sorghum
100+ wheat acres
50+ acres of soybeans
50+ acres of hay
any rice
any sugar beets
any sunflowers
any tobacco
25+ head of cattle for beef
200+ head of hogs
If they milked 25+ head of dairy cattle
Or if they are a horse-owner family (starting in 2002)
AMR Methodology
• Counties surveyed are determined by the
participating station or network
• Local stations pay for survey
• Ratings are weighted based on the total
population of Class I+ farmers
• A station’s call letters must be mentioned by
at least three different respondents to be
reported
Basic Definitions
• Average Quarter Hour Rating (AQH Rating)
• Average Quarter Hour Share (AQH Share)
CUME Rating
• Average Quarter Hour Persons (AQH Persons)
• CUME Persons
Definitions Cont.
• AQH Persons: The average number of Class 1+ farmers
($40,000 plus in farm sales) listening to a particular
station for at least five minutes in a quarter hour within
a specific day part. Unduplicated AQH Persons for all
affiliates mentioned are used for networks.
• AQH Rating: The AQH Class 1+ farmers expressed as a
percentage of all Class 1+ farmers being measured.
• AQH Share: The AQH Class 1+ farmers expressed as a
percentage of the total radio listening by all Class 1+
farmers being measured.
CUME Persons
• CUME Persons: Total number of different Class
1+ farmers who listen to a station or network’s
affiliates for at least five minutes in a day part;
also called the unduplicated audience.
Unduplicated CUME Persons for all affiliates
mentioned are used for networks.
CUME Rating
•
•
•
•
•
CUME Rating: The CUME Class 1+ farmers expressed as a percentage of the
population of all Class 1+ farmers being surveyed.
Ratings represent unduplicated listening to stations and groups of stations in
specific hours or day parts.
Ratings do not represent listening to specific programs or specific farm
broadcasters.
Network ratings represent farmers listening to all affiliates and include those not
listening to network programming.
The AMR program will give you reports for hourly time periods between 5 a.m.
and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also generate quick reports that
include the following time periods:
–
–
–
–
–
•
5 a.m. – 7 p.m.
5 a.m. – 8 a.m.
8 a.m. –11 a.m.
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Also included in the AMR package is a reach and frequency program.
Primary Market Areas
• PMA’s indicate where the participant believes
its strength lies
• Usually a smaller geography than the total
signal area.
• Ratings give the buyer an indication of where
strength is & how competition compares
• PMAs of competing stations won’t have
identical geographic boundaries
PMA’s Cont.
• Know which counties have been surveyed and
how the interviews were distributed
• Responses are weighted based on the total
population of Class 1+ Farmers
• Compare the distribution of surveys to target
geography to see if there is a correlation
• Can get print outs of the following information:
– Distribution of interviews
– Listing of Farm Programming with air times
– Participants in the AMR Study
The Quick Report
• Shows the data for 5 key day parts
• Allows you to compare how competing stations
and networks deliver your audience in the PMA
• It is expected that every participant would have
the best audience delivery in its own PMA
• Able to determine if farmers listen to the station
throughout the day or just tune in for specific
farm programs.
Hourly Report
• Shows how the audience varies from hour to
hour.
• Shows what level of audience is being
delivered by each station and network.
• Can determine which stations are worth
paying for
Selected States or Counties
• Can select any group of counties desired
• Using the hourly report will allow you to
negotiate more specific air times for your
commercials
• Examining how individual stations perform
will give information needed to negotiate on
which stations you want to pay for
• May be possible to negotiate some
geographical or priority stations.
What’s next?
• Match initial station/network choices with the target
audience and geography determination along with how
you plan to use radio
• Contact the sales reps and organizations of these
stations and networks.
• Inquire about any special programming opportunities
that might be available
• This is an opportunity to get an idea of initial costs
• Know whether you plan to run :60 or :30 second spots,
and have an idea of when you plan to run your flights
Finalizing the Plan
• Determine the initial list of which stations/networks
you plan to use, the proper number of ads needed, and
cost.
• Establish a minimum frequency standard to be
successful
• Have an idea of how radio will work with other media
you might use
• Look at the performance of different combinations of
stations and networks to “fine tune” your selection.
• Determine how much media weight you want to assign
to each vehicle you are using.
Analysis of Results
• Imperative that you know to measure
campaign goals
• Will there be follow up awareness research?
• If a sales goal is the objective then how much
of an increase is it?
• How long will the client expect the results to
last?
• Don’t be afraid of having your work evaluated
Success
• A successful campaign relies on:
– Strategic planning
– Quality of the creative
– Where and how the message is delivered
– How often it is heard
Negotiations
• Get an agreement on a budget and general then start the
final stages of the planning/buying process— negotiating.
• There are many styles to use in media negotiating
• KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! The more you know about how
various stations/networks perform, the better you can
negotiate
• Ask about features that include extra free promotional
announcements
• There is more detailed information available in ag media
• Can create a target geography and audience, then
match/compare media reach and cost
• Maximize your media dollars efficiency and effectiveness.