Advertising and Direct Marketing
Topic 8B–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 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.
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.