ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIA BUYS
Media buying is part art and part science, with the emphasis on art. -- Media Buyer, Leo Burnett
Four basic steps:
1. Research – Know your product, the target, your budget, and the media
2. Strategy – Set your goals and objectives, then select the best media to attain them
3. Selection – Reach vs. Frequency; Flighting, Pulsing, Continuity, Front loading
4. Negotiate – Transact with media sales professionals for ratings, BBM’s audits
RADIO
BROADCAST
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
Fast, Flexible, universal
infiltration, reaches
virtually everyone,
everywhere, has no ‘off’
season, engages
imagination, intrusive,
allows multi tasking
Numerous stations
expensive to cover all
areas, tower frequency,
difficult to monitor,
channel surfing, non
tangible, poor listening,
need for repetition
Excellent; BBM’s,
(Bureau of
Broadcast
Measurement),
95% of teens &
adults reached. In
and out of home
Waste readership – non
target, reproduction
limitations, lack of
prominence,
fragmentation, declining
readership, short
lifespan, repetition
necessary
Costs (CARD or ABC
audits), long lead times
- 90 days or more, nonimmediate, lack of
prominence, IFC/OBC
select cover placement
Buy when open,
match your market,
65% of adult pop.
read a newspaper
daily
NEWSPAPER #1 use of small
business marketing
dollars, flexibility, local,
timeliness, low cost,
easy to test, classifieds
MAGAZINES
Long life, multiple
readership, target
marketing, ad quality,
credibility, split runs,
Regional/National,
Inserts, wraps etc.
OUTDOOR
Answer to increased
fragmentation, broad
reach, frequency and
continuity, larger than
life Image, increased
commute times, posters
and street level, local
services, amusements,
First choice for News,
Sports, Entertainment,
Visual impact, most
authoritative, in homes,
immediate and timely,
impactful, memorable
ads
Long shelf life, valued
by customers, specialty
directories
TELEVISION
YELLOW
PAGES
REACH
FREQUENCY
COST
Very Necessary;
book same time
spots if budget is
limited, target for
listeners; sponsor
timeslots;
roadblocks, share
time, ‘Drive” times
Important, buy as
big as you can
afford, but buy
frequency before
size, Sundays are
premium
Production
low, 10- 60
second spots,
announcer
read fixed
rates, or ‘run of
station’
9 out of 10 adults
read an average of
7 magazines a
month, Trade,
Consumer
Weekly, monthly,
quarterly,
frequency is
important, need for
multiple exposures
Expensive,
wraps and
insertions
increase reach
and awareness
Legal restrictions,
Intrusive, clutter, brief
exposure, need for high
creative and white
space, 5 second impact,
may have a long
production and planning
time, difficult to track,
Brevity and clutter,
fragmentation, long
range media plan,
zipping and zapping,
Internet, TV on Demand
- TIVO
Highest reach in
shortest period,
targeted,
pedestrian (COMB
Canadian Outdoor
Measurement
Bureau)
Continuity
advantage, long
life, economical,
numerous locations
or targeted
community
Inexpensive
Display and
outdoor are the
good choice
for use of small
business
dollars
Excellent, TV in
97% of homes,
GRP’s and CPR
(Gross/Cost per
rating point) reach
90% of adults
High impact per
view, lower
frequency meets
target if properly
placed, program
rates / selection
High
production
cost, (use
creative
thought –
schools etc.)
Difficult to test, 1 year
commitment,
deregulation
365 days 7/24,
outside of target
Difficult to monitor,
call up competitors,
research size
Expensive
media, start
small
Low production
& insertion
costs, easily
re-purposed,
use classifieds
"The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But
as every art ought to be exercised in due subordination to the public good, I cannot but propose it as a
moral question to these masters of the public ear, whether they do not sometimes play too wantonly with
our passions."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, in The Idler, 1759
Slate Communications