Advertisement and media- Media planning | Lecture notes Advertising and Sales Promotion

Advertisement and Media

Module-15

Media Planning

Academic Script

With the opening up of the market economy, the media planning function has gained importance

and significance in developing advertising campaigns. The proliferation of media choices and

their increased costs have made the functions of media planners more difficult and risky. Mass

media options include television, radio, newspapers magazines, outdoor media and others. The

selection of the media has become very complex because of the nature of media themselves.

The characteristics of each alternative must be considered carefully. For example, television

can use both audio and visual, combining both sight and sound, and can produce an impact that

is not possible in other media. Newspapers can carry advertisements containing much detailed

information than television or radio. Magazines can also convey detailed information, which

remains available to a potential buyer for a longer time. The process of choosing between

alternatives becomes even more complicated considering the wide range of alternatives within

the same medium.

The media class refers to the general category of message delivery systems available to carry

advertising messages to a targeted audience. For example, print media, broadcast media and

outdoor media etc. are media class. Within these categories are media sub classes or medium

such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and so on. The media vehicle is the specific

message carrier within a medium such as The Telegraph, Business Today, and Star Sports are

examples of media vehicles in print and broadcast media. Media schedule specifies media

scheduling and the timing decisions.

Broadcast, press, outdoor, posters and cinema are often referred as above-the-line-media.

Direct mail, sales promotion, exhibitions, merchandising, and sales literature etc. are referred as

below-the-line-media. This distinction in media type is based on whether the agency gets a

commission or not. In case of the former category (above-the-line), the agency gets a

commission, while in the later (below-the-line) there is no commission.

Media planning has acquired importance for various reasons. The explosion of media options

has made the media planner’s job more difficult. Apart from traditional media such as television,

radio, print and direct mail, non-traditional media channels such as movie advertisements,

product placements, in-store advertising, internet and multimedia kiosks are alternatives that a

media planner can choose today in order to communicate with the target audience. With this

sudden increase in media options, selection of the appropriate medium has become a

challenge. Another factor that has increase the importance of effective media planning is the

fragmentation of the target audience. With increased media choice for customers and changing

customer preferences, media planners find that customers are fragmented between various

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Advertisement and Media Module- Media Planning Academic Script With the opening up of the market economy, the media planning function has gained importance and significance in developing advertising campaigns. The proliferation of media choices and their increased costs have made the functions of media planners more difficult and risky. Mass media options include television, radio, newspapers magazines, outdoor media and others. The selection of the media has become very complex because of the nature of media themselves. The characteristics of each alternative must be considered carefully. For example, television can use both audio and visual, combining both sight and sound, and can produce an impact that is not possible in other media. Newspapers can carry advertisements containing much detailed information than television or radio. Magazines can also convey detailed information, which remains available to a potential buyer for a longer time. The process of choosing between alternatives becomes even more complicated considering the wide range of alternatives within the same medium. The media class refers to the general category of message delivery systems available to carry advertising messages to a targeted audience. For example, print media, broadcast media and outdoor media etc. are media class. Within these categories are media sub classes or medium such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and so on. The media vehicle is the specific message carrier within a medium such as The Telegraph, Business Today, and Star Sports are examples of media vehicles in print and broadcast media. Media schedule specifies media scheduling and the timing decisions. Broadcast, press, outdoor, posters and cinema are often referred as above-the-line-media. Direct mail, sales promotion, exhibitions, merchandising, and sales literature etc. are referred as below-the-line-media. This distinction in media type is based on whether the agency gets a commission or not. In case of the former category (above-the-line), the agency gets a commission, while in the later (below-the-line) there is no commission. Media planning has acquired importance for various reasons. The explosion of media options has made the media planner’s job more difficult. Apart from traditional media such as television, radio, print and direct mail, non-traditional media channels such as movie advertisements, product placements, in-store advertising, internet and multimedia kiosks are alternatives that a media planner can choose today in order to communicate with the target audience. With this sudden increase in media options, selection of the appropriate medium has become a challenge. Another factor that has increase the importance of effective media planning is the fragmentation of the target audience. With increased media choice for customers and changing customer preferences, media planners find that customers are fragmented between various

media and media vehicles. Thus media planners have to design and implement an effective media plan that enables the company to reach the right target audience and communicate the message. Reach, Frequency and Coverage Some basic terms associated with media planning need to be defined. Media planning refers to a series of decisions required in an effort to delivering the advertising message to the largest number of the target audience in the most effective manner at the lowest cost. The media plan specifies media objectives and media strategies to accomplish the pre-determined objectives. Coverage means the potential audience that might get exposed to the message through a media vehicle. Reach is a measure of the number of target audience members exposed at least once to a media vehicle in a given period of time. Coverage refers to potential and reach refers to actual target audience exposed to the message vehicle and expressed in percentage terms. Frequency refers to the average number of times the audience is exposed to a media vehicle in a given period of time. These terms we’ll discuss in detail in the process of media planning. The basic goal of media plan is to formulate a particular combination of media or media mix that would enable the advertiser to communicate the message successfully and effectively to the maximum number of potential and existing customers in the target market at the lowest cost. Media planning process Media planning can be defined as “the process of designing a course of action that shows how advertising time and space will be used to contribute to the achievement of advertising and marketing objectives.” Media planning focuses on effective communication of a message to the target audience through appropriate selection of the timing, media channels and placement of the advertisement. Media planning process consists of four stages: Market analysis Set the media objectives Media strategy development and implementation Evaluation and follow-up. Four important steps in the Development of Media Plan Market Analysis and Identification of Target Market: analysis of the current marketing situation enables the company to identify the problems that the company faces from a media perspective and the opportunities that the firm can capitalize on. Market analysis involves the evaluation of internal and external factors. The aspects that a company should evaluate include target customer segments, the strengths of the company’s management, the competitive environment

Readership: readership means the number of actual readers who read the publication. This is more useful for media planning than circulation measure. The readership figures are calculated by estimating the average number of actual readers multiplied by the circulation figures. In India, the National Readership Survey (NRS) and the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) are two important measures that measure readership levels of print media. Frequency: frequency refers to the number of times the customer is exposed to the company’s message during a specific time period. According to Joseph W. Ostrow of Young and Rubicam agency, “Establishing frequency goals for an advertising campaign is a mix of art and science but with a definite bias towards art.” Total Exposure Frequency = -------------------- Reach The media planners make compromises and strike a balance between reach and frequency. Continuity: continuity refers to the scheduling of media exposures of a particular advertisement or campaign within a given period. Continuity offers the advantages of constant reminder to consumer, covers entire buying cycle and allows for media discounts and preferred advertising locations, etc. The demerits include higher costs, and possibility of overexposures, etc. There are three types of continuity alternatives – continuous, pulsating and discontinuous. A continuous pattern refers to a company’s strategy of running its campaign evenly over a given period of time. This is generally followed for convenience goods like salt, soaps, detergents etc. A pulsating pattern refers to a company’s strategy of running its campaign steadily over a given period of time with intermittent increases in advertising at certain intervals. For example, during the period just before the last date of tax return submission, advertising for cars increases to motivate customers to buy and avail of depreciation benefit. A discontinuous pattern or schedule refers to a company’s strategy of spending heavily on advertising only at certain intervals, with no advertising activities in the interim period. Costs: cost is another factor that is considered by companies when making media plans. Costs are measured using two key measures – cost per thousand (CPM) and cost per rating point (CPRP). CPM is the simple and commonly used measure to find out the cost effectiveness of a media channel. CPM measures the cost incurred in reaching 1000 customers or households. CPRP is another way of calculating the cost incurred in reaching target customers. The cost per rating point is a more comprehensive measure than CPM. CPRP is popular for assessing costs in the electronic media. In setting up media objective programme rating is also important. Programme Rating is a measure of potential reach of broadcast media and is expressed as percentage.

Gross Ratings Points (GRPs) is a numerical figure indicating how many potential audience members are likely to be exposed to a series of commercials. This combines programme rating and the average number of times the household is reached during the advertising cycle. Target Ratings Points (TRPs) refer to the number of times and the number of individuals in the primary target audience, the media will reach. Media Strategy development and Implementation: after completing the market analysis and determining the media strategy, a company has to develop a media strategy. Media strategy consists of four key components – target audience decisions, media budgeting, media selection, and media scheduling. Target Audience Decisions: identifying the target audience is a key step in developing an effective media strategy. The target audience for a marketing communications programme is identified after thorough analysis. Although customers or end consumers would seem to be the right targets for a marketer, in practice, every influencer involved in the consumer’s buying process are also relevant to the development of a media plan. After identifying the target audience, a company should decide how much the coverage of the target market should be. Covering the full market is an ideal option. However, limited resources act as an obstacle to full coverage. Thus managers try to achieve maximum coverage of the target market within the resources constraints. Media budgeting: the next key decision in media strategy relates to the budget to be allocated. The size of the media budget determines the next stages of media strategy – media selection and media scheduling. The company has to analyse the media objectives set and the target audience to cover as well as financial constraints. Based on that, the company should choose the media budget. Media Selection: media selection is a key component in designing the media strategy. Media selection involves selecting the right media and media vehicles that help to communicate the message of the company to the target customers more effectively. Media selection decisions cover two broad decisions – selection of media class and selection of media vehicles within the media class. Selection of media class: the prominent media channels are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, direct and the internet. The selection of media class depends on several factors: Reach of the media: the company should select the media that has maximum reach over its target customers. Audience size: audience size also influences the selection of media class. For example if the company is planning to target mass markets, then it can choose mass media such as television and radio. Budget allocation: media selection also depends on the amount of funds the company has committed towards marketing communication activities. For example, if the company has a smaller budget then it can go for print and outdoor media. Competitor advertising strategy: competitor advertising strategy is also a major element in a company’s media selection decision. The company has to decide whether it should use the

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