Media strategy and planning

Forces impacting on the media planning

process• demand for greater media

accountability• growing popularity of digital and

cable television• growth in the range of available

media options• globalisation and the trend towards

standardised advertising campaigns

Key terminology•media vehicle – a specific programme, magazine or newspaper

•reach – total number of people in a target audience who are exposed to a media vehicle at least once during a specific time period

•frequency – number of times that a member of the target audience is exposed to a media vehicle during a specific time period

•opportunity to see (OTS)/opportunity to hear (OTH) – sometimes used instead of frequency

•gross rating points (GRPs) – reach multiplied by frequency

e.g. if a television programme is seen at least once by 40% of the target audience and is broadcast 15 times in a certain period, GRP is:

40 (reach) x 15 (frequency) = 600•GRPs do not measure effectiveness

•effective reach – number of people in the target audience who become aware of an ad within a specific time period

•effective frequency – number of times a member of the target audience needs to be exposed to an ad within specific time period in order to be effective

•duplicated reach – when the same person is exposed, more than once, to an ad carried in a range of media vehicles

The media planning process

Stage 2Selection of general

media

Stage 3Selection of specific

media

Stage 4The media plan and

schedule

Stage 1The media brief and

budget

The advertising brief

TV? Radio? Press?Magazines? Outdoor?

Friends? Ian Dempsey’sBig Breakfast? Evening

Herald? U?

What day? What time?What month? How often?

Stage one – analysis and media brief

• Advertising brief forms the basis of the media brief. Used by media planner to carry out a full analysis of the factors that are most likely to influence media decisions:

the target audiencethe marketing and advertising objectivesthe productpurchasing habits, including the purchasing cycle available budgetcompetitorsthe marketing environment – economic, social, cultural and

legislative considerations

• Media objectives are set:– criteria against which general and specific

media options can be evaluated– measures against which the success or

otherwise of the actual media used can be measured

– specific

Stage two – selection of general media

• Media planner selects the general media through which the advertiser's message is most likely to be transmitted successfully

• Factors to be considered:media habits of the target audience –nature of product or service the characteristics of the media options

and their ability to help meet objectivesthe cost of the various media

Stage three – selection of media vehicles

• Detailed knowledge of the target audience is necessary

• Their habits regarding specific media must be explored

• The following are also taken into account cost – absolute and per thousand circulation (for printed media) coverage (for broadcast media) JNLR, JNRR and Nielsen geographic coverage reputation and credibility of the vehicle ability to do justice to the creative approach

Stage four – the media schedule

• Media schedule – establishes exactly when and how often an ad should be placed in the specific media

• Media planner must take the following into consideration when compiling the media schedule:

the number of opportunities to see or hear, that are created by the media schedule

the profile of the audience that is exposed to the advertisements

whether or not one media vehicle generates more impact than another

Low frequency High frequency

Marketing factors

Large market share

Strong brand loyalty

New brand

Short purchase cycle

Long purchase cycle

Non-durable products

Large number of competitors

Target audience with good

retention

Message/creative factors

Complex message

Simple message

Unique message

New campaign

Existing campaign

Image advertising

Selling advertising

Single message ad

Multi-message ad

Media factors

High clutter

Compatible editorial

environment

Good attention holding

properties

Adapted from Belch, George, E. and Belch, M.

Scheduling

FlightingJa

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Scheduling

PulsingJa

n

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Intense periods of activity

Scheduling

ContinuousJa

n

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