marketing/advertising homework!

Chapter 7

Media Strategy

Chapter Objectives

After reading this chapter you will understand:

1. The basic functions of the media planner

2. The role of the media in the total advertising function

3. Characteristics of the major media categories

4. Relationships between media planning and target marketing

Chapter Overview

The media function, whether executed by an advertising agency, an independent media-buying/planning firm, an unbundled media shop, or a company’s in-house media department, is increasingly complex. The demand for efficiency, effectiveness, and creativity in the media-planning process has never been greater. Two factors have created uncertainty for both advertisers and media executives: 1) the steady increase in the number of media and promotional options, and 2) the unprecedented audience fragmentation. This chapter initially addresses the primary characteristics of the media function.

Lecture Outline

1. Organization of the Media Function

A. Media Planner. The role of the media planner is to supervise all areas of the

advertising campaign as it relates to the media function.

1) They are also marketing specialists who play a pivotal role in the advertising

process.

2) They must anticipate future trends in a rapidly changing environment and must

keep agency management and clients abreast of major changes.

B. Media Research. The media research department coordinates both primary and

secondary research data and functions as a support group for media planners.

1) It must gauge future media trends.

2) In some instances, this department estimates likely audiences for new magazines or television programs.

C. Media Buying. The media-buying department executes the overall media plan.

1) Media buyers select and negotiate specific media placements and they are responsible for monitoring postplacement executions.

2) There may be separate groups or departments for each of the mass media depending on the size of a media unit.

3) Recently, some media departments established units to research and buy Internet advertising and/or construct client websites.

D. Few areas of marketing and advertising have experienced the change demonstrated by media planning in the last decade.

1) The media function has been driven by changes in the number of media options, increasing media expenditures, and the great financial risk associated with media buying mistakes.

2) In 2005, total advertising expenditures were over $271 billion.

a. By 2006, this figure will increase to over $286 billion.

b. The media planner of 2015 will be dealing with media outlets that don’t exist today.

2. The New Media Function

A. As the media adapt to new technology and methods of planning, there are a number of trends that will set the tone for change and assess the future of media planning and buying.

B. Convergence. Simply put, media convergence is the blending of distribution, content, and/or hardware from a number of media companies to create a new or significantly expanded communication system.

1) An example would be cell phone companies offering Internet connections, newspaper companies creating websites, or NBC and Microsoft combining to create MSNBC.

2) Consumers will continue to see numerous examples of convergence.

3) Marketing, media content, and technological convergences are in their embryonic stage. It is a trend of the present and even more so of the future.

C. Interactivity. Technology will allow consumers to deal directly with marketers for their entertainment, purchases, and services; bypassing traditional media and marketing channels.

1) Because of this ability, buyers and sellers will be able to deal on a one-to-one basis with communication and products tailored to the interests of specific households and individuals.

2) In many instances, technological capabilities will outpace customer utilization.

3) Interactive media are dramatically changing the marketing landscape.

D. Creativity. Interactivity will also change the creative process.

1) We have entered a new era of “permission marketing” in which the consumer has already determined his or her product demand and actively seeks an advertiser.

2) The former mass advertising, which uses attention-getting techniques is giving way to the dynamics of relationship marketing.

3) Media planners are being asked to think of and evaluate new and different media options to build additional, effective exposure to consumers.

1. Attention has turned to developing and evaluating entertainment and experience marketing opportunities.

( *****NOTES: See Kleppner’s Viewpoint 7.1 For Example***** )

E. Engagement.

1) With the shrinking of television audiences and the proliferation of new media, advertisers and media planners are becoming more interested in the concept of engagement..

2) Engagement takes into account the ability of an advertising vehicle to deliver a receptive audience to the advertising in it. It is turning on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context.

3) Advertisers are interested in knowing which media make the advertising for their brand more effective.

4) Commonality in these trends is that they demonstrate that media executives must be analytical, creative, and strategic in their approach to the media process.

3. Media Unbundling and Independent Media Buying Firms

A. In a media environment characterized by convergence and creativity, one of the common approaches to the media function is known as unbundling.

1) The concept refers to the establishment of agency media departments as independent units apart from their traditional role as departments in full-service agencies.

2) This idea began in the 1960s when media experts believed that they could obtain better commercial rates (television) than full-service agencies, which often concentrated on creative services.

3) Major advertising agencies took issue with the above premise. Two major areas of disagreement are noted:

a. Where media planning (as contrasted with media buying) should take place.

b. Degree of coordination between creative and media strategy.

1. Unbundling is a core issue subject to debate.

4) The concept of a totally unbundled media department is a core issue for many agencies.

a. Historically, advertising agencies promoted themselves on the basis of their being able to offer a complete menu of advertising services – creative strategy and execution, account management, and media research, planning, and placement.

B. Factors that led to an era of unbundling were:

1) Integrated marketing.

a. Several complex elements were at work in marketing.

b. Advertising agencies were not the only source for communication expertise.

c. Specialists were hired in addition to the agencies.

d. Clients became comfortable dealing with several communication agencies and began to look to specialization within the advertising function.

2) Cost factors.

a. Media buying became more important as costs escalated.

1. Clients demanded more efficiencies, better identification of target markets, and accountability.

c. The desire for low costs ran contrary to the use of specialized media.

d. Fragmented media are being used more to reach homogeneous audiences and this has increased the cost per person reached.

3) Globalization.

1. Expansion into global markets increased demands exponentially on media departments.

b. Strategic media planning became essential to gain worldwide recognition.

4) Complexity of the media function.

a. The media function is now diversified in many more areas than just the

mass circulation media.

1. Companies are demanding that advertising be monitored and coordinated with event marketing, sales promotion, and public relations.

c. Media planning plays a significant role in the execution of these programs.

5) Profitability.

a. Media planning has now become a profit center.

b. Some agencies get the media planning business while others get the

creative business.

( *****NOTES: Use Exhibit 7.1 Here***** )

C. Unbundling has given media executives a greater role in the overall planning of advertising strategy.

4. Basic Media Strategy

A. Traditionally, media planners have used a building block strategy to develop a media schedule.

1) Start with the medium that reaches the largest audience and work down to the one that reaches the smallest.

2) Determining the first two or three “blocks” is easy. From there on down it is not.

3) Media options are growing each year.

a. The Internet.

b. Videogames.

c. Interactive television.

4) Media planners have to go beyond costs in developing plans and examine qualitative factors of the media such as communication interactions between the audience and the media.

B. Historically, the advertising process began with the development of broad marketing and advertising strategies, moved to creative execution, and finally to media placement. Changes in this notion include:

1) Qualitative factors of media. The qualitative core attributes of each medium interact with advertising messages to enhance or diminish the advertising.

2) Fading distinctions among media.

a. Technology is changing the fundamental relationships among media, audiences, and advertisers, creating an environment of unclear distinctions.

b. Media planners must be more creative in utilizing media vehicles today and look less at the distribution system and more at the audiences and communication effectiveness.

3) Media accountability.

a. There is pressure on media planners to become more knowledgeable in areas not formerly part of their responsibility.

b. Research shows that networks have distinctive brand identities that appeal to certain demographic and buyer categories.

c. Advertising accountability means that businesses want to link their advertising to specific sales of their brands; made even more important by the influence of technology on the media.

4) Value-added opportunities are incentives offered by the media to advertisers to entice them to purchase more advertising space in their media vehicles.

1. Can be anything from product placements, event sponsorships, or mixed-media promotions to tickets to sporting events or remote broadcasts.

C. Need to find ways to better link advertising and product sales even more important as technology continues to change the nature of both mass media and advertising.

0. In the near future we will not be dealing with distinct media vehicles, but there will be a convergence of media.

0. Consumers will have greater control over communication outlets, selecting only those entertainment, information, and advertising messages they want.

0. Organizations we view as media today will be information sources, and the carriers of this information will be limited.

D. Media Characteristics.

1) It is necessary to have a basic working knowledge of the major media characteristics and functions, both editorial and advertising.

2) Media planners must keep an open mind, finding the best fit for the marketing and promotional goals of clients.

3) There will be hard budget choices due to the growing number of media choices.

4) Strengths and weaknesses of media vehicles will be discussed in future chapters.

5. Putting It All Together: The Media Plan

A. Media planners must be able to use the distinctive attributes of each medium as part of a sophisticated analysis that leads to a complete media plan for an advertising campaign.

B. Elements of a typical media plan:

(Note: See the five-part media plan in this section for specific details and lists of the plan; specific units of the plan are addressed in the following sections of this outline.)

Standard Media Plan components include (see p. 242 of text):

1) Marketing analysis: including market strategy, product benefits, pricing strategy, and competitive environment assessment.

2) Advertising analysis: including fundamental advertising strategy and budget.

3) Media strategy: matching media vehicles and considering creative and communication factors.

4) Media scheduling: including CPM estimates.

5) Justification and summary: including ad goals, research plans, and

contingencies.

C. Target Audience.

1) No area in a media plan is more critical to the success of the advertising campaign than the proper identification of the prime target market(s) for a brand.

2) Rather than demographically-oriented, this identification is more likely focused on identifying consumer needs, and the product benefits that meet these needs.

3) Buyers and planners must keep their focus on the consumer, product, and benefit rather than just reaching the greatest target audience at the lowest cost.

4) Until recently, media planners tended to concentrate on overall audience delivery by various media and the most common way of measuring efficiency was cost per thousand (CPM):

a. The formula is:

CPM = ad cost x 1,000

circulation

b. Example: People Weekly magazine has a circulation of 3,823,600 and a four-color page rate of $198,500.Then, CPM is calculated:

People Weekly CPM = $198,500 x 1,000 = $51.91

3,823,600

c. In order to measure People Weekly’s efficiency in reaching any particular

audience, we can use some variation of the weighted or demographic CPM.

d. Of the total number of readers in the above example, 1.5 million have children underage 3. For this target audience:

Weighted CPM = $198,500 x 1,000 = $132.33

1,500,000

1. Any demographic lifestyle, product user or psychographic data could be used.

1. CPM figures are important only as comparisons with those of other media.

g. Now some measure of communication impact and audience awareness can be added to the CPM mix.

h. Other considerations that need to be taken into account include:

1. Creative predispositions of the audience (i.e., teens may prefer radio to print).

2. Qualitative environment for the message—car magazines for car buyers.

3. The synergistic effect—media combinations that are greater than the sum of each one.

4. The creative approach.

D. CPM adjustments that might be necessary to take into account communication

factors:

1) Probability of exposure to a medium. Should equal weights be given to all forms of the mass media?

2) Advertising exposure weights to equalize the probability of an ad being seen.

3) Communication weights to equalize the probability of an advertising message communicating.

4) Frequency of exposure weights in the same medium. Does the first exposure have the same or greater value than subsequent exposures?

E. Research has shown that high levels of audience involvement with a medium are positively related to advertising response.

F. Claritas’ Potential Rating Index by Zip Market (PRIZM).

1) A shortcoming of many audience analysis methods is that they consider only a single variable.

2) An innovation for segmenting markets on a multiple-variable basis is the Potential Rating Index by Zip Market (PRIZM) developed by Claritas Corp.

a. PRIZM NE divides the population into 14 social groups and further subdivides these large segments into 66 subcategories. The primary variables for determining these social groups are lifestyle and income.

b. The value of these PRIZM groups is that these general categories can then be matched with those products and media that members of that particular group are most likely to use.

*****NOTES: Use Exhibit 7.2a and 7.2b Here*****

6. Communication Requirements and Creative Elements

A. Media planners are interested increasingly in the differential value of various media and the value they add or subtract to specific advertising messages, that is, the engagement these media provide.

1) Account supervisors and clients recognize the importance of early involvement of the art directors, copywriters, and media planners to provide creative input in positioning and/or advertising a brand.

2) Particularly now that value-added opportunities are an important part of the media buying and planning process, it is necessary for both the creative and media teams to know what opportunities are most desirable for a brand to pursue.

B. There is a wide gap between advertising exposure and advertising communication.

1) The greater the input from the account team to both media and creative, the better the communication and coordination.

2) Early decisions with proper input improves price negotiation and time or space

selection.

C. A major criticism has been that advertising execution has not fully utilized the communication strengths of the various media.

D. The convergence of media outlets, new media technology, and availability of

interactive approaches for audiences has necessitated the cooperation to create the

greatest impact on an audience that is in control of the communication process.

7. Geography—Where Is the Product Distributed?

A. Geographical considerations are among the oldest factors in buying media.

1) Today, media-planning boundaries are often much smaller than in previous years.

2) Geographical considerations are more important as advertisers find that consumers in different parts of the country demonstrate different attitudes and opinions concerning various product categories.

3) Media distribution demonstrates unpredictable patterns, like products.

4) Media planners not only need to know where prospects are located, but also how consumers in different areas rate in terms of current and future sales potential.

5) A common method is the brand development index (BDI) . This is a method of allocating advertising budgets to those geographic areas that have the greatest sales potential.

6) Research data allow marketers to more narrowly define segments, leading to

greater use of localized media.

7) Localization can supplement a national campaign effectively.

*****NOTES: Use Exhibit 7.3 and 7.4 Here *****

8. Media Tactics: Reach, Frequency, Continuity, and Budget

A. The media planner deals with four primary elements in developing the final media

schedule:

1) Reach (also called coverage) is the number of different people exposed to a

single medium or, in the case of a multimedia campaign, the entire media

schedule.

1. It may be expressed as the number of prospects or as a percentage of your target audience.

1. It represents a nonduplicated audience.

2) Frequency is the number of times each person in the audience is exposed to your media schedule.

3) Continuity is the length of time over which a campaign will run or the length of time that reach and frequency will be measured.

4) Budget is the major constraint of any advertising plan. The core consideration in all media planning.

B. The value of each media vehicle should be measured according to three criteria:

1) The cost of the vehicle.

2) The number of target market members or the weighted target market quality of the audience reached by the vehicle.

3) The effectiveness of the advertising exposures the vehicles deliver.

C. From a practical standpoint, the media planner has control over reach and frequency.

1).The budget is a strategic decision largely determined by the client.

2) Reach, frequency, and continuity must be balanced against the demands of a fixed budget.

*****NOTES: Use Exhibit 7.5 Here*****

D. Reach tactics:

1) Prime time television, reaches mass audiences, but is expensive.

2) Daily newspapers cover 30 to 50 percent of most markets.

3) Large circulation magazines have a similar function as television; but reach smaller overall audiences.

E. Frequency tactics:

1) Cable television, particularly specialized outlets.

2) Special interest magazines, reach same audiences over several issues.

3) Radio, reaches loyal target markets.

F. The overriding motive of media planners is to achieve cost efficiency with media dollars, although communicating effectively to the target audiences.

G. Planners must take care to precisely measure the value ofa particular prospect, medium, or message to the overall measure of advertising effectiveness.

9. The Media Schedule

A. One of the final steps in the media planning process is the development of a detailed media schedule.

1) The media schedule is a detailed blueprint or calendar for the media portion of the campaign. It is also a guide for media buyers to execute the media strategy developed by the planner.

2) This schedule details what media will be bought, when it will be purchased, and how much time or space will be used for each advertisement or commercial.

3) The advertising schedule for a national brand may entail dozens or even hundreds of similar decisions; time availability is also a concern.

4) The process of broadcast buying has improved in recent years with the addition of electronic data interchange (EDI). This is a means of connecting the agencies, clients, and media involved in the buying process.

a. System is more efficient and significantly reduces errors by decreasing the number of people involved in the buying and billing process.

b. Another electronic media-buying process and brokering service clearinghouses are becoming more important as the process of linking stations with agencies and clients becomes more complex.

B. Flighting is one of the most used advertising scheduling techniques.

1) It consists of relatively short bursts of advertising followed by periods of total or relative inactivity.

2) It appeals to those who perceive that they do not have enough money to reach all their prospects with a consistent advertising program.

3) Advertisers must guard against significant erosion of brand awareness between flights.

4) In a steady schedule, awareness peaks fairly quickly (after about 20 weeks) and afterward shows little if any increase.

a. Flighting saves budget dollars, reaches more prospects, and builds higher levels of brand awareness in the long term.

*****NOTES: Use Exhibit 7.6 Here*****

5) Regardless of the flighting schedule used, the following factors should be considered before using the strategy.

a. Competitive spending.

b. Timing of flights.

c. Advertising decay.

d. Secondary media.

6) Pulsing is a less extreme form of flighting, using advertising more or less continuously but with peaks during certain periods.

C. The pressure of competition.

1) Advertisers must constantly be aware of what the competition is doing in advertising strategy, product development, pricing tactics, and other marketing and promotional maneuvers.

1. The media planner must develop a campaign that distinguishes his or her product/brand from the competition.

1. Rather than operating from a defensive mentality, advertisers should take practical stance in determining what their marketing and advertising plans can reasonably accomplish and how they meet the inroads of competing brands.

4) Advertising agencies bring an objective voice to the table—a key to success.

5) Advertisers must undertake a thorough and candid appraisal of all aspects of the competitive situation.

D. The budget.

1) If there is any advertising axiom, it is that no budget is ever large enough to accomplish the task.

2) The art of media planning is solving the problem of large media constantly demanding higher and higher rates with advertising clients demanding more cost efficiency to their advertising dollars.

3) Advertisers and their agencies have reacted to the cost squeeze by instituting more stringent cost controls on media costs and accountability for their advertising dollars.

4) As media continues to fragment, advertisers will continue to look for alternative, nontraditional methods of promotion to hold costs down.

5) In response to increases in advertising costs, advertisers are more precisely defining their prospect to cut down on waste circulation and are negotiating more aggressively with media for time and space.

6) The media schedule is normally summarized in a flowchart that presents the

overall media schedule as well as their audience estimates and costs.