INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA

PLANNING AND BUYING

ADVERT 3219 Module 1
 WHAT IS MEDIA PLANNING?

As Unilever knows, media planning is a problem-solving

process.

The problem: How can media choices help meet the

marketing and advertising objectives?
• The ultimate goal is to reach the target audience
with the right message in the best possible way at
the best possible time in the mostefficient way
possible. In this chapter, we review how a media
plan is developed—how media planners set
objectives and develop media strategies. We then
explore the media-buying function and explain how
media buyers execute the plan.
Media Research: Information Sources
Some people believe media decisions are the
hub in the advertising wheel because media
costs are often the biggest element in the
marketing communication budget. Not only are
media decisions central to advertising planning,
media research is central to media planning.
Media Research: Information Sources
• 1. Client Information

The client is a good source for various types of

information media plan_x0002_ners use in their work,
such as demographic profiles of current customers
(both light and heavy users), response to previous
promotions, product sales and distribution patterns,
and, most importantly, the budget of how much can
be spent on media
• 2. Market Research

h Independently gathered information about markets

and product categories is another valuable tool for
media planners. Research companies provide this
service. This information is usually organized by
product category (detergents, cereals, snacks, etc.)
and cross-tabulated by audience groups and their
consumption patterns.
• 3. Competitive Advertising Expenditures

In highly competitive product categories, such as

packaged goods and consumer services, marketers
track how much competing brands spend on media
compared to how much they are spending on their
particular brand. This is called share of voice. In
other words, marketers want to know which, if any,
competing brands have louder voices (i.e., are
spending more) than they do
• 4. Media Kits

The various media and their respective media vehicles

provide media kits, which contain information about the
size and makeup of their audiences. Although media
supplied information is useful, keep in mind that this is
an “inside job”—that is, the information is assembled to
make the best possible case for advertising in that
particular medium and media vehicle.
5. Media Coverage Area

One type of media-related information about

markets is the broadcast coverage area for
television. Called a designated marketing area
(DMA), the coverage area is referred to by the
name of the largest city in the area.
5. Media Coverage Area

The assignment of a county to a DMA is

determined by which city provides the majority of
the county households’ TV programming.
6. Consumer Behavior Reports

Consumer research sources that are used in

developing segmentation and targeting strategies,
are also useful in planning media strategies. For
example, media planners use such services as
the Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s ClusterPlus
system, and supermarket scanner data to locate
the target audience within media markets.
 The Media Plan
The media plan is a written document that
summarizes the objectives and strategies that
guide how media dollars will be spent. The goal
of a media plan is to find the most effective and
efficient ways to deliver messages to a targeted
audience.
 The Media Plan
Media plans are designed to answer the
following questions:

(1) who (target audience),

(2) what for (objectives),
(3) where (the media vehicles used),
 The Media Plan

(4) where (geography),

(5) when (time frame),
(6) how big (media weight),
(7) at what cost (cost efficiency).
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Media planning is more than just choosing from a
long list of media options. Traditional measured
media are chosen based on such metrics as
GRPs and CPMs, which will be explained later,
but the new media lack similar metrics and are
characterized more by such considerations as the
quality of the brand experience, involvement, and
personal impact.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Step 1: Target Audience

A key strategic decision is identifying a target

audience. In media planning, the challenge is to
select media vehicles that (1) are compatible with
the creative executions and (2) whose audiences
best match those of the brand’s target audience
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Step 2: Communication and Media Objectives

Although creative decisions are sometimes made before

media planning, this is changing. With the increasing
variety of media options available, smart clients and
agencies are having up-front cross-functional planning
meetings that include creatives, media planners, and
account executives. The point is that the media and
message strategies are interdependent and decisions in
one area affect decisions in the other.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
The Reach Objective

The percent of people exposed to a brand message one

or more times within a specified period of time is called
reach. A campaign’s success is due in part to its
abil_x0002_ity to reach as many of the targeted
audience as possible within a stated budget and time
period. Consequently, many planners feel that reach is
the most important objective and that it’s the place to
start when figuring out a media plan.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
The Frequency Objective

Frequency refers to the repetition of message exposure. You

should keep in mind that the frequency number for a media buy is
actually the average number of exposure opportunities of those
reached.
Because frequency is an average, it can be misleading. The range
of frequency is often large: Some people see a particular brand
message once, while others may see it 10 times within a given
period.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
Effective Frequency

Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, there

should be a threshold, or minimum frequency level, that produces
some type of effect, such as a request for more brand information,
a change in attitude toward the brand, or the most desired effect—
purchase of the brand
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives

A standard rule of thumb is that it takes 3 to 10

exposures to have an effect on an audience. Obviously
this frequency range is extremely wide. The “right”
frequency number is determined by several factors,
including level of brand awareness, level of competitive
“noise,” content of the message, and sophistication of
the target audience.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives

Media Waste
In the discussion of targeted reach we mentioned waste
as a result of targeting too wide of a target market.
Actually, there are two sides to waste—both reach and
frequency. The goal of media planning is to maximize
media efficiency, which is to eliminate excessive overlap
or too much frequency.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
Writing Media Objectives

1. Reach 60 percent of target audience with a frequency of 4

within each four-week period in which the advertising runs.

2. Reach a maximum percentage of target audience a minimum of

five times within the first six months of advertising.

3. Reach 30 percent of the target audiences where they have an

opportunity to interact with the brand and users of the brand.
INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA
PLANNING
ADVERT 3219 Module 1
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Step 1: Target Audience

A key strategic decision is identifying a target

audience. In media planning, the challenge is to
select media vehicles that (1) are compatible with
the creative executions and (2) whose audiences
best match those of the brand’s target audience
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Step 2: Communication and Media Objectives

Although creative decisions are sometimes made before

media planning, this is changing. With the increasing
variety of media options available, smart clients and
agencies are having up-front cross-functional planning
meetings that include creatives, media planners, and
account executives. The point is that the media and
message strategies are interdependent and decisions in
one area affect decisions in the other.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
The Reach Objective

The percent of people exposed to a brand message one

or more times within a specified period of time is called
reach. A campaign’s success is due in part to its
abil_x0002_ity to reach as many of the targeted
audience as possible within a stated budget and time
period. Consequently, many planners feel that reach is
the most important objective and that it’s the place to
start when figuring out a media plan.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
The Frequency Objective

Frequency refers to the repetition of message exposure. You

should keep in mind that the frequency number for a media buy is
actually the average number of exposure opportunities of those
reached.
Because frequency is an average, it can be misleading. The range
of frequency is often large: Some people see a particular brand
message once, while others may see it 10 times within a given
period.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
Effective Frequency

Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, there

should be a threshold, or minimum frequency level, that produces
some type of effect, such as a request for more brand information,
a change in attitude toward the brand, or the most desired effect—
purchase of the brand
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives

A standard rule of thumb is that it takes 3 to 10

exposures to have an effect on an audience. Obviously
this frequency range is extremely wide. The “right”
frequency number is determined by several factors,
including level of brand awareness, level of competitive
“noise,” content of the message, and sophistication of
the target audience.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives

Media Waste
In the discussion of targeted reach we mentioned waste
as a result of targeting too wide of a target market.
Actually, there are two sides to waste—both reach and
frequency. The goal of media planning is to maximize
media efficiency, which is to eliminate excessive overlap
or too much frequency.
 Step 2: Communication and Media
Objectives
Writing Media Objectives

1. Reach 60 percent of target audience with a frequency of 4

within each four-week period in which the advertising runs.

2. Reach a maximum percentage of target audience a minimum of

five times within the first six months of advertising.

3. Reach 30 percent of the target audiences where they have an

opportunity to interact with the brand and users of the brand.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA
PLANNING?
Step 3: Media Strategies

Strategic thinking in media involves a set of decision

factors and tools that help identify the best way to deliver
the brand message. Regardless of whether a company
spends a few hundred dollars on one medium or millions
of dollars on a variety of media, the goal is still the same:
to reach the right people at the right time with the right
message
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Media strategy is the way media planners determine the most

cost-effective way to reach the target audience and satisfy the
media objectives. Specific media strategies are based on
analyzing and comparing various ways to accomplish the media
objectives, and then selecting the approach that is estimated to be
the most effective alternative. The idea is that there are always
multiple ways to reach an objective, but which way is the best?
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Strategies That Deliver Reach and Frequency

In certain situations, for example, when the objectives call for high
reach, the strategies used would involve creating broad exposure
using many media vehicles. For example, high-reach strategies
might be used in order to provide reminders for a well-known
brand or to introduce a new product that has a broadly defined
target market.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Strategies That Deliver Reach and Frequency

If the objectives specify high frequency, then the media strategies

will probably be narrower in focus with a more limited list of media
vehicles. That would be the case for niche products with tightly
defined target markets (low reach) or for products that need a high
level of information and explanation.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Strategies That Deliver Reach and Frequency

High-frequency strategies are also used to counter competitive

offers and to build the brand’s share of voice in a highly cluttered
category. Sometimes a low-frequency objective is specified when
there is less need for repetition
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Media Mix Selection

The reach and frequency objectives also lead to decisions about

the media mix. We mentioned earlier that you can rarely generate
an acceptable reach level with just one media vehicle. Most
brands use a variety of targeted media vehicles, called a media
mix, to reach current and potential customers. ESPN, for example,
uses TV, magazines, radio, and the Internet, as well as original
programming on its own ESPN channel, to promote its programs.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Media Mix Selection

Media mixes are used for a number of reasons. The first is to

reach people not reached by the first or most important medium.
Using a variety of media vehicles distributes the message more
widely because different media tend to have different audience
profiles. Of course, these different audience groups should
generally fit within the brand’s target market.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Media Mix Selection

Some people even reject certain media: television advertising, for

example, is considered intrusive and Internet advertising is
irritating to some people. Other reasons for spreading the plan
across different media include adding exposure in less expensive
media and using media that have some attractive characteristics
that enhance the creative message
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Geographical Strategies

Another factor planners use in analyzing the target audience is

geography. Are potential customers found all over the country,
therefore calling for a national campaign, and does the client have
the budget to afford such an extensive media plan?
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Geographical Strategies

In most cases, the me dia plan will identify special regions or

DMAs to be emphasized with a heavy-up schedule, which means
proportionately more of the budget is spent in those areas. The
company’s sales coverage area (i.e., geography) is a major factor
used to make this decision. There’s no sense advertising inareas
where the product isn’t available
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Geographical Strategies

To determine which geographical areas have the highest (and

lowest) rate of consumption for a particular product category,
marketers compute a category development index (CDI) for each
market in which they are interested. Then they calculate a brand
development index (BDI), which estimates the strength of their
brand in the various geographical areas.
Step 3: Media Strategies
Step 3: Media Strategies
INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA
PLANNING
ADVERT 3219 Module 1
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Geographical Strategies

In most cases, the media plan will identify special regions or

DMAs to be emphasized with a heavy-up schedule, which means
proportionately more of the budget is spent in those areas. The
company’s sales coverage area (i.e., geography) is a major factor
used to make this decision. There’s no sense advertising inareas
where the product isn’t available
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Scheduling Strategies

When should a potential customer be exposed to a brand

message?Scheduling strategies are designed to identify the best
times for consumers to come in contactwith a brand message.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Scheduling Strategies

For many product categories, prospective customers have one or

more ideal times or places at which they are most receptive to
receiving and paying attention to a brand message. This ideal
time/place is called an aperture, and becomes an important factor
in scheduling media placements.
 Step 3: Media Strategies

Scheduling Strategies

Regardless of whether a company spends a few hundred dollars

on one medium or millions of dollars on a variety of media, the
goal is still the same: to reach the right people at the right time
with the right message. If advertising budgets were unlimited,
most companies would advertise every day. Not even the largest
advertisers are in this position, so media planners manipulate
schedules in various ways to create the strongest possible impact
given the budget
 Three scheduling strategies involve:

1. Timing Strategies: When to Advertise?

Timing decisions relate to factors such as seasonality, holidays,

days of the week, and time of day. These decisions are driven by
how often the product is bought and whether it is used more in
some months than in others. Timing also encompasses the
consumers’ best aperture and competitors’ advertising schedules.
 1. Timing Strategies: When to Advertise?

Another consideration is lead time, or the amount of time allowed

before the beginning of the salesperiod to reach people when they
are just beginning to think about seasonal buying. Back-to school
advertising is an example. Advertising typically starts in July or
early August for a school calendar that begins in late August or
September. Lead time also refers to the production time needed to
get the advertisement into the medium. There is a long lead time
for magazines, but it is shorter for local media, such as
newspapers and radio.
 Three scheduling strategies involve:

2. Duration: How Long?

For how many weeks or months of the year should the advertising
run? If there is a need to cover most of the weeks, advertising will
be spread rather thin. If the amount of time to cover is limited,
advertising can be concentrated more heavily. Message
scheduling is driven by use cycles.
 2. Duration: How Long?

For products that are consumed year-round, such as fast food

and movies, advertising is spread throughout the year. In general,
if you cannot cover the whole year, you should heavy up the
schedule in higher purchase periods. For example, movie
marketers do most of their newspaper advertising on the
weekends, when most people go to movies.
 2. Duration: How Long?

Another question is how much is enough. At what point does the

message make its point? If the advertising period is too short or
there are too few repetitions, then the message may have little or
no impact. If the period is too long, then ads may suffer from
wearout, which means the audience gets tired of them and stops
paying attention.
 Three scheduling strategies involve:

3. Continuity: How Often?

Continuity refers to the way the advertising is spread over the

length of a campaign. A continuous strategy spreads the
advertising evenly over the campaign period. Two other methods
to consider, pulsing and flighting.
 3. Continuity: How Often?

A pulsing strategy is used to intensify advertising before a

buying aperture and then to reduce advertising to lower levels
until the aperture reopens. The pulse pattern has peaks and
valleys, also called bursts. Fast-food companies such as
McDonald’s and Burger King often use pulsing patterns as they
increase media weight during special promotional periods.
Although the competition for daily customers suggests continuous
advertising, they will greatly intensify activity to accommodate
special events such as new menu items, merchandise premiums,
and contests. Pulsed schedules cover most of the year, but still
provide periodic intensity.
 3. Continuity: How Often?

A flighting strategy is the most severe type of continuity

adjustment. It is characterized by alternating periods of intense
advertising activity and periods of no advertising, called a hiatus.
This on-and-off schedule allows for a longer campaign. The hope
in using nonadvertising periods is that the consumers will
remember the brand and its advertising for some time after the
ads have stopped.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS IN MEDIA PLANNING?

Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics

Like every other aspect of marketing communication, media plans

are driven by questions of accountability. And because media
decisions are based on measurable factors, identifiable costs, and
budget limitations, media planners are engrossed in calculating
the impact and efficiency of their media recommendations
 Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics

Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Among the most important tools media planners use in designing

a media mix is a calculation of a media schedule’s gross rating
points and targeted rating points.As we’ve suggested, reach and
frequency are interrelated concepts that, when combined,
generate an estimate called gross rating points.
 Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics

Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Gross rating points, or GRPs, indicate the weight, or efficiency, of

a media plan. The more GRPs in a plan, the more “weight” the
media buy is said to deliver.
 Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics

Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Since the total audience obviously includes waste coverage, the

estimate of targeted rating points (TRPs) adjusts the calculation to
exclude the waste coverage so it more accurately reflects the
percentage of the target audience watching a program.
 Cost Efficiency

As mentioned earlier, one way to compare budgets with the

competition is called share of voice. It sets the budget relative to
your brand’s and your competitors’market share. For example, if
your client has a 40 percent share of the market, then you may
decide to spend at a 40 percent share of voice in order to maintain
your brand’s competitive position.
 Cost Efficiency

As mentioned earlier, one way to compare budgets with the

competition is called share of voice. It sets the budget relative to
your brand’s and your competitors’market share. For example, if
your client has a 40 percent share of the market, then you may
decide to spend at a 40 percent share of voice in order to maintain
your brand’s competitive position.
 Cost Efficiency

CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

Advertisers don’t make decisions about the media mix solely in

terms of targeting, geography, and schedule considerations.
Sometimes the decision comes down to cold, hard cash. The
advertiser wants prospects, not just readers, viewers, or listeners;
therefore, they compare the cost of each proposed media vehicle
with the specific vehicle’s ability to deliver the target audience.
The cheapest vehicle may not deliver the highest percent of the
target audience, and the highest priced vehicle may deliver
exactly the right target audience, so the selection process is a
balancing act between cost and reach.
 Cost Efficiency

CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

The term cost per thousand (CPM) is industry shorthand for the
cost of getting 1,000 impressions. CPM is best used when
comparing the cost of vehicles within the same medium
(comparing one magazine with another or one television program
with another). This is because different media have different levels
of impact. To be more precise and determine the efficiency of a
potential media buy, planners often look at the targeted cost per
thousand (TCPM).
 Cost Efficiency

Media Optimization

In our earlier discussion of media mix strategy, we looked at the

efficiency of various media plans. Tools that help estimate the
most optimum use of various media plans us_x0002_ing
computer models involve calculating the weight of a media
schedule and optimizing the schedule for the greatest impact.
These optimization techniques enable marketers to determine the
relative impact of a media mix on product sales and optimize the
efficiency of the media mix.
Media Metrics and Analytics
ADVERT 3219 Module 1
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Among the most important tools media planners use in

designing a media mix is a calculation of a media
schedule’s gross rating points and targeted rating
points.As we’vesuggested, reach and frequency are
interrelated concepts that, when combined, generate an
estimatecalled gross rating points.
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Gross rating points, or GRPs, indicate the weight, or

efficiency, of a media plan. The more GRPs in a plan, the
more “weight” the media buy is said to deliver.
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs

To find a plan’s GRPs, you multiply each media vehicle’s

rating by the number of ads inserted into each media
vehicle during the designated time period and add up the
total for the vehicles.
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Once the media vehicles that produce the GRPs have

been identified, computer programs canbe used to break
down the GRPs into reach and frequency (R&F) numbers.
These R&F models arebased on consumer media use
research and produce data showing to what extent
audiences, viewers, and readers overlap
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs

Using the same budget, the two different media mixes

produce different GRP totals. A good media planner will
look at several different mixes of programs that reach the
target audience, figure theGRPs for each, and then break
this calculation into R&F estimates for each plan.
GRPs
 Impact: GRPs and TRPs
Since the total audience obviously includes waste
coverage, the estimate of targeted ratingpoints (TRPs)
adjusts the calculation to exclude the waste coverage so it
more accurately reflects the percentage of the target
audience watching a program. Because the waste
coverage is eliminated, the TRPs are lower than the total
audience GRPs. Targeted rating points are, like R&F,
determined by media usage research data, which is
available from syndicated research services like MRI and
from the major media vehicles themselves.
TRPs
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs
The term cost per thousand (CPM) is industry shorthand
for the cost of getting 1,000 impressions. CPM is best
used when comparing the cost of vehicles within the same
medium(comparing one magazine with another or one
television program with another). This is because different
media have different levels of impact.
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

To be more precise and determine the efficiency of a

potential media buy, planners often look at the targeted
cost per thousand (TCPM).
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

To calculate a CPM for a broadcast commercial, you need

only two figures: the cost of an ad and the estimated
audience reached by the vehicle. Multiply the cost of the
ad by 1,000 and divide that number by the size of the
broadcast audience. You multiply the cost of the ad by
1,000 to calculate a “cost per thousand.”
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs
In the case of print, CPMs are based on circulation or
number of readers.
Ex. Time magazine has a circulation of 4 million but claims
a readership of 19.5 million. The difference between
circulation and readership is due to what is called pass-
along readership. In the case of Time, this means each
issue is read by about five people. As you would suspect,
media vehicles prefer that agencies use readership rather
than circulation for figuring CPM because this produces a
much lower CPM.
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

Calculating CPM In the following example, CPM is

calculated based on Time readership and the price of a
one-page, four-color ad, $240,000. Remember, you want
to know what it costs to reach 1,000 readers.
CPM
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

•Calculating TCPM To figure the TCPM, you first determine

how many of Time’s readersare in your target audience.
For the sake of discussion, we’ll say that only 5 million of
Time’s readers fall into our target audience profile. As you
can see from the following calculation, the TCPM greatly
increases. This is because you still have to pay to reach all
the readers, even though only about one-fourth of them
are of value to you.
TCPM
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

Calculating CPP Now we’ll look at how to determine cost

per point (CPP), which estimates the cost of reaching 1
million households based on a program’s rating points.
Divide the cost of running one commercial by the rating of
the program in which the commercial will appear.
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

If a 30-second spot on Lost costs $320,000, and it has a

rating of 8, then the cost per rating point would be
$40,000:
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

Calculating TCPP To figure the targeted cost per point

(TCPP), the rating points based on the target audience
you want to reach, determine what percentage of the
audience is your target. In the case of Lost, we will
estimate that half of the audience is our target.
 CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs

Thus, the overall rating of 8 is reduced to 4 ( 50% x 8 = 4

rating). Now we divide the one-time cost of $320,000 by 4
and find the TCPP is $80,000: