MEDIA PLANNING AT A GLANCE

What is Media Planning:

“Media Planning” is the process of selecting time and space in various media for advertising in order to accomplish marketing objectives. Or to keep it short: It is the process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be used for advertising.

Why media planning?:

Without media planning, advertisers would not know where to sell their products as well as what is the most effective media for their product. Media Planning helps identify the best advertising space, target market and media for your clients product!

Basic WORDS in Media Planning:

Basic WORDS in Media Planning Advertising Space –
Advertising space is the “space” in-between a television show where you see all the advertisements, it is the pages of advertisement one see’s in a magazine or newspaper, it is also the space in-between a radio show.

Basic WORDS in Media Planning Medium –

A medium is a carrier and deliverer of Advertisements. It is a broad general category of carries such as Newspapers, Television, Radio, Internet, Outdoor, Direct Mail, etc.

Basic WORDS in Media Planning Media Vehicle –

It is a specific carrier within a Media category. So a Discovery would be the vehicle in the category of TV. Many a time a specific programs or sections within a medium may be termed as a vehicle. (e.g. NTV7, Star Newspaper, Radio 4)

Media:

Media Advertising media generally include: - Television, Radio, Newspaper, Magazines, Outdoor billboards, Pubic transportation, Yellow Pages, Direct Mail, Specialty advertising (on items such as matchbooks, pencils, calendars, telephone pads, shopping bags) and Other media (catalogs, samples, handouts, brochures, newsletters).

The RIGHT MEDIA:

The RIGHT MEDIA Traditional or Mass Media: TV, Radio. Idea to reach large audience. Niche Media: Cable TV, Direct mail, etc. Reach the target audience with specific demographics, narrowly defined target audience. Non-Conventional Media: Internet.

Who are Media Planners?:

Media Planner is a job title in an advertising agency responsible for selecting media for advertisement placement on behalf of their clients. The main aim of a Media Planner is to assist their client in achieving business objectives through their advertising budgets by recommending the best possible use of various media platforms available to advertisers.

Their roles may include analyzing target audiences, keeping abreast of media developments, reading market trends and understanding motivations of consumers.


Media Plan:

Media Plan In order to choose the right media, it is important to put together a media plan for the advertising campaign. A media plan is a custom tailored-designed expressly to meet the needs of an advertiser at a given time for specific marketing purposes.

These are the questions the clients (companies, organizations, institutions) will be asking the media planners: Who are the competitors in the market? Who are the audience you are targeting? What media are you going to use and why? How many of the target audience will be exposed? How often?

Media planning today is all about: Marketing Research, Advertising, Consumer Behavior, Creativity & Sensitivity

Overview:

The media planner usually prepares the media plan, which is approved by the advertiser, then made the purchasing through various media vehicle. Media planning today is very much different from the traditional ones. According to some sources. The traditional media planning produces lesser sales. Why?

The markets and culture are changing Increasing media options Increasing fragmentation of the audience Increasing costs Increasing competition. Now! Consumers not only want to know about the new brands but also established brands. Segmented market Technology enabled ads to deliver to appeal smaller groups. Personal Video Recorder (PVR) / VCR is a threat to TV advertising. (Internet DOWNLOADS!!)

Roles of the Media Planner:

Traditionally, the role of the media planner was quite close to that of a media buyer, the obvious difference being that the planner would devise a plan for advertising and the buyer would negotiate with the media owner on things such as rates, copy deadlines, placement etc.

The role of the modern media planner is more wide reaching however. Today many agencies are actually avoiding the job title of 'media planner' in favour of titles such as communications planner, brand planner or strategist.

According to Arens (1999), the society today is over communicated: - Advertising media planners need the analytical competence of top financial officers and the creativity of senior art directors and copywriters.

Due to the technologies advancements and audience fragmentation, media planners in ad agencies have different roles today. NOW As important as marketing and creative planning Planning is becoming very complex Must know how to plan the formula

Not only must they know the media, but also marketing research, advertising, creative, planning, and of course the computer! Make decision to buy media, and also to defend, prove, and justify the reasons for buying. Internet contributes to this change as well.

More on Media:

Traditional Mass Media Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, TV Large audiences, low costs Certain programs audience Disadvantages: DO not use a medium because of the content of the advertising Different media have different abilities in exposing the ad material.

Nontraditional Media Alternate ways of reaching the customers, out of the competition Sales promotion, internet advertising, TV screens in airports, walls in public toilets, floor in supermarkets, banners, video tapes, aerial banners, parking meters, electronic billboards, grocery receipts, etc.

Media Planning Procedure:

Media planning is a component of the Marketing strategy of the organization. Therefore, marketing considerations must go before Media Planning. Media planning on the whole answers a lot of questions like "How many prospects do I need to Reach?". "In which medium should I place the Ads?", etc.

Principles for selecting Media Vehicles:

Select a media vehicle that can reach prospects… With an optimum amount of frequency (repetition) At the lowest CPM (cost per thousand) With a minimum of waste Within a specified budget.

What is CPM??:

CPM is an acronym for Cost Per Thousand -- the "M" in CPM derives from the Latin "mille" for "thousand." CPM is commonly used in marketing as a benchmark to calculate the relative cost of an advertising campaign or an ad message. Rather than an absolute cost, CPM estimates the cost per 1000 views of the ad. It is calculated by: Total budget / (Impressions/1000) = CPM

Example of CPM on the NET:

CPM is used by Internet marketers to price ad banners. Sites that sell advertising will guarantee an advertiser a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors.), then set a rate based on that guarantee times the CPM rate. A Web site that has a CPM rate of $25 and guarantees advertisers 600,000 impressions will charge $15,000 ($25 x 600) for those advertisers' ad banner.

Problems in Media Planning:

Insufficient media data Time pressures External influences – pressure to produce “creative” media plans Institutional influences on media decisions Lack of objectivity Measuring advertising effectiveness

Media Buyer:

An individual working directly for an advertiser, or for an advertising agency, charged with the responsibility of purchasing advertising space. An interactive media buyer makes online ad space purchases, sometimes through an ad network

Media Broker:

An individual or organization that represents and is authorized to sell the advertising space of one or more publishers. Advertising networks can act as brokers for online publishers

References:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82454.html Arens, W.F. (1999) Contemporary Advertising (th ed.). USA: McGraw-Hill