Fundamentals of Media

Planning

Media planning is the process of designing a

course of action which shows how advertising
time and space can be best utilized to achieve
the marketing objectives.
David Aaker

So, in a nutshell
To ensure that the communication
reaches a predetermined number of
people
with certain common characteristics
with
and
at adequate
the lowestdegree
cost. of impact

It Starts with a Media Brief

Marketing Objective

Sales, Awareness, Market Share

Communication Objective

Top of the mind, Changing attitudes, Checking

decline

Target Audience

Definition

Target Markets

Prioritization

Competitive Information

Competition and Market Share

Seasonality

Seasonality of category/brand sales

Budget

Often client specified or could be need based

The Media Work Flow

Strategic Media Planning

The 6 Pillars of Media Planning

Pillar #1: Competitive Analysis

Reported expenditures
Competitors spending patterns, scheduling
strategies/tactics, geographic skews etc.

Creative executions
Positioning, Complexity of message, Target
Audience,
Communication Objectives

Market intelligence
Likely happenings, degree of success of past
competitive
strategies etc.

Pillar #2: Target

Audience
Primary Target Audience
The core group of people to whom we
want to convey the message.
Secondary Target Audience
The next important group.
Influencers

How We Define Them

Demographics
SEC; MHI;
Sex; Age
Occupation

Psychographics
Introvert, Extrovert, Gregarious

Life Style
Goes to movie/restaurant once a week

Product Usage
when bought?
Profile of the HH
So a definition of a target audience for a high end womens
- Female, 25-34, SEC A, Middle level Exec, Fashionable,
cosmetic could be
Living in a Metro

Pillar #3: The Target Market

Deals with the relative importance of each
market
and prioritizing in the right order.
Basis of prioritization

Market Size
Current Sales
Target Sales
Market Potential
Competitive Activity
Understanding of certain indices of
measurement
CDI
BDI

Indices of Measurement
Category Development Index (CDI) :
An index which measures the relative per capita
consumption of a category of product across a
geographical area and is calculated by dividing the %
category sales in a market by the % TG population in the
same market.

Brand Development Index (BDI) :

An index which measures the relative per capita
consumption of a brand across a geographical area and
is calculated by dividing the % brand sales in a market by
the % TG population in the same market.

Market Opportunity Index (MOI) :

A measure of the potential provided for a brand by a
specific geographical market. Calculated as the ratio of
CDI to BDI.

Pillar #4: Media

Environment

u cant judge a medium by its cover, there is

more to it than meets the eye

Pillar #4: Media

Environment

Medium as Vehicle
Efficiency of a particular medium/vehicle.
Rationale behind selection of a particular
medium or media vehicle.
Medium as Medium
The inherent characteristics of a particular
medium and using them best to the brands
objectives.
Medium as Message
The characteristics of each medium that
engage the viewer in different ways.

Medium As Vehicle
Reach or Coverage
Print (Dailies) : High Reach, Local Coverage.
TV : High Reach, Local / Mass Coverage.

Entry cost
The cost of running a campaign in a particular medium.
High for both TV and print.

Frequency of using the medium

How often the audience uses it. High for both TV and
print. TV- Hrs watched / week, Dailies Hrs read / week.

Medium As
Medium
Duration ( transitory or semi-permanent )
TV : Fleeting exposure.
Magazines : Long shelf life
Readership

Colour / Movement / Sound

TV : Combines sound, movement and colour

Scope of extended argument

TV : Passive medium, Low scope of extended argument
Print : Active medium, hence scope of argument high

Reproduction Quality
Good in Magazines and TV

Medium As
Message
Every medium has its own characteristic
when it comes engaging the medium in its
own unique way
the medium through which a person encounters a
particular piece of content would have an effect on the
individual's understanding of it for e.g. a chocolate ad
targeted at kids when played on kids channel
could have a different impact on him due to his
engagement with the medium

Pillar #5: Media Mix & Weight

Setting

What & How Much Is Enough ?

What is the right Media Mix ?

Reach of Media

Role of Media

Factors

TV

Dailies

Magazines

Image

High

Low

High

Impact

High

High

High

Memorability

High

Low

Medium

Information

Low

High

High

Medium
Medium

High
High

High
Low

Focused Targeting
Immediacy

 Task-led

How Much Is
Enough ?

how much advertising is needed to achieve the desired

effect or response?

Budget-led
how much advertising will the budget buy?

Usually start with a task-led approach but then

modify it to fit into the available budget
The weight needed will depend on :
the size of the advertising task
the medium chosen
the competitive environment

Reach Or
Frequency ?
A given budget will buy a given level of advertising weight
There is a degree of choice between reach (the number of
people) and frequency (the number of times we reach them)
The balance between reach and frequency will depend on the
task in hand
Ideally, we would reach
ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME

But, if this is unaffordable, then is

SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME

better or worse than

ALL OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME?

Establishing Communication
Priorities
EFFECTIVE FREQUENCY
How many times do we need to expose the message to the
target audience in a defined period?
EFFECTIVE REACH
What proportion of the target audience do we need to cover at
the effective frequency level?
CONTINUITY
At what intervals must the exposure occur?

From these the planner must establish

communication priorities

1. Effective Frequency
What level of frequency is effective?
Standard Theory
Emphasizes the value of 3 exposures ..
First exposure : What is it?

Second exposure : What of it?

does it have personal relevance? (the sale)

Third exposure : What am I going to do about it?

attention-getting, even if disregarded

what action am I going to take?

Therefore, just one exposure regarded as ineffective

1. Effective Frequency

What level of frequency is

effective?
The Theory
That there is a minimum advertising exposure level for a
product, below which there is no observed effect on the
advertising goal (awareness, sales, etc. )
That there is a maximum level above which there is
either no further observed effect or significant
diminishing returns
Within this range lies the band of effective frequency
broad acceptance within the industry that a frequency of 2
represents a minimum effective exposure level ,and 8 a
maximum effective level over a 4-week period

1. Effective Frequency

What level of frequency is effective for

my
brand ? the Level
Establishing
Within the broad minimum/maximum exposure levels,
how can we then determine what level is appropriate
for an individual product?
A large number of influences create a need for either
a greater or a lesser frequency within a defined
period of time - they vary in relevance and
importance to each individual product
The ultimate decision on the effective frequency level
for an individual product involves subjective
judgement

2. Effective Reach
Suppose we have decided that effective frequency is
4+, the next issue is effective reach
what % of the target group do we need to cover at the
effective frequency level?

Ideally 100%, but thats impractical

Setting effective reach targets is a trade-off between
achieving the highest level of reach at the effective
frequency level, and
minimizing the diminishing return of each additional GRP

3. Continuity
How many weeks of advertising is
required?
Continuity is important because advertising decays
Decay is the rate at which spontaneous brand
awareness declines after advertising stops
Consumers first forget brand benefits and then the
brand itself
The rate of decay is broadly constant for an individual
campaign after advertising stops

3.
Continuity
But decay rates vary by campaign, depending on:
product and life stages
the advertising medium
creative execution
competitive environment

Advertising effort must therefore be sustained

at regular intervals if awareness is to be built
or maintained

Erwin Ephrons Recency

Model
The concept
Disputes relevance of effective frequency today
Brand selection influenced by advtg - hence
reach
consumers when they are ready to buy
As purchases occur throughout the year,
advertise
continuously : rent-the-shelf, so brand message
will be waiting
THEREFORE, PLAN FOR WEEKLY REACH

Erwin Ephrons Recency

Model
An advertising exposure is most effective
close to the purchase
consumers are in a receptive frame of mind with an ability to
act immediately

Close to the purchase, one exposure is

most effective
Therefore.
Improve the cost effectiveness of advertising by
shifting weight to weeks i.e use the frequency
money to buy more weeks of advtg and reach
more prospects ready to buy in those weeks

Erwin Ephrons Recency

Model
Problems
Model operates in marketing vacuum

No consideration given to market share, distribution,

or marketing objectives and strategies

Maintaining awareness is not primary

communication goal of most advertising campaigns

Therefore frequency does play an important role in

advertising efforts

Frequency is important for creating long-term

benefits of brand equity

Recency vs Effective
Frequency
Recency
Large and familiar
brands
Categories with low
purchase cycles impulse led categories

Effective
Frequency
When the consumer is
being taught
Highly competitive
market situations
Need to drive a
marketing objective/
consumer promotion

* Cannot be generalized across brands, markets or creative

Pillar #6: Scheduling

Media weight scheduled for many weeks
Continuity
throughout year

Intermittent, with gaps in advertising

Flighting

Scheduling Patterns
Pattern

Pros

Cons

Covers entire purchase cycle

Affordability
Continuity
Constant reminder
Improves media discounts
Consumers
Used due to budget limitations
Flighting
Sharp seasonal fluctuations
are always
Competitive advantage
buying the
product
Consumers
forget during
non-advtg
Pulsing Similar to Continuity
Affordability
periods
Allows for timing deviations

To Sum Up
A Media Plan must evolve from and
be fully integrated with Marketing,
Advertising and Creative objectives

Current Databases, Research

&
Tools
Audit Bureau of Circulation:

Audited Circulation of registered publications

Tracks net paid sales for publications
Circulation by state/district/city/edition
Updated every 6 months

Indian Readership Survey (IRS):

Masthead questionnaire, Interviewer assisted
Universe 12+yrs
2.5 lac Samples the biggest survey of its kind in the country
Rolling survey every quarter
Top Metros to villages <1K covered
Readership figures available for approx. 200 dailies & 120
magazines
Product profiling

Current Databases, Research & Too

Television Audience Measurement (TAM) :
Peoplemeter panel
8000+ Peoplemeters, 30000 individuals
161 towns, .1 Mn - Metros (except in Mah where it covers
below 1L)
400+ channels
Minute by minute viewership data
Updated at a weekly level

ADEX MAP:
Competitive Spends data
Across channels (TV), dailies & fm (only in mum & Del)
Updated weekly

Current Databases, Research & Too

Target Group Index (TGI):
A strategic & communication tool for urban upper end
audience covering:
Product / Brand usage
Lifestyle / Leisure / Media consumption
Demographics / Psychographics

Radio Audience Measurement (RAM):

Diary Method
Listenership recorded every 15 minutes
Universe 12+yrs, owning FM device
Available only for Mum, Del, Kolkata & Bangalore

Media Softwares & Applications

Databas
e of:

Iread.lnk

Choices 3.lnk

Map30.lnk

Media XPress 3.0.lnk

XPert (India).lnk

Readership, Media
Habits and Products &
Service Consumption
Psychographics, Media
Habits, Lifestyle, and
Products & Service
Consumption

Ad Expenditure in TV, Print and

Radio

Used for:
TG Profiling,
Market Prioritisation,
Media Habits and Print
Plan
TG Profiling,
Market Prioritisation,
Media Habits

Competition Tracking

Television Audience
Measurement, Channel &
program performance

TV Plan

Television Audience
Measurement, Channel &
program performance

TV Plan Optimization

Finally.Client
Responsibilities
The client should subscribe
to the following seven
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

principles:
Media expenditure is a strategic investment, not a cost.
Good relationships with agencies and the media
(will produce dividends).
Media planning is a process of continuous improvement.
Media decisions should be based on facts and data, never
on cost alone.
Media planning must always be integrated into the advertising
planning process.
Brand management should have a basic knowledge of the
media market, and understand how media is bought and sold
The client should be a media industry leader to achieve
sustainable competitive advantage.

Client Responsibilities.(Cont

The computing maxim garbage in, garbage out applies to media

planning

That is why brand managements most important contribution is th

Media Brief

A briefing meeting attended by the brand group, the agency account

group
Brand
management's second most important contribution
and the
agency media team
is media
evaluation

This answers the questions:

Did the media plan deliver according to agreed
media selection criteria and cost estimates?
Was the media contribution to overall advertising
communication effective, and what lessons
can be learned?

Both client and agency should use this as part of the

continuous improvement process

Thank
Thank You
You