Role of Media Planner, Challenges of Media Planning

Role of Media Planner

The role of a media planner starts the moment the creative development of an advertisement is complete. The media planning department is responsible for the planning, scheduling booking of ads and purchasing space and time in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV outdoor hoardings, etc. The basic aim of a media planner is to assist the client in achieving his business objectives through advertising by recommending the best media platforms available to advertisers. The media planning department must therefore devise the most effective strategy to bring a campaign message to the target audience within a given budget.

Responsibilities

Work with the client and the account team to understand the client’s business objectives and advertising strategy liaise with the creative agency team, clients and consumers to develop media strategies and campaigns

• Work on several projects at the same time, often for several different clients
• Make decisions on the best form of media for specific clients and campaigns
• Undertake research and analyse data using specialist industry resources
• Identify target audiences and analyse their characteristics, behaviour and media habits
• Present proposals, including cost schedules, to clients
• Recommend the most appropriate types of media to use, as well as the most effective time spans and locations
• Work with colleagues, other departments and media buyers either in-house or in a specialist agency
• Make and maintain good contacts with media owners, such as newspapers, magazines and websites
• Manage client relationships to build respect and gain their trust in your judgement
• Proofread advertisement content before release
• Maintain detailed records
• Evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns to inform future ones.

Skill Sets: A media planner must have a thorough understanding of the client’s products the target audience for those products and their buying patterns, along with knowledge of every media vehicle. It is imperative that a media planner be aware of the prevalent market condition and be equipped with the knowledge to predict future trends. The ability to plan and work within a specified budget, good analytical skills, an aptitude for handling large numbers and negotiating rates with media sellers and the clients are other required skill sets.

Scope of a career in Media planning: With an increasing number of foreign products intents on making a debut in India, the future looks bright for those considering media planning as a career option. At this stage, it is important to understand where the market is headed. The role of the modern media planner is expanding. Today, a media planner also performs the role of a communication planner, brand planner or strategist. This reflects a shift from traditional media planning to a more holistic approach with the planner now having to consider, amongst other things, PR, below the line channels, in-sore, digital media, product placement and other emerging communications channels. If you have an understanding of the market and the consumer and are willing to put in long hours, which are necessary for media planning, you could find yourself carving a successful career in this much coveted field.

Challenges of Media Planning

Time Pressure:

Sometimes environment changes are sudden and quick. These sudden changes require immediate decisions regarding advertisements. In such case, media planning decisions are made without proper analysis of various factors affecting media planning e.g. change in media strategies of our immediate competitor requires immediate counter media strategies. It exerts a lot of time pressure on media-planners, to take quick decisions. So decisions taken in a hurry may be wrong.

It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of a particular media for con­veying relevant message through the media. The reach of the media to the target audience cannot be measured accurately. The study regarding the readership or exposure to the viewers are conducted only for a limited period and the limited study cannot reflect the total effect of exposure; through a medium.

Insufficient Information:

Media planning requires lot of information regarding nature of target customers like their age, education level, their geographical concentration, their size, etc. It also needs information about competitors, media strategies of competitors; information about media like their rates, Image, rating etc. Collecting all such information is a tedious job. Sampling technique is used for collecting all such information. If this information is not sufficient or is incorrect then whole process of media planning will fail.

Difficulty in Audience Measurement:

Audience measurement here refers to number of persons who are exposed to a particular media. It is very difficult to measure the number of audience of any media especially broadcast media. For example, it is very difficult to ascertain how many persons watch a particular television programme. If the number of viewers of a media is ascertained, even then it is very difficult to ascertain the number of target audience out of total number of viewers. Audience measurements are a key element in selecting media. In the absence of this information, media planning may be wrong.

Changing Environment Factors:

Media planning is a continuous process. Data used in media planning is affected by external environment factors, these environment factors may change at any time. For example, if at present a particular T.V. programme is very popular, but soon its popularity may decline with the launch of another popular T.V. programme at the same time in another T.V. channel. So, the viewership of first T.V. programme may decline. Similarly, other environment factors viz. competitors’ media strategy may change. These fast-changing environment factors may render the media planning less effective.

Difficulty in Cost Comparison:

While evaluating the relative effectiveness of different media, cost comparison of different media is done. But cost of different media is available on different basis. Like in case of print media, cost per word or per square centimetre is known; in case of broadcast media, cost per second is known, in case of outdoor media, cost per sign board/sky balloon, etc. is known. All these costs are on different basis. Hence, cost comparison of different media is very difficult. In the absence of proper cost comparison, selection of appropriate media is difficult.

Media Decisions Based on Guess Work:

All media decisions are not quantitatively determined. Many media decisions are based on judgment of ad-manager e.g. mangers have to make guess regarding image of a particular media in the market. Sometimes these guess works are made without adequate analysis. So these guess works may be wrong.

Confusions Regarding Different Terminologies:

Different terms are used for measuring different forms of media. It is difficult to measure the total effect of the advertisements, focused through different media. For example, in print media the effectiveness is calcu­lated on the basis of cost to reach a thousand people i.e., cost per thousand or CPM.

In broadcast media like TV or radio, the effectiveness is calcu­lated on the basis of cost per ratings point or CPRP. But the media planner should be interested to know the reach and the coverage of a particular medium to assess the ultimate effectiveness of the exposures.

Inadequate Expertise:

The work of media planning requires the services of talented, experienced and skilled ad- mangers. If the ad-manager does not have sufficient exposure, knowledge, experience, talent then media decisions may go wrong.

Immediate Action:

Considering certain pressures, the advertiser sometimes may be compelled to release advertisements, through different media, without any proper media planning. Some situations like, in case of any important urgent announcement, any particular offer for a very limited period, to take advantage of certain eventualities etc. may inspire or compel the advertisers to release the advertisements through different media without proper planning.