Tag: Media Planning & Management Mumbai University BMS Notes

Reach

In the application of statistics to advertising and media analysis, reach refers to the total number of different people or households exposed, at least once, to a medium during a given period. Reach should not be confused with the number of people who will actually be exposed to and consume the advertising, though. It is just the number of people who are exposed to the medium and therefore have an opportunity to see or hear the ad or commercial. Reach may be stated either as an absolute number, or as a fraction of a given population (for instance ‘TV households’, ‘men’ or ‘those aged 25–35’).

For any given viewer, they have been “reached” by the work if they have viewed it at all (or a specified amount) during the specified period. Multiple viewings by a single member of the audience in the cited period do not increase reach; however, media people use the term effective reach to describe the quality of exposure. Effective reach and reach are two different measurements for a target audience who receive a given message or ad.

Since reach is a time-dependent summary of aggregate audience behavior, reach figures are meaningless without a period associated with them: an example of a valid reach figure would be to state that “[example website] had a one-day reach of 1565 per million on 21 March 2004” (though unique users, an equivalent measure, would be a more typical metric for a website).

Reach of television channels is often expressed in the form of “x minute weekly reach” that is, the number (or percentage) of viewers who watched the channel for at least x minutes in a given week.

Reach is the number of people in the Media Market that will likely be exposed to one Spot. Estimating reach is tricky because when you run an ad multiple times, the same person may see the ad more than once but you only want to count them once in Reach. There are many different methods to estimate reach. Most rely on software.

Cumulative/Frequency Reach

Cumulative frequency analysis is the analysis of the frequency of occurrence of values of a phenomenon less than a reference value. The phenomenon may be time- or space-dependent. Cumulative frequency is also called frequency of non-exceedance.

Cumulative frequency analysis is performed to obtain insight into how often a certain phenomenon (feature) is below a certain value. This may help in describing or explaining a situation in which the phenomenon is involved, or in planning interventions, for example in flood protection.

This statistical technique can be used to see how likely an event like a flood is going to happen again in the future, based on how often it happened in the past. It can be adapted to bring in things like climate change causing wetter winters and drier summers.

For impressions, use this formula:

Impressions = Cost / (Clicks Per Impression/1000)

And for frequency, use this formula:

Frequency = Impressions / Unique Users

Discrete & Cumulative distribution

For the different distributions which I will cover in these articles, they are classified as either a Discrete Probability Distribution or Continuous Probability Distribution. A simple way to understand if your data is discrete or continuous is to answer the following question: “Are the number of your outcomes finite?”

If the answer to the above is yes, then you have a discrete dataset. Otherwise, you likely have a continuous dataset.

To put things in a marketing perspective, imagine that you are looking at the number of likes that your Facebook campaign generated, you know that likes are finite because you count the number of likes as 1,2,3, …100, there is no chance of getting a 1.2 or 2.6 likes or other smaller value that isn’t exactly 1 or 2. These outcomes are a set of values rather than a continuous length of values.

Example of a continuous distribution would be the profit margin from your online store. On any given day, the store may report that it’s profit margin is $320. The actual profit margin may not be exactly $320. It could be $320.60, $320.06, or even $320.31415. All these values are different from the other and as such as referred to as a continuous range of values.

Average Opportunity to See (AOTS)

Average OTS is the number of times on average that a member of your target audience will see your ad. Opportunity to See or OTS is a measure in advertising media which denotes number of times the viewer is most likely to see the advertisement. It is basically frequency of media exposure. It is used in media planning or advertising media selection to answer the question- how many times.

Calculation:

OTS is calculated by dividing your TVRs by your reach: At 300 TVRs we have about 70% reach. That means the average OTS is 300 / 70 = 4.2.

Reach = TVRs /  OTS. So if you are planning 50 TVRs at 1.5 OTS it would seem that your reach would be 30%. However, reach is not easily predictable. This is for two reasons:

First with you will see that whilst the growth in TVRs is linear, the growth in reach is non-linear i.e. it decreases as you add on every 100 TVRs. Between 0 and 100 TVRs we generate 50% reach. But when we add on the next 100 TVRs we only generate 65% reach at 200 TVRs.

Different types of campaign on different stations, phased in different ways, with different use of daily schedules (dayparting) will increase reach in different ways. For example, a campaign that runs in weekday daytime between 9am and 5pm may struggle to get over 50% reach even at more than 300 TVRs. This is because you will not be reaching the audience that is working during the day.

Effective frequency/Reach

Frequency is the average number of times the advertisement will be presented to the Reached Population. One way to calculate frequency is to divide the number of Impressions by the Reach. Another way is to divide GRPs by Reach Percentage.

Reach can also be expressed as a percentage, which indicates the percentage of the Population that is exposed to at least one Spot.

Gross Rating Points (GRPs)

Gross Rating Point (GRP) is a measure of the size of an advertising campaign by a specific medium or schedule. GRP is calculated by multiplying the number of Spots by Rating.

In advertising, a gross rating point (GRP) measures impact. GRPs help answer how often “must someone see it before they can readily recall it” and “how many times” does it take before the desired outcome occurs.

Construction

“One GRP is one percent of all potential adult television viewers (or in radio, listeners) in a market.” If they are exposed to the ad three times, then that is 3 GRPs.

GRPs are simply total impressions related to the size of the target population: They are most directly calculated by summing the ratings of individual ads in a campaign.

Mathematically:

GRPs (%) = 100 * Impressions (#) ÷ Defined population (#)

GRPs (%) = 100 * Reach (%) × Average frequency (#)

Road Block

Marketing roadblocks are used to eliminate competitors from the playing field by placing an obstruction before them. The obstruction typically takes the form of overwhelming ad buys that leave no recourse for the competitor to even make an attempt at keeping up. Marketing roadblocks are often the tool of large corporations who have the buying power to carry them out, although they can take place in smaller form across all markets.

Broadcast

There are several ways to create a marketing roadblock when it comes to broadcast advertising. Some companies may choose to purchase all or most of the airtime during a given show or event. This eliminates the competition from making an appearance during the show that is deemed most watched by its target audience. Other companies may aim to dominate an entire network or time slot regardless of programming. Still others may opt for a less all-consuming tactic, by purchasing all the slots leading into and out of commercial breaks. These are considered the most desirable spots, because the viewer is most likely to see them while watching a given show. Such domination of prime ad real estate is an effective targeted roadblocking method.

Print

Print advertising is difficult to roadblock, because magazines or newspapers can just add more pages if there is a need. Where a print ad roadblock can be effective is in the case of an exclusive advertising space deal. For example, if company X is able to secure a contract that eliminates competitors from advertising in a specific print publication, the roadblock technique is in effect. You can find this practice commonly among sports teams who sign up an “official car company” who from that point onward is the only car brand that will appear inside the stadium or on any team paraphernalia.

Internet

Internet advertising combines elements of both broadcast and print advertising, and the roadblocking techniques used take advantage of the best of both media. For example, a company may purchase all the banner ads on a given site for a given period so that no one else can get a foothold. Internet advertising roadblocks can also take place when a company sponsors sites or events with an online presence. The logo of the sponsor company is often integrated with the site and no other company can take part. E-commerce roadblocks are similar to broadcast roadblocks in that they take place over a specific period of time on a specific site and are open to all viewers. They are similar to print roadblocks in that they are non-linear and remain present for the entire allotted period without interruption.

Signage

Marketing roadblocks can literally take place on the road in certain circumstances. Let’s say a local business wants to attract travelers passing through on the interstate. When the business buys up all the existing billboards for 20 miles in either direction so that no competitors can edge in, a marketing roadblock has taken place. Such a technique is particularly effective with transient consumers who do not know enough about the immediate area to understand that competitors may exist. They instead head for the only game in town, according to the ads they’ve seen, and bypass any other options.

Problems

Expense is the No. 1 problem for companies engaging in marketing roadblock techniques. For major corporations, the cost is often gladly absorbed in exchange for the exposure. For small and mid-size businesses, the tactic can prove prohibitively expensive. The development of ad wars is also a factor when two companies battle using roadblocks. For example, if a magazine knows that two rivals are trying to play a game of exclusion or generally outdo one another, the rates tend to rise quickly for both. Companies can defeat themselves by spending on ads just to eliminate their competition with less return than a simple and straight-forward campaign would have brought.

Day or Day part

This established phrase expresses an obvious goal for every project – to be completed on time, according to plan and within the allocated budget.  Of course, there’s a lot that goes into realizing that goal.  Even the best plans change and there is no guarantee that the “project” you start with is the “project” you will end up with.  That’s why it’s so important to have a scheduling strategy that is appropriately comprehensive, consistent and flexible.  That’s what strategic project scheduling is all about.

Depending upon the nature of the project, and related management directives, different approaches can be taken to project sizing and scheduling.  Scheduling strategies are driven by the scheduling trigger (the circumstance driving the scheduling approach). Based on individual needs and circumstances, scheduling triggers demand either a forwards or backwards planning approach.

Working with Scheduling Strategies

Forwards Planning:

Forwards planning strategies are used when no specific project deadline is set, and the tasks are used to determine the schedule, and related completion deadlines. In this case, you start at the beginning of the project and work forward. The project timeline is determined by the total estimated duration of all anticipated tasks. Factoring in dependencies and prerequisites, these durations are added together to form an overall project schedule.

When you are involved in the forward planning scenario, it is a good idea to look at each task at multiple timing levels, based on known, realistic planning assumptions:

• Shortest Completion Time (assuming everything else goes as planned).
• Likely Completion Time (assuming that some problems and changes will occur).
• Longest Completion Time (assuming that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong).

Backwards Planning:

Backwards planning strategies are used when the completion deadline is pre-determined and the project must be managed and scheduled to meet that deadline. In this case, planning starts with the completion date and works backwards, analyzing and organizing tasks and events by their individual end dates in an “if – then” fashion, until a start date is identified.   (Also Read:  Managing Project Milestones)

Key Variables for Schedule Estimating

The first step in the schedule estimating process is to identify your scheduling trigger. In all likelihood, projects will require both approaches based on organizational structure (phases) and task complexity. Regardless of the scheduling trigger, you will need to factor the following elements into your timing estimate:

• Task Durations: The estimated length of time that it will take to complete a task using available resources.
• Parallel Tasks: The tasks that can be completed concurrently.
• Predecessor Tasks: The tasks that must be completed before other, dependent tasks can begin.
• Dependent Tasks: The tasks that cannot begin until predecessor tasks are complete.
• Slack/Float Time: The slack or float exists whenever task completion can extend beyond initial completion dates without delaying the start of subsequent tasks.
• Critical Path: The series of tasks that must occur as scheduled for a project to be completed on time. There is no slack or float time along the critical path, if any tasks on the critical path are delayed, the project will be delayed.

Sales Pattern

The sales pattern is a collection of data about the sale of a particular product or group of products in the business for a given period and displaying it graphically to understand it’s behavior. These sales patterns are used in retail businesses to identify whether the business goals are being met, the effect of price changes of a particular product impacts sales, sales response to advertising, etc.

Understanding the sales pattern in retail business always helps to correlate the sales variations with respect to the various events happening in and around the business every day. The continuous monitoring of the sales pattern would certainly help the retail business to foresee the upcoming risks and take precautions.

Purchase Cycle

The buying cycle, sometimes known as the marketing or sales cycle, is a patterned process consumers and business buyers go through when contemplating a purchase. Various labels and steps have been assigned to this process, though the basic elements are consistent across most diagrams and outlines. Understanding the pattern buyers go through in your industry is key to effective marketing and promotions.

Awareness

The first step in virtually all buying cycle depictions is awareness. This is the point at which a buyer recognizes that he needs something or the point at which he recognizes your product or service and views it as a possibility. Much of a company’s market research and promotions are geared to reach customers with brand messages at the point they first become aware of a need or in an effort to stimulate this reality. Billboards depicting restaurants, for instance, are often used to trigger hunger recognition.

Consideration

The next broad stage in the buying cycle is consideration. This is one of the most impacting stages in terms of your company’s status with a buyer. During this stage, the buyer formulates a consideration set and evaluates each option on factors important to him. A business buyer may consider the scalability of a software solution, for instance, in case his company wants to expand use over time. Your ability to convey benefits that coincide with target customer needs is crucial during this time. Advertising, public relations and sales efforts all contribute to this communication effort.

Purchase

The point of purchase is essentially crunch time in the buying cycle. This is the point at which a buyer has determined which product or service best matches his needs at the most affordable price. If your product, price and promotions have effectively wooed enough customers during the consideration process, you should be in good shape at crunch time. Capturing customer contact information to develop an ongoing relationship for future sales is important if you are the winner of the customer’s purchase decision.

After-Sale

While most buying cycle models include awareness, consideration and purchase stages, not all go beyond those three steps. Those that do depict after-sale buying activities as ranging anywhere from one to four additional steps. In general, after-sale buying cycle stages include application or use of the product, discussions on additional uses, advocacy of the brand or product with others and intention to repeat purchases. Follow-up support, inquiries and genuine customer care are keys during these stages. Customers assess their experiences, which impacts future buying and the positive or negative word of mouth they spread to others.

Product Availability

Product availability is an important supply chain performance measure and appears as a KPI in most companies. However, if the way of measuring it is sub-optimal, we would end up with a supply chain that underperforms on this measure.

Most companies define it at the point of invoicing. Do we have sufficient stocks to service the distributor orders (protect primary sales)? More progressive companies define it at the distributor level. Do our distributors have enough stocks to service the retailer orders (protect secondary sales)? The best definition is, of course, at the retail level where we protect consumer offtake, but the data is not comprehensive.

Availability is normally measured against the customer demand. If you are still measuring it against forecast, it’s a low hanging fruit to start measuring it against actual demand and improve it. A well-known pharma company was actually measuring availability to forecast as the prime measure and reporting a performance of 98%.

Meeting customer requirements is a basic mission of the firm. Business is not only about generating demand but also about fulfilling it. It seems logical, offhand, that firms should have complete stock 100% of the time.

Making products available entails costs, from the design, manufacture, storage, and delivery of an item. Firms are sensitive to investing in capacity or in keeping more inventories to anticipate unforeseen demand. On the other hand, firms are also conscious that product un-availability could mean lost sales and possibly lost opportunities, sometimes to the point that it can determine the long-term survival of the business. Unless one’s product has quality characteristics unmatched by others or has a monopoly in utility, impatient customers will switch to competing brands if their brand of first choice is not available.

Competitive Activity

Company facing a severe market competition will opt for more continuous advertisement through multiple media. The rule is, the more is the intensity of competition, the higher the frequency of advertisement will be.

Marketing Task

Many businesses see the task of marketing as generating leads for salespeople to follow-up. It’s a short-sighted view that is costing small businesses millions. Marketing is the whole process of taking your goods or services to market. It’s made up of many different disciplines, each with their own skills and expertise.

• Developing Marketing Strategies and Plans: The first task is to identify the organization long-run opportunities given its market experience and core competences.
• Capturing Marketing Insights: Marketers must closely monitor the marketing environment to continually asses market potential and forecast demand.
• Connecting with the Customers: The firm must determine how to best create value for its chosen target markets and develop strong, profitable, long-term relationship with customers.
• Building Strong Brands: Marketers need to understand how customers perceive their brands strengths and weakness.
• Shaping the Market Offerings: At the heart of the marketing program is the product, the firm tangible offering to the market, features, and packaging.
• Delivering Value: How can the firm deliver value to its target market? Channel activities are need to make the product offering accessible and available to customers.
• Communicating Value: Marketers must adequately communicate to the target market the value embodied by their products and services.
• Creating Successful Long-term Growth: The marketing strategy should take into account changing global opportunities and challenges.

Budget Constraints

It shows an ability of a company to spend for advertisement. The rule is, the more is the ability to spend, the more continuous the advertisement will be.

Target Group

A target market is a group of people with some shared characteristics that a company has identified as potential customers for its products. Identifying the target market informs the decision-making process as a company design, packages, and markets its product.

Target marketing involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments consisting of the customers whose needs and desires most closely match your product or service offerings. It can be the key to attracting new business, increasing sales, and making your business a success.

A target market may be broadly categorized by age range, location, income, and lifestyle. Many other demographics may be considered. Their stage of life, their hobbies, interests, and careers, all may be considered.

Demographic Segmentation

Demographic grouping is based on measurable statistics, such as:

• Gender
• Age
• Income level
• Marital status
• Education
• Race
• Religion

Geographic Segmentation

Geographic segmentation involves segmenting the market based on location. Home addresses are one example, but depending on the scope of your business, you could also use:

• Neighbourhood
• Postal or ZIP code
• Area code
• City
• Province or state
• Region
• Country (if your business is international)

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation divides the target market based on socioeconomic class or lifestyle preferences. The socioeconomic scale ranges from the affluent and highly educated at the top to the uneducated and unskilled at the bottom.

Social Grade	Social Status	Occupation
A	Upper class	Higher managerial, administrative, or professional
B	Middle class	Intermediate managerial, administrative, or professional
C1	Lower middle class	Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial, administrative, or professional
C2	Skilled working class	Skilled manual labour
D	Working class	Semi- and unskilled manual labour
E	Subsistence class	Unemployed, seasonal, or casual

They should be as specific as possible, and as actionable as can be reasonably expected. Avoid terms like “endeavor to” and “make best efforts”.  If there are concrete exceptions to an expectation, list them out.  If there is a process for having exceptions approved, document it. If there are expected seller consequences for non-compliance, identify them.

Buying Guidelines should be specific to the client’s business conditions and communication objectives. These should drive tactical goals in areas such as preferred or restricted content, commercial separation requirements, quality vs. efficiency expectations, competitive exclusivity, etc.

Include a brief target audience and media objectives overview including considerations beyond gender/age, secondary targets, recommended buying demographic or metrics, reach versus frequency or engagement priorities.

What are your delivery expectations versus Planned and Purchased? These are often expressed as a target percent vs. the goal (i.e. Actual delivery from 95-105% vs. Planned). These may also be further stratified to include expectations by week/flight/brand/message/commercial length (+/- 10% for example) within what may be broader annual or corporate buys.

What level of vendor contracts is required on your behalf? Detailed, current (and signed) orders should protect your investment for every media property order and include the relevant terms and conditions. These are the link between agency and seller in the media supply chain. If you have a broken link, you have no accountability. This expectation should be outlined in the buying guidelines.

How are post-performance methodologies defined? Provide definitions and timing for reporting as appropriate per media type: broadcast media posting rules, circulation analysis methodology, buy types and count-of-record source for digital payments.

What are the provisions and timing for recovery of delivery shortfalls or non-compliance: credits, makegoods, bonus weight, under delivery recovery, etc.? What is the unit of measure for delivery? For example, in National TV, delivery is often measured over the course of a full broadcast year by network. Best practice in local TV is quarterly delivery at the station level (not market).

Do you have time of day (daypart) and other placement requirements and preferences including definitions?

What are your reporting requirements that support an appropriate and timely performance feedback loop? How often will post performance reports be delivered, and how long after the end of the media measurement period in question, and what will be consequences to the seller (and agency, if applicable) for any performance shortfalls vs. agreed compliance items?

Have you defined expectations for financial management including timely invoice reconciliation and payment? Consider specific target dates by media channel (i.e. 60 days end of quarter, etc.). Be aware of the client’s own payment terms to the agency and how these might impact agency payment to sellers.

Phase 1: Pre-placement

Advertising isn’t as simple as making a really good-looking ad design and slapping it up on a wall. There’s an entire strategy that is put in place. Coming up with that strategy often takes the most time, as there are several factors to consider.

Phase 2: Placement

It’s time for takeoff! You’ve found your target audience and discovered where they’re most likely to interact with your campaign. You’ve met with vendors and decided on the ones that are priced the best and located in the optimal spots.

In this phase, media buyers make sure that the media is actually delivered to the vendor and that the vendor fulfills the requests that have been made. The buyer is responsible for making sure that the ad actually appears where it was paid to appear and is in the right environment.

It’s always best to prepare for the worst. If your advertisements aren’t doing well in one place, move them elsewhere. If they’re getting more interaction at certain times of the day, adjust settings and your budget accordingly. Constant review and reevaluation isn’t optional it’s necessary. Nothing is set in stone.

Phase 3: Post-placement

What was this all for if not for measuring advertising effectiveness?

When working with a media buyer, this is a good point to touch base with them and look at the data. Were the places you chose to put your advertisements effective? What worked well? What could have been better? Was too much money spent in one place, and not enough in another? Search for both negative and positive patterns, and make a note so that your next campaign runs even better than the last.

The activities involved in buying are called buying process. The activities involved in buying process are buying elements and sub-functions. The process of buying starts from buying plan. But it ends with actual buying and experience from the use after buying.

The sub-function of buying involves in buying process can be divided in four types as making buying plan, making contact with, talking for agreement and contracting.

1. Describe your company

Provide context and background information on your company to help the designer or creative team get a better understanding of your business. Who are you and what services and/or products do you offer? Include links to your website and any other background material that might be helpful.

2. Summarize the project

What is the project? And why do you need it? Do you need a corporate identity kit for your new company? Are you refreshing your company’s Facebook and Twitter pages for a new season? Describe what the project is, what it entails, and why you’re doing it.

3. Explain your objectives

This is probably the most important part of the brief, and it’s essential that you think through your strategy and objectives completely before you get the project underway. Why do you need this project? What are you hoping to achieve with it? What are your goals? Is there a problem you’re trying to solve? How will you measure success? For example, if you’re developing an eBook, you might measure success by the number of downloads. These details will help the designer understand your goals and come up with solutions that address them.

4. Define your target audience

Who’s your customer? Who are you trying to reach with this project or campaign? Share demographic information about who they are and any behavioral insights you may have on them.

5. Outline the deliverables you need

Do you need a one-page brochure? A batch of 10 banner ads? A logo for print, just for the web, or for both? Be sure to include the file formats you need (i.e., JPG, PNG, PSD), size information (i.e., 300×250 pixels), and any other important details needed to deliver the right assets. 

6. Identify your competition

Who are your competitors? You may want to include an overview of the competitive landscape and any trends or market conditions impacting your industry. For this project, what are your competitors doing as a point of comparison and as a point of differentiation? For example, if you’re refreshing your logo, what types of logos and colors do your competitors use? These details can greatly help inform the direction the designer will go in (they’ll do additional research as well). You can also include a few examples of designs you like or don’t like.

7. Include details on the tone, message, and style

The style and tone should be consistent with your brand and will also hinge on what the project is, what you’re trying to achieve, and what action you want your customers to take. To help inform the messaging and ensure it aligns with your objectives, be sure to include your strategic positioning and the key messages that need to be addressed. For example, if you’re creating a landing page for a contest, you’d probably want the messaging and design to be lively and fun to inspire people to enter. If you’re developing an annual report, you’d most likely want something that looks and sounds more formal and professional to instill trust and confidence. If you have a brand style guide or examples of past campaigns or related projects, be sure to share them with your designer. And also provide any other factors or requirements that might affect the creative direction.

8. Provide the timing

If you have a timeline in mind for your project, include it in the brief. During your kickoff meeting or initial conversations with your designer, make sure to discuss the timeline and agree upon a completion date. It’s also a good idea to talk about the overall creative process and discuss if edits and how many rounds of them are possible and whether or not they’re included if it’s a fixed-price contract. 

9. Specify your budget

If you have a set budget for the project (which is often the case), include it in the brief and discuss it with your designer. If the designer’s estimate exceeds your budget, talk it over and agree upon realistic expectations, deliverables, and project costs before getting started.

10. List the key stakeholders

If other people on your team or within your organization need to be included in the review process, provide their contact information. You can also include how you’d like to receive deliverables and provide feedback. On Upwork, the Messages tool makes it easy to communicate and share files.

Elements of Buying Brief

Planning For Buying

Planning for buying is the primary function of buying process. At first, the buyer realizes need of goods. Then makes plan for buying of goods, finally takes decision to buy the goods. Planning begins is buyer’s mind from want or desire for goods. Then the buyer decides when to buy, where to buy from, how to buy the goods. Such decision depends specially on buying situation, buying motive and buying behavior of the buyer.

Hence, need of buying is realized in buying plan. Budget for buying is estimated. Then decision for buying is taken. Finally, buying plan is ready for the combined form of mental and physical activities.

Contact Function

After making buying plan, the customers think from where and which source the goods to buy. For this they should search for suppliers and identify, prepare their list and establish contact with them for supplying the goods. This is called contact function. The customers may contact the suppliers through correspondence or visiting to their supply sources. Generally, if a large amount of goods are to be bought, the buyers contact supplier or sellers personally and find out the capacity and possibility of the supplier for supplying the necessary goods.

Before selecting supplier of necessary goods, the buyers think about different matters such as price of the goods, delivery schedule, transportation cost, quality, capacity of the supplier, means and resources, after-sale services, promotional policy, credibility and responsibility of the supplier, terms and conditions of selling, buying plan etc. Only then, proper supplier should be selected and contacted.

Art of Media Buying Negotiation in Media Buying

Another important function of buying process is to reach the decision to buy and sell goods or services through negotiation. After buying plan has been made, perspective supplier has been identified and contact with seller has been established, negotiation is held between buyer and seller. Such negotiation is held on terms and conditions of supply, price of the goods, discount, mode of payment, time, delivery schedule, means of delivery etc. and then selling and buying reaches the conclusion.

After such negotiation, buyer decides to give purchase order and makes agreement with supplier to supply the goods.

Contractual Function

Contractual function is the actual buying function. After the agreement has been made with supplier on terms and conditions, buyer gives purchase order. If the goods are to be bought by final consumers, they make agreement with seller on price at the selling place and buy immediately. Buying may be on cash or credit depending upon their agreement. If the goods are purchased on credit, the buyer has to follow and implement necessary terms and conditions mentioned in credit documents.

Industrial consumers, institutional buyers, government offices etc also make agreement with supplier to buy necessary goods. Buyer and seller both parties should follow the contract made for the supply of goods. If any party violets the terms and conditions or does not carry out the responsibility according to the agreement, the other party has the right to get compensation or fine or any loss. The seller should supply the goods as according to the agreement and the buyer should make payment of price according to the terms and conditions.

Plan Presentation and Client Feedback

Customer feedback is the information, insights, issues, and input shared by your community about their experiences with your company, product, or services. This feedback guides improvements of the customer experience and can empower positive change in any business even (and especially) when it’s negative.

Customer feedback is important because it serves as a guiding resource for the growth of your company. Don’t you want to know what you’re getting right and wrong as a business in the eyes of your customers?

There are 5 main reasons why you would want to collect feedback.

• Customer engagement
• Understand your customers
• Product improvement
• Obtain testimonials, reviews, referrals
• Evaluate and get better things

Ways of collecting important feedback from your customers.

• Regularly call your customers
• Provide live chat support
• Social media activity monitoring
• Collect feedback from your live chat sessions
• Provide feedback forms
• Customer service performance analytics
• Provide an active online community with support
• New and existing customer email surveys
• Use NPS to evaluate customer loyalty
• Create a feedback area on order confirmation page
• Online Polls
• Review feedback on your competitor’s sites
• Display any Positive Customer Feedback
• Facebook reactions
• Make your online store more ‘human’
• Offer a gift or prize in return for feedback
• Use negative feedback to showcase professionalism
• Create a feedback area for cart abandonment
• In-App feedback
• Ask for feedback at the point of service

An Media budget is an estimate of a company’s promotional expenditures over a certain time period. The term “advertising budget” in essence is nothing but planning the advertising expenditure. The amount of money to be utilized for advertising purpose is charged to the profit and loss account of the co. and therefore is of vital importance both to the company and to the advertising agency that handles advertiser’s account. Advertising costs money & before spending, it is necessary to ensure its proper investment.

Every ad is a long term investment in the personality of a brand. Therefore, when advertising is recognized as a type of future investment, care must be taken today to make it more effective with proper planning of advertising budget.

More importantly, it is the money a company is willing to set aside to accomplish its marketing objectives. When creating an advertising budget, a company must weigh the value of spending an advertising dollar against the value of that dollar as recognized revenue.

Importance

1. Check on Media expenditure

Media budget helps to have a check on advertising expenditure. Depending upon the budget, the advertiser will utilize the right funds to achieve the advt. objectives. There will be no wastage of funds by over spending on advertising the right amount will be spent to achieve the advertising objectives.

2. Approval from top management

The framing of Media budget will enable the advertising manager to obtain approval from the top management. If the top management feels that the budget amount is more, then the advertising manager may have to provide necessary justification for higher budgets.

3. Balanced focus

The ad budget is prepared taking into consideration the requirements of the products that are to be advertised. The right product is to be allocated the right amount of money. Again, there will be proper focus on the right place & the right period of advertising.

4. Facilitates Planned Execution

The right amount will be spent on the right product in the right media at the right period and place. This will enable the advertiser to achieve ad objectives.

5. Provides direction for drafting of Ads

The Ad budget provides a proper direction for drafting of ads. Depending upon the budget, the ads will be filmed or drafted. When there is a large budget, the advertiser may think of selecting popular personalities, shooting the film at exclusive locations, using sophisticated computer graphics & so on.

6. Selection of Media

When Media budget is large, the advertiser can select rich media mix which includes television channels, various magazines, newspapers & even outdoor media. However, if the budget is small, the advertiser has to be very selective in the choice of media.

Companies’ expenditures on print, broadcast and other forms of advertising rely on the funds in their media budgets. Media buyers specialize in wringing the best array of exposures for brands and products out of their clients’ media allocations. Buyers’ efforts drive down the cost of each TV or radio spot, newspaper or magazine ad, billboard, transit ad or any other pay-to-play placement, maximizing advertising impressions and effectiveness. New media options take their places in the 21st-century media budget, expanding brands online.

Advertising Task

A more effective budgeting strategy would be the one which considers the firm’s overall promotional objectives. The budgeting then is done according to the requirements for meeting these goals.

Objective and task method:

The most logical budget setting method is the objective and task method whereby the company sets its promotion budget based on what it wants to accomplish with promotion. This method entails defining specific promotion objectives, the tasks needed to achieve these objectives and estimating the costs of performing these tasks.

Objective setting and budgeting should not come in sequence, one after another. They should be considered simultaneously because it is difficult to establish a budget without specific objectives in mind, and setting objectives without regard to how much money is available makes no sense.

The approach used by the objective and task method is buildup approach consisting of three steps:

• Defining the communications objectives that are to be accomplished,
• Determining the specific strategies and tasks needed to attain them
• Estimating the costs associated with performance of these strategies and tasks. The total budget is based on the accumulation of these costs.

Implementing the objective and task approach is somewhat more involved. The manager must monitor this process throughout and change strategies depending on how well objectives are attained.

This process involves several steps:

1. Finalise Communication objectives.

Any company generally has two kinds of objectives viz. the marketing objectives for the product and the communications objectives. The first job is to establish the marketing objective and when that is done the net task is to determine what specific communications objectives will be designed to accomplish these goals. Communications objectives must be specific, attainable, and measurable, as well as time limited.

2. Determine tasks required:

The strategic plan designed to attain the objectives consists of various elements one of which could be advertising in various media, sales promotions, and/or other elements of the promotional mix. Each has its own role to perform and hence the specific tasks should be finalised.

3. Estimate aggregate expenditures:

The next stage is to determine the estimated costs associated with the tasks fixed the last step.

4. Monitor:

A regular monitoring is required as to how much the objectives have been attained effectively. If advertisements are an investment then a close monitoring of the invested amount and its return is must.

5. Re-evaluate objectives:

Once specific objectives have been attained the budget should be reevaluated to check how better it can be used to attain the other goals. Thus, if one has achieved the level of consumer awareness sought, the budget should be altered to stress a higher-order objective such as evaluation or trial.

The major advantage of the objective and task method is that the budget is developed from the bottom to up, which is a proper and rational managerial approach. The method does not rely on past sales figures, forecasted sales, what the competition spends and considers only those factors, which are under the advertiser’s control.

6. Payout Planning:

The budgeting for a new product is a very different story because the first months of a new product’s introduction require heavier-than-normal advertising and promotion appropriations to stimulate higher levels of awareness and subsequent trial. James O. Peckham studied the Nielson figures of more than 40 years and estimated that a new entry should be spending at approximately twice the desired market share. But the major question is what will be the profitable amount of spending on promotion of the new product.

In order to determine this, marketers often develop a payout plan that determines the investment value of the advertising and promotion appropriation. The basic idea is to project the revenues the product will generate, as well as the costs it will incur, over two to three years. Based on an expected rate of return, the payout plan will assist in determining how much advertising and promotions expenditure will be necessary when the return might be expected.

Competitive Framework

In a market with a large number of competitors and a high advertising spending, a brand must advertise more heavily to be heard.

Market Dominance, Market Coverage

To get a good market share in comparison to their competitors, the company should have a better product in terms of quality, uniqueness, demand and catchy advertisements with resultant response of the customers. All this is possible if the advertisement budget is high.

Despite the empirical relevance of advertising strategies in concentrated markets, the economics literature is largely silent on the effect of persuasive advertising strategies on pricing, market structure and increasing (or decreasing) dominance. In a simple model of persuasive advertising and pricing with differentiated goods, we analyze the interdependencies between ex-ante asymmetries in consumer appeal, advertising and prices. Products with larger initial appeal to consumers will be advertised more heavily but priced at a higher level that is, advertising and price discounts are strategic substitutes for products with asymmetric initial appeal. We find that the escalating effect of advertising dominates the moderating effect of pricing so that post-competition market shares are more asymmetric than pre-competition differences in consumer appeal. We further find that collusive advertising (but competitive pricing) generates the same market outcomes, and that network effects lead to even more extreme market outcomes, both directly and via the effect on advertising.

Media Cost

Media cost is the price you pay display, run, or present your advertisement or campaign during a specified date range or campaign period. There are many different ways to price media including points, impressions, flips, clicks, leads, actions, days, weeks, months, etc. Media Cost excludes the cost to create the advertisement (copy or artwork) and other costs.

Market Task

Marketing management has to do a set of tasks necessary for success in marketing. The basic tasks of marketing are as follows:

• Develop marketing strategies and plans
• Creating marketing information system
• Build customer relationship
• Build strong brands
• Determine marketing mix
• Deliver value
• Communicate value
• Create long-term growth
• Implementation and control

Pricing

Advertising costs are a type of financial accounting that covers expenses associated with promoting an industry, entity, brand, product, or service. They cover ads in print media and online venues, broadcast time, radio time, and direct mail advertising.

Advertising costs will in most cases fall under sales, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses on a company’s income statement. They are sometimes recorded as a prepaid expense on the balance sheet and then moved to the income statement when sales that are directly related to those costs come in.

Advertising costs are typically not a surprise to a business owner. In fact, many will have budgeted for a certain amount of advertising costs. The U.S. Small Business Administration notes that most companies set their marketing budget based on revenues.

Frequency of Purchase

Purchase Frequency is the number of times an average customer purchases a good or service from your store in a specified time period.

Purchase Frequency = No. orders / No. unique customers

Remember that some businesses won’t typically have people buying from them regularly. Online stores that sell larger, high-value goods can expect to have a lower Purchase Frequency than businesses selling consumable products.

Reasons:

Repeat shoppers drive business success. One of the most common mistakes businesses make is constantly chasing new customers. Why is this a mistake? While new customers are important, it’s your existing customers who drive the success of your business. There are two main reasons for this. Repeat customers are cheaper and easier to acquire than new shoppers. According to one estimate, trying to recruit one new customer costs up to five times more than nurturing an existing one. Second, engaged and retained customers are your best fans and biggest advocates! That same research study found that loyal customers spend 60% more than one-off customers, and are five times more likely to share positive word of mouth messages about your business. If your customers are busy recruiting new customers on your behalf, it means you don’t have to! So, keeping your existing customers coming back time after time makes sense for your bottom line.

It helps you to understand how to drive profitability. You have two main routes for increasing sales among your existing market: you can either attempt to encourage your customers to buy more with each visit, which is known as increasing the average order value, or you can attempt to get your customers to shop more frequently with you. Until you know how frequently your customers are already purchasing from you, it’s impossible to choose the best possible route.

It helps you segment your market and structure your marketing strategy around your segments’ habits. After decades of research, supermarkets know that they can essentially segment their customers into two types based on their habits: weekly shoppers, who try to grab everything they need for the week in one go, and top-up shoppers, who might also do a weekly, or even a monthly shop, but who pop in to buy the odd item they need here and there. Knowing the distinction is important there is little need in trying to tempt top-up shoppers into greater purchasing frequency with bulk discount deals, for instance. By combining knowledge about how often your customers are purchasing with demographic and other information about your customers’ buying behavior, you can perform a segmentation analysis that can help you create highly targeted, powerful marketing campaigns.

It’s the basis for deeper understanding into your operations. While customer purchasing frequency is a simple metric, it holds the key to much deeper analysis that can help you optimize your processes. For example, starting with frequency of purchase data, you can pinpoint the exact days of the week and times of the day when the most profitable purchasing takes place vital information for smoothing inventory management and supply chain operations. You can also identify those customers that contribute the most to your overall revenues and profitability, and develop appropriate methods to reward them.

Defining the Target Group

Identifying your target audience is essential in developing an effective media strategy. In addition to understanding identifying your target audience is essential in developing an effective media strategy. In addition to understanding your audience’s key demographic traits, really dive deep to try to get to know and understand your target audience. Ask yourself these questions:

• Where and how do they spend most of their time?
• What does a typical day look like for them?
• What are their fears?
• What are their interests?
• What media channels do they use?

Have clear objectives for making media

Objectives are even more specific than your goals. Objectives need to be SMART:

S: Specific

M: Measurable

A: Achievable

R: Realistic

T: Time-bound

Market Prioritization

Project prioritization is the process that helps you take on the work that will influence your marketing goals most effectively.

Here are some examples:

• Your regular content marketing brainstorming process
• Notes from customer support and sales teams
• Trending or up-and-coming topics and audience challenges
• Competitor’s content (or gaps in their content)

Chances are, you have a new idea in your head, inbox, or whiteboard more often than you can handle. This is where a project prioritization matrix comes in.

A project prioritization matrix is a decision-making tool that can be used in any type of project management.

Audience Profiling

After you have identified your target audience and participant communities, create a profile for each that includes details such as:

• Demographics: Race, gender, ethnicity, age, education, religion.
• Geography: Local, national, international, remote, urban, rural.
• Attitudes: How do they perceive the issue; how proactive they are? What would it take to get them to take action?
• Media habits: What media do they have access to, use and like?
• Culture: What is their cultural background, what languages do they speak or read?

Media Weights

Media weight is a term used in advertising to refer to the size of the audience reached by an advertising campaign. Media weight is determined by the number and placement of advertisements in media such as television commercials, online ads, or billboards.

Media weight is usually expressed in the form of GRP’s (Gross rating Points), AOTS (Average opportunity to see) and reach of target audience. The main use of media weights is to monitor how well the goals of a communication plan are being reached. There are different ways to measure media weight.

Measurement

The most important method in measuring media weight is analysis of past records. The analysis is done on basis of television, print and magazines reporting. Television spending’s are reported as TAM rates and print as card rates. TV spending’s can be analysed on the basis of program genre, channel type, time duration and total airtime. The print rate analysis is done on the basis of colour/monochrome, magazine, issue, placement of ad, month, and other variables.

Types of brands

Research carried out by John Philip Jones on the advertising of different brands in 23 countries found that the brands could be classified into two types: profitable brands and investor brands.

Profitable brands

These are brands that are advertised less in proportion to market share are categorized as profitable brands. These are brands which may have advertised many times previously but at present are enjoying higher market share with less advertising.

Investor brands

These are brands that are advertised more in proportion to market share. These brands tend to be newly introduced brands, which have less impact on the audience and are in the growth phase of their product lifecycle (PLC) curve.

Media Mix

A media mix is the combination of communication channels your business can use to meet its marketing objectives. Typically, these include newspapers, radio, television, billboards, websites, email, direct mail, the Internet and social media, such as Facebook or Twitter. Combining these channels in a media mix enables you to communicate in the most effective way with different types of customers and prospects at different stages of the purchase decision, according to Entrepreneur.

Aligning Media Mix with Buying Stages

Entrepreneur notes that the emphasis in the media mix changes at different stages in the buying cycle. When prospects are looking for information, they may read publications covering their interests, search websites, visit trade shows or check product review sites. So, it’s important that you have information in the places they are likely to visit. The emphasis in your media mix would be on raising awareness through advertisements, press releases, product pages on your website, participation in trade shows or comments on social media.

When prospects have expressed an interest in your products, you can use a different media mix to nurture them and move them toward a buying decision. The mix at this stage might include email offering detailed product information, a seminar or a customized sales proposal.

Right Message to the Right Audience

An effective media mix delivers the right marketing message to your customers and prospects at the lowest cost and with minimal waste. If you want to reach a consumer audience across the country, you might use a media mix that includes national newspapers, radio or television. If you wanted to reach a specific group of business decision-makers, such as technical directors, your mix might include specialist business magazines or exhibitions aimed at those directors. To reach a small number of key executives who influence a major purchasing decision, you might include personalized direct mail or an executive briefing session in your mix.

Integrated Media Work Harder

The components of a media mix are more effective when they are integrated. The benefit of an integrated campaign is that the media mix is more effective when the components work together and communicate consistent messages each time, according to MMC Learning. In practical terms, that means using the same creative themes and marketing messages across all elements of your media mix. Prospects viewing an advertisement, website page, direct mail piece or product guide from an integrated campaign would receive consistent messages, with each element of the mix reinforcing the others.

Media Scheduling

Media Scheduling refers to the pattern of timing of an advertising which is represented as plots on a flowchart on a yearly basis. The plots in the flowchart indicate the pattern of periods that matches with favorable selling periods. The classical scheduling models are commonly known as continuity, fighting, and pulsing.

Media scheduling depends upon a number of factors such as:

• The nature of product: Whether it is consumer usable, durables or industrial.
• The nature of sales: Whether the sales is seasonal or regular.
• The product lifecycle: Whether the product introduction is in growth, maturity or decline.
• The pattern of competitor’s programs.
• The entry of new competitors in the market.
• The availability of funds for advertising and marketing campaigns.

Types of Scheduling:

The advertiser has to consider two types of media scheduling problems:

Macro-scheduling:

The macro-scheduling involves allocating advertising expenditure and frequency (repetition/reproduction of message) in relation to season or broad picture of business cycle. The macro-scheduling problem concerns with how to schedule advertising in relation to seasonal and business cycle trends.

The broad picture of seasonal and/or cyclical trend is considered. This is due to the fact that the demand is fluctuated as per seasons and/or business cycle. Therefore, it is desirable to vary advertising expenditures to follow seasonal patterns. Company, as per its calculation, can spend more or less during the season or particular phase of business cycle.

According to experts, advertising does not have immediate impact on consumer awareness, sales, or profits.

So, one should study relationship between:

(1) Timing of advertising and consumer awareness,

(2) Consumer awareness and impact on sales, and

(3) Sales and advertising expenditure.

Advertising timing should be adjusted as per time gap exists between advertising time and its impact. Computer-based mathematical model can be formulated to study these time relations. Advertiser has to decide on advertising time for different types of products, such as frequently purchased, seasonal products, and low-cost daily consumed products. Along with seasonal or cyclical aspect, an advertiser should also consider impact of the past advertising. Many consumers continue buying even without the present advertisement.

Micro-scheduling:

The micro-scheduling problem concerns with allocating advertising expenditure and frequency within a short period to obtain the maximum response or impact. In other words, the problem deals with how to distribute advertising expenditure within the given time.

For example, a company has decided to advertise specific message 60 times (that requires approximately Rs. 500000) through daily regional newspapers in a year. Now the question is to decide on which days/weeks/months/seasons the 60 times advertisement is to be allocated. Similarly, the same issue is related to radio or television spots.

Alternative Scheduling Strategies:

A company has following alternative scheduling strategies to decide on micro-scheduling:

1. Continuous Advertising:

This scheduling involves advertising the message evenly throughout a given period. For example, if company wants 48 television/radio spots, it will advertise 4 times in a month or once in a week, or on every Monday.

2. Concentrated Advertising:

This scheduling involves giving all the advertisement in a single period. Thus, the concentrated advertising means to spend the entire advertising budget within one flight. It is applicable when product is sold in one season, event, festival or holiday. For example, the company advertises 48 spots within four days during Diwali festivals, 12 times a day.

3. Fighting Advertising:

This scheduling involves giving advertisement at specific intervals. Company advertises for some period, followed by break of no advertisement, followed by the second flight of advertisement and likewise. Company with seasonal, cyclical, or infrequently purchase products follows such scheduling. Company with a limited fund prefers to advertise during a specific season or festival only.

4. Pulsing Advertising:

This scheduling is the combination of both continuous and fighting advertisements. It includes continuous advertising at low-weight level, reinforced periodically by waves of heavier activity. In other words, the company spends certain portion of advertising fund for continuous advertising, and the remaining fund for fighting advertisement.

For example, the company may advertise once in a day with a brief advertisement message. And, its detail advertisement appears for a week regularly after every three months. This timing is preferred by the financially sound companies.

Factors Affecting Advertising Scheduling:

The allocation of advertising expenditure/frequency over time depends on advertising objectives, nature of product, type of target customers, distribution channel, and other relevant marketing factors. But, mostly, following five factors are considered to decide on the timing pattern.

Turnover:

It shows the rate at which new buyers enter the market. The rule is, the higher the rate of buyer turnover, the more continuous the advertisement should be.

Purchase Frequency:

It shows the number of times during the specific period that the average buyer buys the product. The common rule is, the higher the purchase frequency, the more continuous the advertisement should be.

Forgetting Rate:

It shows the rate at which the buyer forgets the brand. The rule is, the higher the forgetting rate, the more continuous the advertisement should be.

Financial Condition of Company:

It shows an ability of a company to spend for advertisement. The rule is, the more is the ability to spend, the more continuous the advertisement will be.

Level of Competition:

Company facing a severe market competition will opt for more continuous advertisement through multiple media. The rule is, the more is the intensity of competition, the higher the frequency of advertisement will be.

Media strategy, as used in the advertising or content delivery (online broadcasting) industries, is concerned with how messages will be delivered to consumers or niche markets. It involves: identifying the characteristics of the target audience or market, who should receive messages and defining the characteristics of the media that will be used for the delivery of the messages, with the intent being to influence the behavior of the target audience or market pertinent to the initial brief. Examples of such strategies today have revolved around an Integrated Marketing Communications approach whereby multiple channels of media are used i.e. advertising, public relations, events, direct response media, etc.

This concept has been used among proponents of entertainment-education programming where pro-social messages are embedded into dramatic episodic programs to change the audiences attitudes and behaviors in such areas as family planning, literacy, nutrition, smoking, etc.

• Where is the place for showing or delivering advertisement. In short it means the geographical area from where it should be visible to the customers who use or are most likely to use the product or services offered. The place does not mean only TV or radio but it can also be newspapers, blogs, sponsorships, hoardings on roads, ads in the movie break in theatres, etc. The area varies from place to place like it can be on national basis, state basis and for local brands it can be on city basis.
• When is the timing to show or run advertisement. For e.g. you cannot show a raincoat ad in the winter season but you need to telecast ad as soon as the summer season is coming to an end and rainy season is just about to begin. The ad should be delivered with perfect timing when most customers are like to buy the product. The planners need to plan it keeping the budget in mind as the maximum of 20% of revenues of the company can be used in the advertisement section. Different products have different time length for advertisements. Some products need year long ads as they have nothing to do with seasonal variations e.g. small things like biscuits, soaps, pens, etc and big services like vehicle insurance, refrigerators, etc. Some products need for three or four months. E.g. umbrellas, cold creams, etc. So the planners have to plan the budget according to the time length so that there is no short of money at any time in this process.

There are basically two media approaches to choose from.

• Media Concentration approach
• Media Dispersion Approach

In media concentration approach, the number of categories of media is less. The money is spent on concentrating on only few media types say two or three. This approach is generally used for those companies who are not very confident and have to share the place with the other competitors. They don’t want anyone to get confused with their brand name so this is the safest approach as the message reaches the target consumers.

In media dispersion approach, there are a greater number of categories of media used to advertise. This approach is considered and practiced by only those people who know that a single or two types of media will not reach their target. They place their product ads in many categories like TV, radio, internet, distributing pamphlets, sending messages to mobiles, etc.

Selection of Media Category

Whichever category is selected by the planners of the organization, they should select a proper media to convey their message.

If the product is for a big amount of customers then a mass media option can be selected like TV, radio or newspaper. The best examples for this type are detergent ads, children health drinks and major regular used products such as soap, shampoo, toothpastes etc.

If the planners want to change the mind of people doing window shopping or just doing shopping for sake of name, then point of purchase type can be opted by the company. This helps the company to explain their point to the buyers and convince the buyers to go for their product.

If the planners want to sell their product on one to one basis, then the third option is direct response type. Here, the company people directly contact the customers via emails, text messages, phone calls or meeting for giving demos. The best example of this type of media is the Life cell Cord Blood Banking. They go to their customers, explain them what it is all about and try to convince them.

Thus, this process of media strategy plays an important and vital role in the field of Advertising.

Types of media strategies

Understanding the different types of media strategy is key when deciding which one to implement to achieve your desired outcome. The following are the primary types of media strategies:

Media concentration strategy

A media concentration strategy is an approach that focuses only on a select few types of media to reach a distinct target audience. Whereas some other media strategies incorporate the use of several media types, a media concentration approach narrows down the types of media used based on a specific target audience’s trend. For example, a company may choose to only advertise or market on a specific social media platform rather than divvying up its resources to market on multiple social media platforms.

This type of strategy is ideal for companies that only want to attract a particular audience rather than a broader customer base. For example, a company that makes pool tables likely doesn’t want to market to a broad audience as many people aren’t in the market for purchasing a pool table. So, the company is more likely to use a media concentration strategy to reach a select group of consumers the company knows is interested in purchasing this type of product.

Media dispersion strategy

A media dispersion strategy is an approach that uses a large variety of media types to reach a broad audience. This approach is most frequently used when a company’s target audience can’t be reached by marketing on only a few media platforms. A company using a media dispersion approach may place advertisements in several different media categories such as radio, social media, television and search engines. Using this strategy allows a business to reach a mass audience that may or may not be interested in its goods or services.

Earned media strategy

An earned media strategy refers to a marketing and advertising approach that aims to gain media or publicity organically. This is considered one of the best types of media strategies because it requires no payment or commission and is generated by a third party. Earned media strategies work because they increase trust in a brand or company through the promotion of that brand or company by others or third-party credibility. For example, a customer is more likely to purchase a product they see their favorite social media influencer using than they are a product they see a paid ad for.

Paid media strategy

A paid media strategy refers to a media approach in which the company promotes its content, services or goods through paid advertisements. These paid ads can be placed on various platforms, including social media, TV and radio. For example, pay-per-click advertising is a type of paid media that charges the company a small fee every time a user clicks on its ad.

Other examples of paid media include:

• Paid ad placements
• Branded content
• Display ads
• Influencer collaborations

Owned media strategy

An owned media strategy refers to an approach in which a company uses its own media to advertise or market its products or services. For example, posting information about an upcoming product launch on your company’s blog is a type of owned media strategy. Owned media is any online property that is owned by the company or brand. Examples of owned media include social media platforms, websites and blogs. Having more owned media channels allows a company to have a larger digital footprint and reach more potential customers.

Need for Media Strategy

Definition of the target audience. An insufficiently thorough approach to this stage threatens the failure of the entire advertising campaign. The target audience should be determined very accurately. It depends on how effective the tactics of action will be. And additional differentiation of the target audience into target groups will help to direct the advertising campaign even more precisely.

Analysis. At this stage, competitor strategies, market conditions and consumer behavior are analyzed. However, it should be understood that it is not always possible to obtain such information. Sometimes it’s extremely difficult to guess how a competitor or a consumer acts. As a result, either an incomplete or a not entirely relevant picture is formed. But research in this area allows you to adjust the media strategy taking into account the behavior of the main players in the market.

The place of the advertising campaign, or the choice of communication channels. The choice of a communication channel for an advertising should take into account the following factors:

• Weaknesses and strengths of a particular channel;
• Possibilities of a communication channel for solving tasks;
• Features and specifics of the promoted product or service;
• Budget size.

It’s not easy to choose from the variety of channels those that most closely meet your goal. For this, there is not always all the necessary data.

Budget management for the implementation of the media strategy. The formation of a media strategy should be built in strict accordance with the funds allocated for promotion. In this case, it is necessary to select from possible methods those that are able to convey information to consumers most effectively. Media strategy should be part of the brand’s overall communication strategy.

Situation Analysis for Media Strategy and its Components

The definition of a situation analysis refers to a set of methods that marketing managers use to analyze a company’s internal and external environment to understand the organization’s capabilities, customers, and business environment.

Your marketing plan is critical and the importance of situational analysis in your marketing plan is paramount.

Situation analysis refers to a collection of methods that managers use to analyze an organization’s internal and external environment to understand the organization’s capabilities, customers, and business environment. The situation analysis consists of several methods of analysis: The 5Cs Analysis, SWOT analysis and Porter five forces analysis. A Marketing Plan is created to guide businesses on how to communicate the benefits of their products to the needs of potential customer. The situation analysis is the second step in the marketing plan and is a critical step in establishing a long term relationship with customers.

Marketing Plan

• Introduction
• Situation analysis
• Objectives
• Budgeting
• Strategy
• Execution
• Evaluation

5C Analysis

While a situation analysis is often referred to as the “3C analysis“, the extension to the 5c analysis has allowed businesses to gain more information on the internal, macro-environmental and micro-environmental factors within the environment. The 5C analysis is considered the most useful and common way to analyze the market environment, because of the extensive information it provides.

Company

The company analysis involves evaluation of the company’s objectives, strategy, and capabilities. These indicate to an organization the strength of the business model, whether there are areas for improvement, and how well an organization fits the external environment.

• Goals & Objectives: An analysis on the mission of the business, the industry of the business and the stated goals required to achieve the mission.
• Position: An analysis on the Marketing strategy and the Marketing mix.
• Performance: An analysis on how effective the business is achieving their stated mission and goals.
• Product line: An analysis on the products manufactured by the business and how successful it is in the market.

Competitors

The competitor analysis takes into consideration the competitors position within the industry and the potential threat it may pose to other businesses. The main purpose of the competitor analysis is for businesses to analyze a competitor’s current and potential nature and capabilities so they can prepare against competition. The competitor analysis looks at the following criteria:

• Identify competitors: Businesses must be able to identify competitors within their industry. Identifying whether competitors provide the same services or products to the same customer base is useful in gaining knowledge of direct competitors. Both direct and indirect competitors must be identified, as well as potential future competitors.
• Assessment of competitors: The competitor analysis looks at competitor goals, mission, strategies and resources. This supports a thorough comparison of goals and strategies of competitors and the organization.
• Predict future initiatives of competitors: An early insight into the potential activity of a competitor helps a company prepare against competition.

Customers

Customer analysis can be vast and complicated. Some of the important areas that a company analyzes includes:

Demographics

• Advertising that is most suitable for the demographic
• Market size and potential growth
• Customer wants and needs
• Motivation to buy the product
• Distribution channels (retail, online, wholesale, etc…)
• Quantity and frequency of purchase
• Income level of customer

Collaborators

Collaborators are useful for businesses as they allow for an increase in the creation of ideas, as well as an increase in the likelihood of gaining more business opportunities. The following type of collaborators are:

• Agencies: Agencies are the middlemen of the business world. When businesses need a specific worker who specializes in the trade, they go to a recruitment agency.
• Suppliers: Suppliers provide raw materials that are required to build products. There are 7 different types of Suppliers: Manufacturers, wholesalers, merchants, franchisors, importers and exporters, independent crafts people and drop shippers. Each category of suppliers can bring a different skill and experience to the company.
• Distributors: Distributors are important as they are the ‘holding areas for inventory’. Distributors can help manage manufacturer relationships as well as handle vendor relationships.
• Partnerships: Business partners would share assets and liabilities, allowing for a new source of capital and skills.

Businesses must be able to identify whether the collaborator has the capabilities needed to help run the business as well as an analysis on the level of commitment needed for a collaborator-business relationship.

Climate

To fully understand the business climate and environment, many factors that can affect the business must be researched and understood. An analysis on the climate is also known as the PEST analysis. The types of climate/environment firms have to analyse are:

• Political and regulatory environment: An Analysis of how active the government regulates the market with their policies and how it would affect the production, distribution and sale of the goods and services.
• Economic Environment: An Analysis of trends regarding macroeconomics, such as exchange rates and inflation rate, can prove to influence businesses.
• Social/cultural environment: Interpreting the trends of society, which includes the study of demographics, education, culture etc…
• Technological analysis: An analysis of technology helps improve on old routines and suggest new methods for being cost efficient. To stay competitive and gain an advantage over competitors, businesses must sufficiently understand technological advances.

Media Strategy Components

These are the steps involved in creating your media plan:

Research and Identify Your Target Market: Take the demographics of your target audience into consideration. The more you know about your target market, the more effective your overall marketing strategy will be. Identify your market, where and how they spend their time, and the media and messaging to most effectively reach them. For example, marketing through mobile apps and social media would be more effective to reach the teenage demographic than advertising in print and traditional media.

Set Measurable Objectives and Goals: Keep in mind your overall marketing objective and goals during the strategy creation process. These must be measurable and specific. Use the SMART method, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based. The simple goal to “Make more money” can be measured, but “Increase profits by 20% by Q3” is a much more specific goal and it offers a way to create a timeline that keeps you on track.

Determine Your Marketing Budget: The marketing budget is also part of your media strategy. Without a budget, it is possible to throw thousands of dollars at a problem and get no clear solution. Having a set budget encourages you to think each tactic through and be more creative in your problem-solving. It protects you from overspending or spending money you do not have. 

Craft Your Message: The marketing proposition is the customer problem your business will solve and how it will do it. The message is based on your research into what will appeal to the target audience. You can have different messages for different objectives, all tying into one theme. Remember to include a call-to-action.

Learn From Your Results: The most effective media strategies evolve over time. If you launch one strategy that doesn’t have the expected business results, your company can learn from where it went wrong and improve subsequent launches.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising, also called outdoor advertising, outdoor media, and out-of-home media, is advertising experienced outside of the home. This includes billboards, wallscapes, and posters seen while “on the go;” it also includes place-based media seen in places such as convenience stores, medical centers, salons, and other brick-and-mortar venues.

OOH advertising formats fall into four main categories: billboards, street furniture, transit, and alternative.

The OOH advertising industry in the United States includes more than 2,100 operators in 50 states representing the major out of home format categories. These OOH media companies range from public, multinational media corporations to small, independent, family-owned businesses.

Digital out-of-home

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) refers to dynamic media distributed across place-based networks in venues including, but not limited to: cafes, grocery stores, bars, restaurants, health clubs, colleges, arenas, gas stations, convenience stores, barber shops, airports and public spaces. PQ Media defines DOOH by two major platforms, digital place-based networks (DPN) and digital billboards & signage (DBB); DOOH networks typically feature independently addressable screens, kiosks, jukeboxes and/or jumbotrons. DOOH media benefits location owners and advertisers alike in being able to engage customers and/or audiences and extend the reach and effectiveness of marketing messages. It is also referred to as digital signage.

DOOH includes stand-alone screens, screens on buildings, kiosks, and interactive media found in public places. The availability of inexpensive LCD screens with built-in media players has opened the door for companies to add interactive video messages in point of purchase (POP) displays. The displays allow consumers to get additional information at the moment of decision on a product or service. Growth in the DOOH industry has been increasing in 2009, with more POP manufacturers, advertisers, and content developers moving to digital. Technological improvements are holding down costs, and low-cost digital signage is making it easier to reach consumers on a larger scale. For example, beacons are small devices placed on out-of-home advertising structures that use Bluetooth technology to connect with mobile devices.

Types:

Aerial advertising: Aerial advertising includes towing banners via a fixed-wing aircraft as well as airships like blimps and other airborne inflatables above beaches, events and gridlock traffic.

Billboard bicycle is a new type of mobile advertising in which a bike tows a billboard with an advertising message. This method is a cost-efficient, targeted, and environmentally-friendly form of advertising.

Brochure Distribution: Information displays in public gathering spaces such as transportation centers, lodging facilities, visitor centers, attractions, and retail environments are targeted methods to distribute effective messaging to a targeted audience. This method is slightly different from traditional OOH as the consumer self-selects the messaging material, and can take that message with them.

Billboard: Billboards (or Bulletins) are usually located in highly visible, heavy traffic areas such as expressways, primary arterials, and major intersections. In the US bulletins are usually illuminated. The ad artwork, commonly digitally printed on large vinyl-coated fabric membranes, is often “rotated” by the outdoor plant operator amongst several locations in a metropolitan area to achieve the desired reach of the population as defined in the sales contract. With extended periods of high visibility, billboard advertisements provide advertisers with significant impact on commuters. This is the largest standard out of home advertising format, usually measuring at 14ftx48ft in overall size. Vinyl decals allowing use of windows, on a side and rear advertisement for alcohol on a Berlin bus

Bus advertising: Firmly establish brand awareness and generate quick recall with high-profile exposure near point of purchase locations.

Commuter rail display: Reaches a captive audience of upscale suburban commuters. Additionally, reaches lunch-time patrons, shoppers and business professionals.

ComPark advertising: ComPark is a device used for car park advertising, which is placed onto the parallel lines of a bay and is able to gain instant exposure from motorists that have parked their vehicle. The ComPark also serves as a guide to assist motorist in adhering to the parking bay size.

Gas Station Pump Top Advertising: Printed Signage is inserted into sign holder frames above the Pumps. These are called Pump Top advertising and are generally eye-level height. Average dwell time for customers to refuel their vehicle is 3-5 minutes which make this form of advertising very effective to reach automobile drivers.

Inflatable billboard: Similar to regular 2D billboard, but imposed on 3D object. Best used to market physical products rather than services. A cost-effective approach that is able to achieve high brand awareness and increase product purchases.

Lamppost banner advertising: Lamp columns are sited everywhere, allowing advertisers and events to use banners to target precise geographical locations and create massive promotional awareness.

Mobile billboard: Mobile billboards offer a great degree of flexibility to advertisers. These advertisements can target specific routes, venue or events, or can be used to achieve market saturation. A special version is the inflatable billboard which can stand free nearly everywhere. This product can also be used for outdoor movie nights.

Poster: Target local audiences with these billboards, which are visible to vehicular traffic, and are ideal for the introduction of new products/services. Marketers use posters to achieve advertising objectives and increase brand awareness by placing multiple units in strategic locations while lowering the cost per thousand impressions. This is a standardized poster format, typically measuring 12’3″ x 24’6″; formally known as a 30-Sheet Poster.

Premier panel: Premiere panels combine the frequency and reach of a poster campaign with the creative impact of a bulletin.

Premier square: Bright top and bottom illumination on a premiere panel provide extra impact after dark.

Street advertising: The use of pavements and street furniture to create media space for brands to get their message onto the street in a cost-effective approach.

Taxi advertising: Taxi advertising allows advertisers to highlight their products, whether brand awareness, or a targeted message, directly to areas where people work, shop, and play.

Wallscape: Wallscapes are attached to buildings and are able to accommodate a wide variety of unusual shapes and sizes. These billboard advertisements are visible from a distance and provide impact in major metro areas.

Aircraft Advertising: Aircraft advertising includes product or service branding inside and outside the aircraft. This includes wrapping the aircraft with printed SAVs, baggage tag branding, boarding pass branding, tray table branding and more.

Walking Billboards: These billboards are strapped on to the human shoulder and are carried along the targeted geographic area. These billboard advertisements are also visible during night.[citation needed] It helps the local advertisers as it is very cost effective and can be geographically targeted to a particular area.

Other types of non-digital OOH advertising include airport displays, transit and bus-shelter displays, headrest displays, double-sided panels, junior posters and mall displays.

Factors Affecting OOH Planning Decision

1. Plan a budget

Budget is the base of all your advertising plans, it can range from small to very large and is dependent on the type of marketing you want for your product. Making a proper budget plan for the advertisement helps you select the right media and locations you will be using for your outdoor advertisement.

2. Know the target market

Identify your target consumer and start advertising from there. For example, if you are selling clothing for working women, start from those areas which have most of the offices of the city. Outdoor advertising companies will advise their clients about the geographical facts that can decide a successful marketing campaign. Advertising a product on a very large scale yet still unable to find an increasing demand in the consumer market? This is usually the result of neglecting to analyze where your target market is and missing the opportunity to best to communicate your message to the targeted, potential consumer.

3. Collect information about your competitor’s strategies

Find out who your competition is, and who’s already advertising a similar product or service that may have the same appearance as your brand. Then research and analyze them to get useful information. What outdoor advertising strategies are they using? What kind of messages are they conveying? Are these messages precise or are they suggestive? What types of illustrations and visuals and are being used? Understanding your competitors will help you boost the effectiveness of your outdoor advertising campaign.

4. Consider offering promotional incentives

Offers that announce discounts or prizes can be likely to get more attention. Examples include offering prizes for the first few customers, discounts for repeat customers, or cash-based referrals for referring a friend or neighbor. Always be cautious when using this technique though as not to “cheapen” your brand.

Advantages

Outdoor advertising offers a number of advantages as depicted as under:

• Frequency: Because purchase cycles are typically for 30-day periods, consumers are usually exposed a number of times, resulting in high levels of frequency.
• Wide coverage of local markets: With proper replacement, a broad base of exposure is possible in local markets, with both day and night presence.
• Geographic flexibility: Outdoor advertising can be placed along highways, near stores, or on mobile billboards, almost anywhere that law permits. Local, regional, or even national markets may be covered.
• Ability to create awareness: Because of its impact (and the need for a simple message), outdoor can lead to a high level of last minute awareness and reminder of a product.
• Creativity: Outdoor ads can be very creative. Large prints, colours, and other elements attract attention.
• Efficiency: Outdoor usually has a very competitive cost per thousand measures when compared to other media.
• Production capabilities: Modern technologies have reduced production time for an outdoor advertising to allow for rapid turnaround time.
• Effectiveness: Outdoor advertising can often lead to increased sales, particularly when combined with a promotional program.

Limitations

• Limited message capabilities: Because of the speed with which most people pass by outdoor ads, exposure time is short, so messages are limited to a few words, and/or an illustration. Lengthy appeals are not likely to be effective.
• Waste coverage: While it is possible to reach very specific audiences, in many cases the purchase of outdoor advertising results in a high degree of waste coverage. It is not likely that everyone driving past a billboard is part of the target market.
• Wear out: Because of the high frequency of exposures, outdoor advertising may lead to a quick wear out. People are likely to get tired of seeing the same ad every day. Moreover, because of the severe weather conditions, the life of the outdoor banners and posters is generally very short.
• Measurement problems: One of the more difficult problems of outdoor advertising lies in the accuracy of measuring reach, frequency, and other effects.
• Cost: Because of the decreasing signage available and the higher cost associated with inflatable, outdoor advertising can be expensive in both an absolute and a relative sense.
• Image problems: Outdoor advertising has suffered some image problems as well as some disregard among consumers. People do not consider this medium a very authentic and prestigious. So, most of the renowned companies do not use this medium for advertising their products.
• Legal constraints: This medium also confronts lots of legal problems from time to time.