The process for evaluating the business problem / opportunity, key target, most appropriate mix of communication channels and potential cost implications for the campaign.

TARGET AUDIENCE

It is vital to have a rich understanding of the consumer, why they make the choices they do and how these choices can be influenced. The planner will immerse themselves in research to help uncover the potentials and opportunities:

• What makes them different or unique?
• What is their lifestyle and daily routine?
• What are their purchase habit and intentions?
• What is their income band?
• What is their educational background?
• What are their attitudes and opinions?
• What and who inspires or influences them?
• How does the consumer respond to the competitor’s activity?
• How does the consumer respond to my brand?
• How do they interact with media?
• How do they consume media?
• What is their attitude to different media?
• Where do they go to look for brand information?

The Planner will use a combination of industry and proprietary research and may need to instigate new studies in order to answer specific questions relating to the brand or service. Additionally, many of the media and their respective industry bodies (such as Magazine Publishers of Australia, Free TV, Commercial Radio Australia etc.) conduct ad hoc studies that can enhance knowledge about media consumption and involvement which are also useful tools.

Creative ideas are built on insights into people, so this information is vital in assisting the creative process and enabling them to generate ideas that stimulate the appropriate action.

Once the planner has identified the essence of the consumer and their media habits, further investigation is required to strengthen the knowledge of the consumers’ interaction with the many media options.

MEDIA CHANNEL SELECTION

The opportunities to promote a brand, product or service are rapidly increasing , particularly with such rapid technological advancements. Technology is having a major influence on today‘s consumers and their media habits. The process of selecting the most appropriate communication vehicle(s) therefore needs to consider further questions, such as:

• Which media does my target audience best relate to?
• How does my target interact with the media?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the media that I need to consider?
• What combination of media will work best to achieve my goals?
• How effective is the media in delivering my objectives?
• What percentage of my target audience can the media reach and how fast?
• How efficient is the media in terms of costs?
• What creative implications do I need to consider?
• How affordable are the media options considering my budget?
• How does my competitor use media and how should this influence my media choice?

The list of media channels is not just limited to the mainstream media of television, radio, magazines, newspapers, cinema and outdoor. The opportunities extend to a huge variety of out of home / ambient environments, direct mail, email, mobile phones, internet, video games, apps, merchandise, music, in program content, WOM, sponsorships, etc. This list continues to grow as rapidly as new technology is developed.

Many advertisers today require a multi media approach using different vehicles and different creative messages to effectively reach their target consumer.

MEDIA SELECTION – IDENTIFYING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Each media has different strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered by the planner. These considerations need to be made bearing in mind all the elements of the brief and insights into the consumer. Some considerations include the following:

 

Media	Strength	Weakness
Television	Builds high reach quickly	High Production Cost
	Able to target all demographic groups	High capital media cost
	Geographically selective	difficult to obtain specific programmes short term
	Impact through sight, sound and movement	channel surfing
	Intrusive	In case of Free to air – not paid for medium
	Call to action with direct response	High level of clutter
	Highly researched	Can’t measure out of home viewing for major events
		Programmes can be recorded
Radio	Builds frequency quickly	Not paid for
	Easier to book campaign at short notice	channel surfing
	More accountable	Expensive for national coverage
	Target specific demo and physcographics	More expensive for broad target groups
	Geographically Selective	limited creative flexibility (Sound only)
	Personal medium	Lower Reach
	More negotiation flexibility with added value	Reception issues
	Lower production costs
	Credible environment (talkback)
	Creatively flexible
Magazines	National coverage with 1 insertion	Long lead times (Esp monthly titles)
	Provides details	More difficult to book by region
	Target specific groups (IE 4WD enthusiasts	High clutter
	High use by woman	Slow to build reach
	Most are paid for	Passive
	Higher Level of involvement	Lack urgency
	Editorial Compatibility
	Creative opportunities – Gatefolds, pop ups
	Highly researched
	Longevity of Advertising
	High quality production
	Quality image association
Newspapers	Builds high reach quickly	Short Lifespan
	More Detail	No readership figures for specific sections
	Major metro and regional’s – paid for	Difficult to reach younger audiences
	Tailored environments	Colour reproduction quality
	More accountable
	Geographically Selective
	Generally low production costs
	Short booking lead times
	Credible environment
	negotiable on editorial
	Can accommodate coupons / direct response
Static Outdoor	Strong Impact	Difficult to target specific demographics
	Mass Coverage	High Production Costs
	Target specific regions	Needs simple creative
	Target light users of other mediums	High wear out rate
	Long Term cost effectiveness	Difficult to target regional markets
Mobile Outdoor	Mass Coverage	Difficult to target specific demographics
	Target Specific regions	High Production Costs
	Target many areas with 1 execution	Needs simple creative
	Target light users of other mediums	High wear out rate
	Long Term cost effectiveness
Cinema	Strong impact with sight and sound	High Production Cost
	Paid for medium	Slow to build reach
	Captive Audience	difficult to provide true national coverage
	Geographically Selective (suburb)	Less accountable
	Target light TV, younger audiences	Audience can avoid advertising
	Growing Audience	Unknown titles when booking long term
	Affordable for longer length ads (60 sec etc)
Digital	Simultaneous objectives can be achieved: reach, engagement and transaction	Measurement – inconsistent methodologies
	Can build continuity and frequency for campaign message	Complexity – time consuming to plan and manage
	Quick turnaround	Data Density
	Diversity (Online display, mobile, search, social media, affiliates, EDM) and creative formats (Banners, video, text, content)	Adjacency – difficulties associated with managing appearances in unsuitable content
	Addressability – highly targeted and customisable, down to individual specific level granularity	Velocity – Fast pace of innovation and change
	Interactivity – permits two way dialogue and complete level of transactionality	Standard display creative not as impactful as TVC
	Mobility – mobile channel permits location based communication and services	Online ad units can be wallpaper to users
	Affordability – relatively low production costs	High creative wear out
	Flexibility – range of buying models available (CPM, CPC, CPA, Sponsorships, site specific, network or blinds) Able to plan and buy campaign based on “response” online data metrics

 

MEDIA SELECTION –IDENTIFYING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Every element of the media selection needs to have a clear role in the overall campaign. Decisions need to be made on the amount of effort required for each media, along with a recommendation on where and when to use the media. This information is evaluated and recommendations are submitted to the client, often supported in the format of a media schedule.

 

MEDIA SCHEDULING – REACH AND FREQUENCY

Depending on the objectives of the campaign, the planner evaluates the needs and recommends how much effort is required in order to get the appropriate consumer response over a given period of time. This effort is often reported as a reach figure (either in total thousands of people within the target market group or as a % of the total people within the defined target market group).

For example, a highly anticipated event such as the promotion of tickets to a U2 concert may require very low levels of reach as the majority of the potential market will already beware of the upcoming event. Alternatively, you may have a Retailers 3 – day sale and you probably want to reach as many people as possible in a short space of time in order to achieve the desired result.

In addition, a frequency level needs to be established, i.e. how often does the target market need to see the message in order to respond accordingly.

There are many areas of consideration here that can influence this decision – share of market vs competitors; share of noise vs competitors; current level of awareness of the advertised item; level of interest in the category; whether the message is new information to the consumer; what other level of marketing support will the product have; the strength of the creative message and its ability to break through the clutter; the strength of the media in allowing the advertised item to stand out; the length of time that the campaign needs to run for.

These are only a few of the considerations that need to be taken into account.

For example, the well established Apple iPod may require very few reminders as the brand is solid and the message is easily understood and recognised. A car insurance commercial for a new competitor in the market will require more frequency to break through the clutter, to allow sufficient time to explain why they are better than their competitors and finally to allow consumers enough time to digest the information and respond accordingly.

These decisions also need to evaluate the point of diminishing returns – where further exposure and investment is not generating the level of response to justify the activity. There is also a consideration that too much exposure can in fact create a negative response to the brand, particularly in this day of advertising savvy consumers.

After all this investigation the planner will then recommend a level of Reach and Frequency, i.e.

60% 3+ (This essentially means that the objective of the campaign is to reach 60% of the target market at least 3 times)

Or 70% 2+ (objective being to reach 70% of the target market at least 2 times)

 

MEDIA SCHEDULE FLIGHTING

Decisions on scheduling need to consider when each media should be active and for how long. Many common strategies will see the first ‘burst’ of activity over a number of weeks with generally higher weights (Reach and Frequency) than the following weeks. Often the mix of media is selected to run at different intervals to allow more longevity of the campaign.

Some of the considerations for determining the flow of activity will take into account brand / product seasonality, consumer purchase decisions, competitive activity and estimates on when they might be advertising, the budget that is afforded for each media, the objectives of the campaign to generate the desired response within a given time period.

 

MEDIA GEOGRAPHY

The media markets are generally categorized by state and then by metropolitan and regional markets. The selection of a media doesn’t assume a full national exposure unless you specifically buy each market individually. The primary exceptions to this are magazines and the internet which are most often bought nationally due to their national distribution / coverage. See specific media types.

Many advertisers may have different needs in each market influenced by brand performance ,CDI / BDI, product distribution, levels of a awareness, influence of competition, varying seasonality trends and of course the audience potential. The level of activity and the selection of media therefore may vary by market / region.

In some instances an advertiser may be looking at a test campaign to launch a product and to gauge the consumer’s reaction before rolling out nationally. There may also be trade issues in a certain region that require extra effort. These many variables will influence the final distribution and selection of activity in each market.

 

APPROVAL

The Media Agency prepares a consolidated presentation of all the key insights and opportunities along with a proposed media schedule. Client approval is given before proceeding to the Implementation Planning stage. The approval process needs to ensure that the client is satisfied that all the recommendations consider and address the expectations of the campaign.

The benefits of obtaining this interim approval allows each party to consider the direction that is being taken at a certain point before progressing with specifics that may not be appropriate. For example, if the client does not agree firstly with the target audience recommendation then the rest of the plan is redundant until a review of these recommend at is takes place. Likewise if the advertiser is not in agreement with a certain media choice, let’s say newspapers as an example, then the process for drilling into the performance of individual titles and the environments they offer is also redundant.

• Specific approvals will cover the following elements:
• Target audience.
• Media channel selection.
• Reach and Frequency goals.
• Flighting.
• Geographic selections and priorities.
• Costs.

Following an agreement to proceed, the agency then needs to undertake the task of implementation planning to help determine how best to use each media and leverage opportunities within.