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REVIEW QUESTIONS
14-4. Explain the differences between media planning and media buying.
Media planning is a problem-solving process, devised jointly by the agency’s media
14-5. What is aperture and how is it used in media planning?
Finding the right moment to deliver a message is called the media aperture. The goal
14-6. How are gross impressions and gross rating points calculated?
Gross impressions are the sum of the audiences of all the media vehicles used during
a certain span of time. The summary figure is called “gross” because the planner has
made no attempt to calculate how many different people were in the audience or
14-7. Explain the differences among continuous, flighting, and pulsing schedules.
To avoid the huge numbers, media planners convert impressions to gross rating
A continuous schedule spreads the advertising evenly over the campaign. A pulsing
strategy means ads run all the time, sometimes more often than not. A flighting
14-8. Explain the difference between GRPs and TRPs. How are they used to
estimate the impact of a media plan?
GRPs indicate the weight delivered when you sum the total audience coverage
ratings. TRPs refer to the weight of the target audience after the audience waste has
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14-9. Explain the differences among CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs. How are they used
to estimate the cost efficiency of a media plan?
Both CPMs and TCPMs indicate the cost to purchase 1,000 impressions in a given
program. The CPM is a calculation of a total audience while TCPMs represent a
more precise audience and exclude waste, or people not being targeted by a specific
14-10. What do media planners do?
Once the plan directions are set, media buyers convert objectives and strategies into
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
14-11.You have just begun a new job as a media planner for a new automobile model
from General Motors. The planning sequence will begin in four months, and your media
director asks you what data and information you need from the media research
department. What sources should you request? How will you use each of these sources in
the planning function?
To begin with we will need to know who is in the target market. We will need to know
the objectives of the media plan. We will need details about the entire marketing plan.
We will need every bit of available information about the target market’s media
habits. What do they watch, read, or listen to? What times of day and times of year
Sources to request include, but are not limited to Consumer Behavior reports, Nielsen
14-12. In performing an aperture analysis, choose one of the following products: video
games (Nintendo, for instance), men’s cologne (such as Axe), computer software (such as
PhotoShop), or athletic shoes for aerobics (Reebok, for example). For the brand you
selected, analyze the marketing situation and give your intuitive answers to the following
questions:
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a) How does aperture work for this product?
b) Which media vehicles should be used to maximize and leverage the prospect’s
media aperture?
c) Explain how the timing and duration of the advertising can improve the aperture
opportunity.
For many product categories, prospective customers have one or more ideal times or
places at which they are most receptive to receiving and paying attention to a brand
TAKE-HOME PROJECTS
14-13. Portfolio Project:You have been asked to develop a media plan for a new reality
show that you have created. Focus on the Internet as a primary medium for this
launch. Go to both www.google.com/adsense and http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com.
Indicate how you would use the information provided by these sites in developing
your media plan for this new reality TV show. Write a one- to two-page report.
Reality TV is a relatively new form of TV that attracts a younger, tech savvy audience.
The use of both www.google.com/adsense and http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com
provides a variety of publishing, search websites, mobile web pages, and applications
that can be used to promote the reality show and engage the viewers. These online
14-14. Mini-case Analysis: Outline the key decisions in the Icelandic Men’s cancer
campaign. What were the media strategies that contributed to the success of this
campaign? Using your analysis as a model, develop a proposal for a media plan for a
media pan for next year’s follow.-up campaign.
The Icelandic Men’s cancer campaign challenged the target to get comfortable with
their bodies so that they would perform self-examinations, detect male-related cancer
and seek medical assistance when needed. The aim was to create a campaign that
The campaign encouraged men to sport a mustache in March, giving visual support
for the fight against cancer and starting conversations. Heavy emphasis was placed
on hilarious television advertising. Limited print advertising was also used to
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The plan for year two should continue with many of the strategies and tactics from
year one. The campaign should also incorporate stories about men that detected and
were successfully treated, as well as statistics on lives lost because no preventative
TRACE North America Case
Planning and Buying Multicultural Media
14-15. Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 14-15.What media
would you recommend to reach the Nissan target market of Multicultural Millennials
(ages 18 to 29)?
14-16. Based on TRACE’s $100 million advertising budget, draw your own pie chart
indicating the media you would select with a dollar figure attached to each medium.
HANDS-ON CASE: Making Milk Cool
P4-1. What advice about media would you give to someone who wanted to market to
teens?
The media must engage the teen consumer, not interrupt their lives. While digital media
P4-2. Describe the brand experience. How did this campaign combine the use of
digital and traditional media? Was it effective?
Teens were exposed to the “Got Milk” message through the power of digital media and
through the influence of pop culture. Teens connected with the created rock band called
White Gold and enjoyed the “bizarre and random” humor of the campaign. The
P4-3. In what ways were the media choices for this campaign creative?
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The creation of White Gold provided a musical platform for the milk message. It resulted
P4-4. Visit www.gotmilk.com to see the latest evolution of the “got milk?” campaign.
Who seems to be the intended audience? How effectively does the Web presence
communicate with the intended audience?
The website seems to be targeting an older demographic with a drinking milk before
bedtime message. The site is easy to navigate and contains some humorous elements, but
is no bizarre or random type of humor and no focus on music or pop culture, which
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the various categories of information compiled by media researchers
and from where do they obtain it?
Before planning can begin, media researchers gather information that can help ensure that
they do the best job possible of engaging the audience. The list below illustrates the wide
range of media information sources and the critical role media research plays in the
overall advertising planning process:
Client Information: The client is good source for various types of information
media such as demographic profiles of current customers, response to previous
Market Research: Independently gathered information about markets and product
categories is another valuable tool. Companies such as Mediamark Research, Inc.
In highly competitive product categories, marketers track competitive advertising
expenditures, that is, how much competing brands spend on media compared to
how much they are spending on their particular brand. This is called share of
Media Kits: The various media and their respective media vehicles provide media
kits, which contain information about the size and makeup of their audiences.
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Nielsen Media Research audits national and local television, and Arbitron
measures radio. Other services, such as the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly
known as Audit Bureau of Circulations), Simmons, and MRI, monitor print
Consumer behavior reports are useful in planning media strategies. Media
planners use such services as the Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s ClusterPlus
2. How magazine readership is measured and how are rates determined? What are
some of the challenges to media planners in this?
Magazine rates are based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to
provide. Magazine circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold, not the readership
of the publication (called “readers per copy”). A single copy of a magazine might be read
by one person or by several people, depending on its content. The Alliance for Audited
MediaMark, which provides a service called MRI, is the industry leader in magazine
readership measurement. MRI measures readership for many popular national and
regional magazines (along with other media). Reports are issued to subscribers twice a
One problem with these measurement services is the limited scope of their services.
Without the services of an objective measurement company, advertisers must rely on the
data from the magazines themselves, which may be biased. One interesting change
3. Who are some of the companies that provide media planners with data
regarding the measurement of online audiences?
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Media planners are interested in estimates of the number of visits to a website, how much
time was spent on the site, and new and repeat visitors as well as supplemental
Google and Yahoo! have built impressive models and ad-buying programs to help media
planners. For ads and banners, data are collected about the number of click-throughs that
moved the user from the ad to the advertisers’ site. Various types of software programs
Nielsen and comScore have digital ratings program, as do Google, Microsoft, and
4. What is a media plan and what are the questions it is designed to answer?
A media plan is a written document that summarizes the objectives and strategies
Media plans are designed to answer the following questions: (1) who (target audience),
(2) what for (objectives), (3) where (the media vehicles used), (4) where (geography), (5)
5. Explain the concept of effective frequency.
Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, there should be a threshold, or
minimum frequency level, that produces some type of effect, such as a request for more
brand information, a change in attitude toward the brand, or the most desired effect—
And since there are so many different things can impact a response (i.e., an effect),
audience response research is necessary. If the desired effect/response is not achieved,
you may need to increase frequency of exposure or change the message. Research
6. What is a media mix and what factors must be considering when creating it?
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Most brands use a variety of targeted media vehicles, called a media mix, to reach
current and potential customers. Media mixes are used for a number of reasons. The first
is to reach people not reached by the first or most important medium. Using a variety of
media vehicles distributes the message more widely because different media tend to have
The reason for choosing a particular medium or a set of media vehicles depends on the
media objectives. What media will best deliver what effects—and can you reinforce and
extend those effects with a mix of media? If audience reach is an objective, then
television still reaches the largest audience; if frequency is important, then radio may be
7. Describe how the organization of the media industry is shifting.
Occurring in the media industry is a shift in the way the industry is organized. This shift
is called unbundling media services. Because media companies can aggregate the buying
Some of these media companies are now offering consolidated services, which means
bringing the planning and buying functions back together. To take advantage of this
8. What is the current status of global media buying?
A true global medium does not currently exist, which means that global media plans have
to piece together worldwide coverage using a variety of media tools. No one network
controls this global transmission. The definition of global media buying varies widely,
Satellites beam signals to more than one country in Europe, the Asian subcontinent,
North America, and the Pacific, but they are regional, not global, in coverage. The North
American, European, Asian, and Latin American markets are becoming saturated with
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In Europe, the rise of buying “centrals” came about with the emergence of the EU and the
continuing globalization of trade and advertising. Buying centrals are media
organizations that buy across several European countries. These firms have flourished in
an environment of flexible and negotiated rates, low inflation, and a fragmented
ASSIGNMENTS
Individual Assignments
1. Research and write a report on the current state of media planning, and the upheaval
in traditional media approaches that is now under way. How is nontraditional,
interactive media changing this process? Begin your research by going online and
using keyword searches. You should also interview a media planner or buyer in the
nearest major community. Write a 500-word report on your findings.
2. Locate any major consumer magazine. Request a copy along with an advertising kit,
and speak with the advertising representative. Who is the target audience for this
publication? What kind of demographic information is contained in the kit to support
his/her conclusions, and how was it obtained? What kinds of advertisers appear to be
a good match for this target audience? Based on your findings, prepare a ten-minute
presentation for the class. Submit the magazine and media kit along with the report.
Think-Pair-Share
1. According to your textbook, media buying these days is about more than just
choosing from a longer list of media options. Clients are looking for engaging
experiences and brand-building relationships. What are some examples of this, and
how might it be measured using newer, nontraditional media? Debate this question as
groups, and then debrief as a class.
2. What is the relationship between reach and frequency, and what are the tradeoffs that
media buyers must consider when making a purchase? Discuss your ideas in small
groups for five minutes, and then discuss them as a class.
OUTSIDE EXAMPLES
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1. Visit the website of Attensity at http://www.attensity.com. Here, the company writes,
“Attensity helps our customers deliver a superior customer experience by enabling
them to drive better relationships with their customers – transforming them into loyal
advocates. In order to stay competitive, businesses today need a fast, comprehensive,
and reliable way to gather and analyze the vast amount of external information that
exists in the market about an organization, its brands, its competitors, and its
products.”
Explore the links at the top of Attensity’s homepage. Read about who they are, the
types of services they offer, and how all of this matches the material you are
encountering in this chapter. Then answer the following questions: a) What is
fundamentally different about this business and the way it approaches media planning
and buying? b) What new advantages does “market intelligence” bring to clients? c)
What hard data can Attensity supply to support its claims of superiority? d) Finally,
what does this new research-based approach indicate for the future of media planning
and buying? Draft a 750-word research report detailing your findings.
2. The role of media planning is focused heavily on media engagement connections. It
generally includes a multiplatform approach that involves activating the points of
contact where brand messages touch consumers and engage their interest. Read an
article entitled “Are Traditional Media Planning Jobs Going the Way of the
Dinosaurs?” written by Daisy Whitney and published on November 12, 2012 on
www.adage.com. Evaluate this article to determine how it reinforces issues of media
engagement as discussed in Chapter 14 of the text.
Also, to help you further understand what is going on right now in the media industry
and the world of media planners, type ‘media planning’ into this website’s search box
and peruse the list of articles that appear. Create a 500 word report to give to your
classmates that relates your findings.
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