Marketing Chapter 15 Media Planning And Negotiation Media Planning And Negotiation Content

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

Chapter 15

Media Planning and Negotiation



CHAPTER CONTENT

Key Objectives

1. Discuss what is in a media plan and the role of media research in developing media

plans.

2. Detail the four steps in media planning and explain their importance.

3. List the responsibilities of media buyers.

4. Explain current trends in media planning and buying.

Chapter Overview

Media planning is a problem-solving process. Here is the problem – how can media

choices help meet the marketing and advertising objectives? The ultimate goal is to

engage the target audience with the right message, in the best possible way, at the best

Chapter Outline

HOW ARE MEDIA PLANS CREATED?

 Media planners are in the connection business. Their work connects brand messages

with customers and other stakeholders. They identify and activate the points of

contact where brand messages touch consumers and engage their interest.

 The Iceland cancer campaign was multiplatform, including traditional media,

particularly print and outdoor, but also websites, internet videos, social media and

Media Engagement Research

 Some people believe media decisions are the hub in the advertising wheel because

media costs are often the biggest element in the marketing communication budget. If

the right media aren’t in play, no matter how great the message, nobody sees or hears it.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

Media Sources

Before planning can begin, media researchers gather information on the media that might

be used to engage the audience. Figure 15.1 and the list below illustrate 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 a good source for various types of information media

such as demographic profiles of current customers (both light and heavy users),

response to previous promotions, product sales and distribution patterns, and, most

 Market Research: Independently gathered information about markets and product

categories is another valuable tool. Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI), Scarborough

(local markets), and Mendelsohn (affluent markets) are research companies that

provide this service. This information is usually organized by product category

(detergents, cereals, snacks, and so on) and cross tabulated by audience groups and

their consumption patterns. Accessible online for a fee, this wealth of information can

 Competitive Advertising Expenditures: In highly competitive product categories, such

as packaged goods and consumer services, marketers track how much competing

brands spend on media compared to how much they are spending on their particular

brand. This is called share of voice. Marketers want to know which, if any,

 Media Kits: The various media and their respective media vehicles provide media

kits, which contain information about the size and makeup of their audiences.

Although media-supplied information is useful, keep in mind that this information is

assembled to make the best possible case for advertising in that particular medium

and media vehicle.

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

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Media Coverage Area: The broadcast coverage area for television is called a

designated marketing area (DMA). The coverage area is referred to by the name of

the largest city in the area. This is a national market analysis system, and every

county in the United States has been assigned to a DMA. The assignment of a county

 Consumer Behavior Reports are useful in planning media strategies. For example,

media planners use such services as the Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s

ClusterPlus system, and supermarket scanner data to locate the target audience within

media markets.

Media planners must gather, sort, and analyze volumes of data and information before

media planning can begin. Media research begins with collections of data about the

readership and viewership of various media. Here’s a quick summary of the key concepts

and standard sources of the data.

Newspaper Readership

 Newspaper readership tends to be selective, with a greater percentage reading specific

sections rather than the whole paper. Business and professional newspapers, such as

Ad Age, have particularly high readership levels.

 Newspapers measure their audiences in two ways: circulation and readership.

Readership is always a larger number than circulation because when a paper is

delivered to a home or office, it is often read by more than one person. This type of

information facilitates the media planner’s ability to match a certain newspaper’s

readership with the target audience.

 Agencies obtain objective measures of newspaper circulation and readership by

subscribing to one or both of the following auditing companies:

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

Magazine Readership

 Top magazines (e.g., Better Homes and Gardens, National Geographic, Sports

Illustrated) have shown more resilience than newspapers. They tend to have value

to people and stay present long after they are distributed and partly because they

have “pass-along” readership, where additional people read the magazine and see

its advertisements.

 The Alliance for Audited Media is responsible for verifying circulation numbers.

Created in 1914, this group audits subscriptions as well as newsstand sales and also

checks the number of delinquent subscribers and rates of renewal.

 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 year and cover readership by demographics, psychographics, and product use.

 One problem with these measurement services is the limited scope of their services,

and all magazine are not measured. Without the services of an objective (outside)

measurement company, advertisers must rely on the data from the magazines

themselves, which may be biased.

 To address these and other measurement issues, the Association of Magazine Media

introduced a new monthly system, Magazine Media 360, which measures audience

engagement for digital, video, and print across desktop computers, mobile devices,

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

The Radio Audience

 The radio industry and independent research firms provide several measures for

advertisers, including a station’s coverage. This is simply the number of homes

in a geographic area that can pick up the station clearly, whether those homes are

actually tuned in or not.

 A better measure is station or program ratings, which measures the percent of homes

actually tuned in to the particular station. Factors such as competing programs, types

of programs, and time of day or night influence the circulation figure.

 The Nielsen Audio Company estimates the size of radio audiences for more than 270

markets in the United States. It does so by working with a panel of more than 80,000

The Television Audience

 A great number of advertisers consider television their primary medium. Can

television deliver a target audience to advertisers effectively? What do we really

know about how audiences watch television? Is it a background distraction? Do we

switch from channel to channel without watching any single show? Or do we

carefully and intelligently select what we watch on television?

 In an effort to estimate TV viewership, Nielsen uses TV set meters and sends millions

of paper diaries to consumers in all 210 local television markets simultaneously in a

period called sweeps. This normally occurs during the months of November,

February, May, and July, and the data are used to set advertising rates and make

program decisions.

Nielsen is the research company that dominates the television measurement industry.

We introduced some of these measurement concepts in Chapter 12, but let’s look at them

again in the context of television research. Exposure is television’s equivalent to

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 We defined an impression as one person’s opportunity to be exposed one time

to the advertising in a program. Like print, the impressions from television— the

number of viewers exposed to a program—might be greater than the number of

A rating of 10 means that 10 percent of HUT were tuned to the program carrying a

brand’s ad. Since one rating point equals 1 percent of the 119 million homes in the

United States, a 10 rating would be around 12 million households.

 Another way to look at viewership is in terms of the share of the audience, which

is based on the number of televisions turned on. The share is larger than a rating

because the base figure (televisions turned on) is smaller than HUT. A rating of

10 for a Sunday night program might, for example, be a share of 20, which means

 Do you ever wonder what it costs to place ads in premium space such as the largest

billboard in Times Square or during a top-rated TV show? Figure 15.3 shows the

approximate costs across a variety of traditional and online media.

Outdoor Viewership

 Outdoor advertising reaches people as they travel by a sign’s site. The advertiser is

interested in the percentage of the population of the total market (based on car or

pedestrian counts) who, within a 24-hour period, are exposed to one or more boards

carrying the brand message. A system called Geopath generates standard audience

measurements for more than 1 million out-of-home media placements.

 Traditionally outdoor boards have been purchased and measured in terms of

showings, which are estimates of the percentages of the population who had the

opportunity to see the sign.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

Online Audiences

 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

information, such as more sophisticated analytics that are provided by ad-buying

services and the sites themselves.

 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.

 Snapchat introduced a program in 2017 that allows brands to buy its ads based on

TV-style ratings from Nielsen and is opening up its ad platform to make ad buying

easier. These moves help establish the Snapchat platform and its ads as being on par

with its digital rivals as well as traditional TV and help open doors for mobile

television viewing via Snapchat.

KEY STEPS IN MEDIA PLANNING

 The media plan is a written document that summarizes the objectives and strategies

pertinent to the placement of a company’s advertising messages. The goal of a media

plan is to find the most effective and efficient ways to deliver messages to a targeted

audience.

 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) when (time frame), (6) how big (media weight), and (7) at what cost

(cost efficiency). The first three are media objectives and the second group represents

media strategies.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Media planning is more than just choosing from a long list of media options.

Traditional measured media are chosen based on such metrics as GRPs and

CPMs. The new media lack similar metrics and are characterized more by such

considerations as the quality of the brand experience, involvement, and personal

impact.

Step 1: Target Audience

 A key strategic decision is identifying a target audience. The challenge is to select

media vehicles that (1) are compatible with the creative executions and (2) whose

audiences best match those of the brand’s target audience. Does the group of people

 The composition of households is particularly important in media planning, because

the media vehicles generally report their data and compute their impact (readers,

users, or viewers) based on household estimates. It’s important to match the

demographics with the household characteristics given for the media vehicle.

 The breadth of the target, as defined in the marketing communication plan,

determines whether the media planner will be using a broad mass media approach or

a tightly targeted and highly focused approach.

 In addition to information compiled by the team’s media researchers, consumer

insight research also is used to identify and analyze the target audience’s media use

patterns. Industry research helps. For example, research has determined a major shift

in media use with online media taking over from traditional media forms as the

beginning spot in the search process.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Even though search begins online—and that’s true for B2B as well as consumer

purchases—researchers say most customers still make purchase decisions using a

combination of old media, new media, and old-fashioned conversations.

 A problem is that most consumers don’t really know what influences them.

 IMC planners have talked about consumer-based moments of truth for years, but

now that concept is making its way into media planning. Procter & Gamble used the

term FMOT, which refers to first moment of truth—the initial point of contact with a

brand, say, is on a shelf; the second moment of truth is later when the product is used.

 Advertising has always “exposed people to products before they see them in person.

The internet provides more in-depth communication about products.”

 You can see how this shifts the focus away from traditional targeting of households.

Modern views of planning find ways to engage personally with consumers as

individuals rather than as a member of a household at important moments when they

are forming brand impressions.

Step 2: Communication and Media Objectives

 Although creative decisions are sometimes made before media planning, this practice

is changing. With the increasing variety of media options available, smart clients and

agencies are having up-front cross-functional planning meetings that include

creatives, media planners, and account executives. The media and message strategies

are interdependent, so decisions in one area affect decisions in the other.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

The Frequency Objective

 Frequency refers to the repetition of message exposure. You should keep in mind that

the frequency number for a media buy is actually the average number of exposure

opportunities of those reached.

distribution analysis divides an audience into five groups, each containing

20 percent of the audience. Employing media-usage modeling, it is then possible

to estimate the average frequency for each quintile.

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—purchase of the brand.

 A standard rule of thumb is that it takes 3 to 10 exposures to have an effect on an

audience. The “right” frequency number is determined by several factors, including

level of brand awareness, level of competitive “noise,” content of the message, and

sophistication of the target audience.

The Reach Objective

 The percent of people exposed to a brand message one or more times within a

specified period of time is called reach. A campaign’s success is due in part to

its ability to reach as much of the targeted audience as possible within a stated

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Most media reach large numbers of people who are not in the target market.

However, most marketers are more interested in targeted reach, which is

the percentage of a vehicle’s audience that matches the brand’s target market.

 Assessing the media for target audience opportunities is a major challenge for media

planners.

 Consumers are now being viewed as participants in brand conversations, so planners

are thinking less about reach and more about finding the appropriate way to connect.

Media Waste

 Waste is a result of targeting too wide of a target market. There are two sides to

waste, both reach and frequency. The goal of media planning is to maximize media

efficiency, which is to eliminate excessive overlap or too much frequency. Efficiency

Writing Media Objectives

Usable media objectives focus on the relationship between reach and frequency. Here are

some examples of media objectives:

2. Reach a maximum percentage of target audience a minimum of five times within the

first six months of advertising.

4. Reach category thought leaders and influencers in a way that will motivate them to

initiate measurable word-of-mouth (WOM) and other positive brand messages.

 The first objective recognizes that you can seldom ever reach 100 percent of your

target audience. It also acknowledges that a certain level of frequency will be

necessary for the brand messages to be seen/heard/read.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 The second objective would be for a product where the message is more complex;

through research (and judgment) it has been decided that prospects need to be

exposed to the message at least five times to be effective. In this case frequency is

more important than reach.

Step 3: Media Strategies

 Strategic thinking in media involves a set of decision factors and tools that help

identify the best way to deliver the brand message. The goal is to reach the right

people at the right time with the right message. There are always multiple ways to

Media Mix Selection

 Traditional media planning is a process of selecting advertising media to reach a

certain audience and accomplish reach and frequency objectives and is based on

the advantages and limitations of the available media to the needs of the campaign

strategy.

 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

 The reason for choosing a particular medium or a set of media vehicles depends on

the media objectives matched with the strengths of particular media. What media will

best deliver what effects, and can you reinforce and extend those effects with a mix of

media? Will the campaign deliver the desired return on investment (ROI)?

 If audience reach is an objective, television still reaches the largest audience; if

frequency is important, radio may be the best media vehicle to use. Print and

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 The choice of media in the media mix is based on an analysis of their strengths and

limitations and how those factors relate to a specific marketing situation. Figure 15.4

summarizes the strengths and limitations of various media.

 Part of the problem is that in the past, media plans have been dominated by one

medium—a television-based campaign, for example. With media fragmentation

and the diversity of consumer media use, these kinds of campaigns are rarely found

 Even as we say that most media plans are multiplatform, another approach is to focus

primarily on online media. The reason is that to connect with young markets, brands

may find that the best way to reach this elusive group is through social or mobile

media.

 Media choices are sometimes designed to deliver the strategy of using one medium

to deliver an audience to another medium or marketing communication tool. For

Geographical Strategies

 Planners analyze the target audience using geography. Are potential customers

found all over the country, therefore calling for a national campaign, and does the

client have the budget to afford such an extensive media plan? In most cases, the

 To determine which geographical areas have the highest (and lowest) rate of

consumption for a particular product category, marketers compute a category

development index (CDI) for each market in which they are interested. Then they

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Principle: The CDI tells where the category is strong and weak, and the BDI tells

where the brand is strong and weak.

 CDI data can be found in industry and government sources, and BDI information is

available through such services as Simmons and Scarborough as well as company

data.

 Planners typically don’t make heavy allocations in weak sales areas unless strong

marketing signals indicate significant growth potential. Conversely, strong sales

 Another change resulting from the digital revolution is that media plans are

deemphasizing national campaigns and focusing on local connection points.

Media planners are looking at local marketing in the same way they are looking

at consumers as initiators of brand contact rather than just targets.

 Search advertising and mobile marketing are driving this local trend. Google has

found that almost three-fourths of all online activity is related to local content,

Scheduling Strategies

 Scheduling strategies are designed to identify the best times for consumers to come in

contact with a brand message.

 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

 Principle: Advertising is most effective when it reaches the right people at the right

time and place with the right message—in other words, finding the right aperture.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 Timing Strategies: When to Advertise? Timing decisions relate to factors such as

seasonality, holidays, days of the week, and time of day. These decisions are

driven by how often the product is bought and whether it is used more in some

 Lead time also refers to the production time needed to get the advertisement into

the medium. There is a long lead time for magazines, but it is shorter for local

media, such as newspapers and radio.

 Duration: How Long? For how many weeks or months of the year should the

advertising run? If there is a need to cover most of the weeks, advertising will

be spread rather thin. If the amount of time to cover is limited, advertising can

 Another question is how much is enough? At what point does the message make

its point? If the advertising period is too short or there are too few repetitions,

then the message may have little or no impact. If the period is too long, then ads

may suffer from wearout, which means the audience gets tired of them and stops

paying attention.

 Continuity: How Often? Continuity refers to the way the advertising is spread

over the length of a campaign. A continuous strategy spreads the advertising

evenly over the campaign period.

 Two other methods to consider are pulsing and flighting. A pulsing strategy is used

to intensify advertising before a buying aperture and then to reduce advertising to

lower levels until the aperture reopens. The pulse pattern has peaks and valleys, also

called bursts. Pulsed schedules cover most of the year, but still provide periodic

intensity.

Chapter 15: Media Planning and Negotiation

 A flighting strategy is the most severe type of continuity adjustment. It is

characterized by alternating periods of intense advertising activity and periods of no

advertising, called a hiatus. This on-and-off schedule allows for a longer campaign.

 If the flighting strategy works, there will be a carryover effect of past advertising,

which means consumers will remember the product across the gap until the next

advertising period begins. The critical decision involves analyzing the decay level,

the rate at which memory of the advertising is forgotten.

Size, Position, and Media Weighting Strategies

 In addition to selecting the media mix, a media planner works with the creative team

to determine the appropriate size and length of the message for each medium. This

question of scope and scale applies to all media—even transit advertising, as the

taxicab ad illustrates.

 Media planners often use decision criterion called weighting to help them decide how

much to budget (we have referred to it as “heavy up”) in each DMA or region and for

each target audience when there is more than one.

 When there are two target segments to consider you have push and pull strategies.

For example, if a media planner is advertising disposable contact lenses, there might

be two target segments to consider: consumers who need help with their eyesight and

 In the case of DMAs, weak markets may be given more than their share of media

weight in the hopes of strengthening the brands in these markets, a practice known as

investment spending.