Basic Media Strategy

It is a plan of action by an advertiser for bringing advertising messages to the attention of consumers through the use of appropriate media.

Identifying the characteristics of the target audience Defining the characteristics of the media that will be used

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Developing Media Plan

Market Analysis Set the Media Objectives

Media Strategy development and implementation

Evaluation & follow-up

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Steps in Media Planning

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DECIDING ON MEDIA OBJECTIVES

The media planner has to decide on the media objectives. Media objectives often are stated in terms of reach, frequency, gross rating points and continuity.

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The following could be the media objectives

To reach photo enthusiasts of that age and income group who are the chief purchasers. To concentrate the greatest weight in urban areas where the target audience would normally be found and where new ideas gain a quicker response. To provide advertising support at a consistent level except when it needs extra weight during announcements and the holiday season, when such target buyers are planning to visit exotic places or to meet their kith and kin. To select those media, which will help strengthen the creative strategy and help demonstrate convenience, ease of shooting and, of course, excellent results. The Hot Shot camera with the Khatak sound became an instant success with the photo enthusiasts in the late eighties in India. To reach target buyers through those media to gain greater frequency and lesser cost per opportunity

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MEDIA EVALUATION

After the objectives are defined there is a need to evaluate each media in order to reach a conclusion about the type of media that will be most effective for the accomplishment of the objectives.

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The objects of the evaluation are:

To see which media are feasible. To pick the main medium. To prepare for the decision on how it should be used. To see whether there are suitable supporting media if required.

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Creative suitability: There may be obvious reasons why a particular medium is especially suitable for the campaign or another is unsuitable, a coupon is to be included or the absence of color is critical. Often the preference of the creative group is not backed up by concrete evidence but they have strong views nevertheless about the media to use and those not to use.
An idea: Sometimes a media idea, or better an idea which involves media and creative content, is obviously right or simply a novelty, which is expected to attract attention and so work. A press advertisement in the shape of the product, using publications that have never before carried this type of advertising, a radio commercial announcing officially there is now no shortage of the product, a TV commercial that starts with silence and black screen, a poster that looks like a shop window and so on. Sometimes a change is as good as an increased budget.

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Proven effectiveness: When there is evidence that a particular medium is the most efficient, the choice is obvious. The evidence may come from the tests on our own product or from a study of competitor s activities. The advertiser often insists on using the same medium as before, even without testing its effectiveness. The best predictor of an advertising schedule is the schedule for the previous year. This is not always laziness. It is partly because the media scene is not very different from year to year: media change is dictated by a major shift in the market place, a new medium, a new definition of the target, or a new advertising idea. Advertisers resist change because it involves more risk than to continue with a proven, viable strategy. Availability and timing: The type of product or copy claim may prevent the use of a medium- this is most likely to rule out TV, on which, for example cigarettes are not advertised. The flexibility required by the advertiser, for example being able to cancel or change advertising at a few days notice, may also rule out a medium-for example it may make color press impossible.

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CHOOSING AMONG MAJOR MEDIA TYPES

The media planner has to know the capacity of the major media types to deliver reach, frequency, and impact. The major advertising media along with their costs, advantages, and limitations are to be well understood. Every media plan requires that specific media types be selected Doordarshan, Direct mail, satellite TV, newspapers, magazines, etc. Media planners must consider several variables before choosing among major types:

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Target audience media habits: This is the most important factor. Housewives watch more of television, whereas, working women go for magazines. Again television programmes have different viewers. For instance, world this week is viewed by teenagers and young adults. Therefore, it would be advisable to advertise during World this week such products which are of interest to teenagers and young adults. Radio and television are the most effective media for reaching teenagers. Products: Products that require demonstration can suit for television. For example, the demonstration of the use of a vacuum cleaner by Eureka Forbes. Financial advertising such as new issue of shares is good in newspapers. Women's dresses are best shown in color magazines, and Polaroid cameras a best demonstrated on television. Media types have different potentials for demonstration, visualization, explanation, believability, and color. Again there are media restrictions on certain products. For instance, alcoholic drinks and cigarettes cannot be advertised in press as well as on DD and AIR, hence these two options are totally ruled out. Message: The type of message dictates the type of media. For example, an ad that features technical information is best suited for specific magazines. Again, an ad from retailer announcing major sale on discount requires more of local newspapers. Cost Factor: Television is very expensive, where as, radio is very economical. However, cost is not the only factor, even if it is calculated on the basis of cost per- person reached. The impact of the media is to be taken into account.

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SELECTING SPECIFIC MEDIA VEHICLES

Once a decision is made on media types, specific media vehicles within each medium must be chosen. For instance, the media planner may take a decision to select only magazines. The question now appears in which magazines. There are several classes of magazines- General interest like Reader s digest, Women Interest magazines like Femina, Savvy, Elle, Business interest magazines like Business India, Business Today. If the decision is to select Business Interest Magazines- then the media planner may consider the following: Business India Business World Fortune India Dalal Street Journal Business Today Advertising & Marketing

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Elements of Media
Evaluation of a particular medium for inclusion in a campaign rests upon what it contributes to the cumulative effect. Any medium comprises of 4 elements. Character Atmosphere Reach and frequency Cost In addition to this, we should also realize that the value contributed by the medium also depends upon the size of the advertisement or length of the commercial and the position of the advertisement. By the word character , we mean the objective characteristics of the medium; type of coverage, seasonal implications etc. By atmosphere we mean the effect on the mind or emotions of the mood and circumstances in which the advertisement in the medium is perceived by the audience. We shall now see these two elements in detail.

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CHARACTER There are ten aspects to character. Geography Class Age Power to reach special groups Physical characteristics of the medium Assistance to selling Duration of interest Timing Impact or repetition Indirect effects on influential groups like retailers Geography

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ATMOSPHERE Atmosphere is the mood of the audience and the relationship between the message and the atmosphere of the medium carrying it. Evaluating atmosphere begins with drawing the distinction between media whose primary function is advertising eg. Posters, and media whose objective is different eg. Entertainment for television channels, where the advertising matter is the intruder, whether acceptable or otherwise. Many media have the ability to reach customers when they are deciding their purchases. Any advertising message at this moment is not only acceptable but is also considered helpful. This increases the level of assistance to selling tremendously.

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Media Vehicles and Their Types

Deciding to include advertising in the communication mix process is a relatively easy decision compared to deciding which media and media vehicle (for example which magazine or which cancel on TV, etc.) Most of the advertising budget gets spent on the media (and not the creative or production side).This is why a careful planning, negotiating and knowledge skills are very important. Expert media planners and buyers got the best out of the advertising by finding the right spaces or places for an ad campaign at the lowest cost. There are a wide variety of media available today for the advertisers to choose from. The decision is depended on a lot of factors at the same time it is a very crucial decision since the success of the campaign is highly depended on the media selection aspect.

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TYPES OF MEDIA VEHICLES

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BROADCAST MEDIA
Broadcast media are quite young in comparison to the printed word. Fundamentally there are two main forms of broadcast: television and radio. Advertisers use these classes of media in order to reach mass audiences with their messages at a relatively low cost per target reached. The media allows the advertisers to add audio and /or visuals to their messages. The media gives life and energy to the advertising message which is not really possible through other media. However people are normally unable and unwilling to become actively involved in the broadcast advertising message. They cant consume the pace at which the message is seen and understood as the time is very short due to the cost aspect. The advertisers are also unable to provide excessive details and information. As a result the medium becomes more suitable for low involvement products. Advertising messages through the broadcast media use a small time period, normally 15 or 30 or 60 seconds depending on their budget and the availability.

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NARROWCASTING
The word "narrowcasting" is particularly unique to the industry of media specifically that of broadcast media. It is, according to the dictionary, the ability to "aim a radio or TV program or programming at a specific, limited audience or consumer market. For example, music television is presented on MTV (Music Television), or Channel V, CMM.ETC, CNN (Cable News Network) offers 24-hour news coverage; ESPN (Entertainment Sports Network) boasts an all sports format; and Star TV, Zee etc, covers the family entertainment segment. Other cable channels feature programming such as shopping, comedy, science-fiction, or programs aimed at specific ethnic or gender groups highly prized by specific advertisers

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NEW MEDIA

Recent technological advances have increased the range of new media available to the advertisers to communicate with their prospects and the consumers. New media allows for far greater level of interactions between the advertiser and the receiver. The new media would include internet and short message service (SMS). New media is different from traditional media on a number of fronts, but the most important being the time that elapses between message receipt and response. With new media the advertisers can target tightly clustered audiences with well defined messages.

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INTERNET ADVERTISING
The World Wide Web is a hybrid medium, which shares characteristics with mass communication as well as interpersonal communication. The medium combines the ability of the mass media to disperse a message to a wider audience with some of interpersonal communication s possibilities of feed-back and interaction. From a marketing view point, one of the implications of this is that exposure and action advertising and transactions can be integrated. Since the medium is interactive, users of the World Wide Web play a much more active role in the communication process than users of traditional mass media. Where traditional mass media are characterized by an information push, the communication processes on the Web are driven by a basic information pull, meaning that the control balance of the communication process has shifted in favor of the user. The immense body of information available to the individual user further pushes the control of the communication process towards the user, and has lead to a highly fragmented content structure that allows the individual user to pursue his specific interests. Internet advertising has gained significant momentum across the world and has become a part of the media mix that is being considered by advertisers worldwide.

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Media Plan - Making a Media Plan

Two Philosophies of Media Planning Both assume a fixed budget, with a forced tradeoff between reach and frequency. Traditional philosophy is to determine frequency needs, and let that drive reach. Current movement is toward maximizing reach and frequency.

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GENERAL Cost per thousand: It is the cost to reach 1,000 things, whether households or women or children. CPT reduces a variety of different audiences, costs and delivery to one common denominator. Always ask Cost per thousand what? COST PER THOUSAND (CPM) = Cost Per Spot Number HH Watching 1000

If a television spot costs Rs.30,00,000 and reaches 3 lac homes, the cost per thousand homes is Rs. 1000(Rs.30,00,000 divided by 3,00,000).The CPT allows cross comparison across different media types and media vehicles.
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Impression: They represent the total number of messages delivered by a media plan, whatever the media used-the number of people who see a message multiplied by the number of times they see it. The gross sum of all media exposures (numbers of people/homes) without regard to duplication. Frequency: Frequency refers to the number of times the member of the target audience is exposed to a media vehicle. Factors determining the need for frequency Complex messages need more frequency More demanding advertising objectives need more frequency Highly effective advertising generally requires lower frequency When theory calls for exposure close to the purchase, higher frequency is needed

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Reach: Reach refers to the percentage of target audience who are exposed to the message at least once during the relevant time period. If your media plan gets to four out of five homes, it is said to have an 80% reach.

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Media Reach In Metros

All Media Press TV Cable and Satellite(C&S) 35.2 Radio 4 mega metros 93.8 67.2 85.6 30.1

8 Mini metros

93.2

67.6

85.1

32.6

18.5

11 Other metros

91.9

67.6

81.8

37.7

20.4

23 Metros (overall)

93.3

67.4

93.3

34.8

24.9

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Overall Media Reach

TV Press TV (C&S) Radio

All India Urban

45

34

21

12

76

59

23

31

Rural

33

24

20

05

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Coverage: It is a term often used for reach, however should not be confused with reach. Coverage refers to the size of a potential audience that might be exposed to a particular media vehicle. For media planers, coverage (the size of the target audience) is very important. Reach will always be lower than coverage., as it is impossible to reach 100% of the target audience. For example, the size of the target audience may be 5 lakhs and the numbers of individuals who actually see the advertisement are 3.5 lakhs. Then in this case5 lakhs is the coverage and 3.5 lakhs is the reach of the media vehicle. Impact: Impacts refer more to TV than to the press. Impact =the total number of people who see the ad multiplied by the number of times they saw it. Opportunity to see (OTSs): OTSs are the number of exposures or opportunities that a particular audience has to see a particular advertisement.
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