Sunday 18 November 2012

Media Strategy

Media Planning and Strategy

Before we mention anything about media planning and strategy, it is important for the readers to understand the terminologies involved in this exercise. Some of these are mentioned below:    

Media - The various categories of delivery systems, including broadcast and print media
Broadcast Media - Either radio or television network or local station broadcasts
Print Media - Publications such as newspapers and magazines
Media Planning - A series of decisions involving the delivery of messages to audiences
Media Objectives - Goals to be attained by the media strategy and program
Media Strategy - Decisions on how the media objectives can be attained
Media Vehicle - The specific message carrier, such as the Washington Post or 60 Minutes
Coverage - The potential audience that might receive the message through the vehicle
Reach - The actual number of individual audience members reached at least once by the vehicle in a given period of time
Frequency - The number of times the receiver is exposed to vehicle in a specific time period

There are several activities involved in developing a media plan. each activity has its own purpose and a set of tasks to complete that activity. These activities are shown in the figure below.


Developing the media plan







Market Analysis

The key questions to be addressed in this stage are:

  • To whom shall we advertise (who is the target market)? 
  • What internal and external factors may influence the media plan? 
  • Where and when should we focus our efforts?

To whom shall we advertise?

There are many indicators developed by different agencies but generally the sources of data used in calculating these indicators are questioned by experts. Also, sometimes the data used to obtain these indicators might not be sufficient or accurate and thus might yield to misleading results. Therefore, tmost of the agencies use the index number.

The index number is the best indicator of the potential of a market. This number is derived from the formula


An index number over 100 means use of the product is proportionately greater in that segment than in one that is average (100) or less than 100.


What internal and external factors may influence the media plan?

Internal factors:
  • The size of the media budget 
  • Managerial and administrative capabilities
  • The organization of the agency 
External factors
  • The economy (the rising costs of media)
  • Changes in technology (the availability of new media) 
  • Competitive factors

Where to promote?

Several indices that are used to determine where to promote (geographically) are as follows:

1. Survey of buying power index - is based on a number of factors including population, effective buying income, and total retail sales in the area. Each of these factors is individually weighted to drive a buying power index that charts the potential of a particular metro area, county, or city. The resulting index gives media planners an insight into the relative value of that market.

2. Brand development index (BDI) - helps marketers factor the rate of product usage by geographic area into the decision process. It compares the percentage of the brand’s total country sales in a given market
area with the percentage of the total population in the market to determine the sales
potential for that brand in that market area.


3. Category development index (CDI) - provides information on the potential for development of the total product category rather than specific brands.

This index is generally used in conjunction with BDI.




Media objectives

Example:
Create awareness in the target market through the following:

  • Use broadcast media to provide coverage of 80 percent of the target market over a six-month period
  • Reach 60 percent of the target audience at least three times over the same six month period
  • Concentrate heaviest advertising in winter and spring, with lighter emphasis in summer and fall

Developing and implementing media strategies


Having determined what is to be accomplished, in the following stage of developing and implementing media strategies media planners consider how to achieve these objectives. several criteria are considered while developing media plans:

  • The media mix
  • Target market coverage 
  • Geographic coverage
  • Scheduling
  • Reach vs frequency
  • Creative aspect and mood
  • Flexibility
  • Budget considerations





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