Media planning and selection are of top significance once the advertising goals and the organisation have been set. Media planning and selection deals with media identification, identification of factors governing media and vehicle choices, laying down criteria for media selection and evaluation of each media against another, developing media-mix, resources allocation and media scheduling. Media selection is possible when one knows about the ‘reach’ and ‘impact’ of each medium and media vehicle.
Media planning, therefore, is the study of different advertising media and media vehicles in depth that facilitates media selection and development of media-mix that is most suitable for the firm in question. A Indoor advertising media: Indoor advertising media represents the use of those vehicles by the advertisers that carry the message right into the houses or indoors of the audiences.
These vehicles are: (1) Newspapers (2) Magazines (3) Radio (4) Television and Film.
The market diversities in terms of consumer preferences, competitive pressures, availability of media and the like necessitate the designing of a media-mix so as to meet the requirements of these diversities with view to maximize the message impact. That is, there is hardly any company that is happy with only one medium or media vehicle. This media mixing is also called as ‘multimedia strategy’.
Basically, development of a media-mix is a problem of determining the optimum allocation of firm’s advertising funds. The funds earmarked are to be so distributed over different media and media vehicles that the marginal returns from each component are equal. In other words, the last rupee spent on any component should produce the same rupee return as the last rupee spent on other components.
This marginal or equimarginal concept of media-mix development therefore, is a matter of three broad steps namely:
- Media-wise collection of data of past expenditure.
2. Analysis of data so as to get reasonably accurate representations of the net returns curves for each medium, together with sales results.
3. Subsequent adjustment of budget allocation to different media so that the slopes of the several net returns curves tend to equalize.
This last step is trial and error approach in which one starts with a given feasible allocation, lest it locates profitable changes and brings changes leading to a raise in the net returns. At a point when there are no further chances of rising net returns, one arrives at the optimum allocation of funds representing the optimum media mix. This trial and error method is like the linear programming model of media-mix which has been developed to help the advertising executives in making media-mix choices. The best examples of this kind are: High Assay Model,
Simulation Model and Mediac Model.
Media Scheduling: Media scheduling is the very next managerial task, once the media-mix is developed. A media schedule is a timebound detail of advertisements with reference to the media selected. Media schedule portrays the total audience coverage, the message frequency and the continuity of the message.
As noted earlier, coverage, reach, frequency and continuity are interrelated concepts and are to be carefully considered and weighed while developing media schedule.
Media scheduling decisions are extremely important for two reasons namely:
1. Purchases of radio and television time and news-paper and magazine space represent the largest elements of the cost in the advertising budget.
2. The success of an advertisement in achieving advertising objectives largely depends on how each show or magazine reaches the consumers in the target market segment.
Following are some of the media scheduling theories that assist the advertising executives in media schedule development. Though these provide quantitative tools of media scheduling, an advertising manager is expected to employ his judgment because, he has failed to measure accurately all the attributes of all the media open to him. Here, a mention is made of three theories of scheduling.
The first one is the Wave Theory, according to which the advertiser purchases time and space in different media for a relative short time and moves out of these media in ‘waves’ in the hope that the impact of his advertising will carry over from the periods of heavy concentration to those of no advertising. In essence, this theory sacrifices continuity and builds-up coverage and frequency.
The second one is Media Dominance Theory according to which an advertiser buys unusually large amounts of space in one medium; after building up coverage and frequency in that medium, he shifts another medium for a short period. Thus, it speaks of saturating one medium at a time before touching another.
The third one is Media Concentration Theory which states that the advertiser concentrates fully on only one medium than spending on different media for a short period. This theory values continuity for longer periods. The actual applicability of these theories depends on their relative merit in a given marketing situation. The Advertising Message: Formulation of advertising message is an integral part of media planning and selection.
The phrase ‘advertising message’ includes two basic elements namely:
1 The appeals (copy claims) that represent the central idea of the message.
2 The method of presentation (the style of execution) that is used to present the copy claims. Message formulation involves designing of the advertising copy and structuring the advertising layout so that the company’s claims (USPs) can be presented effectively before the audience for appropriate product-positioning.
Let us know in brief these concepts namely, product positioning, unique selling proposition, copy and layout.
Product Positioning:
The phrase ‘product-positioning’ signifies an effort to find a new segment of the market, a unique niche not tightly controlled by a competitor. Thus, it refers to the placement of company product or products in the minds of target consumers relative to the competitive products, as having certain distinctive benefits and wantsatisfying potential. In other words, it is an attempt to capitalize on distinctive appeal not exploited by the competitor.
Positioning represents more a state of mind or image than different ingredients or attributes; such a state of mind is derived from advertising, more than from product-planning and design. Advertising is an instrument of positioning or repositioning a product or products of the company in the minds of the consumers by focusing their attention on ‘claims’ or ‘unique selling proposition’ or the ‘theme’ being conveyed through the message.
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) (Theme):
Advertising theme or campaign theme is the appeal or the substance of a given advertisement message. It is the key-note concept that gets the message in a challenging manner across the prospects. It is that central idea around which the campaign is built. It is the ‘big selling idea’ known as unique selling proposition or the USP. The USP is the heart of advertising campaign. It is an offer that an advertiser makes to his consumers which is unique in relation to the competing offer or offers and promises to deliver a certain distinctive benefit or benefits or a package of satisfaction.
It is conveyed through the copy or the artwork or both. The underlying idea behind the USP is that it differentiates qualities of a product or a service. It means that each campaign should promise the prospect a specific benefit based on the USP and particularly one that is not offered by the competitors.
The selling proposition or the appeal or the claim must entice the prospects to gain new customers for the product or the service. A good campaign theme is one that aims at any basic buying motive, attracts the right group of prospects, ties in logically with the product and its qualities and is capable of being used in multiple media.
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