Media Concepts, Characteristics

and Issues in Media Planning

UNIT 9 MEDIA CONCEPTS,
CHARACTERISTICS AND ISSUES
IN MEDIA PLANNING
Objectives

In unit 3 of this course you have already gone through the advertising and media
scene in India. Each of the major media option has been covered. The objectives of
this unit are:
• to explain some of the major media concepts,
• to study the characteristics of each of the advertising medium,
• to suggest how to evaluate alternate media options for campaign planning.
Structure
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Advertising Plan
9.3 Advertising Expenditures
9.4 Media Concepts
9.5 Media Characteristics
9.6 Creative Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Media\
9.7 Evaluating Media Options
9.8 Media Selection
9.9 Summary
9.10 Self-Assessment Questions
Annexure

9.1 INTRODUCTION
The appreciation of the marketing concept radically changed the philosophy of the
media planning function, in an advertising agency. As marketers became more
consumer-oriented, it became necessary for advertising professionals to understand
consumers as the target audience. Secondly, for better understanding of these
complex target audiences and their equally complex needs, sophisticated analytical
skills were required. In addition, the competition, both inter-media and intra-medium
became intense, created another challenge of choosing media vehicles and media
options. Finally, more accountability is expected from the agencies and advertisers
are interested to know where their advertising money is being spent and how well it
is being spent.

The media function in Advertising has undergone a change in the past few years. The
biggest change has been the transformation of the media function from numbers
(like: circulation figures, reach, coverage etc.) to a managerial function.

Media Planning is the process of designing a strategic course of action that shows
how advertising space and time can be used to present the message in order to
achieve the advertisers goal. Media planning can not be performed in vacuum. It is an
integrated, component of the marketing decision making process, combining data
from the market place about the mass media and media consumers.

9.2 THE ADVERTISING PLAN

The Advertising Plan is similar, in some ways, to a marketing plan that guides the
development of a campaign. The difference is in terms of its focus. The focus of the 5
Media Planning Concepts Marketing plans is on sales objectives, whereas in the advertising plans the focus is
on communication objectives. Therefore, the task of an advertisement is to create the
most effective and distinctive communication in the marketplace. These specific
tasks of media can be expressed in terms of three brand objectives:
• Brand Growth (e.g. when a new brand is launched)
• Brand Share Maintenance (of an established brand)
• Protection from in roads (wherein one brand tries to stay off competition)
In light of these three brand objectives you will appreciate that the `Role of
Advertising' are specific and they can be of the following types:
Vehicle of Direct Impact : The first role of advertising can be that it aims to create a
response 'I must buy now'. The Eureka Forbes ad for Vacuum cleaners is an example,
in witch `buy today' is emphasized.
A Tool for Seeking Information: Such advertisements aim to evoke `I must find
out' response from the consumer, as you may have noticed in the HCL's ad for
Personal computers.
A link Between Communication and Consumer Needs: There are advertisements,
which relate the consumer's needs and wants to the communications of the
advertisement, thereby influencing the behaviour of the target audiences.
A Tool that Aims to Modify Attitudes: These are the advertisements which aims to
change the consumers' perceptions of a products attributes.
For instance, the Milkmade's ad suggests a variety of uses of it and trying to
influence the general perception about the uses of the condensed milk.
A vehicle to Reinforce the Attitudes: There are advertisements which aims to
reinforce specific attitudes of the consumer in relation to the products. The Hamara
Bajaj ad campaign does it effectively.

9.3 ADVERTISING EXPENDITURE

Expenditure on advertising is a major factor that affects campaign planning. The ad
budget comes from the advertisers, who allocate a proportion of the marketing
budgets to the promotion mix. Within the promotion mix a certain percentage is
allocated to advertising. These decisions on the budget allocation are based on the
degree of emphasis given to promotion within the marketing mix.
The question is: how much to spend? Budgeting for the advertiser is essentially a
forecasting exercise, as the advertiser is estimating the level of sales, which will be
generated by various types of promotional methods.
Campaign planning also requires a basic familiarity with the audiences as well.
Although advertisers cannot know everything about the profile of target audiences, it
is being suggested that the more they know , the more effective their communication
will be. Similarly, you cannot overlook competition . In some product categories the
market is virtually static and the growth in the market share of one is at the expense
of the other . In situations where competition is intense , it is important to develop a
strategy to target the competition is intense , it is important to develop a strategy to
target the competition.
An understanding of flow the target audience uses media in the wake of competition
therefore becomes very important. Let us now develop a systematic understanding
about advertising media.
Activity 1
Just estimate the total expenditure and the media expenditure on the following
advertising campaigns.
Coca – cola ………………………………………………………………………...
Surf Excel ………………………………………………………………………..
6 AIWA ………………………………………………………………………...
 Media Concepts, Characteristics
9.4 MEDIA CONCEPTS and Issues in Media Planning

Let us first develop familiarity with the some of the major terms we generally use to
describe the characteristics of various advertising media, which are as follows:
Broadsheet - Description of the form of a print vehicle of any periodicity.
Glossies - Print vehicles which have gloss-over content and printed with lamination
and/or on Art Paper.
Gatefold - A folded advertising page which when unfolded is bigger in dimension
than the regular page.
Gutter Space - The inside margin of facing pages, the point at which a saddle
stitched publication is bound.
Bleed - In printed media, to extend the illustration or copy close to the edge of a page
and lessen the white border.
Issue life -The time during which a publication, accrue its total readership.
Fixed Position - In print a position guaranteed to the advertisers in specified issues.
Split Run - A scheduling technique whereby two different pieces, of copy are run in
the circulation of a publication with no one reader receiving both advertisements.
Tabloid - A newspaper smaller than the size of a standard broad-sheet newspaper.
Zapping - The use of the TV remote control panel to flick through the channels
during commercial breaks.
Zipping - The use of the video remote control panel to fast forward advertisements.
Rigid/Flexible - It refers to the available Editorial and Commercial help, who
understand and with their support innovative use of medium is possible.
Circulation - In print media, the number of copies sold or distributed by a
publication.
Average Issue Readership - The number of people who claim to have read or
looked at a publication in the last issue period i.e. yesterday in the case of newspapers
and last week in the case of weekly magazines.
Coverage - Used in reference to a specific print title, it means the per cent of a target
audience exposed to an average issue of the magazine or newspaper.
Controlled Circulation - The circulation of a publication that is sent free and
addressed to specific individuals who meet certain criteria.
Primary Readers - Those who purchase a newspaper or magazine.
Print Run - The number of copies printed (but not necessarily fully sold or
distributed) by a publication.
Pass on Readership - Also referred as secondary readership. Readers of a
publication other than the purchaser, or the first reader e.g. readership which takes
place in a doctor's waiting room.
Penetration - The proportion of a population which is reached by a medium e.g.
radio penetration, cinema penetration etc. in some reasonable period of time.
Cost Per Thousand (CPT) - The cost of delivering 1000 persons in the target
audience by the vehicles in a media schedule. Used to compare relative efficiencies
of the schedules.

9.5 MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS

Typically, it is being said that there are two types of media for communication, mass
media and Inter-personal media. They both are different and cannot be used as one
substituting the other.
On one hand the Inter-personal media is people based and not only it is less impersonal
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Media Planning Concepts but it is two way also. Although it might be an expensive medium it is highly useful
for focussed reach.
On the other hand various forms of mass media, (Radio, Television or Press) are
characterized by wide reach, and consequently they are cost efficient. However there
is a one-way communication, which is impersonal, and all these media are
technology based. Let us now examine the characteristics of each of the mass
medium.
9.5.1 Television
The specific characteristics of Television are:
• It combination of sight, sound & motion and therefore it is impact-ful.
• It is a highly intrusive medium.
• Rapid growth of this medium provides immediate broad reach across all targets.
• It has high absolute costs but cost per thousand is moderate.
However, it provides less efficient delivery against narrowly defined targets
9.5.2 Radio
The specific characteristics of Radio are:
• Radio can reach out to remote audiences.
• Amongst all mass media it is most cost efficient.
• Radio has local market identification.
• Radio can reach mobile population, which is not approach-able by other mass
media.
• Radio works as the Theatre of the mind as when you listen, it creates visual
impressions of the same communication.
• Therefore, Radio is typically considered to be an excellent support medium and
a reminder medium.
Activity 2
Compare and contrast the media characteristics of Radio v/s Television.
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9 5.3 Newspapers
The specific characteristics of Radio are:
• Newspapers have immediacy and therefore they have an announcement value.
• The other characteristic of newspaper is that it has a better scope for providing
detailed information.
• There is a geographic flexibility in newspapers as a publication may have more
than one edition,
• Newspapers also have special interest targeting opportunity through sections
and/or supplements.
• Newspapers are also Vehicles for Coupon delivery.
• However, newspapers have two major short-comings, First, the lower literacy
levels are barriers in growth and secondly, Newspapers have a very short life
8 span.
 Media Concepts, Characteristics
9.5.4 Magazines and Issues in Media Planning

There has been a growth in magazines. On one hand newer titles have emerged,
which are catering to specialized needs of the people and secondly, their overall
circulation has also increased. From advertising point of view, the characteristics of
Magazines are:

• Magazines have specific audience selectivity, as they are specialized. As you are
aware there are magazines for women, children, corporate processionals etc.
• They have compatible editorial environment, i.e., contents v/s advertisements. s
Magazines have longer life span, corresponding with their periodicity.
• Magazines provide them opportunity for message scrutiny, and geographic and
demographic flexibility.
Activity 3
Compare and contrast the media characteristics of Newspapers with Magazines.
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9.5.5 Outdoor Media

You must have seen that "Polo" campaign was successfully done using hoarding as
the primary medium. If used strategically, out-door can contribute significantly to the
advertising campaign. Out-door has specific characteristics like:

• It provides 24 hours exposure.

• It has a strong local market presence.
• Outdoor is cost efficient.
• It can be a good reminder media, along side TV/Press campaign.
9.5.6 Interpersonal Media
In addition to the conventional mass media, Interpersonal media can also be used for
marketing communication. Those Interpersonal media are, Public Meetings &
Lectures, Group Discussions, Home Visits and Demonstrations. More specifically,
for social campaigns, industrial products or at the launch stage of consumer product,
these media are quite useful. Let us examine them in some details.
Public Meetings/ Lectures: The public meetings and lectures, in fact, reach many
people. Such methods invariably stimulate follow-up discussions. However, the
speakers must encourage participation to achieve effectiveness. They also need visual
aids to be more effective.
Group Discussions: Group discussion help in building group consciousness and
enables active participation through exchange of opinion. However, to be successful
they need trained moderator. Those who tried out innovations, like use of drama or
role playing, achieved enhanced effectiveness. They help in through a real like
experience.
Demonstrations: In a number of marketing communications situations have
demonstrations have been found to be highly successful. Demonstrations enables
active learning by doing, establishing confidence and conviction.
Aids to Inter-Personal Communication Media: It has been deserved the results of
Interpersonal communication can be enhanced by the use of various communication
and like, Video, Films, Slides, Flip Charts/Flash Cards, Maps, Charts, Diagrams,
Models, Displays and Exhibitions. However, if you don't plan them well then they
can also prove to be counter production.
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Media Planning Concepts 9.5.7 Grass Root Level Media
Finally, as a wiser media professional, you should also evaluate all other possible
media vehicles to reach out to target audience. For example, Folk Theatre, Puppet
Shows, Tractor Trolley, Cycle Bar Cover, Fertilizer Bags, Playing Cards, Stall-
Covers at Haats, Cycle Mud-guards made of Rubber, etc., have been used in the past
for advertising.
9.5.8 Aerial Media
The concept of aerial advertising is popular in US. It came to India in 1985 when the
Sky-ads, a Bombay based firm. The aerial banner services involve 200ft x 5 ft fibre
glass mesh banner held by aluminum alloys rods. The length of the banner message
can be upto a maximum of 40 English alphabets, including the emblem. The
characters are scarlet as one can read it in the blue sky. The banner is towed by a
single engine and single seat aircraft. The flight is two hours duration, flying at 700
ft. to 1000 ft. above the ground, depending upon the population zone.. It offers
advantage like:
• Targeting and reaching the audience is most effective, not possible to achieve in
print or broadcast media.
• Reaching a captive audience, like in cricket, public rallies in more effective
through aerial advertising.
• Since there are so many festive occasions and Melas, this will be very effective.
9.5.9 Airport Advertising Media
Advertising at Airport is mainly done through glow-signs and show window. While
the former offers us the benefits of colour, light and motion, the latter are used for
demonstrating the products at prominent places at the airport. The Indian Airlines
carry more than 30000 passengers on its network with an annual growth of 30%. On
an average, a passenger has to wait at the airport for more than a hour- a captive
audience for the marketers.
9.5.10 Railways Media
Railways occupy its place in the mind of media planners as the most important
vehicle in `transit-advertising.' The number of travelers per day ,in Indian trains and
the hours (even days) that are spent in them enhances its importance. The media mix
of Railway advertising is as follows:
• Station Hoarding
• Railway Bridges Hoarding
• Poster
• Inside Carriages Advertising
• Reverse of Passengers Tickets
• Sign below clocks
• Closed circuit televisions
9.5.11 Off-the-wall Media
The off-the-wall media options score over others in terms of noticeability and
creativity. Relatively speaking,. only recently, the Indian promotion experts have
begun to work on off-the -wall media. However, it is restricted, to A and B class
towns, besides the Metors.
The emerging "off-the-wall media" in terms of shape of things to come are as
follows:
Advertising via telephone: You can purchase 30-second messages in which the
advertiser supplies the company with relevant sales points. They can be taped,
introduced by a live-pitch person, or both. "Where to Buy telephone services identify
retailers of specific products from consumers' inquiries.
10 Aerial banners lights: Banners are usually more that 30 feet long and pulled by low-
 Media Concepts, Characteristics
flying planes. After dark, travelling aerial lights can display messages of up to 90 and Issues in Media Planning
characters.

Balloons: The advertiser's message is imprinted on the balloons. Airborne heights

vary from 200 to 800 feet.

Copter-media: This method uses thousands of light bulbs mounted on a 40-by-8 foot
billboard frame on a slow-flying helicopter. The effect is that of a brilliant flying
electric sign floating about 500 feet above the ground.

Handbills: Handbills are simple sheet of paper with brief advertising messages which
may be slipped under windshield wipers of hung on door knobs. Distributed by
agents, they are one of the least expensive methods of advertising a local service or
retail business.

Litter receptacles: Some major cities offer space on concrete litter receptacles at
major commercial intersections.

Paper-book advertising: Bound -in inserts are available. Approximately 35 lath

pocket books are sold annually. The audience can be pinpointed by book title.

Shopping bags: Bags are offered to grocery chains on a regionally exclusive basis. A
shopper's checklist is printed on both sides, and advertisers can have their names
printed on the list next to or in place of the category.

Taxicab advertising: The back panel of front seats, the outer side of rear, and
displays built on the roof provide day and night exposure. Rear-screen slide
projectors facing riders are also available in some major markets.

Theater-screen advertising: Commercial ranging from 30 seconds to 21/2 minutes

are screened at performances in most indoor and drive in theaters. The average
national movie audience consists of approximately 500 million people per week, with
women and younger people dominant.

Activity 4

Give examples of those products or companies which have been successful in using
home demonstrations for marketing communication.
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Activity 5

What additional creative advantages and disadvantages you can add to the above list.
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Media Planning Concepts
9.6 CREATIVE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF VARIOUS MEDIA
Each media vehicle should also be considered from the creative opportunity it can
provide. The relative creative advantages and disadvantages are summarized
below:

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 Media Concepts, Characteristics
9.7 EVALUATING MEDIA OPTIONS and Issues in Media Planning

When you are evaluating any media option, you should consider each medium in its
three dimensions; Medium as Medium; Medium as Vehicle and Medium as Message.
Medium as Medium relates to the physical form and attributes of the medium. These
attributes are in-fact, the inherent attributes of the medium. However, like an "Artists'
medium" there is scope for its creative and innovative use.
Medium as Vehicle means that to whom you can reach out to and to how many
people you can reach out? Also, where and at what cost?
Medium as Message relates to issues like, the environment the medium offers and
personality' of the medium. In other words we are referring to the Photo-frame for the
message.

9.8 MEDIA SELECTION

The following factors must be considered for media selection.
9.8.1 Media Environment
What constitutes the media Environment? Let us take the example of two television
channels, namely, MTV and Discovery. If you are selecting a television channel say
for a product like: Ready-to-wear-Jeans targeted at youth, which channel you will
select? In-fact Media environment is a complex combination of the following:
a) Nature of medium - Nature of medium in terms of its being informative,
(Quiz based or science programmes) or entertaining (Film based
programmes).
b) Context of use - i.e. where is the media used. For instance, Femina is usually
read in parlors while people (many) watch video at their friends' place.
c) Way of using it - refers to how the media is used for e.g. Radio is essentially
used as a background medium at home, with several other activities being
discharged alongside.
9.8.2 Physical Characteristics of the media
a) Duration: It refers to the shelf life of the medium, which varies. A
newspaper has a short span as compared to a magazines.
b) Scope for extended arguments : It essentially depends on the nature and
contents of the advertisement. Print media have greater scope than electronic.
c) Colour It implies the availability and applicability of colour and colour
reproduction. Magazines and television provides greater opportunity in this
regard.
d) Movement : It essentially means dynamism. TV is a dynamic medium while
Press though been a static medium. It can at times give the dynamic feel.
e) Reproduction quality : Some publications, for example, have a high quality
printing. In certain cases, the where in the market place you have to depend
on the illustrations and representations of the product, rather than the actual
product, in such situations the realism inherent in the use of colour and
quality of reproduction becomes important.
f) Scope for Gaining Attention: TV displays a greater scope for attracting
attention because it is a medium which combines sight, sound and movement
demonstrative audio visual, colour abilities that provide an impactful. The
print media too can resort to innovative ways to captivate the audience.
9.8.3 Media Effectiveness and its Importance
Once an ad has been produced, the advertiser must decide whether to issue it for
frequent or not so frequent exposures in national or in limited geographical areas.
These are extremely important decisions because they have financial implications.
Each advertisement cost money.
Media Effectiveness is generally determined on the basis of exposure. The simplest

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Media Planning Concepts definition of exposure is: " the open eyes, facing vehicle ". Obviously, this does not
mean the person has to be paying much attention to the vehicle (Media Vehicle). In
other words, being exposed to the vehicle is no indication of being exposed to the
advertising in that vehicle. It is easy to get caught in the precision of numbers, and
these numbers are estimates only of the possibility of exposure to the ad message.
9.8.4 Media Choices
Besides Reach, Frequency and coverage, Media choices are made on the basis of
other variables as well
a) Selectivity: It is of two kinds. First is the Geographic Selectivity, which refer
to the ability of a medium or a vehicle to reach a specific geographic area
such as a city or region (for example a local newspaper can only take your
message to the area where it gets sold. The second is the Class Selectivity,
which refers to the ability of a medium/vehicle to reach specific people who
have certain common traits. Magazines, for example, are class selective,
because of their specialized editorial contents.
b) Flexibility: refers to the amount of lend time, a medium/vehicle requires
before the ad will be run. Most magazines have a longer( some times even
two months) lead time. In other words, the ad must be in the hands of the
magazine as much as two months before publication. Local Radio and local
Newspapers in contrast have a great deal of flexibility.
9.8.5 Brand vs Media Personality
Some products, as marketers call, are Parity Products, i.e. there are not much
differences in the features of most of the brands in that category. In other words, the
products are `undifferentiated' in the market place, e.g., gasoline. What makes the
difference between products is the Advertising. In such cases, the distinctions may be
unreal but the differences are not. The differences, in fact, lie in the perceived image
and personality of the product.
The factors that greatly influence the creation of the product image, in marketing
parlance we call it creating a BRAND, having been illustrated below:

Personality is important both in positioning a brand and in developing a brand image.

Brand personality should be matched with the media personality for instance the
Vivaldi brand of shirts which has a personality close to that of a successful young
executive, utilizes magazines such as Gentleman and India Today, For a life style
product's image campaign bus-panels, bus-shelters or billboards may not be best
possible options,
9.8.6 Brand Appeal vs Media
An appeal is something that makes the product attractive and interesting to the
consumer. Appeals generally pin point the anticipated response of the prospect to the
product and the message. There are three kinds of appeals:
• Sensory Appeal - which is fast changing in nature for instance fashion fads,
aroma, taste, passion, etc.
• Rational Appeal - It involves a logical thought process that seeks to
rationalize the purchase in terms of price, quality, reputation, etc.
• Emotional Appeal - These attempt to tag at the heart to qualify for purchase.
To understand the appeals one should relate it to the MEDIA CONSUMPTION
14 SYSTEM. This comprises of all the three environment, the physical characteristics and
 Media Concepts, Characteristics
the usage context. For instance to cash in on the sensory appeal for the cooking oil and Issues in Media Planning
the ad is placed adjacent to the cooking page.

9.8.7 Positioning

Refers to the way in which a product is perceived by the consumers in the market
place. It is a deliberate attempt at creating a perceptions for the Brand in the
prospects mind, so that it stands apart from the competing brands.It also helps in
bringing the product closer to the consumers needs. While selecting media vehicles
you must do a sort of matchmaking between the brand positioning and the
positioning of the media vehicle. A publication, say "Maya" for a high fashion
premium cosmetics may not be the best media choice.

9.8.8 Consumer Buying System and Media

Consumer buying behaviour and the Media are very much linked to each other.
Media influences the consumer buying behaviour in the following ways:

• What is the minimum level of exposure required to generate a response?

• What is the maximum level of exposure required so that there is no overkill?

• How many people should get the minimum exposures in a given period?

• How is it distributed in a campaign period?

These questions help to evaluate the consumer buying system, and, therefore, should
be kept in mind while evaluating media options.

9.9 SUMMARY
Advertising and marketing will confront an increasingly, complex, specialized and
fragmented media. The great technological advances now (Cable TV, Dish Antenna
and Satellite Communication) coupled with changes in the family (from joint family
set ups towards the nuclear family system) the economy and the society as a whole
will usher in a era of media selectivity, on a scale, unprecedented and challenging.

In this complex scenario of a clutter of brands and media vehicles and options, media
selection has became a complex task. The first step of the media selection exercise is
to understand the characteristics of each medium. More deeper you go, the better it is
and therefore the suggestion is that one must understand each medium in its all the
three dimensions: medium as a medium, medium. as a vehicle and medium as the
message.

9.10 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1) Assess the merits of print media and television for an hotelier of national repute.

2) Can outdoor be used in all categories of products? If not, which are those
products?

3) Elaborate on Medium as a Medium, Medium as a vehicle and Medium as the

Message, by taking the example of any consumer lifestyle product and the media
options you will consider for advertising.

4) Observe the off-the-walls media in your office and write a note on their relative
merits and demerits.

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Media Planning Concepts

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