The key is to find the right media (the pond)

that contains the most of your preferred

target (type of fish).
 Choosing which media or type of advertising to
use is sometimes tricky for small firms with
limited budgets and know-how.
 Large-market television & newspapers are often
too expensive for a company that services only a
small area (although local newspapers can be
used).
 Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much
territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm,
although some national publications offer
regional or city editions.
 Metropolitan radio stations present the same
problems as TV and metro newspapers; however,
in smaller markets, the local radio station and
newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm's
audience.
 Process of choosing the most cost-effective
media for advertising, to achieve the required
coverage and number of exposures in a target
audience.

PERFORMANCE
 Measured through frequency and spread.
 Understanding The Market (target)
1. Knowing who they are - Are they consumers (all
consumers), or just select consumers, Fortune
100, small business, etc.
If they are all consumers, or a large part of the
population, we can use mass market medium such
as network TV, radio or general publications
(weekly newspaper).
If they are Fortune 100 or small business we
might use specific trade publications that target
our same markets.
2. Their buying process - Is the sale simple (a package of
gum that is an instant decision), or complex-requiring
numerous complex presentations and layers of
approvals (educational or government sales).
3. Who are the final decision makers, along with the
primary and secondary influencers - For ex., for a
sales force automation decision, the final say may be
the VP of Sales. However, the primary influencers may
be the sales people and sales managers (who have to
use it every day), plus the IT department (who has to
support it). The secondary influencers may be the
president (who wants more sales), the CFO (who has to
finance it), and the secretary (who has to enter weekly
leads).
 The % wt of influence of each person in the decision
chain helps determine which medium & publications we
may target. The VP of Sales may travel (so American
Airlines magazine may work well). The Regional Sales
Manager may be trying to move up (so Success
Magazine may work). The IT department may need
integration support (so CRM magazine may work), etc.
4. Where they buy - If the target buys from retail, we
may use “Run of Press” ads (co-op ads with the
retailers). If the target buys from VARs or
Integrators, we may use Value Added Reseller
Business to recruit more VARs (who in turn may use
direct response mail to reach the targets). If they
buy on-line--we may run direct response ads with
an on-line.
5. How they buy - If the customer buys on terms, our
ads may mention financing options (cars, delayed
payment,installment).

6. What the competition is doing - We might use

services such as AdScope (now TNS Media
Intelligence) to compile a 12-month history of our
competitor’s campaigns so we can see their media
targets and either apply a blocking campaign, were
we match (& counter) a competitor’s campaign, or
use a separatist campaign, where we fish in a
different pond entirely (assuming we know the
market better than they do--which should be the
case). Or we may choose to do some of both.
7. What has worked for us in the past - (which media
and ad format generated the most revenue?) This is
one of the most difficult steps since most
companies do not capture this information. If
nothing is in place, then you must accumulate the
data from whatever sources you have. You must
also fix this problem immediately & setup a
complete tracking system-or you will not have the
managerial information you need to determine
which medium is working best (TV, Radio,
Publications (and which of the publications is
working best)--i.e., are you fishing in the right
pond, nor will you know which ad format and
message is working best (do you have the right
bait). 
 Scheduling refers to the pattern of
advertising timing - pattern of scheduled
times advertising must appear to coincide
with favorable selling periods.

 The classic scheduling models are

1. Continuity,
2. Flighting and
3. Pulsing.
Continuity
 This model is primarily for non-seasonal products, yet
sometimes for seasonal products. Advertising runs
steadily with little variation over the campaign period.
 There may be short gaps at regular intervals and also
long gaps—for instance, one ad every week for 52
weeks, and then a pause. This pattern of advertising is
prevalent in service and packaged goods that require
continuous reinforcement on the audience for top of
mind recollection at point of purchase.

Advantages:
 Works as a reminder
 Covers the entire purchase cycle
 Cost efficiencies in the form of large media discounts
 Positioning advantages within media
 Program or plan that identifies the media channels
used in an advertising campaign, and specifies
insertion or broadcast dates, positions, and duration
of the messages
 In media scheduling for seasonal product categories,
flighting involves intermittent and irregular periods of
advertising, alternating with shorter periods of no
advertising at all. Halloween costumes are rarely
purchased all year except during the months of
September and October.
Advantages:
 Advertisers buy heavier weight than competitors for a
relatively shorter period of time
 Little waste, since advertising concentrates on the best
purchasing cycle period
 Series of commercials appear as a unified campaign on
different media vehicles
 Pulsing combines flighting and continuous
scheduling by using a low advertising level all
year round and heavy advertising during peak
selling periods. Product categories that are sold
year round but experience a surge in sales at
intermittent periods are good candidates for
pulsing. For instance, under-arm deodorants, sell
all year, but more in summer months.
Advantages:
 Covers different market situations
 Advantages of both continuity and flighting
possible
 The process of establishing the exact media vehicles to
be used for advertising

 Hard part - Understanding your customer & being able

to answer (previous questions)
 Easy part - Finding media that targets our same

prospect
Selecting The Correct Media
Determining which medium type (TV, Radio, Display
Ads) will reach your desired targets & generate the
greatest ROI. It may be multiple types-if so, put a %
weight value on each and consider your budget
accordingly.
 High-tech market (aside from consumer electronics),
the most widely used advertising medium is print.
 Within the print medium, the most common for high-
tech is trade publications (rather than the general
business & consumer publications like Newsweek,
Fortune, Popular Mechanics, Southern Living, etc.).
 Trade publications might include PC Magazine
(general market), Network Computing (corporate
networking), Videomaker (highly vertical video
market), Gaming (obvious), etc.
 Fortunately, there are several publications that can help
you determine the demographics of various media &
publications.
 Nielson Rating can tell you the audience demographics
and ratings for specific network and cable stations and
specific television shows.
 IAG Research can measure the performance of every ad.
However, they often only measure recall within the
channel, by brand, and the fit (how well it was integrated
into the show). Based on these criteria, they rate as “most
effective” those ads (brands) that are recalled by the most
people. However, a more important indicator is not the
recall scores, but the ads that actually sell and cause a
change in brand preference.
In the process of planning the Media planner needs to
answer questions such as:
1. How many of the audience can I reach through
different media?

2. On which media (and ad vehicles) should I place ads?

3. Which frequency should I select?

4. How much money should be spent in each medium?

 In answering these questions the Media Planner then
comes to an optimum Media Plan that enables
him/her to deliver on the clients objectives.
 Defining the marketing problem –
 Do you know where your business is coming from and
where the potential for increased business lies?
 Do you know which markets offer the greatest opportunity?
 Do you need to reach everybody or only a select group of
consumers?
 How often is the product used? How much product loyalty
exists?
 Translating the marketing requirements into
attainable media objectives –
 Do you want to reach lots of people in a wide area (to get
the most out of your advertising dollar)?
 Then mass media, like newspaper and radio, might work
for you.
 If your target market is a select group in a defined
geographic area, then direct mail could be your best bet
 Defining a media solution by formulating
media strategies –
 Certain schedules work best with different media.
 For example, the rule of thumb is that a print ad must
run three times before it gets noticed.
 Radio advertising is most effective when run at certain
times of the day or around certain programs, depending
on what market you're trying to reach.
When comparing the cost & effectiveness of various
advertising media, consider the following factors:

 Reach - Expressed as a percentage, reach is the

number of individuals (or homes) you want to expose
your product to through specific media scheduled
over a given period of time.

 Frequency - Using specific media, how many times,

on average, should the individuals in your target
audience be exposed to your advertising message? It
takes an average of three or more exposures to an
advertising message before consumers take action.
 Cost per point - How much will it cost to buy one
rating point for your target audience, a method used
in comparing broadcast media. One rating point
equals 1 percent of your target audience. Divide the
cost of the schedule being considered by the
number of rating points it delivers.

 Impact - Does the medium in question offer full

opportunities for appealing to the appropriate
senses, such as sight and hearing, in its graphic
design and production quality?
 Selectivity - To what degree can the message be
restricted to those people who are known to be the
most logical prospects?
 To maximize overall awareness, the advertising
must reach the maximum no of the target
audience. There is a limit for the last few per
cent of the general population who don't see
the main media advertisers use. These are more
expensive to reach. The 'cumulative' coverage
cost typically follows an exponential curve.
Reaching 90 % can cost double what it costs to
reach 70 %, and reaching 95 % can double the
cost yet again. In practice, the coverage
decision rests on a balance between desired
coverage and cost. A large budget achieves
high coverage—a smaller budget limits the
ambitions of the advertiser.
 Even with high coverage, it is insufficient for a target
audience member to have just one 'Opportunity To See'
(OTS) the advertisement.
 In traditional media, around 5 OTS are believed to be
required for a reasonable impact. To build attitudes that
lead to brand switching may require more.
 To achieve 5 OTS, even in only 70 % of the overall
audience, may require 20 or 30 peak-time transmissions
of a commercial, or a significant number of insertions of
press advertisements in the national media.
 As these figures suggest, most consumers simply don't
see the commercials that often (whereas the brand
manager, say, sees every one and has already seen them
many times before their first transmission, and so is
justifiably bored).
 The life of advertising campaigns can often extend
beyond the relatively short life usually expected.
Indeed, as indicated above, some research shows
that advertisements require significant exposure to
consumers before they even register.
 As David Ogilvy long ago recommended, "If you are
lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat
it until it stops selling. Scores of good
advertisements have been discarded before they
lost their potency."
 Sophisticated media planners also look at the
'spread' of frequencies.
 All of the audience should receive the avg no of
OTS. Receive fewer - insufficiently motivated,
extra advertising - wasted - who receive more.
Impossible to achieve this ideal.
 As with coverage, the pattern is wted towards a
smaller no—of heavy viewers, for ex.,—who
receive significantly more OTS, and away from the
difficult last few percent.
 However, a good media buyer manages the
resulting spread of frequencies to weigh it close
to the avg, with as few audience members as
possible below the avg.
 Frequency is also complicated by the fact that this is
a function of time.
 A pattern of 12 OTS - a year may be scarcely
noticed, whereas 12 OTS - a week is evident to most
viewers.
 This is often the rationale for advertising in `bursts'
or `waves' (sometimes described as `pulsing').
 This concentrates expenditure into a no of intense
periods of advertising, spread throughout the year,
so brands do not remain uncovered for long
periods.
 The entire process of strategizing, creating and
executing an advertisement is one thing.
 And communicating that advertisement to the
entire target segment is totally another aspect. For
the latter prospect, certain skills and resources are
required.
 Advertising communication is a unique process with
its distinct mechanism to reach the target market as
well as its own set of tool to make the desired feat
possible.
 The diverse set of tools through which advertising
communication is carried in a smooth manner is
termed as MEDIA MIX.
 The specific combination of various advertising
media (including network television, local
television, magazines, newspapers, specialty
advertising, etc.) used by a particular advertiser
and the advertising budget to be allocated to each
medium.
 Of course there are many sorts of hindrances
(inclusive of both internal and external factors)
surrounding the ambience of the media mix, the
smooth carriage of advertising communication
requires the media mix to effectively quash all those
constraints and perpetuate their task.

 The tools that constitute the media mix are the

channels of communication through which the
advertisement is delivered to the target market.

 For instance, the electronic, print and interactive

media, which contain a variety of sub-categories,
the entire amalgam of which establishes the media
mix.
 Combination of media to be used in an advertising
campaign. In the past, television & magazines
dominated the media mixes of most national
advertising campaigns because these media
reached the broadest segments of the market.
 However, in recent years, clutter, rising advertising
costs, & smaller audiences have caused advertisers
to seek more cost-efficient avenues for their
advertising dollars.
 Consequently, media mixes may now include
vehicles such as telephone directories, cable
television, ballpark billboards, supermarket
shopping carts, and other forms of media that may
reach a narrower market segment but cost less and
target more effectively.
 Thoroughly identify the challenge and your
objectives – ASSESS
Explore thoroughly the challenge you face with each key audience.
Are you simply raising awareness? Seeking understanding? Driving at
attitude or behavior change? Understand what it is you want to
accomplish and set measurable objectives

 Nail down your message structure early. Determine

the most effective media mix – CREATE
Structure messages to support your brand and value proposition.
Determine the most effective, and cost effective, media to get the
message across with impact and redundancy. Knowledge of modern
production and delivery techniques can save you time and budget
dollars.
 Check for awareness, understanding, attitude and
behavior change by audience. MEASURE
For each objective you set in your assessment process, test
for success. This step can range from observation of
performance data, a brief survey, or a few phone calls to key
people. As an independent resource, Seraphin
Communications can determine if you are achieving what you
need to achieve.

 What needs to be changed? ADJUST

Tune up your communication efforts based on what you find
in the measurement step.
 Know where the mines are buried - a critical, often
overlooked step – PRETEST
Determine who the "opinion leaders" are in the audiences you
need to reach and test your messages and campaign
elements in advance. This can be as simple as meeting with a
few key people or conducting a few focus groups. An
objective, independent view can help determine "where the
mines are buried.“

 Apply sufficient resources to succeed –

IMPLEMENT
Orchestrate your campaign to engage opinion leaders,
internal and external audiences at just the right time. This
may require additional resources.