Sunday, March 2, 2014

Planning An Advertising Campaign Part -4 for BBA D-III Paper 7


Advertising campaign can be defined as a series of advertisements with an identical or similar message, place in one or more of the advertising media over a particular period of time.

An advertising campaign must be co-ordinate with other marketing efforts and activities. This means the campaign must be correlated with the personal selling activities of the sales force, those of the distributors of the product and with the various other promotional efforts, which may be a part of marketing mix.

PROCESS OF PLANNING THE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

The campaign planning is the joint effort of both the advertiser and his ad Agency. The advertiser supplies much information about the product, the channel of distribution, competition the product, and the firm. The agency may collect other information from the market, in respect of target audience etc.

Advertising campaign planning simply means planning the advertising campaign. Advertising campaign planning concerns many people in the advertising agency, but mainly concerns the advertising manager (for the client), account executive, marketing manager, creative director, media planner, and PR manager. They design and plan advertising campaign for the client.

Steps in Advertising Campaign Planning : The main steps in advertising campaign planning are as follows :

1. Prototype Stage : Let us assume that a manufacturer has the prototype of a new product. The basic product has been thoroughly tested, but the packaging has not been determined, it has no name, no price, and perhaps no defined market. In some respects this seems to contradict modern marketing principles. This situation is not uncommon. The company now wish to advertise its new product and appoints an advertising agency and calls it to explore the possibilities to promote the sales.

2. Initial Briefing by Client : The most likely procedure is for the managing director to ask his advertising manager to fix up a meeting with the account executive of the advertising agency. This first meeting may be held at the factory, at the companys head office, or at the advertising agency. Probably the best venue will be where the account executive can see the product and meet the people who have been involved in its development. The factory might be the best place, but much depends on how the company is organized.

For this initial discussion, the right choice of venue can be important to the account executives clear understanding of the proposition. It can be dangerous for the advertising agency to start off on the wrong foot because of inadequate or faulty interpretation of policy and problems. The need then is for best possible understanding at the beginning. This is the joint responsibility of the advertising manager and the account executive.

3. Contact Report : Whenever a meeting has been held with a client a contact report should be written at once and circulated to all those present at the meeting, with additional copies for others not in attendance who should be informed, both inside the company and inside the agency. The importance of a contact report lies in its confirmation of agreed action, so that nothing depends on peoples memories, and if it is submitted directly after the event it serves to remind of necessary action that must be taken by people present at the meeting. Agreed contact reports, when placed in a file or binder as instructions to proceed, may be referred to as the facts book. Should a dispute occur, reference can be made to the respective contact report: at the end of the year these reports from the basis of a report to the client on the years work.

4. Account Executives Report to Agency Management : The account executive will also give his superiors - the account director and perhaps the agency managing director - a verbal report. If new business is coming into the agency it may be necessary to make changes in the deployment of staff, engage extra staff, and consider the use or expansion of equipment and premises.

5. Account Executives Briefing to Agency Department Heads : The account executive now writes up a detailed, factual but as far as possible unbiased report on the assignment, setting out his understanding of the product and the clients requirements. In this report he should try to avoid expressing any personal observations because the object is to inform others whose ideas and opinions are being sought. Each department head is asked to study the report and to attend a plans board meeting.

6. Proposition : At this stage, the account executive invites the managing director of the client company to attend a meeting at which the scheme is presented in report form with a presentation of ideas in rough visual form. At this meeting the client party may consist of the managing director, marketing manager, sales manager and advertising manager and the members of the agency party may include the account director, account executive and the marketing director. Once the scheme is approved and adopted in principle the agency will be instructed to prepare a full visual presentation at the clients expense.
Now, the agency will engage in actual copywriting, photography and drawing. Detailed media scheduling will now be done by the media buyer.

7. Presentation to Client : At this stage the complete campaign is demonstrated to the client. The campaign is presented visually. Advertising campaign planning must be flexible. Moreover, at such a meeting with the client there will be a number of company directors and executives present who disagree with one another as well as with the agency over what makes an advertising campaign.

Everyone likes to argue about advertising! The account executive, supported by the advertising manager in deal circumstances, must sell his campaign on the basis of sales and readership figures of publications, show the results of copy testing, and offer alternative media plans with evidence of the reasoning behind them. Much of the comment and criticism from the client side will often represent arguments which were considered and rejected in the agency much earlier. This has to be expected, accepted courteously and gently dismissed by means by persuasive reasoning and statistics which reveal that the agency has really taken pains to produce not just a clever scheme but one based on businesslike thinking.

Once the scheme has been approved, the account executive and his companions will return to the agency, ready to execute the campaign. At this stage when the media start buyers, creative staff, print buying production and traffic takeover, working under the direction of the account executive.

Factors Influencing the Planning of an Advertising Campaign :

1. The Organisation its reputation, position in the market.

2. The product e.g. Consumer (Perishable, durable or speciality) goods, or industrial goods etc.

3. The market the nature of customers, their income, their buying behavior, and their location.

4. The competition.

5. The absolute price of the product, Competitors price etc.

6. The channels of distribution.

7. The budget, the advertising theme, etc.

8. The media, the advertising schedule etc.

9. The Govt. regulations and controls, restriction on certain products, restriction on certain media to carry out certain ads. Etc.

Market Segmentation

Market Segmentation is a technique of dividing the market of a product into several homogenous groups. Under this technique, customers of a product are divided according to such common characteristics as age, sex, income level rural urban composition.

The concept of market segmentation is based on the assumption that markets of all commodities are heterogeneous. For every product, there is a group of customers having different nature, buying habits, and attitudes. Two customers are not alike. They differ each other. On the basis of their characteristics, customers may be divided into several groups. These groups are formed on the basis of some similar qualities and such division is called Market Segmentation.

Definition of Marketing Segmentation : The term „Market Segmentation has been defined by several authors as follows :

Philip Kotler, „Market Segmentation is the sub-dividing of a market into homogeneous subsets customers, where any subsets may conceivably be selected on a market target to be reached with a distinct marketing mix.

William J. Stanton, „Market Segmentation consists of taking the total heterogeneous market for a product and dividing it into several sub-markets or segments, each of which, tends to be homogeneous in all significant aspects.

Market segmentation are grouping of consumers according to such characteristic as income, age, sex, urban rural, etc. This helps forming the market into a meaningful buyer group.

Bases of Market Segmentation:

Market segmentation divides the whole market of a product into several different groups. Segmentation is the process of partitioning a large heterogeneous market into smaller groups of people or businesses which show similar needs and/or characteristics thus resulting into similar purchase behaviour.

Techniques of Market Segmentation: Markets can be segmented on the basis of the total demand for the product, the desire and the interests of a group of buyers which exhibits certain characteristics. They can be based on geographical, demographic, psychographic, status, volume entities. The entire market of a country is subdivided into marketing zones. The most commonly used bases for segmenting consumer goods markets are as follows

1. Geographic Segmentation : Many organisation segment their market into different geographic units such as nation, states, districts, regions, cities and taluka places. Geographic segmentation is based on the assumption that consumer needs and responses vary geographically. National newspapers, for example, are published from different cities and also in different languages to meet the readers spread all over the country. Different market locations have different costs, demand and other features which are considered while formulating an appropriate marketing strategy. In geographic base, regional differences in terms of geography, climate, population and its density are used as base for market segmentation. Most of the national manufacturers split up their sales areas into sales territories either state wise or district wise.

2. Demographic Segmentation : Demography is the study of dynamics of population change. The markets are segmented according to demographic characteristics such as age, sex, income, occupation, education, language, religion, race, nationality and rural urban base. Demographic variables are used commonly and extensively by large number of producers for market segmentation. Demographic segmentation is comparatively easy as required data are available in census and other published reports.

Demographic data on population distribution by sex help segmenting market for male and female population. Titan have segmented their market on the basis of sex and are manufacturing wrist watches for male and female buyers separately. Watches of different price in both the categories are brought in the market. Producers of confectioneries segment their markets on the basis of age. The same is the case with toys. In the case of certain products like bicycles, women demand special styles and manufactures adjust their production to suit male as well as female. This gives more turnover and satisfaction to buyers. Demographic segmentation is important as the nature of demand is closely related to the size and composition of population by age, sex, rural and urban base.

3. Socio-Economic Segmentation : The segmentation, here is done on the basis of income group, consumption levels, and other cultural aspects. The population is differentiated for marketing efforts on these considerations. In a country like India, such type of segmentation is necessary as the society is divided into different groups on socio-economic cultural factors. In India, people follow different cultural background. Naturally, suitable segmentation for the purpose of marketing is useful. Socio-economic segmentation is used extensively as information in this regard is more easily available. The lower class, middle class, working class is one example of economic classification. Since market potential is intimately connected with the ability to buy, this segmentation is meaningful in deciding buying patterns of a particular class.

4. Psychographic Segmentation : Psychographics attempts to segment according to psychographical profiles of people in terms of their life style and attributes. Psychographics attempt to segment according to psychological profiles of people in terms of their life style and attitudes. In this type of segmentation, certain psychological variables such as social class, life-styles or personality characteristics are used for segmentation.

Manufacturers of cars, textiles and home furnishings divide buyers on the basis of social class and life styles. Such segmentation is also possible on the basis of reading habits and leisure activities. Marketing efforts are adjusted according to such variables. It may be pointed out that in the case of geographic, demographic and socio-economic bases, the required data for segmentation are either readily available in census and other reports or can be collected through survey. However, in the case of psychological variables, relevant information is not readily available and has to be collected through behavioural research. Moreover, market segmentation on psychological variables is complicated as it is always difficult to expose individuals to a battery of psychological test and to find out their specific personality traits. Moreover, consumers behave or react differently from what they say, if new benefits or bundles of benefits are offered to them. Psychographic segmentation can be made on the basis of (a) Social class (Upper class, upper middle, lower middle class, etc.) (b) Personality (Selfconfidence, ambitious, aggressive, sociable, etc.) and (c) Life-style (Liberal, conservative, religious, health and fitness-oriented, etc.)

5. Behaviouristic Segmentation : Here, the buyers are grouped or separated on the basis of their knowledge, attitudes, views, or response to the product. This is useful in order to find out what role price or package or colour or service can play in influencing buying decisions. This segmentation is also called product related segmentation as the response of consumers dividing into different convenient groups for the purpose of marketing. In India, the supply of consumer items, electronic goods, two-wheelers, cosmetics etc. is fast increasing. The supply is more as compared to demand. The income of people of all categories are also increasing. People are also willing to spend more. They get information about new products from different media. This creates proper background for behaviouristic segmentation is similar to but slightly different from psychographic segmentation.

6. Product Segmentation : When the segmentation of markets is done on the basis of product characteristics that are capable of satisfying certain special needs of customers, such a method is known as product segmentation. The products, on this basis, are classified into (1) Prestige products, (Automobiles and jewellery (2) Maturity products. (Cigarettes and Blades), (3) Status products, (Most Luxuries), (4) Anxiety products, (Medicines, Soaps and Perfumes) and (5) Functional products, (Fruits and Vegetables). This type of product segmentation is directed towards differences among the products which comprise markets.

7. Benefit Segmentation : Under this method the potential buyersform the basis of segmentation. They are interviewed to learn the importance of different benefits they may be expecting from a product. These benefits or utilities may be classified into primary utilities and secondary or evolved utilities. Toothpaste has primary utility of cleaning and secondary utility of good tasted breath freshening and rightness. Likewise, Shampoo has primary utility of cleaning and secondary utility of shiny hair and thickening hair.

8. Volume Segmentation : Markets can be segmented into bulk users, medium users and unit users. This method is based on the volume of purchases. The heavy users may constitute a small percentage of the numerical size of the market but forms a major percentage of the unit volume consumed. This analyse is also capable of showing the buying behaviour of different groups.

9. Status Segmentation : Markets can be differentiated into nonex- users, users, potential users, first-time users and regular users of a product. High market share companies like the DCM generally look for potential users, whereas small competitive companies are contended to concentrate on regular users who always patronise their products and tend to remain to their brands.

Importance of Market Segmentation :

Market segmentation is a technique of dividing the market of a product into several homogeneous groups on the basis of their common characteristics. The concept of market segmentation is based on the fact that markets of all the commodities are heterogeneous. On the basis of their characteristics, customers may be divided into several groups. These groups are formed on the basis of some similar qualities and such division is called market segmentation. Following points explains the importance of Market Segmentation :

1) Market segmentation are grouping of consumers according to such characteristics as income, age, sex, urban, rural, etc. This helps forming the market into a meaningful buyer group.

2) Market segmentation ensures certain advantages. Infact market segmentation is the most important factor in media planning because the decision of the media selection would depend mostly upon the people who comprise the market. However, it is not a very

difficult task to provide precisely the necessary facts. Where the market is restricted and clearly demarcated, as a particular section of the community such as doctors, architects, engineers, hoteliers or even telephone or car owners, the media strategy can be simple and straight forward, making use of the selective media like direct mail, etc., depending of course, on the budget available.

It is only when a wider mass market is to be reached that the problem of selection of media becomes complex. Here the problem arises because a mass market does not permit its definition as precisely as is required to make corresponding media selection predictable.

3) Markets for a new product or the existing products may be divided into segments on the basis of geographic, demographic and psychographic variables. Good segmentation involves the division of a market by a succession of variables. The market manager must always be open to the possibility of finding new segmentation variables and combinations that will reveal fresh marketing potentialities.

4) The market may also be divided into different locations such as nations, states, districts, talukas, etc. It could be recognised that market potentialities and cost vary with market location. Thus, it determines the geographical markets which could serve best.

5) Marketing manager may also segment a market on such criterion as the age, sex and marital status of the population. A product for use of infants will have high sales potentiality in suburbs or extended suburbs where the level of fertility is expected to be high as compared to the city. Likewise toothpaste will have better market in urban rather than rural areas. As such market will be segmented on the basis of urbanisation.

Markets are segmented due to following reasons :

1. It would be in a better position to spot and compare marketing opportunities. It can examine the needs of each and every segment against the current competitive offerings and determine the extent of current satisfaction. The segment with lower levels of satisfaction from current offerings represents good opportunities.

2. It can make finer adjustments of its product and marketing appeals. The seller can evolve a separate marketing programme to meet the needs of different buyers.

3. Marketing programmes and budgets could be chalked out on the basis of response characteristics of specific market segments. Funds may be allocated efficiently to bring out the desired effects in different parts of the market.

4. Market segmentation is undertaken with the purpose of locating the tastes, temperaments and buying habits of different groups or segments. The behavioural scientists feel that all buyers are different. They are keenly interested in segmenting the market as the significant differences in market behaviour between the various segments of society rarely exists. In this background, the formulation of marketing policies or programmes or tactics for all segments becomes urgent.

5. Market segmentation is done with the purpose of locating new markets. The group wise or segment wise study of buyers tastes, temperaments, living habits and so on help a marketer, while searching for new market.

DAGMAR MODEL

DAGMAR model for arousing consumer interests was developed by Russen Colley in his study entitled “Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results.” The name

DAGMAR model is derived from the studys title. The study begins from a point where the prospect is not aware about the existence of the product. From this point of non-awareness the prospect advances ahead towards awareness. He will have to go through the following steps :

1. Awareness : When the prospect is asked to mention the name of a brand of product, perhaps he is in a position to recollect the name of a specific brand only.

2. Comprehension : The prospect is conscious about the main sales theme of a brand of product. When asked upon, he is able to associate a brand with the sales theme, which is already known to him.

3. Conviction : At the stage of conviction, the prospect is able to foresee how the benefits of the brand of goods will serve his need. He is convinced that if he purchases this brand of goods it would be a right decision.

4. Motivation : Having been convinced, the prospect is motivated to buy a specific brand of goods. DAGMAR model suggests that all consumers will not be at the same stage but they would be at different stages. The advertising efforts required to move on person from non awareness to awareness could be very taxing as compared to the efforts involved in moving persons from conviction to motivation. DAGMAR model also illustrates the success of means of communication. After advertisements have been carried out, how people associate themselves with a specific brand of product.

Questions

1) Explain the following terms,

a) DAGMAR

b) Market Segmentation

c) Benefit Segmentation

d) Behaviouristic Segmentation

e) Psychographic Segmentation

f) Advertising Campaign

g) Advertising campaign Planning

2) “The advertising Campaign Planning is the process of collective efforts made by the advertiser and the Advertising agency.” Explain.

AIDA

AIDA is a functional formula devised by E.K. Strong. It is the acronym for Attention (A), Interest (I) Desire (D), and Action (A).Strong postulated that before becoming a user of a product to an Interest in it. Form this stage he develops a Desire for the product and this then result in.

1. Attention : The main function of an advertisement is to attract attention of the consumers. It is because of this fact that the advertiser will use various devices like the use of attractive colour, headlines display and overall layout.

2. Interest : An advertisement is designed to create interest for the goods or services of the advertiser, interest is closely related to attention. An advertiser has to take note of these two aspects while developing an advertisement. A good advertisement starts with a point of interest to the reader and proceeds to a point of interest to the advertiser.

Advertising aims at stimulating primary demands for a new product. It is used for existing product to bring a greater bit of the marketing share. It is also used to remind the consumers about their needs. A good advertisement should arouse interest of the prospects in the advertised product.

3. Desire : A good advertisement should be able to create desire in the minds of the readers about the product. It is not enough for a good advertisement to attract attention create interest but also arouse desire in the heart of the prospect to have the product. The advertiser should make use of proper appeals and selling points while creating desire for the product. Making use of proper appeal will depend on the seasonal consumption of the product. For example, the sale of rain-coats in monsoon will emphasise self protection against rains. It is through the sales appeal that the advertiser creates a desire for the product.

4. Action : This is an important stage where the advertiser can study the impact of his advertisement. If the advertisement has attracted attention, aroused interest, created desire, then the advertisement should appeal the prospect to act i.e., to come forward for making purchases. The advertiser should tell the prospect about the product, their main features, how they can be consumed and where they are available. For example, the prospect who wants to book new scooter should get such information in the advertisement as: place

of display, place and date of booking. Every advertisement normally carries such basic information to guide the prospective buyers. It is this stage which plays a decisive role in generating the sale of the advertisers product.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP)

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is an offer an advertiser makes to his target customers which is unique in relation to competing offers and promises to deliver a certain distinctive benefit or satisfaction. Unique selling proposition is a creative approach and style which was originated at the Ted Bates Advertising Agency in the early 1940s. Its originator, author and copy-writer was Rosser Reeves. He developed this central idea of Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This concept has been adopted by many agencies all over the world. It is the combination of three words - (i) Unique, (ii) Selling, and (iii) Proposition. In order to make the concept clear, the meaning of these three words is given below

(i) Unique : The word unique describes an attribute or feature which the product or brand only possesses or no claim of the attribute or feature is currently being made by any other competing brand.

(ii) Selling : Selling refers to sales value. The claim whatever it is -
must be strong enough, important enough, believable enough to convince consumers that it is absolutely in their interest to purchase the product or brand in question.

 (iii) Proposition : Proposition is a promise made by the advertiser that the product, if purchased, will satisfy the needs of the consumers. The proposition should be strong enough to move the mass millions, i.e., pull in new and old customers to your product or brand.

ADVERTISING APPEAL

Meaning : An advertising appeal is a statement designed to motivate a person to act. The appeals which the advertiser makes usually focus the buying motives of the consumers. Pleasing total quality of a radio becomes basis to motivate the music and the vitamin ontents of a drug form an appeal to motivate public and listen to people to preserve their health. However, numerous appeals may be made for any product.

Essentials of a Good Advertising Appeal : The following are the essentials of a good advertising appeal :

1. It must be Communicative : An advertising appeal must successfully tell what it wishes to convey. As far as possible, the message must be communicated in a simple language.

2. It must have a Good Theme : A good theme means there must be something which has to be told to the prospects. Only meaningful words become effective in conveying the story.

3. It must be Distinctive : An advertising appeal must be distinctive. It should present a product in a distinctive way. If it is a new product, then „new alone makes it distinctive.

4. It must be Interesting : A good advertising appeal must be interesting. An advertisement must provide interest to the readers or the listeners or viewers and this can be done by telling the story of an advertisement in an interesting manner.

5. It must be Believable : The theme of an effective advertising appeal must be believable. The message which is doubted can never be effective. Only facts are presented in an interesting manner.

6. It must be Complete : An advertising appeal should be complete and must not be superfluous. Such information which is likely to confuse the prospects in making buying decision should be avoided.

Types of Appeals Used in Advertising : The following are the appeals widely used in advertising :

1. Emotional Appeals : Emotional appeals are used in advertising the consumer product. They are used for inducing initial interests and arousing interest in the advertised product. Goods like toys for children and baby food are sold on emotional appeals.

2. Intellectual Appeals : These appeals are free from emotional touch and are based on intelligence. Intellectual appeal are used for selling high priced industrial goods. They are based on rational thinking. Emotional appeals work fast to create interest and desire but it is intellectual appeal of the Bombay Dyeing advertisement where a young and beautiful girl is shown wearing eye-catching prints. The picture of the girl and prints provide emotional appeal but the headline „icy summer prints provide and atmosphere of coolness and appeals to the intellect.

3. Human Instincts Appeal : Human beings are guided by such instincts as: self-preservation, parental care, food, clothing, curiosity and so on. When a copy makes proper appeal to the appropriate instinct, it will create a desire in the minds of the reader to buy the article. For an appeal to the self-preservation instinct health, food, woollen clothes and physical fitness courses are appropriate articles. Baby food can be sold more easily by making an appeal to the parental instinct and the natural affection of the parents for their children.

4. Physical Sense Appeal: Appeals to physical senses evolve greater response. For example, food and beverage products are sold by inciting taste appeal. During summer, cold drinks can be effectively advertised with pictures of cool, refreshing summer drinks but during winter this advertisement would be a misfit if appeal is made to the sense of taste alone, a more viable approach would be to appeal to the instinct of self-preservation.

5. Positive Appeal: Appeals that follow positive approach are called positive appeal. They create situations under which prospects are likely to attain happiness and peace of mind with the possession of advertised goods. With a view to arouse product interest, the following positive emotional appeals are used e.g., appeals to comfort, healthy, living, family affection, pleasure, personal appearance, sympathy, love, pride etc. These appeals are positive because they create awareness under which prospects are likely to attain happiness and the mental satisfaction of possession of materials.

6. Negative Appeal : Negative appeals are those which follow negative approach. They normally include feelings like jealousy,anger, pain and fear. These are the unpleasant feelings and no prospect would desire to associate himself with frustration

It would be unwise to assume that negative appeals are ineffective. Sometimes they work very fast. We shall present a few negative appeals from illustrative advertisements. For example, Motwane Manufacturing Co., in its advertisement for Motwane Digital Millimeters used the negative appeal which gave striking impact.
Advertising campaign planning concerns many people in the advertising agency, but mainly concerns the advertising manager, account executive, marketing manager, creative director, media planner, and PR manager. They design and plan advertising campaign for the client. Planning is a process it includes various steps like, Prototype Stage, Initial Briefing by Client, Contact Report, Account Executive‟s Report to Agency Management, Account Executive‟s Briefing to Agency Department Heads, Proposition, Presentation to Client etc.

The reputation of Organisation, product, nature of customers, competition, price of the product, Competitor‟s price, channels of distribution, budget, Govt. regulations and controls etc are the various factors which affects on the Planning of an Advertising Campaign.Market Segmentation is a technique of dividing the market of a product into several homogenous groups. Under this technique, customers of a product are divided according to such common characteristics as age, sex, income level rural urban composition. The concept of market segmentation is based on the assumption that markets of all commodities are heterogeneous. For every product, there is a group of customers having different nature,buying habits, and attitudes. Two customers are not alike. They differ each other. On the basis of their characteristics, customers may be divided into several groups. These groups are formed on the basis of some similar qualities and such division is called Market Segmentation.
Segmentation is the process of partitioning a large heterogeneous market into smaller groups of people or businesses which show similar needs and/or characteristics. Markets can be segmented on the basis of different geographic units, demographic characteristics, Socio-Economic aspects, psychographical profiles of people, behaviou, product characteristics, different benefits that the consumers are expecting from a product, volume of purchases

etc.

QUESTIONS :

1. What is Advertising Campaign? Explain the importance of planing of an Advertising Campaign.

2. Explain the Process of Planning the Advertising Campaign

3. What are the steps in Advertising Campaign Planning?

4. What are factors influencing the Planning of an Advertising Campaign?

5. What are the bases of Market Segmentation?

6. Explain the importance of Market Segmentation.

7. Write short note on the following : a) DAGMAR Model b) AIDA c) Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

8. What are the essentials of a good advertising appeal? Explain the different types of appeals used in advertising.

Media Planning Part-3 for BBA D-III Paper-7


Media planning is an exercise to find the best medium or combination of media that will produce the best overall effect relative to the needs of the advertised brand. Media planning in general should involve optimum benefits in the long run. The media mix, in terms of balance of usage for TV, radio and print media or other types of media vehicles, should be such that the best utility of the advertising budget is obtained, and duplication of audience is avoided as far as possible.

There is no single best media strategy that is applicable in varied situations or sometimes even in similar situations.

Media strategies also differ because of changing situations. For example, the state of the economy changes just as consumers tastes change. Advertisements for luxurious cars would therefore not be effective during times of economic depression. Similarly, advertisements about blue jeans, when jeans are not in fashion, would not have much impact. To select the right media and to search the right target audience for a desired response the advertiser or his advertising agency should go for a systematic media planning.

STEPS IN MEDIA PLANNING           

The following are the steps in media planning:

1. Decide Target Market : It is necessary to decide specific market where planned efforts can be directed.

2. Media Objectives : Media objectives are often stated in term of reach, frequency, gross rating points and continuity.

(a) Reach : It refers to the number of different persons or household exposed to a particular media schedule at least once during a specific time period.

(b) Frequency : It refers to the number of times within the specified time period that an average person or household is exposed to message.

(c) Gross Ratings Points : It refers to the total weight of a media effort in quantitative terms. GRPs are equal to each multiplied by average frequencies. E.g. 80% of the homes watch TV and they are exposed on average 2.5 times within the 4 week period. The total impact or GRPs = 80 × 2.5=200.

(d) Continuity : It refers to the timing of the media insertions.

3. Selection of Media Types :

Every media plan requires that specific media types to be selected. There are a number of advertising media available to the advertiser for advertising the goods etc. These may be grouped under the following heads:

1. Press Advertising Media - (a) Newspapers and (b) Magazines and Journals.

2. Outdoor or Mural Advertising Media - (i) Posters, (ii) Advertising Boards, (iii) Sandwich Boards, (iv) Electric Display, (v) Vehicular, (vi) Sticker, and (vii) Sky Writing.

3. Direct Mail Advertising Media - (i) Circulars, (ii) Price-lists, (iii) Booklets, (iv) Leaflets, and Folders, (v) Business Reply Envelops and Cards, (vi) Gift Novelties, and (vii) Personal Letters.

4. Broadcast Advertising Media - (a) Radio, (b) Television

5. Promotional Advertising Media - (i) Window Display, (ii) Show- Room, (iii) Exhibitions and Fairs, (iv) Interior Display, (v) Trade Shows, (vi) Samples, Coupons and Premiums etc.

6. Miscellaneous Advertising Media - (a) Cinema and Cinema Slides, (b) Speciality Advertising, (c) Purchase Point Advertising, and (d) Video Advertising etc.

4. Selecting Specific Media Vehicle : Once a decision is made on media types, specific media vehicles within each medium must be chosen.

 

Media Mix: Once the media selection is decided upon, the next step is to determine the mix of the media one must use. This will be arrived at by considering the advertising companys marketing objectives, its target market, media characteristics, and its matching with the target market. The overall advertising budget also influences the nature of such mix, in addition to the available audience. For example, to achieve certain advertising objectives, one may require to use a mix of 50% newspaper, 25% magazine and the rest 25% television. However, more than one mix may fulfil the advertising objectives, and yet be within the overall budget cost. But one should aim at balanced mix. Some advertisers prefer to concentrate on one media type mix whereas others like to have a widely varied mix. While the former offers the advertiser an opportunity to make a great impact on a specific market segment, the latter, being an assortment of media, can deliver different messages about the same product in different market segments more effectively.

 

Media Buying : The specialist who is the counter part of the media sales representative is the media buyer. Most of these specialists work for advertising agencies, although some are retained by advertisers and some work for firms of media specialists who offer media buying services to both advertising agencies and advertisers. Media buying service is likely to be more personal and direct.

The media buying specialist helps to decide what media should be used for a product, purchases the media, and controls and evaluates the performance of the media purchased.  There is growth of Media Buying Units (MBUs) throughout the world. Advertising Agencies merge and form a group and then set up an independent MBU to buy advertising space. The MBU benefits not only the advertising agencies, and the advertisers because of cost-effective rates, but also the media sellers. The media sellers can negotiate for rates, with one media buying unit on behalf of a group of ad agencies.

5. Allocation of Funds : The planner should than decide on the amount of funds that would be allocated to each media type and vehicle.

6. Media Scheduling : Media scheduling could be used depending upon the requirements of the advertisers.

 MEDIA-VEHICLE CHOICE

After indemnifying the various advertising medias, as available for a company, the subsequent managerial task is to evaluate each media vehicle against certain criterion and then only to decide which of the particular vehicles are suitable for him. For such a decision, he has to evaluate the available media vehicles against certain criterion. The major vehicle evaluation criterion are as follows:

1. Coverage: It is the most important and powerful criterion for evaluating vehicle media. Coverage refers to the number and spread message outlets provided by the media vehicle. When the media vehicle provides large coverage, the changes of message exposure to customers is also greater. Thus a media vehicle providing larger coverage should be more acceptable. For example, in case of a newspaper, the coverage refers to the circulation of that particular newspaper. But this is not enough. We must also consider other criteria which are as follows.

2. Consumer Confidence: It is also an important criterion for evaluating the selection of a vehicle media. Consumer confidence refers to the credibility of media in the mind of target customers. It is a relevant criterion for evaluating a media vehicle since the credibility of advertising message is positively related to the media vehicle’s credibility. For example, a recent study in India revealed that newspapers and magazines are considered to be the most credible of all media, scoring high on usefulness and information.

3. Reach : Reach as an evaluation criterion refers to the vehicle’s access to different homes or individuals over a given period of time. In case of press media, it is indicated by readership which is arrived at by multiplying circulation of the paper with the average number of readers per copy.

4. Cost : Cost is also an important criterion against which each media vehicle choice should be evaluated. Cost refers to the money spent on using a particular vehicle media. In order to make a decision, it is suggested that the advertiser should make out an inter-vehicle cost comparison.

5. Timing : The last but also equally important criterion for evaluating vehicle media choice is the timing of advertisement. The reasons for the importance of the decision may be two-fold - (i) Seasonalability of product sales, and (ii) staggered effects of advertising. The advertiser should, after considering these two elements, decide on the scheduling of advertisements to improve the effectiveness.

SIGNIFICANCE OF REACH, FREQUENCY AND CONTINUITY IN MEDIA PLANNING

Media planning means devising a programme in such a manner as to optimally use the advertising space, the broadcast time, or other advertising media, in exposing an advertiser’s message to potential consumers. There are basically three concepts that are generally incorporated in most planning processes:

(a) Reach : Advertisers are mainly interested in the percentage of the total market that they can reach their messages through the media in a given area of coverage. Reach refers to the total number of households that will be exposed to a message through a particular media vehicle over a set period of time. This period of time may vary from advertiser to advertiser, but generally, four weeks is considered adequate for calculation purposes. Reach is usually expressed as a percentage of the total number of households in a prescribed area that have been exposed to the advertising message. For example, if there are a total number of 1000 households and 200 of these have been exposed to the message then the reach is calculated to be one-fifth or 20 per cent.

(b)Objectives of Greater Reach : The purpose of reach is optimal exposure. The idea behind the strategy for greater reach is that the advertisement be received by as many people as possible in the first instance.

 A strategy for greater reach would be desirable under the following circumstances :

1. When a new product is introduced the idea is to initially expose the product to as wide an audience as possible, irrespective of whether they immediately remember the product or not.

2. When introducing a new use for the product in order to expand its share of the market. If a product is already known but a new aspect of the product needs to be advertised, then greater reach is desirable. For example, if a well established brand of toothpaste adds mouthwash ingredients to it, it would call for greater reach so as to inform a wide audience about this additional feature.

3. When seeking to increase the recognition of the company through a campaign or to promote the image of the company. For example, the advertising campaigns for Godrej made the name of the Godrej Company, a household name for quality and variety of product.

4. When the creative message is so dramatic that most people will react to it and retain the message after only the first exposure. For example, when a famous film star is promoting a product or when the message is unique, eye-catching, attention getter, then reach becomes more important than the frequency.

(b) Frequency : Frequency is the average number of times in a give period that each person has been exposed among the target audience by the brand’s advertising. If the message reaches the audience by the brand’s advertising. If the message reaches the audience just once, is it enough to influence their buying or should they be exposed to the message more than once in order to reinforce the message? If so, then how many times should a household be exposed to the same message? Thus, frequency refers to the number of exposures to the same message that each household supposedly receives. Since the frequency may differ for different sets of households, an average frequency is calculated by the following formula :

Average frequency = Total exposures for all households Reach

If the total number of exposures is 400 and the reach is 50 then the average frequency is 8. This means that the average household is exposed to the same message eight times.

Objectives of Greater Frequency: Frequency primarily means repetition of the same message and the objective of greater frequency is to promote interest and desire for the product on a continuous basis instead of a simple awareness. Even though frequency is achieved at the expense of reach, it is advisable to go for frequency under the following situations:

1. When the competitor is using high frequency to reach the same segment of the market. For example, in the case of soap and detergent commercials, a competitor has a distinctive edge, if he continuously reinforces the quality and utility of his product in the customers minds by repeated advertisements. This offensive can only be countered by frequency of advertising rather than reach.

2. When a reaction is desired within a limited time period. For example, a sale on for just one week would necessitate advertising the same message on the radio or TV repeatedly or in daily newspapers every day. Continuous repetition of a message that includes the warning „sale ends on Friday, provides a sense of urgency. Similarly, the message accompanied by „first come, first served would excite more immediate sales for a given product.

3. When the message is not easy to remember, for example, if the advertising message consists of prolonged explanation of the product’s features, then the audience should be exposed to the message a number of times so that people become aware of all aspects of the product.

4. If the product or brand is not sufficiently differentiated from products and brands of competitor. For example, a distinctive brand of Maruti of Premier can does not necessarily require greater frequency. But a specific brand of soap or toothpaste that does not have any distinguishing characteristics does require greater frequency.

(c) Continuity: The message should be relayed continuously to the potential households. A long period of abstinence from advertising (that is, lack of exposure) will jeopardize the

advertisement investment of the firm. It is necessary to have a continuous programme of advertising. When customers continue to hear about the product and the company at the time of „need. Continuity has a cumulative effect of advertising on the customer. Continuity refers the length of time the advertisement runs, or whether it is periodic.

1. “Media planning is an exercise to find the best medium to produce the overall effect related to the advertised brand.”

Discuss.

2. Explain the following vehicle evaluation criterion:

a. Coverage

b. Reach

c. Timing

3. Define the following terms:

a. Media Buying

b. Media mix

c. Continuity

d. Reach

e. Frequency

ZIPPING AND ZAPPING

 Meaning :We can trace the concept of zipping and zapping to the era of VCRs and remote controls, each of these devices brought a change not only in the TV viewing habit but also led to a proliferation in the number of TV channels. When VCRs launched they also introduced time shifting viewing pattern and the remote control helped evolve TV viewing beyond a family setting. By the 1960s TV sets were cheap enough to afford more than one per household and with that it also brought about the beginning of different channels that catered to more varied taste. The remote control made it easier for the viewers to zap through commercials i.e. viewers could now change channels during the commercials thereby avoiding ads. Some experts argue, ad avoidance was in

existence even before the remote, people would leave the room during the commercial break. DVRs also cause similar concerns, how attentive are the viewers to the ads, if at all? But time shifting helps find new audiences as well, people who otherwise would have missed the show. VCRs gave viewers more control, and so do DVRs that have helped viewers watch more of programming they like, i.e. they are therefore more likely to be engaged hence more willing to pay attention. However, we are still not addressing the problem of ad avoidance behaviour.

Could Game play Combat TV Ad Zapping and Zipping

Game play during commercials may be an effective way to get more people to pay attention to sponsored ads on broadcast television. Interestingly, it is very rare to see any type of contest or game-like promotion to reward people for watching commercials, even though that behavior is highly desirable to broadcast advertisers.

Can game play be used as incentives for attentive T.V. commercial viewing? Could games help television advertisers cultivate the interactive engagement and motivation that lead to direct response after ads are viewed?

Are commercial games rare because games were not effective in this role in the past? Or is it because so many marketers assume any type of game has to involve an expensive prize or legal consultation to make sure the promotion is on the right side of gambling and lottery laws?

What types of games would be compelling during live broadcast commercial breaks? What issues would need to be addressed to prevent people who did not watch the commercial from simply scraping the commercial contents from a web resource after the actual broadcast?

Zapping and Zipping Commercials into Extinction :

Since the development of the home VCR, advertisers have been concerned with zipping-fast forwarding through commercials during recordings of sponsored television programs. Newer technologies have only increased advertiser paranoia that television viewers are prerecording shows and then skipping the commercial breaks. A similar concern was raised with the advent of remote controls which let users change the channel during commercial breaks with very little physical effort (zapping).

When advertisers complained, the television networks produced studies that showed viewers were already avoiding annoying or boring commercials by leaving the room or otherwise diverting attention during commercial breaks regardless of the remote control or recording devices. The general result was that big brands had to make more interesting commercials or utilize product placement and other clever ways to integrate ad messaging into television programs.

More Watchable Commercials = More Expensive Commercials Commercial production values are often very good. Feature film quality t.v. commercials are not uncommon today and some commercials are enjoyable enough that they can function as short form programming (these top-shelf commercials tend to go viral online too). Many commercials have been episodic or featured some type of comedy skit to keep viewers from zapping or zipping away.

There are a number of advertising media available to the advertiser for advertising the products. But not a single media can satisfies all the needs of various time periods.

Media planning means devising a programme in such a manner as to optimally use the advertising space, the broadcast time, or other advertising media, in exposing an advertiser’s message to potential consumers. Systematic media planning is the responsibility of advertiser or the advertising agency. It is a proper process which includes the steps like deciding target market and media objectives, selecting specific media vehicle, allocating funds etc.

QUESTIONS

1. What is Media Planning? Explain the process involved in Media planning

2. What are the steps in Media Planning

3. What are the Major Media Types? Explain in brief.

4. What can be the Possible Media of Business Advertisement? Explain each in Brief.

5. While Making Media-Vehicle Choice (s) Coverage is but an Inadequate Decision-Input. Do you agree? What other Decision Inputs are required for Making Media Vehicle Choices?

6. What is the significance of (a) Reach, (b) Frequency and (c) Continuity in media planning?