Media Strategy & Planning MKTG 340 Maureen O’Connor

Media Strategy Now that we’ve developed our message strategy, the key is to … – Analyze and choose the appropriate media to convey our message Requires that we – A. know who our audience is – B. Know where our audience is

Key issues in media planning and strategy Poor placement will compromise your ability to reach your advertising objectives because you won’t be effectively reaching your target Today’s media department has a more complex responsibility due to the explosion of available media.

Key Players Media Planners: – work with creatives and account people to understand the objectives of the campaign. – Research the target audience and best media outlets to meet the objectives Media Buyers – Negotiate and purchase the media time and space

Key Issues in Media Today Media Fragmentation – It’s harder to reach a mass audience because the audience has splintered into smaller media audiences Advertiser control of media: handful of major conglomerates for news and information – Disney (market value: $72.8 billion) – AOL-Time Warner (market value: $90.7 billion) – Viacom (market value: $53.9 billion) – General Electric (owner of NBC, market value: $390.6 billion) – News Corporation (market value: $56.7 billion) – Yahoo! (market value: $40.1 billion) – Microsoft (market value: $306.8 billion) – Google (market value: $154.6 billion)

Majority interest in WB, a U.S. television network launched in 1995 to provide a distribution platform for Time Warner films and programs. It is carried on the Tribune Company's 16 U.S. television stations, which reach 25 percent of U.S. TV households; Significant interests in non-U.S. broadcasting joint ventures; The largest cable system in the United States, controlling 22 of the largest 100 markets; Several U.S. and global cable television channels, including CNN, Headline News, CNNfn, TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, The Cartoon Network and CNN-SI (a cross-production with Sports Illustrated); Partial ownership of the cable channel Comedy Central and a controlling stake in Court TV; HBO and Cinemax pay cable channels; Minority stake in PrimeStar, U.S. satellite television service; Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema film studios; More than 1,000 movie screens outside of the United States; A library of over 6,000 films, 25,000 television programs, books, music and thousands of cartoons; Twenty-four magazines, including Time, People and Sports Illustrated; Fifty percent of DC Comics, publisher of Superman, Batman and 60 other titles; The second largest book-publishing business in the world, including Time-Life Books (42 percent of sales outside of the United States) and the Book-of-the-Month Club; Warner Music Group, one of the largest global music businesses with nearly 60 percent of revenues from outside the United States; Six Flags theme park chain; The Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Braves professional sports teams; Retail stores, including over 150 Warner Bros. stores and Turner Retail Group; Minority interests in toy companies Atari and Hasbro. Time Warner holdings

Key media Issues Globalization of media channels – Different media have different penetration levels in different countries. A global campaign will have a complex media structure The rise of social and alternative media Blending of advertising and entertainment – Programming that integrates advertising, i.e. America’s Biggest Loser

Key Issues in Media Quantification of dollars spent Questionable media measurement Growth of Internet advertising/falling response to traditional media – Interactivity Digital convergence – Getting information/media from cell phones and mobile media

Five “Rights” of media Right Audience – Identifies media patterns of the target audience Right Medium – What is a media channel today? – Is it right for the audience? How do we know? – Is it right for the creative?

Five Rights Right Exposure Level – How many exposures/impressions can we afford? – How can we most cost effectively deliver them? – Frequency or impact? – Exposure terms Reach: How many target members are exposed to our ad at least once over a given period? Frequency: How many times was the target market exposed to the ad over a given period? Rating: What percentage of households were watching a particular program? Share: What percentage of households with the television on were watching a particular program?

Five Rights of Media Right Timing – When and how much should we run? Seasonal factors? Competition schedule? Sales cycle? What duration – Flighting – Pulsing – Continuous – Front end loaded

Five Rights of Media Right Cost – Issues of efficiency: delivering the most number of target audience impressions for the least cost – Measures of efficiency Cost per impression – Cost of the media buy/total impressions delivered Cost per thousand impressions – Cost of the media/total impressions delivered x 1,000 Gross rating points – Program rating x total impressions delivered Cost per rating point – Cost of the media buy/vehicle rating

Which is more important? Frequency? – Research suggests a minimum of 3 impressions to be effective Size and impact? – Large ads have better recall than small ads – Effective appeals. i.e music When? – Recency theory says advertising is more effective the closer it is to a purchase – Clutter impedes consumer recall

Components of a Media Plan Objectives – Quantifiable measures related to reach and frequency Strategies – What combination of media types will be used? Broadcast, print, online? Media Choices – What specific programs, publications, websites will be used? Media Schedule – When and how many times will we run on these media outlets