Media Management - Media Buying Process

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We have a plan. It is ready to be executed. There is just one last step left, what is it? Buying the media space. If you don’t have media space, where will you place your ad and advertise the product?

That brings us to the topic of the day, Media Buying Process.

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The buying brief: The buying brief basically consists of all the elements of the media strategy and all the decision that were taken. (For the steps in the process of a media strategy/media plan, check previous post)

Environmental Analysis: this stage is nothing but understanding all the media and analyzing its current scenario in context of the concerned brand.

The Science of Buying: This implies that the buyer has to be completely aware of the pricing and market scenario before negotiating. He has to completely aware of the market trends, the price quoted and the price at which it is sold.

Benchmarking rates:  This is done especially to review if a deal is good or bad. By benchmarking the deals, value- ads and rates of the past one can evaluate if they have a good deal or a bad one.

Plan presentation and client feedback: A lot depends on how you have presented your plan. It’s crucial that the idea behind choosing a particular vehicle, channel etc. Sharing the view of the plan in detail helps. Also the feedback that is received is very important, as that will help you re-evaluate your plan and help you make additions or subtractions to it. Feedback may also suggest that you tweak your plan a little in order to make it more effective. It can also give you a perspective.

Deal management: For the buyer it is important that all the deals are managed and handled carefully. A well-managed deal will result in a well-executed plan and a happy client. It is important to keep a track of the status of the deal.

The Post- Buys: Before buying there is one very important step of the media buying process and that is analyzing the past buys. Here the purchases of the past are evaluated and points are made, as too what were the plus points and negative points. On the basis of these the mistakes of the past can be avoided.

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All these factors come to play with media buying. There are so many steps involved before the actual purchase is made. All these steps are essential in order to take a good decision. 

Next time around, I will be back with another concept, till then tada! :D

Reference: Media Buying and Selling –Arpita Menon

Media Management - Media Scheduling

This brings us to the last step of the media strategy or media planning process – Media Scheduling.

You have an ad. You have your audience. You have evaluated and decided the media weights. You also have decided your vehicle. Now, comes the main part, when to release the ad?

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Yes! That’s the topic for the day media scheduling or in simple words deciding when to release your ad. You may have a good ad, but what is the point if it is released at the wrong time.

For instance

Imagine I have a mango farm and I advertise about it in the month of August, knowing that I will have mango ready to selling only in the months of April – June? Does it make sense to advertise when you don’t have the product to sell in the first place?

In another situation, imagine you have a product better than your competitor but you don’t advertise your product at the right time, while your competitor does.

In yet another situation, imagine you are selling air conditioners. It is a product that people use throughout the year, however the maximum amounts of air conditioners are sold during the summer months. What is the point of advertising this product during the winters or the rain?

In any of the above cases, you can clearly see how not scheduling your ads can be a disaster. It is important to strike at the right place at the right time.

The idea of media scheduling is to place your advertisement at such a time that it will result in the most amounts of sales. As a client the only reason why I would invest in advertising is to make sales, that’s all I would care about or anybody else who is shelling out that kind of money will.

No matter how much hard work is put in, at the end of the day what matters are the results. Everyone today is result oriented and driven, you may have worked like a donkey in making sure that your ad is creative and to just like what the brief demanded, but what is the point if the ad is placed at the wrong time and doesn’t affect the sales? Nothing matters if the results aren’t true to the expectation or more than that.

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Though the concept of media scheduling sounds so simple, it is one of the most crucial steps of the media strategy.

This brings us to the ends of the steps of making a media strategy or the media plan.

Next time I will see you with another concept, till then goodbye! :D

Media Management - Media Mix

The fourth step of a media strategy is the media mix. You have almost reached towards the last step of the strategy. Now comes the interesting part. You have your ad, the question is, which medium are you going to use in order to reach your audience.

You can’t use just one medium, one strategy or one message. You have to reach the audience and make an impact. This doesn’t usually happen with just one medium or one message. As an advertiser and media planner you have to employ more forms and vehicles. This brings us to the topic of the day – Media Mix.

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Media mix, it is pretty self explanatory, a mixture of media i.e. the use of various media vehicles in a campaign.

Most media planners choose and prefer a media mix medium over a single medium due to various reasons like, reaching a larger spectrum of audience, depending on where the audience are more likely to be exposed to the advertisement, in order to increase frequency, create a buzz about the product in very form of advertising there is and reinforce the message using different kinds of sensory stimuli, increasing the audience base by targeting those who use other mediums of media other than the one selected, to deliver the message throughout the day and so much more.

The different types of media vehicles are:

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• Print
• Television
• Radio
• Outdoor
• Cinema
• Internet
• Mobile

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The concept of a media mix is helping the planner to aim at more audience and get more efficient results. It is helping them to not only meet the need of the brand but also to increase the consumer base. It is also an effective way using the budget that is allotted to get the best result possible.

That’s all folks! :)

Media Management - Media Weights

Your advertisement is waiting eagerly to break bounds and show itself out in the world. It wants to be seen. You have decided who your audience is and you have prioritized your markets. You have successfully passed the first two steps of the media strategy and now its time to conquer the third step – media weights.

                                           

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Media weights are nothing but the total impact that an advertising campaign has with regards to the number of commercials, reach, insertions or the frequency. It is nothing but seeing how effective your ad is in terms of seeing how your campaign was affected. Media weights are set in relations to the GRP’s, Reach and AOT’S.

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GRP is the gross rating point. It is the total of all the television rating points (TRP) of the aired commercial across various programs.

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Reach is the total number of people who have seen the advertisement.

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Average Opportunity to See (AOT’s) is the average number of exposures amongst those who have been reached. In simple words it is the average number exposure among those who have seen the advertisement at least once since it has been aired.

It is important to have our media weights in place because we need to know how many times we have to air the advertisements in order to achieve the desired results. You have to consider the rating point of the programs across which these advertisements will be aired.

The media weights that are planned for the products or the brands have to be such that, it is efficient and best suited. You have too choose programs that suit your brand as well as have a good GRP’s, Reach and AOT’S. You want your target audience to see the ad as well as you want them to see it enough to remember the product and make a purchase/create an image.

I will soon see you with step four of the media strategy, till then see you! :)