HIT THE SUPER 6 TO EFFECTIVE MEDIA PLANNING

The business of advertising is all about (a)What to say (b) How to say and (c) Most ignored,yet very important WHERE to say.While the 'what to say' (strategic planning) attracts brainstorming and 'how to say' (creative execution) is considered glamorous,the 'where to say' does not receive sufficient attention.Usually no one ever thinks it is important to involve the media person at the strategic planning stage or the creative planning stage while working on a campaign.Often there is just a cursory representation of media in these meetings,in the form of a silent spectator who,if and when decides to speak up will do so n terms of banal statistics and numbers and jargon that often puts the 'creative' heads to sleep.

The Media-Creative marriage

Advertising is communication.Effective communication is a lot about presentation of the message.One of the media planner's most important jobs is to choose best vehicle for the exposure of this message.Entire budgets may end up going down the drain if the valuable crores of rupees are not allocated appropriately to reach out the message to the potential consumer.What one needs to make brilliant campaign is to establish close communication between the media planner and the copy group right from the early stages of plans development.This will help in one,the copy group understanding the exposure opportunities and limitations early on in the planning stage and two,in the media planner understanding the intended creative approach to guide in selection of media.

Today's media scene

The dynamic nature of today's media could be because of the umpteen number of entertainment and infotainment options that are today available to the consumers.Gone are the days of one Doordarshan,a few leading publications,and even fewer options of entertainment and outings.The arrival of he various satellite channels and publications and their ever-increasing numbers makes a planner's job quite tricky and skillful.Paradoxically,today's media fact is that though T.V viewing has shot up(in terms of no. of hours),reading habits have not going down.The high audience fragmentation;the  'freebie' survival tactics offered by many channels and publications who are giving'free' sports and space to win more advertising revenue from clients etc. all add to the complexities of media planning.

No wonder,given this scenario,agencies often fall into the trap of getting caught in the 'presented facts' rather than delving deep within to look at and evaluate the core.For most agencies,making deals and bargains is the order of the day and measure of their 'media' success,without adequate attention to reach and frequency.The cost -benefit ratio has gone for a toss,often ending up in the agencies spreading themselves thin.It's easier or today's media person to be a part of a herd mentality('I must be on T.V. because everyone else is on T.V.') than to turn the clock in their favor with great plans and ideas.

Large Indian advertisers have gone one step ahead.They have started negotiating with most channels and publications themselves with the result huge amounts are being spent but these are hardly getting media visibility.The entire focus is on media buying driven by better deals,rather than fine tune planning.

The Science of Media Planning

So,what is scientific media planning? How can a campaign utilize media planning to get more effective,rather than just media negotiation? A simple 6-Step process could help in making the intended campaign reach more incisively,or to put it more sportingly,you will hit a six with this super six step process

Step 1: The situation analysis

As is the accepted 'given' in most agencies,a media person works on a 'brief' that he is given by the client servicing person,or if lucky,straight from the client,by being a part of the client meeting.A smart planner would exercise his grey cells further and clearly understand the marketing problem,delve into the company and its competitors,understand the dynamics of size and share of market,study the sales history, distribution practices(yes,it helps to know how the brand you are working on reaches its end user),method of selling,before finally coming into the identification of the media.Too much,is never really too much,when it comes to gathering brand information,as the more we know,the more innovative we can get,in generating cut-throat media plan.

Step 2:Getting to the market strategy

Advertising is the means to achieve marketing objectives.Some ad professionals forget this and look at advertising as a creative field for fulfillment of creative urges.Very few of us realize the responsibilty that rests on our shoulders in this profession.Good media planners however,do realise the value of millions of rupees entrusted to them by their clients and judiciously spend each rupee to get the maximum mileage off it.Your media plan,as a good planner,must stick to this essence and revolve around activities that solve one or more marketing problem.To do this you must put the marketing objective in focus before you arrive at any media decisions.Based on these objectives you need to arrive at a 'Spending strategy' which you would apply after the identification of best market segment.

Step 3:Setting Media Objectives

Now that you have your spend strategy in line with the marketing objectives,the next big step is to translate these marketing objectives and spend strategies into goals that media can accomplish.To do this it is important to state the media objective in as clear a term as possible.For example if we are trying to sell a premium perfume that costs around Rs.3,500/- for a 100 ml bottle,the media objective could probably be

"To reach 80% women in the age group of 25-44,in SEC A+ and A,living in major metro towns(specify the towns),ensuring that they are exposed to the message at least 4 times a week( average frequency)". Compare this to a vague objective like "To reach all women in SEC A & A+", where in you could lose your focus as it does not offer you any direction to strategize.

Step 4: Determining the media strategy

Having set he objectives now comes the time to translate media goals into general guidelines that will control the planners selection and use of media.Analyse all possible data available and arrive at the best possible media class that can deliver your message to the maximum of the audience set as the target in our objective.Should this media class be Television,Dailies,Radio,Internet,Outdoor,Magazines or do we need to innovate? If any particular medium in unable to reach out to all 80%,then we llok at alternative media classes that will fill in the gap.Simply put,this means you need to choose broad media classes and determine the primary medium of message delivery to achieve the marketing objectives.Work out various strategies that can achieve our objectives,with the central point being simple audience delivery! Having done this,zoom in and select on the best strategy alternative that will lead you to your next step.

Step 5:Selection of media vehicles.

Having carefully picked and chosen the broad media classes,now you need to freeze on the exact vehicles that will deliver to the media objectives.It is best to know what you expect each of the medium and the chose vehicles to deliver.Here you will address issues like,who is each of these addressing from the targeted audience,what is he intended goal behind using this particular vehicle etc.

After arriving at a probable shortlist,compare and select the best media within the broad classes-If magazines which one? If Television -which channel? If newspaper - which one? If radio- which channels? Analyze these options and allocate approximate spends to each of these.

Step 6: Media use decisions

Having chosen the channels/newspapers/radio channels/websites etc.,now answer crucial questions like- what is the level of reach and frequency you think is needed to reach out to the target audience? Are there any specific days/months more important to help in achieving marketing objectives? What is the optimum number of insertions/spots required per week/month to fulfill the average frequency set in the media objective? Will having any preferred positions/placements within media help deliver message better? The more specific out questions and answers are the more bang-on our plan will be!

Going through these Super Sixes greatly reduced any weaknesses in planning.The more you use these steps to plan, the more astute and precise you rill get at the job of planning.With time you will realize that getting the best deal in media is not always about the best price at which you have bought media.Rather it is about how best you have got your target audience bought into your media selection so they buy enough of the brand you have been made a custodian of.So happy planning and may the New Year be a well planned year for you.