Media Strategies: An Advanced Discussion Television Bureau of Advertising

The Media Pie - Erwin Ephron for TVB

There’s never enough money to advertise: at effective weight to all of the country for most of the year

That problem defines your job as a media planner. Allocation.

Spending a limited resource for greatest total effect.

Think of the media budget as...

A beautiful pie...

And media planning as...

Dividing-up the pie...

The pieces are... WEIGHT TARGETING CPM UNIT SIZE GEOGRAPHY WEEKS

The size of the portions determines the media plan.

And the size of each slice will determine the size of other slices.

THE MEDIA PIE

1. WEIGHT LEVELS TRP’s, reach and frequency

Research shows each Rating point added produces less response than the one before. Source: Adworks 2, A major study by MMA, IRI and Nielsen Media Research which examined 800+ packaged goods brands.

This argues for moderate weekly GRP weight and more continuous advertising.

Scanner sales data paints a similar picture.

It shows reach is cost-effective, while repetition (short-interval frequency) is not.

Probably because when people are in the market a single message can influence brand choice.

And when they’re not in the market many messages will have little effect.

This is called Recency Planning. It is a skimming strategy.

Since purchases are made continuously, but we usually don’t know who is ready to purchase...

REACHREACH The idea is to talk to as many target consumers as possible

Over as many weeks as possible C O N T I N U I T Y REACHREACH

PRINCIPLE Today it’s “reach and continuity,” not “reach and frequency” in media planning. Use *moderate weekly TRP’s. *Approximately 50 TRP’s are the recommended minimum.

2. TARGETING Demographics, user, usage

It’s easy to over-estimate how much demography is worth to a brand.

Example The target group is Women It has a purchase index of 115.

(It can’t index much higher because that’s 63% of all women.)

A smaller target, like Women18-34 in 5+ households, might index higher...

But it would not account for enough of a mass brand’s sales to be useful as a target.

That is the TV targeting paradox.

Small targets don’t concentrate enough sales.

But large targets don’t concentrate sales enough.

The reason is most TV brand demo-profiles are relatively flat.

In theory, demo- targeting cuts waste by buying more prospects per-dollar. PRICING

Here’s how it’s supposed to work:

Prime time Men 18+ cost $30 a thousand. $30

A brand targeting M buys Package A because it has a higher M comp. Average M Package A $30

…and gets more younger men per-dollar because it has targeted. Average M Package A The targeting dividend $30

But when sellers price on Men $45 $30

The targeting dividend goes to the seller. $45 $30 The targeting dividend

And that’s what happens today. Higher target comp does not produce lower target CPM’s.

FOX WB NBC ABC CBS Sources: Nielsen NTI, Total Viewing Source Report and HH and Persons Cost Per Thousand Report, February 2003 % Comp CPM Highest Comp Highest CPM MEN 25-54

Which shows targeting doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to.

Another problem. Reach, a primary goal, and targeting conflict.

Reach is bought with dispersion. Targeting requires concentration.

That said, there are still targeting approaches which have great energy.

Recency, receptivity and geography are all powerful targeting tools.

PRINCIPLE Look well beyond demography to target potential purchasers.

3. CPM VALUE Reach, environment, attention

This is the twilight zone of media planning.

Clearly there has been a move to cheaper media. In TV this has meant lower ratings and cable.

But as we gain in cost efficiency are we losing value?

Agency research shows that viewing duration (which favors higher ratings) predicts attentiveness. Sources: Proprietary agency research

Similarly, Print data shows that readers of lower CPM titles see fewer ads. Sources: Ephron, Erwin, "Counting Calories – On the Need to Adjust Print Readership Data," Worldwide Readership Research Symposium, Venice, 2001.

Lower CPM’s usually represent lower value. Buying a mix of dayparts is the best approach. PRINCIPLE TVB provides a PowerPoint presentation called “Value of Local Daypart Mix”. Contact to a preview.

4. UNIT SIZE 30- or 15-second messages

Choice of unit is a creative decision, forced by pricing and budget..

15’s comprise close to one-third of national TV weight. But, there’s a paradox.

Research usually finds shorter units are more recall effective.

(Two 15’s provide greater total communication than one 30.)

But sales tracking shows 15-second commercials are less sales effective.

The conflict may be in the way we use 15’s in our plans.

Even if two 15’s are worth more than a 30...

Even if two 15’s are worth more than a one 15 is still worth less.

Don’t plan 15’s to make a budget appear bigger than it is. PRINCIPLE That does not help a campaign.

5. WEEKS Scheduling and weight

Research shows increasing marginal returns as weeks are added to a schedule Source: Adworks 2

This suggests the overwhelming value of continuous advertising for most brands.

Recency also supports more weeks of advertising.

The recency goal is to intercept weekly sales with a brand message.

In recency planning, lower weekly reach goals and more weeks are the most cost-effective.

But a 30 weekly reach (50 TRP’s) seems to be the practical minimum.

Because the effects of less weight often can’t be read in the market...

…which means you don’t know if the campaign is working.

PRINCIPLE A moderate weekly reach goal results in a better performing schedule.

It intercepts more purchases, because it allows more weeks of advertising.

6. GEOGRAPHY National, spot or some combination.

Before we look at Geography, lets review what’s happened to the media planning pie.

1.WEIGHT Should be moderate to generate more weekly reach.

2. TARGETING No longer provides substantial cost-savings.

3. CPM’S Requires a mix of day parts.

4. UNIT SIZE Are often reduced to to help stabilize CPM’s.

5. WEEKS Have become highest priority in planning.

Both weeks and weekly reach are key recency planning goals.

But most brands can’t afford both when costs are increasing faster than budgets.

The remaining option is to target Geography. And that brings us to spot planning.

6. GEOGRAPHY Targeting with spot

Every brand has geographic areas of opportunity.

These are spot markets where advertising is most likely to produce sales.

They can be identified by BDI, CDI, brand share, growth or absolute volume.

Let’s begin with the most familiar measure, BDI, the market’s per-capita index of brand purchase.

BDI is calculated by dividing a DMA’s share of brand sales by its share of US population.

A market like Dallas, containing 3% of a brand’s sales and 2% of the population would have a BDI of 150.

For most brands, markets comprising a third of the US, will have a BDI index of 130 or higher.

This is far greater selectivity than demos provide.

The following maps illustrate: In Red: The portion (best 1/3) of the US that generates the highest BDI or CDI. In the text box: A comparison of that BDI/CDI to the best age demo index.

Pasta Sauce Best 1/3 of U.S.135 Best Age Demo112 Source: IRI Infoscan special tabulation/MRI

Chevy Blazer Best 1/3 of U.S.156 Best Demo122 Source: Polk Special tabulation/MRI

Financial Planning Best 1/3 of U.S.140 Best Age Demo114 Source: MRI Special tabulation

Barbecue Sauce Best 1/3 of U.S.133 Best Age Demo106 Source: IRI Infoscan special tabulation/MRI

And there’s a bonus.

Since geography and demography aren’t linked, the benefits are cumulative.

A brand with a BDI of 115 for Men and 130 for Boston...

Will index at 150 among Men living in Boston (1.15 x 1.30).

But BDI spot is one dimensional. A brand, depending on it’s circumstances, should consider targeting...

Category sales (CDI) Competitive vigor (share) Brand growth (% change) Brand volume (dollars) Alone, or in combination.

There is evidence that spot should also focus on high Share and Growth markets.

And that it should be used to add weeks, not weight.

This is a far more advanced approach to Media planning.

DMA market-value data for planning spot are widely available.

IRI or AC Nielsen Brand Track for packaged goods Polk for automobiles IMS for Rx drugs And MRI special tabs for a wide range of products and services.

TVB can help you locate the data.

PRINCIPLE Spot should be used in high potential markets and be planned to add weeks, not weight.

Conclusion Geography is the missing planning strategy for many TV brands.

TVB offers Advertisers and Agencies (planners or buyers) a full range of information about Local Television:

The Resource Channel on the TVB web site was created for advertisers and agencies. We invite you to browse and learn more about:  Planning and Buying Spot Television  Local Broadcast TV vs. Other Media  EDI: Enabling the Business Process

Thank You. See you on the TVB web site

A note for presenter: A note for presenter: “Media Planning…” was created for the Advertiser/Agency Resource Channel on the TVB web site. For more on planning and buying Spot and additional presentations such as “Comparative Values in Local Television” and “Alternate Delivery Systems,” please visit the Channel or contact TVB. “Media Planning…” was created for the Advertiser/Agency Resource Channel on the TVB web site. For more on planning and buying Spot and additional presentations such as “Comparative Values in Local Television” and “Alternate Delivery Systems,” please visit the Channel or contact TVB.

Thank you