19.

BUILDING A STRATEGIC
MEDIA PLAN
If you don't know where you are going,
you will wind up somewhere else.
—Yogi Berra

Strategy is the art and science of planning and marshalling resources

for their most efficient and effective use. The first 18 chapters of this book
have given you the knowledge to begin to devise strategy. Chapter 19 will
now take you through the process of developing a strategic media plan.

You have cognitive control of media concepts relating to audience, cost,

and impact. You have learned how to compare media options using basic
math. You understand important marketing considerations affecting the
development of a media plan, including target audience, geography, timing,
and budgeting. You know when to consider various marketing
communications options such as advertising, publicity, direct marketing,
and WOMM, and you are acquainted with the major advertising media.
In this chapter, you will apply your learning to the process:

 Determine the IMC/media implications of the marketing

situation, objectives, and strategies. (Chapter 9)
 Define the most important marketing problems or opportunities
 Identify the marketing task(s) you must address to achieve your
marketing objectives.
 Adopt a working theory of how marketing communications will
work for your brands. (see Chapter 10)
 Develop communications & media objectives and strategies for
an integrated marketing communications plan, including
 Assess available marketing communications and media options
(Chapters 15-18).
 Create and evaluate alternative scenarios until you discover a
strategy that accomplishes your objectives within your

449
  Prepare a schedule describing ad appearance in each rrwileijoi
you selected.
 Summarize your plan in a calendar and budget breakouts,
 Evaluate and measure your plan vs, its objectives

This chapter and the chapters leading to this chapter will provide
roadmap for developing a professional media plan. To speed you on your
journey, recognizing that objective information looks diffigent when you
need it, core content from previous chapters has been brought together here
with the relevant strategic advice. By the end of Chapter 19, you will he
equipped to incorporate Media Planning into your own media plar,
development. and you will then be ready to learn about media negritiation
and media buying.

INTRODUCTION
Media planning is ever more complex, creative. and challenging. Reach
and frequency are still important tools, but increasingly, the ways
consumers feel about your message and how they interact with it carry equal
weight. Taking advantage of the one-on-one promise of the Internet requires
a departure from the paradigms of traditional media, but every form of
marketing communication has its own paradigm. Each plays a unique role.
and %our job is to capitalize on that.

As media guru Erwin Ephron put it:

The new media planning is about picking combinations of media
(and permutations of media, where sequence of exposure is
important1). This increases relevant media choice from a
manageable few hundred to an unruly few hundred thousand. It also
means comparing apples with oranges...

The complexity of the media world can be overwhelming. How on earth

can all of these media be integrated into a cohesive, synergistic plan?
Integrated Marketing Communications and the explosion of new media
environments have changed the role of the media planner. You are no longei
just somebody who develops broadcast media plans; you are the point

450
 for managing a variety of communications forms, old and new, that
Person an impact on your brand.
ving
areha

Rij n ABOUT DIGITAL MEDIA PLANNING

A WO
Before discussing the media planning process further, it is important to
ide some o f the author s perspective on what it means to plan
Pr°‘ ications activities strategically.
nin
conln

R ad Aim Fire! vs. Ready_fir22Lutn!

When I do an Internet search for media planning, I am absolutely
amaze-
ri when the search results come back primarily with reference to
or buying for digital media, as if there are universal digital media
planning
secrets or as if engaging the consumer only occurs (or only matters) with
digital media. D i g i t a l m e d i a represent about 8% of marketing
communications expenditures, so they do indeed play an extremely
important role in marketing, and will play increasingly important roles in
the future. However, any form of media myopia is troubling to me as a
senior media professional (who prefers to define the problem before firing
off solutions).
Clearly, the point of view of the author is that developing a digital media
plan follows (or should follow) the same strategic planning process that
works for any marketing-driven consumer or business-to-business media
plan. Obviously, there are big differences between traditional and digital
media vehicles, audiences, costs, measurements, and more. However, just
as the devil is in the details of plan development for traditional media, the
devil is in the details of plan development for digital media..

Digital Media

1 in IMC This
book is about integrated marketing/media planning, requiring a
strategic focus and definition of tasks to be addressed by the plan. To
begin developing media plans on the assumption that the best way to achieve
the 4 objectives is with pre-selected media, e.g., banner ads or mobile
advertising
451
 or email, is not best practice and it is not consistent ‘. jilt the ph„
PhN.
1\1C.
Be‘∎are of livpe. Keep an open and flexible mind. Planners must he
the lookout for big ne‘∎ ideas! Even a team member \\h ose 2:
responsibility is for the digital aspects of a plan,.\.ho iotisi must tZues

process presented in thi,

on that assionment and leave the inter media decisions to others, still should
folio". meticulously the kind of strategic planning
chapter. 1 low you develop your plan \\ill limit ho\\ good it is.

STEP BY STEP MEDIA PLANNING PROCESS

An integrated, strategic media plan is built step by step. The steps are

1. Situation Analysis
Problem & Opportunity Statement
3. Marketing Communications Task Definition
4. Communications Model Selection
5. Media Objectir es Establishment
6. Me di a S tra te g y F orm ul a ti o n O W )
7. Tactical Planning
8. Test Marketing
9. Implementation Planning

Each of these steps will he explained here.

This ads ice, presented ssith information from previous chapters, should pros
ide adequate guidance for accomplishment of a professional media plan.

STEP 1. MARKETING SITUATION ANALYSIS

planning process, ■ou must immerse y.Iurselt
During this phase of the
in the company's marketing plan and other relevant business and consumer
research, including syndicated studies like SN1RB and \IRI. If a competent
marketing plan doesn't exist, piece together the rele\ ant information--
marketing objectives, sales and market share, consumers. creati‘e
strategy—from wherever you can find it. You can do this h‘ constructing a
list of key issues and questions, conducting research on s our o‘n \\ith

452
 d research sources, and having conversations with the client and
sv ridicate
tile rest of the marketing team.
media
f f Eective a plans are marketing driven, meaning that themedia
st be an extension of the marketing plan. A media plan disconnected
p the goals and intentions of the marketing plan through inadequate
fr°filderstVisofiw
ingoloftaretmarketsortarget geographic potential, or selecting media
theb
un
COOL something sounds, will fall short of expectations
o f o i n t i n g R 0 1 .
d
deliver a disapp
The purpose of advertising and integrated marketing communications,
remember, is to help move the advertiser's business forward. For example, your
plan might target an emerging market segment that could provide
incremental sales, it might help to protect the advertiser's business in high
brand development (BDI) markets, or it might simply remind impulse
buyers just prior to purchase to buy this advertiser's product.
Whatever their purpose, marketing plans, or your equivalent database,
wherever you find the data, should include at least the following basic
information. See Table 19-1 for additional considerations.
Marketing goals and objectives define what is to be achieved by the
marketing plan, e.g., what levels of sales, market share, distribution,
competitive penetration, awareness, sales leads, website visits—or other
measures. There has to be a goal. If there is no goal, there is no plan.

 Sales data for industry and relevant brands, ideally by geographic

market areas, will help you decide how to allocate your budgets
geographically.
 Consumer definitions and data beyond what may be found in syndicated
research sources like SMRB or MRI help to understand consumer groups
on a deeper level,
e.g., purchase
decision-making
processes. Advertisers often conduct their own proprietary research to
obtain these data.
 Competitive marketing strategies and activity are crucial to
understanding the brand's competitive situation. How much do
competitors spend? What media do they use? What is their creative?
How will their activity affect your brand and planning?
4
5
3
  Planned marketing activities such as new product introd
promotions must be understood in advance, so that they c
 Creative strategy and executions can sign
planned and integrated intelligently into theionvcearnatlilymaffeit.lbe
14
Plan.
e
planning decisions. Since the role of media is to deliver the' dia to the
target audience, media need to support creative intentnl,essage
example, :15 second TV commercials running with high fr ror may •

be used to increase brand name awareness if creative or

executions are designed to emphasize the brand nam e .
 The budget may be fixed by the advertiser or you may be asked your
recommendation. Either way, there is never enough money, far do
what you really want to, so your task as is to make each don work
like two or three.

Table 19-1 provides examples of how different marketing variables can

influence different stages of the media plan, e,g, task definition, objectiv
strategy or tactical plan. Many of the variables can impact a nu es,
tuberof
media planning stages.
Question: How could the budget impact the media plan's objectiva,

strategy and tactics?

454
 Table 19-1 Situation Analysis: Factors Affecting M
--F------
ac7.s
torsAffecting Media
Planning Potential Media Implications

Marketing Objectives & Task, Objectives, Strategy

Strategies
Geographic Business Analysis Objectives, Strategy, Tactics
Competitive Analysis Objectives, Strategy, Tactics,
Budget
Seasonal Purchase Behavior Objectives, Strategy, Tactics
Results of Past Marketing Efforts Strategy, Tactics
SWOT Analysis Task Definition, Objectives,
Strategy
One" Most Important Problem Task Definition, Objectives,
Strategy
"One" most Important Task Definition, Objectives,
Opportunity Strategy
Industry Trends Task, Objectives, Strategy
Brand PerformancefTrends Task, Objectives, Strategy
Awareness, Consideration Task, Objectives, Strategy
Levels
Image Task, Objectives, Strategy
New Product Introductions Task, Objectives, Strategy,
Tactics
Planned Promotion or Events Task, Objectives, Strategy,
Tactics
Pricing Changes Tactics
Current Marketing Mix Task, Objectives, Strategy,
__________________________ Tactics
Consumer Characteristics Objectives, Strategy, Tactics
Consumer Behavior Task, Objectives, Strategy,
_________________________ Tactics
r
Budgets Objectives, Strategy, Tactics

Question: Table 19-1 shows where the influence of media

planning factors is likely to be felt.
How might each of those factors affect media planning?

455
 STEP 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Based on the marketing plan and other information, you must identifi,
the most important problems or opportunities that can be aff ;
marketing communications. If the number one problem inhibiting sale% is top
of mind awareness, your media plan should be built to increase top ofmind
awareness. Other problems to include in your differential diagnosis come
from analysis of the Purchase Funnel, company sales records
consumer survey data, and competitive benchm arking. ,

Some examples of marketing problems might include:

 Low brand name awareness

 Inferior product vs. competition
 Low brand familiarity
 Low top of mind awareness
 Good awareness, low purchase consideration
Good purchase consideration, low purchase intention
 Good purchase intention, low actual purchase
 Low trial rates
 Too few sales leads
 Low repurchase or frequency of purchase
 Low quality image
 Doesn't support self-image
 Inadequate distribution
 Overwhelming competitive marketing activity
 Negative consumer product perceptions
 Perceptions lag reality
 Distribution/trade issues
 Consumer attitudes
 Competitive marketing,
spending, etc.
456
 Market trends (growth/decline)

i s of opportunities might include:

s.ainp e

c•ompetitors ' inventory shortages or distribution difficulties

 Competitive product recalls
 Demonstrably superior product
 Not rot new product

Nigh CD1filigh BDI markets showing Opportunity for growth

 Great new advertising campaign
 Favorable publicity (product awards, consumer enthusiasm)

NOW "brainstorm" some strategies which could conceivably address

these problems and opportunities. For example, if a grocery product is
suffering from low name awareness it is going to turnover slowly from
store shelves which will eventually cause it to lose its facings and sales.
Name some things you could do to raise awareness of the product's
name and logo.

STEP 3. TASK DEFINITION

Look at your Problem/Opportunity Statement. What is the number one
marketing task that your media plan should address? Are there second and
third place priorities? Your task statement should address those priorities,
should be quantitative, and should specify time frames for performance.

While we cannot address here the untold number of marketing tasks

suggested by thousands of situation analyses, here are five examples to
illustrate how different kinds of tasks address specific problems.

45
7
  Problem: Low Brand Aware snes

I e" from Task/Objedive:

•
Increase brand name aware._n
.. 0,
40% by 2014.
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 DiSCUSSiOlf: There are different kindhv qf awareness. Tot 1
Awar ess is an aided measure of whether githe cons ') Top °Qs N.
Ford? umer h
heard of a brand ("Have you ever heard i F
Awareness is deeper and more correlated hwwh er with
Familiarity is even deeper when the con,4,5umer feels the y hcirker, some
sharee 4 infSlisid
familiarity with the product.. OR think 0(7:.
what brand comes to your mind firving
a n e w m o b i l e p h o n e ,

Task #2

 problem: Too Few Leads

 Task Objective: Generate 50% more qualified sales leads ohm

target audience during first quarter.
 Discussion: Suppose your company is very successful in Closing
sales among interested prospects but is running low on good
leads. If the company is generating too few leads and that
deficiency is inhibiting sales, you have to increase your leads,
perhaps by identifying those who have expressed interest or
requested additional information in response to a story, magazine
ad, or website visit,
Task #3

 Problem: Low Market Development

 Task/Objective: Improve Top of Mind Awareness by 50%

Among upscale Hispanics within six months.

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