Chapter 6

Media Decisions

Chapter 6– Media Decisions 1

Learning Objective

To understand the characteristics of various media

vehicles

To understand the penetration of various media

vehicles

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 2

Introduction
• Media decisions depends upon some parameters,
those parameters strike a balance between two
important aspects
• The amount of money spent on the media
• Exposure gained

• Media objectives and decisions need to be in

harmony with the organisation’s marketing plans

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 3

Reach and Frequency
• Reach is the number of different people who are
exposed to an advertising message at least once

• On internet world, while reach is almost world

over, it is important to understand the people visit
your page

• Frequency is the number of times the audience is

exposed to the message / advertisement

• Frequency is important because it takes a while to

build up awareness and break through the
consumer’s selection process
Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 4
Gross Rating Points
• A unit of audience measurement, commonly used
in the audio visual media based on reach or
coverage of an advertisement

• GRP are used to estimate broadcast reach and

frequency from tabulations and formulas.

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 5

Spread
• Sophisticated media planners look at spread of
frequencies

• Good media buyer manages the resulting spread

of frequencies to weigh it close to the average

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 6

Media Evaluation
• Cost per thousand – Cost to reach out thousand
of the prospective customers

• Cost per unit – Cost to buy one rating point of the

target audience

• Cost per rating point (CPRP) – Cost of reaching

one percent of the target population

• Impact – Effectiveness of the medium in terms of

generating opportunities

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 7

Media Evaluation
• Selectivity – Degree the message be restricted to
those people who are known to be the most logical
prospects

• Gross Impressions – Total number of potential

exposures. Gross impressions are a summation of
exposures of the target audience to media
vehicles in a media plan

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 8

Media Evaluation
• Circulation and Readership – Circulation is the
number of copies it distributes on an average day.

• Readership figures are usually higher than

circulation figures because of the assumption that
a typical copy of newspaper is read by more than
one person

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 9

Media Evaluation
• Brand Development Index – Market’s brand
sales percentage is divided by the total population
percentage of that market multiplied by 100

• Category Development Index – It measures the

sales potential of a product category.

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 10

Cost Efficiency
• A crucial aspects which dominates the decisions of
media buyers

• Any advertiser needs to reach the target audience

in the most effective way and at efficient cost
levels

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 11

Quantitative and Qualitative Parameters
• Media planning consists of extensive quantitative
and qualitative analysis. Media analyst use
sophisticated statistics software. The overall
process can include following steps-
• Targeting
• Analysing
• Optimising
• Forecasting
• Delivery

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 12

Basic Media objectives
• Connection – The right media with the intended
target audience

• Geography – Areas for coverage

• Timing – Assess best time to place the message

• Duration – duration of the advertisement

• Other matters- size, length and position of the ad

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 13

Digital Media Planning
• It is important to understand the strengths of each
format, how audiences respond to them and how
they can work together

• Scalability and synergy to be considered while

planning

• There is a need to think beyond the efficiency

levels while planning non-TV related media

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 14

Digital Media Planning
• There is limit to the potential one can reach of
digital campaign

• Digital media should be planned as though

everybody has already seen the TV

• Scalability and synergy need to be taken into

account when planning

• To drive reach and frequency it can be more

efficient to use digital rather than more TV

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 15

Social Media
• Review the fan page effectiveness

• Need to ensure that the postings are done are

regular intervals

• Need to stay on top of the latest face-book page

trends and check out other fan pages are doing to
differentiate themselves

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 16

Search Engine Optimisation
• Making small modification to parts of the website

• Optimisations decision should be based on the

content and type of visitors

• Media managers tweaking the performance with

the help of search engine optimization coupled
with retargeting

• Ideally optimization decisions should be based

upon the content and type of visitors any site is
looking for

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 17

Search Engine Optimisation
• Search Engine Optimization process is often
viewed as a struggle to rank well for just a few
keywords

• SEO may not always satisfy the needs of those

entering the query

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 18

Paid, Owned and Earned Media (POEM)
• Paid media is when an organisation pays to
leverage a third part channel

• Owned media – When organisation leverages a

channel it creates and controls

• Earned Media – When customers, the press and

the public share the content and speak about the
brand

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 19

Paid, Owned and Earned Media (POEM)
• POEM is a great way to dissect a brand and its
marketing initiatives in the planning process

• Focusing only on the digital is incomplete

• A brick and mortar store is owned media

• The trucks used to distribute the goods are owned

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 20

Summary
• An advertiser can choose a single medium or a mix
of a media to take its message to the target audience

• A combination of several media is important to make

a good impact

• Creative execution become varied when multiple

media is used. The same helps for balanced delivery.

• Each media has a particular readership or viewership

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 21

Summary
• Each medium has different alternation value.
However, attention given to the medium also
depends upon the message and its execution

• The environment should be compatible with the

products and its benefits

• The competitors also aggressively target the

attention of the same group of audience. Balancing
the media mix and effectively taken decision is the
key

Chapter 6 – Media Decisions 22