UNIT 4

ADVERTISING MEDIA STRATEGY

The word media comes from the Latin word “middle”. Media carry messages to or from a targeted
audience and can add meaning to these messages.

MEDIA TERMINOLOGY

Media Planning - Media Planning is the process of designing a strategic course of action that
shows how advertising space and time can be used to present the message in order to achieve the
advertisers’ goal.

Media Objectives - Media objectives are goals to be attained by the media strategy and program.

Media Strategy - Decisions on how the media objectives can be achieved.

Media - The Various category of delivery systems including broadcast and print media.

Broadcast Media - T.V., or Radio network or local radio station broadcast.

Print Media - Publications like Newspaper, Magazine, Direct Mail, etc.

Media Vehicle - The Specific Message Carrier, it can be a specific Television Show, or a Specific
News Paper.

Coverage - Refers to the potential audience that might receive the message through the media
vehicle.

Reach - Reach refers to the number of people that will be exposed to a media vehicle at least once
during a given period of time.

Frequency - Frequency refers to the average number of times an individual within target audience is
exposed to a media vehicle during a given period of time.

ADVERTISING MEDIA
An advertising media is a means or vehicle of delivering a definite message. It is
a means through which an advertising message or information is passed on to the

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prospective customers, readers, viewers, listeners etc. The advertisers need to ensure
advertising ideas to be presented through the right media in the right place at the
right time to the right target audience. Hence the selection of right media plays a
vital role in achieving the advertising

Definition
Various means such as billboards, magazines, newspapers, radio, television and
internet by which promotional messages are communicated to the public using words
speech, and pictures is called advertising media.

ROLE OF MEDIA
The role of media includes:
1. Enhances Awareness
An advertisement could alert the people about new products that come into the
market. It contains information about what the product is, what it does, pricing
promotions, benefits etc. It attracts people towards the product.

2. Influence Demographics
The target audience is defined in terms of demographics and consumers. It
includes gender, age, education, household income, marital status, employment status, type of
residence Tec. The media need to attract the targeted demographics.

3. Enhances Brand Image

The advertisers make use of media to enhance brand image. The media popularizes the brand by
constant replay and in print media, through repetitive publication. Thus, the target customers
remember the brand and buy the product.

4. Enhances Demand
The media is exposed to large number of people. It helps to persuade and convinces the public about
the goods offered. More people will be inclined to purchase the advertised products. There arises a
subsequent demand for more products and
services.

5. Maximize Product Usage

Target audiences can be defined by their consumption behaviour. Product usage include brand usage
and category usage. The product use commonly has four levels: Target audiences can be defined by

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their consumption behaviour includes heavy users, medium users, light users and non-users.

6. Avoid Brand switching

The customers with no brand preference for a given product category are called
Brand switchers. They choose a brand on the basis of situational factors. An analysis
of the brand usage pattern is helpful for the identification of the appropriate target
audience.

7. Convince Target Audience

A target audience that plays a major role in purchase decisions is called primary target audience. A
target audience that plays a less significant role is called secondary target audience.
For example: The children's request often initiates a purchase process of video games. The parents
often respect their children's brand selection. Thus, it is reasonable to consider children as the primary
target audience and their parents as the secondary target audience.

DETERMINANTS OF ADVERTISING MEDIA

The determinants of advertising media are as follows

1.Company Size
The size and nature of the company plays a vital role in making an advertising media choice. A large
company may make use of wide area reach such as national network. For example: The media used
for Pepsi advertising are television, newspaper
etc. A small company whose presence is in limited area may have low reach such as local newspapers,
regional news channel etc.

2.Product Type
The advertisers need to determine the choice of the advertising media based on type of product. For
example: The advertisers may develop a product-media match fabric product such as television,
colour periodicals etc.

3. Advertising Objectives
The advertising objectives play an important role in determining the type of media to be selected. For
example: The press is preferred to project corporate image while radio and television is relevant for

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product advertising.

4. Message and Appeal

The nature of advertising message and appeal play a vital role in determining the advertising media
for advertisers. The media needs to carry the message and appeal to the target audience effectively.
For example: The advertiser may make use
of television and newspapers for mass consumption items such as milk, soaps etc.

5. Competition
The advertisers need to select the advertising media by considering market requirements. The
advertising will be effective when advertisers meet these
requirements. The advertiser needs to identify the competitors advertising strategy. They need to
prepare effective advertising strategy compared to competitors. For example: The advertiser may
make use of outdoor media to induce the point of
purchase

6. Media Circulation
The number of copies sold in the market is called circulation. The advertiser should take the
circulation of the advertising media into account. The media
circulation must match the distribution pattern of the product. The advertisers need to select
advertising media with maximum circulation. For example: Most of the national newspapers have
more circulation.

7. Reach
The advertiser needs to select the media as per the reach. The advertiser needs to select the media
based on the reach. The advertisers need to know how to penetrate into the market, how to reach large
number of potential customers etc. For example, the advertisers make use of sports channel to target
the audience who watch cricket.

8. Budget
The advertiser needs to plan the advertising according to the available budget. For example, an
advertiser with large advertising budget may select TV as media of advertising. The advertisers with
small budget may prefer newspaper as an advertising media.

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TYPES OF ADVERTISING MEDIA

Advertising media is an important domain in business and advertising. With the passage of time, there
have been several ways in which ads are being showcased and can be communicated to customers.
There are different types of advertising media present. Depending upon various parameters like
budget, reach, customer preferences etc companies can choose the required advertising media and
help boost their brand. Some of the most important types of advertising media are:

1. Broadcast media- TV and radio are two of the most important advertising media known as
broadcast media. 

Television- Televisions have become a very important tool to advertise for companies. Companies
can target serials, reality shows, sports events, live events etc which are showcased on TV's and
understand the demographics of the people watching the TV. TV channels are anyways classified as
news, sports, knowledge, entertainment, movies, kids etc. This helps advertisers to pick and choose
the channel. Thus, TV is one of the most widely used advertising media in the world. Advertising
slots are sold by broadcasting companies and channels based in popularity of TV shows, TRPs etc.

Radio- As a tool for marketing and advertising, radio is the most cost-effective tool which a customer
can have. Since radios have are high penetration and are easy for customers to buy, they are a good
tool for advertising. Radios enable companies to reach out to a wide range of customers. Since radio
cater to the needs of a particular city or region, it is a good way to advertise based on customers
selected from geographic segmentation. Thus, radio is one of the most effective tools as advertising
media.

2. Print Media: Advertising media like newspapers, magazines, leaflets, brochures, billboards,

signages, direct mail and other print publications come under print media. With the massive reach of
print media, it became a popular tool for advertising. Print media caters to a regional audience and is
published in different languages. Hence, print media can cater to a niche audience as compared to
broadcast advertising media tools like TV or radio.

3. Online Media: With the consistent growth in internet penetration, companies have started using
online media for promotion through advertising. People are connected to the internet through social
media, website browsing etc. This gives an opportunity to companies to use this advertising media
and cater to customers using online advertising. Online ads, blogs, content advertising, affiliate
marketing etc are all done using online as an advertising media.

4. Outdoor Media: Another popular form of advertising is using outdoor hoardings, billboards, OOH
(out of home) media etc. Outdoor advertising it basically useful in capturing those customers who are
travelling from one place to another. This gives an opportunity to companies to use outdoor

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advertising media to create brand awareness by putting large bill boards and hoardings above
buildings, near streets etc to give maximum visibility. 

5. Mobile: With the increasing penetration and usage of mobile phones, mobile advertising has
become a critical aspect for every business. Mobile as an advertising media helps to reach out to
customer by promoting messages through SMS, social media chat groups etc. Online and mobile
media are also overlapping at times as websites can be accessible both through desktop, laptop and
smartphones.

6. Specialty Media: These consist of items that are given away to the consumer on which the name of
the company or brand is printed so that more people get to know about it. For example- carry bags,
membership cards, free merchandise like caps or bags, etc. These type of advertising media are more
niche and have a narrow reach as compared to the above-mentioned media.

7. Other forms: Apart from the ones discussed above, advertising can be done through transit signs
i.e. the small posters that we see on trains or buses, electronic billboards, etc. Some ads can be
advertised before the movies in cinema halls as well, where it can reach out to a large group of similar
audience in terms of demography or geography.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING MEDIA

1. Display or Indoor Publicity

2. Outdoor or Mural Advertising

3. Press Advertising

4. Radio Advertising

5. Television Advertising

6. Internet Advertising

7. Point of Purchase Advertising

1. Display or Indoor Publicity

The advertiser displays the goods to the people. It attracts the people to enter the shop to buy
goods. It is a device by which customers and people are attracted to the shop.

Advantages:

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 a) It is more realistic in salesmanship
b) It is an important dealer aid.
c) It helps the dealers to conduct an effective publicity.
d) It is simple to make.
e) It is durable.
f) It is cost effective.
g) It attracts the attention of the prospects and makes the people walk into the shops.

Different Forms of Displays

(i) Window Display

The advertiser displays goods in the window of the shop. Window of a shop means a part of the front
portion of the shop which can be seen from outside. It is used by retailers or small businessman.

(ii) Exhibitions
The idea behind exhibitions is to induce various traders, manufacturers etc. to visit and get
information about the products displayed. They are meant for introducing new products or latest
innovations in the fields of business. They are
organised by Trade Associations of Chamber of Commerce. In exhibition there is only presentation of
the products and no sale takes place. It has mass approach as many people visit them.

(iii) Interior Decoration

It refers to the various designs and equipment's used by a retailer inside the shop. It creates a pleasant
atmosphere for the prospects and increases their comforts. 

(iv) Counter Display

It refers to arranging the products located within the shop. It helps the customer to know all the items
available in the shop. The counter display must bring out as many varieties as are related to the
particular type displayed at the window. Thirdly the salesman must see that goods are not placed one
upon the other.

(v) Showcases 
In this type the items are presented in a cupboard with glass front. In showcases, items of similar
nature and even size should be grouped together. The showcases should contain all the items available
in the shops.

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(vi) Showrooms
It is used by many producers or dealers to expose goods for sale, to demonstrate the uses and the
working of the articles. It is meant for presentation of technical products, sophisticated goods etc. The
showrooms have persons to assist the customers during their visit to the showrooms.

2. Outdoor or Mural Advertising

Outdoor advertising, also known as out-of-home advertising, is advertising that reaches

consumers when they are outside their homes. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America
says that’s where consumers spend 70 percent of their time.

Main Characteristics of Outdoor advertising

a) It has a comparatively longer life.

b) It has a high coverage.
c) It is a very powerful eye-catching media
d) It is a flexible advertising media.
e) The slogans can be easily remembered by the prospects.

Advantages of Outdoor Advertising Media

1. It has a wide coverage.
2. It is capable of gaining more attention of the pubic
3. It is useful for local dealers
4. It is more flexible.
5. It can be easily remembered.
6. It is quite economical.
7. It has comparatively long life

Disadvantages of Outdoor Advertising Media:

1. The message written under this type of advertising is very brief.
2. The exact effect created on prospects is difficult to measure
3. Most of the time the audience is in motion.

Types of Outdoor Advertising

(i)Posters
These are exhibited on a hoarding or on walls, roofs etc. It consists of pictures. The posters should
be simple, attractive and capable of telling its story at a glance. The advertiser can make use of
suitable and attractive colours.

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 (ii) Advertising Board
The advertising board are kept at certain fixed places where people frequently assemble. It
includes bus stops, railway stations, crossings etc. These are like frame and fixed with a panel
having specified height at main junctions and consist of lighting facility.

(iii) Vehicle/transit Advertising:

The moving advertisement is referred as vehicle advertising. It consists of placing posters or play
cards inside or outside vehicles. It includes autos, buses, taxies, delivery-vans, railway carriages
etc.

(iv)Electric Displays and Signs

Signs illuminated by electricity are referred as electric display. It may consist of wooden
letters studded with bulbs. Sometimes with a view to attract the attention, coloured bulbs are used and
the colours are changed at short intervals

(v) Neon Signs

They are brilliantly coloured tubes available in various shades. These can be the still or the flashing
type. These signs are more attractive and interesting than the signs built up by a number of electric
bulbs.

(vi) Sky Advertising

In this form of advertising media an aeroplane writes the name of the product or the producer in the
sky. It is also known as smoke writing because the message is written in the sky by means of smoke.
Large sized printed balloons are also dropped
from the aeroplane in the sky.

3. Press Advertising
Press is an advertising media comprising all vehicles owned by others. It can carry the advertising
message in print to be read by target customers. Press advertising takes the following two major
forms.

(i) Newspapers
In India, there are a number of newspapers in English and regional languages. Newspapers are bought
largely for their news values. Newspapers may be national, local, daily or weekly. These are a good
vehicle to pass on information about new products, current products and price-off deals. The
newspapers charge on the basis of column centimetre space used by the advertiser. They also charge
premium for special positions and provide concession for space booking on contract . These rates vary

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from newspaper to newspaper as per their circular and coverage.

Wide coverage: Newspapers serve local, regional and national markets. They reach people of all age
groups and all income levels, both in cities and rural areas.

Quick response: Newspapers are the carriers of current news. People read them to find out the
various developments that take place daily. Newspaper advertisements have a sense of urgency. The
public response to the advertisements is immediate as it reaches them while they are fresh and are in a
receptive mood.

It is regular and frequent: For those manufacturers who are more particular about the frequency and
regularity of their message, there is nothing like newspaper advertising. Newspaper advertising keeps
the product or the service constantly before the readers. It reminds them of the product or the service.

Flexibility: Advertisements can be inserted or changed practically overnight. Retail advertisers often
make last minute changes in their newspaper advertisements to take full advantage of newly arrived
products, last minute concessions to boost the sales Hence, flexibility is a unique aspect in newspaper
adverting.

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It is economical: Newspaper advertising, in view of the extent of coverage in terms of circulation has
one of the lowest costs per reader.

High frequency enables speedy preparation if advertisement.

It is the cheapest media of advertising as far as its cost per reader is concerned.

The effectiveness of advertising copy could be tested quite easily

The reputation of the newspapers is available to the advertisers  and their products

It provides geographic selectivity.

Newspapers have shortest life span: Newspapers have the shortest life. It has been estimated that the
effective life of newspaper for an individual is about 15 to 20 minutes. None bothers to refer back the
newspaper which becomes stale. Hence, to make the impression of advertisement lasting, the
advertiser has to repeat his advertisements, involving additional costs.

 It lacks quality reproduction: The paper in which newspapers are printed are of low quality,
compared to magazines. Hence, the advertisements may not be very appealing, which is an essential
factor for any advertisement.

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Limited readership: As illiterate people cannot read the newspapers, the reach of the advertisement
is confined only to the educated persons. Hence, this factor could pose a problem in rural India.

Element of uncertainty: As many readers ‘rush’ through their newspapers hurriedly, they may fail to
see the advertisements totally. So, the number of people who may miss out the advertisement is more
in newspapers.

ii. Magazine and journal advertising

Magazines can be grouped as weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc. they include general interest
magazines, trade publications & special interest magazines. Business India, India Today, sports star,
femina, star dust etc. are some popular magazines. They offer selective circulation throughout the
country at a cost within reasonable budget limits. These are published periodically at regular intervals.
They are read with leisure and with care,

Advantages of advertisement in magazine:

1. Easily availability: It can be easily available. This provides an opportunity to the advertisers to
reach the narrowly defined readers segments.
2. Long life: Advertisements placed in the magazines have a long life & is often passed along to
several readers.
3. More attractive & better positioning: Advertisement for products or services positioned on life
style variable can be placed well in the magazines as compared to newspapers.
4. Prestigious media: Magazine advertising lends prestige to the product, especially when the
magazine has high credibility & visibility.
5. Better reproduction of advertisement than newspapers is provided.
6. Waste of circulation is avoided.
7. Magazines reach specialised groups conveniently and effectively.
8. The number of readers per copy is quite high.

 Disadvantage of advertisement in magazines:

1. Not so flexible: Most magazines have relatively long advertising deadlines, reducing the flexibility
& the ability of advertisers to react to fast changing market conditions.
2. Less impact in repetition: Repetitive advertisements in the magazines do not have the same
impact as that in the newspapers.

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3. Small coverage: It rarely reaches the majority of a market segment. Therefore, for an effective
exposure, either several magazines must be used or some alternative media must supplement the
magazine schedule.
4. The circulation is limited as compared to newspaper.
5. It consumes more time in printing etc.,
6. The size of magazines differs widely.
7. The advertiser has to prepare the copy of advertisement according to the size of the magazine and
journal.
4. Television Advertising

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7. The creative potential for the fusion of sight, sound and motion through pictures, symbols,
movement, colour, text, music, effects and dialogue ensures advertising has a high impact on viewers.

8. It gives access to vast audiences, and can raise awareness very quickly

9. It gives opportunities to match advertising messages to likely audiences for programmes.

10. It offers selectivity through regional coverage, broadcast time and programme con catering to the
selected target audience as per requirement.

11. It appeals to the sense.

12. It is very convenient and effective to demonstrate the product in the television.

13. High attention is possible due to the combination of sound and visuals.

14. It is a very powerful media in building up the image of the product.

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The limitations of Television as media are as follows:
i. It is an expensive media of advertising compared to the Press media. The cost “a time is very high
and along with that the cost of producing good quality advertisement for this m

ii. Advertisers might need to deliver the message to a selected group of audience, which is very
narrow Television causes overexposure of the advertisement thus losing the cost effectiveness.

iii. The advertisement on TV is short lived as the commercials last for 30 seconds or less, which might
be very less to create an impact. The advertisers are becoming shorter day by day because of the
increasing cost and demand of the media time.

iv. Like the other media there is a huge clutter of advertisement on television also because of which it
is facing trouble being noticed.

v. This is a media, which attracts people or its creative commercials. But on the other hand it has a
limitation also that attention paid by viewers is limited because of increase number о commercials,
channel zapping i.e. changing channels to avoid commercials, zipping i.e. forwarding through
commercials if watching a prerecorded movie.

vi. It takes longer time compared to the print media to produce the commercials and sponsored
programmes.

vii. The commercial is there on the screen for few seconds and is then gone. So it is essential, that
jingles are catchy and sales message is repeated again in again leading to higher customer brand recall
and also higher expenditure.

viii. Generally it is difficult to carry the television set along with you.

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ix. Television commercials have to abide by the broadcast code strictly.

5. Radio Advertising

Advantages of radio advertising

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5. Selectivity: Radio offers a high degree of selectivity through geographic coverage by a large
number of stations and various programme formats. Advertisers can focus their ad messages on
specific audiences who speak different languages in different areas, which otherwise may not be
accessible by means of other media.
6. Cost efficiency: Cost advantages are quite significant with radio as an advertising medium. Radio
time costs far less than TV and the commercials are quite inexpensive to produce. They require only a
script of the commercial to be read by the announcer, or a pre-recorded message that the station can
broadcast. Advertisers can use different stations to broaden the reach and frequency within a limited
media budget.
7. Flexibility: Among all the media, probably radio is the most flexible as it has a short closing
period. Radio commercials can usually be produced in a relatively short time and if required, the ad
message can be changed almost just before broadcast time. Same ad message can be adjusted in
different languages to suit market conditions.
8. Mental Imagery: Radio advertising uses sound, and a major advantage of this situation is that it
encourages audiences to use their imagination in creating images while processing the ad messages.

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3. Lack of a Visual Element: The most fundamental problem associated with radio is lack of a
visual element. The radio advertiser cannot show or demonstrate the product, or make use of any
other visual appeal. As discussed earlier, in creating brand awareness, package identification often
is critical for many advertisers considering the increasing number of large retail stores in cities with

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 self-service. In rural markets, where the literacy rates are quite low, package identification plays a
major role in brand selection.
4. Audience Fragmentation: Large number of radio stations create audience fragmentation. The
number of audiences tuned to any particular station is usually quite small. Advertisers who want to
reach broad market areas through radio, with language differences, have to buy time on a number
of stations reaching specific geographic areas.
5. Limited Research Data: The research data on radio is limited compared to other major
advertising mediums like television, newspapers, and magazines.
6. Limited Listener Attention: It is difficult to attract and retain radio listeners attention to
commercials. Programme switching is frequent among listeners and they often miss all or some of the
commercials. Possibilities of distortion in radio broadcast are high and this irritates the listeners – the
result commercials are missed.

6.INTERNET ADVERTISING
Advertising is the branch of marketing that deals with communicating to customers about products,
brands, services and companies. The internet advertising has bought a revolution, as a global
communication medium, provides advertisers with unique and often cost-effective ways of reaching
the audience. As with all media, however, advertising on the internet has unique advantages and
disadvantages.

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It allows consumers to directly interact with an advertiser.
It enhances customer relationship
It provides information and commercial opportunities that are accessible around the globe.
It provides immediate consumer response.
It enables to reach the affluent market of the society.
It provides vital information about company products.

It lacks mass-media efficiency

The advertisings that pop up in between irritate the users.
There is too much of Spam via the email.
Most people do not believe the internet as a safe place of online purchase.
Testing the effectiveness of internet advertising is difficult.

Types of Internet Advertising

a) Websites: It consists of a home page and an indefinite number of subsequent pages that users can
visit for further information. It is locations where various stakeholders come to find out more about
the company, its products and services such as customers, prospects, shareholders, investor's etc. The
companies use their website to promote their goods and services.

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b) Banners: A banner is a little billboard that spreads across the top or bottom of the Web page. It is
the basic form of web advertising. At present one comes across larger banner ads that can dominate
the screen or even provide television commercials. When users click their mouse pointer on the
banner, it sends them to the advertiser's site or buffer page.

c) Interstitials: This is a dynamic form of Net advertising. It is a catch all term for a variety of
animated ads that pop up on the screen while the computer downloads a website that the user has
clicked on. There are now many types of interstitials including pop-up windows, splash screens etc.

d) E-Mail: It is similar to direct mail advertising. It is the most effective form of internet advertising.
The unsolicited mass e-mail advertising for product or services that is sent by an unknown entity to e-
mail addresses is called Spam.

7. Point of Purchase Advertising

The advertising which is undertaken at the premises of the manufacturer or the dealer for attracting
the customers is called Purchase point advertising. It is the exact point where the prospects are
reminded finally about a product. It is a direct method undertaken by the manufacturer or through the
dealer. Under this method, good are displayed at the counters and windows

Advantages:
a) It helps to attract the customer during purchase
b) It influences the buyer decision making process.
c) It results in enhance sales.
d) It helps in motivating the customers to do more purchase

Disadvantages:
a) Need to change the offer regularly
b) Often rearrange the display is required to keep it interesting.

MEDIA PLANNING
Media planning is a process which includes setting media objectives in light of marketing and
advertising objectives, developing a media strategy for implementing media objectives, designing
media tactics for realizing media strategy and proposing
procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of the media plan. It includes devising a programme
optimally in exposing an advertiser's message to potential consumers. It includes the usage of the
advertising space, the broadcast time, other advertising media etc.

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Definition
The process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be used for advertising is called media
planning

Objective of a Media Planning

The media must be capable of accomplishing the following vital objectives:
1. It must reach to large population.
2. It must attract attention of people
3. It must be economical.
4. It helps to determine the type of media
5. It tells when and where to use media to reach the desired audience.
6. It helps in selecting media time and space.
7. It helps to accomplish marketing objectives.
8. It supports to create and manage brand contact.
9. Media planning helps to find the best medium or combination of media.
10. The best utility of the advertising budget is obtained.

THE PROCESS OF MEDIA PLANNING/STEPS IN MEDIA PLANNING

 Market analysis
 Establishing the media objective
 Setting the strategy
 Implementation
 Evaluation and follow-up

Market Analysis
Performing a market analysis involves determining who your audience is. The audience is the number
and type of people your advertising targets. The audience can be classified according to age, sex,
income, occupation, etc. Performing this analysis will help you to project costs and determine the
right media for your campaign.

Establishing the Media Objective

The media objective is the goal of the media plan. To establish this objective, you must determine
your goal for reach, frequency, circulation, cost, and penetration.

 Reach is the amount of people the message is in front of over a period of time. 
 Frequency is the average number of times the message is in front of those people. 

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  Circulation is used for printed advertisements. This is the number of prints that are produced
and sent out. 
 Cost is broken down into two different sections: cost per thousand (CPM) and cost per
person (CPP). It is important to understand the cost as you are budgeting. The cost will tell
you which form of media is the best option for your business.
  Penetration is the number of audience members reached by the advertising. The company
must determine if it wants to take over a market or just reach a certain group prior to setting
the penetration goals and strategies.

Setting the Strategy

Now that you understand who you are marketing to and how much it will cost you, you will need to
make a decision about what type of media you will use. Some options include Internet, television,
radio, newspaper, consumer and business publications, and interactive media platforms. Which option
reaches the largest audience? How often will it reach the audience? Does it fit in your budget?

Implementation
Now you have a plan. Now it's time to set it in motion. This is when you buy media.  Media buying is
the purchasing of the space in the selected media. This involves committing to the media provider,
submitting the ad, and paying the bill. This is the exciting part. You see all your hard work come
together.

Evaluation and Follow-up

After everything is said and done, it is time to see how successful your media plan was. To do so, you
need to follow up and evaluate the results. Ask yourself, ‘Did we meet media objectives? How
successful were the strategies? The success of this media plan will determine future media plan.

MEDIA RESEARCH
Media research is the study of the social, psychological and physical aspects and effects of the
different mass media. It attempts to find out the most suitable media or media-mix that would suit the
needs of the advertiser. It deals with regard to
magazines, radio, television or other mass media. It is concerned with:
a) Advertising reach.
b) Advertising frequency
c) Effectiveness of different media.
d) Combination of media in reaching target audience
e) Study about the development of media.
f) Media achievements.
g) Effectiveness of media.

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h) Methods used in collecting and analysing information.
i) Collection of data about various advertising media 
j) Surveying consumers

Definition
Survey conducted to investigate what segment of consumers is exposed to various media is called
media research.

Significance of Media Research

a) It should focus on facts.
b) It needs to contribute to the widening of knowledge.
c) It provides solution for problems.
d) It helps the advertisers to think rigorously and critically.
e) It helps in acquiring skills and techniques to study problems.
f) It is a systematic process of study.
g) It must be carefully planned and timely executed.
h) It helps to learn how to find answers through research.
i) It contributes innovative ideas for professional competence and growth.
j) It contributes to new facts and generalisation
k) It helps advertisers to develop and interpret facts and concepts.
l) It helps to understand the profile of the readers, listeners and viewers.
m) It helps to select the most suitable media mix.

ADVERTISING DECISIONS
Whenever an advertising program is prepared, the marketing management should consider the four
advertising decisions.
1. Setting Advertising Objectives
2. Setting Advertising Budgets
3. Developing Advertising Strategy
4. Evaluating Advertising Campaigns
On the basis of these advertising decisions, a company may easily develop a successful Advertising
Program for their business.
1. Setting Advertising Objectives:
The first important advertising decision in developing an advertising program is setting the
advertising objectives. The decisions of the past about the target market, Marketing Mix and
positioning serve as a basis for the determination of the main job of advertisement in the total of
advertising program. An advertising objective is defined as a particular task of communication that

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should be completed with a particular target audience and in a particular duration of time frame.
Following are the four forms of advertising objectives.
 Informative Advertising: Under this objective, customers are informed about the new
product or its new features or the primary demand is built through it.
 Persuasive Advertising: In persuasive advertising selective demand for a brand is built by
persuading the buyers about the offering that is best for their investing money.
 Comparison Advertising: In this objective of advertising a brand of a company is compared
with the brand of some other company either directly or indirectly.
 Reminder Advertising: For the advertising of mature products this kind of advertising is
adopted in which customers are educated to consider the product continuously.
2. Setting Advertising Budgets:
When the advertising objectives are determined, then the next step of the advertising decisions is to
determine the advertising budget for each market and product category. There are four methods for
setting an advertising budget which are as follow.
1. Affordable Method
2. Percent of Sales method
3. Competitive parity Method
4. Objective & Task Method
Whichever method is adopted for the budgeting of the advertisement, the main focus is to consider the
appropriate amount of the advertising. On setting of advertising budgets, certain points should be
considered which are as follow.
 Stage of the Product Life Cycle
 Market Share
 Competition & Clutter
 Product Differentiation
3. Developing an Advertising Strategy:
The advertising strategy includes the following two areas of the advertising decisions.
01- Message Decisions 02- Media Decisions
 Message Decisions:
The success of advertising is not based on the portion of budget utilized, but it relies on the content of
the messages that can attract attention of the customers and show clear picture. The effective
advertising messages are required, which otherwise can cause serious problems to the advertiser.
 Media Decisions:
The media decision of advertising strategy consists of the selection of proper media that can
effectively deliver the developed message. For this purpose, media planning is done by the media

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department in the organization to eliminate the friction between effective advertising message and
appropriate media. The selection of media is carried out through the following steps.
 The decision of the frequency, reach & impact.
 Selection of one of media among prominent media categories.
 Selection of Particular vehicles of media.
 Decision about the timing of the media selected.
4. Evaluating Advertising Campaigns:
The fourth & the last step is the evaluation of the advertising campaigns. The advertising program not
only evaluates the effects of Communication of Advertising, but also the effects of sales. All this
evaluation is carried out on a regular basis. For the purpose of evaluation of communication effects, a
technique called copy testing is used which can tell about any particular ad that either it is
communicated well or not. Copy testing technique can be adopted before or after the printing or
broadcasting of any ad before placement of an ad, the advertiser can present it to the customers and
ask various questions about the ad like how they feel about it? In this the advertiser can evaluate the
attitudes of different customers and try to find the exact results of the ad when the ad runs through a
medium, the advertiser can evaluate the effects of that ad on customers by analyzing the knowledge,
awareness and preferences of the customers about the product.
MEDIA SCHEDULING
Media scheduling is one of the important decisions in advertising programme. Company should
carefully decide on media timing for a maximum market response.
Media scheduling is simply a time-table showing:
(1) The time decision – when to advertise,
(2) The duration/space decision – how much to advertise each time, and
(3) The frequency to advertise the message through different media – how many times in a year (or
specified time period) the message should be advertised in each of the media.

Definition
The media schedule refers to the plan that classifies the media channels used in an advertising
campaign and specifies inclusion or broadcast dates, positions and duration of the messages.

Significance of Advertising Scheduling

1. Selecting a proper media type of running ads.
2. Selecting a correct time for running ads so that the purpose is solved.
3. Advertisements should be sufficient enough to deliver the message to the target.
4. It helps to keep low costs.
5. It helps to operate according to a budget.

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Factors influencing scheduling pattern
Factors influencing the scheduling pattern for a brand are as below
1. Target Group Viewership
The advertiser needs to schedule an advertising strategy based on the target groups. The
advertiser needs to have good understanding of the target groups for the media. The
advertiser needs to understand the target groups attitudes, perception etc. For example: The
advertisers push more advertising in cricket channels to attract the target group who are
interested in cricket.

2. Marketing Objective
The advertiser needs to schedule an advertisement for a brand. It is most influenced by the
marketing objective. For example: The advertiser wants to launch an innovative product. The
advertisement scheduling will be tuned towards increasing reach. The objective of the
advertiser is to enhance the awareness. It results enhance sales.

3. Product Availability
The advertisers need to advertise the product at the time when it has the highest chance of
being sold. The advertiser needs to ensure the product availability in store while advertising.
It is vital for the advertiser to work on the advertisement
scheduling in accord with the distribution plan.

4. Sales Trend
The advertisers need to understand the sales trend of their products. The advertising should
match the sales trend. During the peak season the advertising need to be more than compared
to off season. For example: During summer season the advertisers who manufacture ice
cream will spend more on advertising.

5. Competition
The advertiser needs to understand the sales trend, media activity and past scheduling patterns of the
competitor. The advertisers need to make appropriate advertising strategies to be effective in the
market.

6. Budget
The advertiser needs to understand the advertising budget to be allocated. The advertiser needs to plan
the strategy according to their budget. Appropriate allocation leads to more gains to the business.

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ADVERTISING SCHEDULING STRATEGIES

a) Continuity
This model is very good option for the products or services. It does not depend on season for
advertisements. The advertiser advertises the product throughout the year. The advertisements under
this type run at regular and fixed intervals.

b) Flighting
It is also called bursting. It is an absolute season-based products model. The advertisers run the
advertising at very irregular intervals. The advertisements are for very shorter periods. The
advertisings are in concentrated forms. It results in wastage of funds. It is the best option to the
advertisers who cannot afford the yearlong advertising.

c) Pulsing
It is a mix of continuity and flighting. The advertisers run advertisings throughout the year they
increase the media activity during some periods. Generally scheduling is fixed for a month.

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