Topic 5—Media I: Scheduling (Who, How Often and When)
Overview Media planning and strategy is a large topic on its own; here we strive to give an overview of the complexities and a road map for best-practice media planning. Understanding the dynamics of the media market place is essential as a marketer as media is the gateway to reaching consumers with our brand communications. Despite all of the changes we have witnessed in the media market, the strategy a brand should employ for growth remains unchanged. We will cover this strategy and the foundation of consumer behaviour principles and knowledge of advertising response that informs it. This week covers three of the five dimensions of media knowledge: 1) who to target, 2) how often we need to reach them and 3) when we need to reach them with our advertising message to have the greatest impact.
Learning Objectives From this topic you should be able to: • Identify the most effective media placement strategy for brand growth • Identify whom to target with media for brand growth • Explain the trade-offs between reach and frequency in a media campaign • Apply current thinking about consumer behaviour and advertising response to inform best practice media planning strategies
Readings 1. Romaniuk, J (2015). ‘Achieving Reach’, in J Romaniuk and B Sharp, How Brands Grow Part 2, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, pp. 109-116. 2. Sharp, B, Bellman, S, and Beal, V (2017). ‘Media Decisions: Reaching Buyers with Advertising’ in B Sharp, Marketing: Theory, Evidence, Practice. Melbourne, Oxford University Press, pp496-514 and 544-550.
Supplementary Readings 3. Sharp, B, Newstead, K, Beal, V, Tanusondjaja, A and Kennedy, R (2014). Key Media Principles. Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia.
Questions:
1. Which types of buyers would you prioritise reaching with your media spend (i.e. so they see the campaign)? Why?
2. Consider Reach and Frequency:
a. Explain the terms ‘reach’ and ‘frequency’. Do you think there is a relationship between them? Imagine you advertise in all 12 issues of Marie Claire for 12-months. Think about the buyer/reader base of Marie Claire…
b. Why should marketers prioritise reach over frequency in their media buying strategy?
3. Describe the principle of ‘reach and continuity’. Is this principle applicable to small brands with small budgets?
4. Imagine you have joined the marketing team for Holden. Currently the majority of the media budget is spent in a few campaign bursts (throughout the year), particularly one before the End of Financial Year. Would you recommend any changes to the marketing manager? What would they be? Justify your recommendation?
