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1. Media Considerations
From Marketing Plan to Execution
By Jeff Louis

2. Media Plan by Definition
Media Plan:
• …a plan “designed to target the proper
demographics for an advertising
campaign through the use of specific
media outlets.”
• …the “distribution of a business's
advertising budget to different
advertising mediums.”
Source: Co-Communications

3. Media Plan & Importance
• Media plans address the use of
space and time
• In most cases, the majority of a
company’s marketing dollars are
spent on media
• Research dollars
• Cost for air‐time
• Space costs (magazine, out‐of‐home)
• Impression Costs

4. Media Plan & Importance
• TV commercials can cost $50K+
• “One‐time” cost, unlimited use*
• TV airtime is “rented”
• Each time a commercial runs = $
• Costs vary, but can sell for $1MM
• Usually sold in increments
• 15 Seconds
• 30 Seconds
• 60 Seconds
*depending on talent costs

5. Important!

6. Important Note!
• There is no single correct answer;
some answers are just better than others…
• This presentation walks through the
initial steps for initiating a media plan
• This is not a blueprint , but an
overview of areas deemed important
by the author for creating an effective
media plan

7. Step‐by‐Step

8. A Media Plan is Born
• Media plans are a combination of
strategic and “common‐sense”
recommendations that determine the
best method to reach a target
audience
• The result of a media plan is an
executable action
• Often, media plans are marketing
objectives in media terms; in many
cases, translating a marketing plan
into a media plan is the battle…

9. Step One: Define Objectives
• State your objectives
• What are we trying to communicate?
What action do we want as a result?
• Example:
• Increase awareness of…
• Increase participation in…
• Build knowledge around…
• Encourage trial of…
• Build market share/share of voice…

10. Step 2: Define Results
• What’s the definition for success?
• *a media plan is but a plan; it doesn’t act,
it provides a conduit for Connection
• A media plan’s purpose is to:
• Deliver the right message
• using the right media
• at the right time
• enough times to initiate action
I f y o u d o n ' t r e a c h t h e r i g h t p e o p l e , y o u’v e f a i l e d . . .

11. The Basics

12. Target Audience

13. Target Audience
• Who are we trying to reach?
• What do they look like?
• How do they behave?
• Reaching the target audience is the key
to effective media planning
• Creativity won’t matter if the audience is
blind to the message

14. Timing

15. Timing
• Is there seasonality to the business?
• Summer
• Holidays
• Year‐round
• Will messaging be…
• Continuous (Steady messaging)?
• Pulsed (Light message level, heavy level)?
• Flighted (Message on, Message off)?

16. Timing

17. Message
WHAT??

18. Message
• What do we want to say?
• What action do we want the audience
to take?
• Call a number?
• Visit a website?
• Perform an action?
• Is there a single message, or are there
numerous points to communicate?

19. Geography/Location

20. Geography
• Where do we want to reach them?
• At work?
• At Home?
• In the Car?
• Nationwide?
• Locally?
• Regionally?
• In specific markets?

21. How?

22. How?
• How are we going to reach them?
• TV, radio, out‐of‐home, online?
• Public Relations, Word‐of‐Mouth?
• More importantly:

23. Other Vehicles
• Social Media
• Movie Theater
• In‐Store/Point‐of‐Purchase
• Guerilla Advertising
• Posters
• Trade Shows
• Flyers

24. Important Terms
• Frequency
• How often? Daily? Hourly?
• Reach
• How many? A percentage of total viewers in a
given audience
• What % of those reached will take action?
• Cost
• How much do we have to spend?
• At what level is our spend effective?
• Or, when does it cease to be effective?

25. Audience

26. Determining the Audience
• The target audience(s) is often defined
by the marketer
• Women, aged 25‐54, Household income
$75K+, college educated
• However, some marketers need to
define, or redefine, their audience
• Who is the target for health insurance?
• Men or women?
• Young or old?

27. Defining the Audience
• Demographics
• Audience breakdown based on age, sex,
income, education, etc.
• Information from US Census, CityData,
and similar sources
• Psychographics
• Personality characteristics & attitudes. A
person's attitudes, opinions, attitudes,
and beliefs that relatie to lifestyle and
purchasing behavior

28. Why the Audience Matters
Your company makes kid‐friendly food
• A new product, Mac‐Attack, is tested
• Testing shows that boys, ages 12‐17 are
the highest group of consumers of
Mac‐Attack
• Boys like it because
• It’s easy to make and clean up
• Tastes good
• Mac‐Attack comes with trading cards

29. Audience

30. Why the Audience Matters
• Your company launches a Mac‐Attack
campaign targeting these Boys, 12‐17
• Boys magazines and TV programming
carries the message
• Although there’s a spike in sales, results
do not meet expectations, and the
campaign is halted
Where did Mac‐Attack go wrong?

31. Why the Audience Matters
• The target audience is questioned about
how they view Mac‐Attack, and results are
all positive
• Researchers ask, why they don’t they buy
Mac‐Attack
A. Their discretionary income is spent on other
items, like video games
B. Most don’t actively go to the store and
choose their dinner entrees
C. The family’s shopper does not realize the
benefits of Mac‐Attack

32. Speak to the Right Audience
• Knowing that kids don’t typically spend
their money on dinner or dinner food,
who should Mac‐Attack target?
• The best research can be misleading

33. Audience Definition
• Demographic groups (Demos) can be used
to determine radio station/shows or TV
programs viewd by groups of a certain
Demo (age/income/sex/education)
• Generalities:
• TV shows like Cops tend to skew to younger,
less‐educated males
• Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) stations tend
to reach men and women, 18‐34, but are
weighted heavier toward females
• Grey’s Anatomy’s audience is mostly female
•

34. Audience Definition
• Below is a Radio Ranker (either obtained
from agency software or media vendors) that
define the top stations for A25‐54 in a
given market
Demo Station Format Rank
Time
Period
AQH=Average Quarter Hour (measusured in Total AQH
15 minute increments) Persons Rating

35. Audience Definition
• As with any research endeavor, the more
information, the better‐defined the
audience, the less the waste
• Psychographic data further segments the
audience into better‐defined groups
• Psychographic, or lifestyle data, can be
obtained two ways:
• Research software
• Proprietary research (from the client)

36. Audience Definition
• Media Quintiles
• Dividing 100% into 5 equal portions
• Q1= Heaviest users/top category
• Q5= Lightest users/bottom category
• Quintiles are used to define media use

37. Audience Definition
• Lifestyle data + Demographic data
• Use of syndicated research, lifestyle or
psychographic data, further defines the
audience
• Scarborough Research
• MediaMark MRI
• Simmons Media Research Bureau

38. Media Vehicle Basics

39. Universe Size
• In media, all universes are not equal
• Thus, all are measured differently
• TV markets are geographic populations
called DMAs
• Radio markets are geographic
populations known as MSAs

40. Universe Size
• DMA‐ Designated Market Area
• Usually the area where a primary market
is defined by TV coverage.
• The top three DMAs in the U.S. are NYC,
LA, and Chicago
• MSA‐ Metropolitan Service Area
• Can be the radio metro, or a couple
metros together
• The top three MSAs in the U.S. are NYC,
LA, and Chicago
Note: The DMA and MSA are not always ranked the same

41. Television DMA Map

42. Radio MSA Map

43. Online, Cable, DTV
• Online universe size depends on Internet
Penetration (number of HH’s with internet
access)
• Cable TV, likewise, depends on the cable
penetration (number of HH’s wired for
cable TV)
• DTV/Satellite TV varies by market
• DTV is often the only method to get ‘cable‐
like’ service in areas where geography,
weather, climate, and distance play a role in
cable TV service

44. Printed Mediums
• Magazines don’t technically have
universes but are measured by
subscribers
• National Newspapers (USA Today, Wall
Street Journal) and city papers are also
measured by the number of subscribers

45. Out‐of‐Home/Direct Mail
• Billboards, whether 14’x48’, 12’x24’, or
20’x60’ use a formula that determines
the number of Adults 18+, that drive by
the billboard on a daily basis
• Direct mail doesn’t have a universe;
instead, size is based on the number of
pieces sent, pieces opened, and action
taken (10,000 mailers, 3% open rate, 2% response)

46. Other Mediums
• Cell Phones, iPads, iPods, e‐mail
messages, online text ads, online
display ads, skywriting, text messages,
social media, chat, movie theater ads,
posters, transit advertising and
numerous other media channels exist

47. Media Strength/Weakness
• All mediums have good and bad points
• Depending on the source, we’re exposed
to 276 (Consumer Reports, 2002) to 3000
marketing messages per day (Maritz Dialogue
Marketing)
• We are bombarded with a lot of clutter
• Choosing the right audience and media
vehicle or media mix is critical

48. Wrapping It Up (for now)
Hopefully, this short presentation
brought up questions that can be
addressed as we move forward.
Messages Promotion Variables

49. Sources:
• This presentation was created based on the author’s
personal experience as a media planner.
• References, when used, are documented; otherwise,
the information contained in this plan are based on
experience and/or training

50. By: Jeff Louis
Sr.Media Planner
Brand Project Mgr.
jlo0312@gmail.com