Marketing Communications

280 CHAPTER 8 MEDIA PLANNING

Summary

In media planning, the decision is taken about what media and vehicles will be purchased, at

what time and at what price. Media planning consists of a number of steps. After assessing the

communications environment and describing the target audience, media objectives have to be

set, and media vehicles have to be selected and bought. Media objectives refer to criteria, such

as the frequency with which the target group has to be exposed to the message, and the reach or

weight of a campaign, i.e. the number of desired contacts with the target group. Furthermore,

the continuity or schedule of the campaign has to be decided on, and media costs have to be taken

into account. Media selection is based on quantitative criteria, such as frequency, reach and

seasonal influences, but also on qualitative criteria, such as image-building capacity, emotional

impact, demonstration capacity and quality of reproduction. Technical criteria, such as production

costs and media buying characteristics, also have to be taken into account. Each type of advertis-

ing medium (newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc.) has its advantages and disadvantages.

Furthermore, the media context can have a considerable impact on advertising effectiveness.

The role of arousal, mood and compatibility of media and ads appears to be important.

Further reading

Calder, B.J. and Kotler, P. (2008), Kellogg on Advertising and Media. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Katz, H.A. (2006), The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection,

Planning, Research and Buying. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kelley, L.D. and Jugenheimer, D.W. (2008), Advertising Media Planning: A Brand Management

Approach. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Sissors, J. and Baron, R. (2002), Advertising Media Planning, 6th edition. Chicago and New

York: McGraw-Hill.

a traditional newspaper. An elevator was chosen because it is powerful, moves quickly and reminds people of the

energy that is needed to walk up or down the stairs. About 600 students participated in the experiment. Results

confirmed the hypotheses: the creative media enhanced the brand associations more than did the traditional

medium (newspaper). Moreover, the creative media increased ad credibility significantly and induced significantly

more positive ad and brand attitudes as compared with the traditional medium.^77

Review questions

1. What are the various steps in the media planning process?


2. How does ad message repetition affect advertising effectiveness?


3. How can β-coefficient analysis be used to optimise message repetition?


4. What is the relationship between reach, net, gross and effective reach, opportunity to see,
   and gross and effective rating points?


5. How can media scheduling or continuity affect advertising effectiveness?


6. On the basis of which criteria should a media plan be composed?


7. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of print and audio-visual media?


8. Why is cinema advertising effective?

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