Chapter 10 - Summary - Belch and Belch

This chapter deals with the basic plan of media planning, determination of media objectives, development of the media strategy, and formalization of objectives and strategy in the form of a media plan.  But before we understand these concepts, the first and foremost question is:

What is Media Planning?

Media planning is the series of decisions involved in delivering the promotional message to the prospective purchasers and/or users of the product or brand.

Sources of media information, characteristics of media, and an actual plan were highlighted in the chapter. The media strategy must be designed to supplement and support the overall marketing and communications objectives.

The objectives of this plan are designed to deliver the message the program has developed. A plan is successful when it has a good reach and coverage. Reach is a measure of the number of different audience members exposed at least once to a media vehicle in a given period of time. Coverage refers to the potential audience that might receive the message through a vehicle.

The basic task involved in the development of media strategy is to determine the best matching of media to the target market, given the constraints of the budget. The media planner attempts to balance reach and frequency and to deliver the message to the intended audience with a minimum of waste coverage and minimum cost. However these are not the only factors which matter. Other factors are also significant. A number of additional factors affect the media decision.

Media strategy development is more of an art than a science because while many quantitative data are available, the planner also relies on creativity and several non-quantifiable factors.

These factors include

·        
developing a proper media mix

·         determining target market and geographic coverage

·         scheduling

·         balancing reach and frequency

·         Creative aspects

·          budget considerations

·          the need for flexibility in the schedule

·         the use of computers in the media planning process

The main sources of media are:

·         Television

·         Magazines

·         Radio

·         Outdoor

·         Newspaper

·         Direct mail

·         Internet and interactive media

Some Problems faced in Media Planning are:

·         Insufficient funds

·         Time issues

·         Insufficient information