Media Strategy Formulation

Product, competition, and objectives

• What is the product, its uses, pack, price, method of distribution, level of distribution, type of outlet and seasonal rate of consumption?
• What are competitive products and details, as for our own product?
• What is the recent product sales and advertising history, including media effectiveness measurements?
• What is a similar history for competitors?
• What is the product and client company position relative to competitive products and companies?
• What are the marketing, advertising and communication objectives and strategy?

Budget

• Is there a media budget (excluding production costs) and, if so, what is it?
• Or is there to be a recommendation on this?
• If there is a budget, does it break down separately for theme, scheme and trade advertising?
• What degree of flexibility is there in the budget?
• Can provision be made of tactical reserves?
• Does the advertiser qualify for additional discounts from other products?

Timetable

• When will the campaign start?
• When will it finish?
• What are the relevant cancellation and copy dates?
• Can these rule out any medium?
• When will firm decisions be made on commercial length, color, etc.?
• When is the media plan to be presented?
• When will the advertiser’s approval be obtained?
• What are promotional plans/ sales cycles?

Target

• Who is the advertising aimed at? What is the demographic profile of the target market?
• Is this medium definition contained in the data to be used in planning? In buying? In post-campaign evaluation?
• If not, what definitions should be used?
• What value in response terms has repetitions and domination of the target as against cover of the target?
• What is the initial evaluation of matching or avoiding competitors?

Regionality

• How are sales, or outlets, or expansion opportunities distributed over the country?
• How should advertising be spread over regions?

Seasonality

• How should advertising be spread over the weeks of months of the campaign?
• Within this, should advertising be evenly spread or in bursts/
• Are special days or times important? How much more valuable are they?

Creative

• What are the communication objectives in terms of type of communication, e.g. demonstration, mood.
• What are the creative possibilities arising from communication objectives, and how do the media available compare in creative potential related to the communication objectives?

Outline recommendations

Possible media

• Which media are feasible on objective grounds, given the type of product, timetable, availability situation, regionality requirements?
• Do we already have options on time or space?
• What is the availability situation? Does this rule out any medium?
• What cover of the target do different media give?
• What are the costs of exposing advertisements in each medium given:

1. The target definition
2. Realistic costs
3. Advertisement/ page/ break factors?

• Have we authority to take options? To make firm bookings?
• If not, when will this be obtained?
• Can media be told now what the product is? If not, when can they be told?
• What qualitative or other factors should be taken into account as well as the cost of exposing advertisements to the target?
• What is the effect of media choice expected to be on the trade?
• Are there other services offered by media which would be useful?

Research

• What data is available on the past performance of the advertising?
• What evidence exists of the effectiveness of given advertisements in different media in the markets under discussion?
• What agency or client data is available on concept testing, image testing, post testing?
• What market or creative research is planned? What pre- and post-campaign evaluation is planned?
• Can media evaluation be built into the research?

Media choice

• What is to be the main media group (is there to a main medium)?
• What would be the result of spending the entire budget in the main media group?
• Would it weaken the campaign seriously to spend less?
• Would a campaign in this media group alone leave serious gaps?
• Should other media groups be used- at what level of expenditure?
• What criteria are to be used in constructing schedules?

Media buying/ negotiation

• Have media owner’s representatives been contacted to establish minimum rates and maximum value obtainable, for selected media, and for possible alternatives?
• Are all discounts available to advertiser known, taking into account his full range of expenditure in each medium concerned?
• Has full use been made of marketing flexibility in the media timing plan to ensure optimum to ensure maximum value through negotiations with media owners?