Media agencies and media mix

Problem: Media agencies and selecting the media mix

After defining the problem of the new PbL, the group came up with the following learning objectives:

1. How to select the right media mix?

2. How do media agencies research the target audience?

1. How to select the right media mix?

Media is the vehicle that carries the message to the target audience. Media can be of different types such as print media, broadcast media, direct mail, internet, outdoor media, etc. In order to achieve the advertising objectives it is important to choose and select the right media. It should reach the right people, at the right time, at the right place and convey the right message. The different media channels such as TV, newspaper, radio etc. differ in terms of the customers who might receive the message (coverage). That is why most advertisers generally use a combination of media (the so called media mix) in order to communicate their messages more effectively. However, not all types of media suits all products, groups, businesses etc. Therefore, the right choice and careful planning of the media mix is inevitable nowadays.

"Media planning involves selecting appropriate media for carrying advertising message to target audience and deciding how much to spend on each media and scheduling (deciding the time) when the advertisment is to run." (Fryburger)

According to (book), the main considerations in media planning and selecting are:

• nature of product
• nature of customer
• advertising objectives: get immediate results or build brand equity or etc.
• nature of message: informative nature (newspaper..), demonstration, emotional appeal (television) etc.
•  size of ad budget
• media used by competitors
• media availability
• media reach (total circulation/ viewership) and coverage (number of target customers)
• media costs. always in relation to the number of audience covered by media
• media frequency: average number of time the audience is exposed to media vehicle in a specific time period
• media image
• language
• media habits (more information can be found further down)

According to Linacre (2014), media decisions are of two types which are intermedia decision and intramedia decision. Intermedia decisions focus on which kinds of media should be used in the campaign e.g. television and posters or press and radio. Intramedia decisions concern which medium should be used from within a particular kind of media

 

According to Fill (2013), the main groups of paid media are the following:

1. Print media or press advertising: 

- advertising through newspapers and magazines

- oldest and most popular media (traditional)

2. Broadcast media or electronic media:

- advertisment in television and radio

- television offers combination of sound, sight and movement

3. Outdoor media: 

- advertising through signboards, billboards, wall painting, posters

- meant for moving public

4. Direct mail advertising media: 

- direct contact between advertiser and potential customer

5. Internet advertising media: 

- has created borderless world and information superhighway

- advertising through web page, banner ads, pop ups

6. Other types of advertising media:

- Point of purchase advertising (inside the store, outside the store)

- Promotional advertising media (free gifts and samples, trade shows)

- Tele-advertising (contact through telephone such as banks, insurance companies are doing)

As already mentioned above, not all media types are suitable for all companies or target groups. The following illustration which is based on Fill (2013) shows the main advantages and disadvantages of different media tools.

Type of media	Advantages	Disadvantages
Newspaper	- wide coverage - low cost per reader - flexibility (ads can be placed in interest sections) - quick delivery of message (fastest means of communication) - geographical selectivity (local, regional, national newspapers)	- short life span - advertisement overload - poor production quality - limitations of print media: audio effect, visual effect, not much persuasive, emotional appeals
Magazines and Journals	- can reach specific target audience - long life span - better quality - leisure readership - credibility	- limited reach - long lead time - advertisement overload - delayed readership
Television	- strong impact (audio-visuals) - demonstration possible - wide coverage - attractive message, emotional appeal - impact of light, sound and motion	- expensive - long production time - advertisement overload - detailed message cannot be given
Radio	- low cost - flexible - wide coverage - easy to remember due to slogan, music, sound…	- absence of visual effect - listeners are inattentive - advertisement overload - demonstration of product is not possible
Outdoor media	- long life - wide coverage - geographic selectivity - gain attention easily - repeated exposures - last minute reminder	- detailed message cannot be given - distract attention of drivers leading to accidents
Direct mail	- highly selective - detailed information possible - establishes personal contact - ensures feedback (business reply cards)	- not suitable for large number of customer - difficult to compile mailing list - lack of prestige (spam mail) - high per contact cost
Internet	- low cost - detailed messages - user can read message in free time - interactive relationship - support other promotional programmes	- can contact only internet users - high expertise is required for creating internet ads - unsolicited e-mail are not welcomed - problem of clutter

 

However, there are several factors that challenge the selection of an appropriate media mix. Due to the new technology the variety of different media increases (media fragmentation). Furthermore, changing characteristics of the audience and the fact that people have developed a variety of ways to spend their leisure time (audience fragmentation) makes it even harder to select the right media mix.

Further problems in media planning (Trehan & Trehan 2014)

• insufficient information regarding customers, competitors, media, etc.
• time pressure
• difficulty in audience measurement: key element in selecting media, measure the number of audience of any media (how many people watch a particular television programme?)
• difficulty in cost comparism due to different basis: cost per word, per square cm (newspaper), per second (broadcast), per sign etc.
• changing environmental factors
• inadequate expertise

Media habits

Furthermore, media habits in the target area need to be considered when selecting the right media mix. Because Germany is my home country, in the following I will give some examples about the media landscape in Germany.

As shown in the illustrations above, TV is still the dominating information medium in Germany. The second most important medium is radio, followed by newspapers and the Internet.

Media use in Germany from 2012 to 2014 (Statista. 2016)

Media usage in Germany (Martin 2013)

Media usage in Germany by generations (Martin 2013)

Global average percentage of complete trust (nielsen. 2013)

The article written by Kleinsteuber & Thomass (2015) provides a nice overview of the media landscape in Germany.

- radio is a popular medium in Germany and the daily consumption is 176 minutes (2008)

- television is another popular media and Germans spend about 219 minutes per day on television

- among private channels RTL (11.7 percent), SAT1 (10.3 percent) and ProSieben (6.6 percent) have the biggest audience shares

POEM

According to Fill (2013) POEM reflects the increasing scope of contemporary media and the range of media to engage audiences. There is not only paid for media but POEM means all media that can be used to convey a message regardless whether a payment is needed or not.

Paid: Company pays to leverage a channel

Owned: Media over which the company has complete control such as corporate website, blogs, communities, email newsletters, social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram)

Earned: Earned media refers to comments and conversations, both offline and online in social media, in the news or through face-to-face communication. In other words, it refers to the natural result of media relation's efforts and the content that is created within the owned media channels

The following two illustrations that were published on ochodigital.com by Folgar (2015) summarize the main points of paid, owned and earned media together with the positive and negative apsects.  

 2. How do media agencies research the target audience?

Advertising or media agencies provide a full range of services to advertisers such as developing, preparing, placing advertisment in advertising media, helping advertiser to find customer and so on. Those agencies involve people with specialised knowledge and skills who are well informed in all aspects of marketing, advertising and consumer behaviour. Research is one of many different departments a full-service agency include.

Primary research: Research which is done by the business or company itself with the objective of gathering information that can be used to improve the products, services, and functions. It is also known as field research since it is research done from scratch, without using any information that is already made available through other sources. One can gather primary data or information through qualitative research methods as well as quantitative research methods. Primary market research is the most common type of a market research method and is also the most valuable type.

    - Focus groups.

    - surveys and questionnaires 

    - observations

    - trial experimentation

    - in-depth interviews

Secondary research: Research technique that does not aim to gather information from scratch but relies on already available information from multiple sources. It focuses on data or information that was collected by other people and is available for either free or paid use for others. Secondary market research takes into account many different sources for collection of information including government data, office data, newspapers, magazines, the internet, etc.

    - internal sources

    - external sources (government, universities, internet, competitor data...)

Qualitative research: mainly takes into account the opinions and feelings of a customer as far as a business’s products and services are concerned. Some common examples of qualitative research work include doing face to face interviews, being part of focus groups, etc.

Quantitative research: based on hard facts and statistical data rather than the feelings and opinions of the customers or consumers. surveys, questionnaires, on-site fieldwork

Sources

Fill. C. 2013. Marketing Communications. 6th edition. Pearson. 

Folgar. N. 2015. Defining Paid, Earned, and Owned Media. URL: http://ochodigital.com/blog/?p=218. Accessed: 06.04.2016

Kleinsteuber. H.J. & Thomass. B. 2015. Media Landscapes - Germany. URL: http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/germany. Accessed: 06.04.2016

Linacre. N. 2014. Advertising for Account Handlers. Routledge. URL: https://books.google.fi/books?id=RTuDBAAAQBAJ&dq=intermedia+and+intramedia+decision&hl=de&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Accessed: 06.04.2016

Martin. H.E. 2013. Hugo E. Martin's Blog on Media + Marketing. URL: http://blog.hemartin.net/2013_09_01_archive.html. Accessed: 05.04.2016

Nielsen. 2013. Under the Influence: Consumer trust in Advertising. URL: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/under-the-influence-consumer-trust-in-advertising.html. Accessed: 06.04.2016

Sandage. C & Fryburger. V. 1989. Advertising Theory and Practice. Longman Group United Kingdom

Trehan. M. & Trehan. R. 2014. Advertising and Sales Management. VK Global Publications. URL: https://books.google.fi/books?id=4RmqXcKJtwUC&printsec=frontcover&hl=de#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed: 02.04.2016