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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
10. Media Planning and
Strategy
desired at later stages of the hierarchy. For example, at the trial stage of the adoption
hierarchy, a promotional strategy might use cents-off coupons or free samples. An
objective of the marketer is to reach a larger number of people with these samples, in
an attempt to make them learn of the product, try it, and develop favorable attitudes
toward it. (In turn, these attitudes may lead to purchase.)
The problem arises because there is no known way of determining how much reach
is required to achieve levels of awareness, attitude change, or buying intentions, nor
can we be sure an ad placed in a vehicle will actually reach the intended audience.
(There has been some research on the first problem, which will be discussed in the section
below on effective reach.)
If you buy advertising time on 60 Minutes, will everyone who is tuned to the program
see the ad? No. Many viewers will leave the room, be distracted during the commercial,
and so on, as shown in Figure 10-18 (which also provides a good example of
the difference between reach and coverage). If I expose everyone in my target group to
the message once, will this be sufficient to create a 100 percent level of awareness?
The answer again is no. This leads to the next question: What frequency of exposure is
necessary for the ad to be seen and to have an impact?
What Frequency Level Is Needed? With respect to media planning, frequency
carries a slightly different meaning. (Remember when we said one of the problems
in media planning is that terms often take on different meanings?) Here
frequency is the number of times one is exposed to the media vehicle, not necessarily
to the ad itself. While one study has estimated the actual audience for a commercial
may be as much as 30 percent lower than that for the program, not all researchers
agree. 4 Figure 10-18 demonstrates that depending on the program, this number may
range from 12 to 40 percent.
Most advertisers do agree that a 1:1 exposure ratio does not exist. So while your ad
may be placed in a certain vehicle, the fact that a consumer has been exposed to that
vehicle does not ensure that your ad has been seen. As a result, the frequency level
expressed in the media plan overstates the actual level of exposure to the ad. This
overstatement has led some media buyers to refer to the reach of the media vehicle as
“opportunities to see” an ad rather than actual exposure to it.
Because the advertiser has no sure way of knowing whether exposure to a vehicle
results in exposure to the ad, the media and advertisers have adopted a compromise:
One exposure to the vehicle constitutes reach, given that this exposure must occur for
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Figure 10-18 Who’s still there to watch the ads?
How many viewers actually watch a commercial? R. D. Percy & Co. reports that its advanced people meters,
equipped with heat sensors that detect viewers present, indicate that spots retain, on average, 82 percent of the
average-minute ratings for the quarter hour. During early morning news programs, “commercial efficiency”
(as Percy calls it) is lower because so many people are bustling about, out of the room (blue), but the rate rises
at night.
A. Efficiency of Spots during News Programming B. Efficiency of Spots during Sports Programming
6–9 A.M. Mon.–Fri.
5–7 P.M. Mon.–Fri.
7–8 P.M. Mon.–Fri.
11–11:30 P.M. Mon.–Fri.
Percent of program audience retained
by spot (commercial efficiency)
60 35 5 80 6 14
86 9 5
84 9 7
88 10 2
Noon–3 P.M. Sat.–Sun.
3–5 P.M. Sat.–Sun.
5–7 P.M. Sat.–Sun.
8–11 P.M. Mon.–Fri.
Percent of audience
lost: out of the room
79 10 11
84 6 10
88 1 11
Percent of audience
lost: changing channels
317
Chapter Ten Media Planning and Strategy