Deciding on media for advertising:

Deciding on reach, frequency, and impact: media selection involves finding the most cost -effective media to deliver the desired number of exposures to the target audience.

1.       Reach (R): the numbers of the different persons or households exposed to a particular media schedule at least once during a specified time period.

2.       Frequency (F): the number of times within the specified time period that an average person on household is exposed to the message.

3.       Impact (I): the quantitative value of an exposure through a given media.

Choosing among major types: the media planner has to know the capacity of the major media types of the delivery, reach, frequency, and impact. The major advertising media are:

1.       Newspapers

2.       Television

3.       Direct mail

4.       Radio

5.       Magazines

6.       Outdoor

7.       Yellow pages

8.       Newslatters

9.       Brochures

10.   Telephone

11.   Internet      

Media planners make their choice among media categories by considering the following variables:

a.       Target audience media habits: for example, radio and television are the most effective media for the reaching teenagers.

b.      Product: women's dressesare best shown in colour magazines, and Polaroid camers are best on the television. Media types have different potentials.

c.       Message: a message announcing a major sale tomorrow will require radio, TV, or newspapers. A message containing a great deal of the technical data might require specialized magazines or mailings.

d.      Cost: television is very expensive, whereas the newspaper advertising is relatively inexpensive. What counts are the costs per thousand exposures?

Selecting specific vehicles: the media planner must search for the most cost effective media vehicles within the each chosen media type. The planner has to rely on the media measurement services that provide estimates of audience size, compostion, and media cost. Audience size has several possible measures:

1.       Circulation: the number of physical units carrying the advertising.

2.       Audience: the number of peoples exposed to the vehicle. (if the vehicle has pass on readership, then the audience is larger than circulation).

3.       Effective audience: the number of people with the target audience characteristics exposed to the vehicle.

4.       Effective ad - exposed audience: the number of people with the target audience characteristics who actually saw the ad.     

Deciding on the media timing: inchoosing media, the advertiser faces a macro -scheduling problem and a macro -scheduling problem. The macro -scheduling problem involves scheduling the advertising in relation to a season and the business cycle. Suppose 70 % of a product's sales occur between June and September. The firm can very its advertising expenditures to follow the seasonal pattern, to oppose the seasonal pattern, or to be constant throughtout the year. Most firms pursue a seasonal policy.

Deciding on the geographical allocation: a company has to decide how to allocate its advertising budget over space as well as over time. The company has to decide how to the company makes "national buyers" when its places ads on the national TV networks or in nationally circulated magazines. It makes "spot buys" when it buys TV time in just a few markets or in the regional editions of the magazines. These markets are called areas of dominat influence (ADIs) or designated marketing areas (DMAs), and ads reach a market 40 to 60 miles from a city centre. The company makes "local buys" when it advertises in the local newspapers, radio or outdoor sites.