Guidelines for Marketers on How to Judge a Media Plan

Guidelines for marketers on how to judge a media plan

MEDIA DIRECTORS CIRCLE

Guidelines for marketers on how to judge a media plan

In the last issue we challenged you, the marketer, on the quality of your media brief. So now for the big moment, how do you go about evaluating the plan that is the response to your brief?

If you have clearly and logically set down the objectives, target market, identified the competitors, set budget and timing parameters, your every wish should come true. The plan should maximise the budget effort, stand out from the competitive crowd, and stand up and be accountable in a measurable way. In a nutshell, the plan should be good.

But selecting a media strategy and approving a detailed media plan is no easy decision based on an exact science. Consumption of media is constantly evolving and your competitors are not standing still either ! Creating impact in the market place may be more important than maximising the cost effectiveness of any plan. In fact, it may be more risky to continue doing things in the same old way, than take a chance and stand out from the crowd.

So, you need to be prepared to hold healthy debate with your planner. He or she may be the media expert, but no one should know your brand and its requirements better than yourself!

Here is a checklist to assist in your evaluation of the media plan :

ARE THE MEDIA OBJECTIVES CLEARLY STATED:

Parameters - have the confines of the brief been clearly adhered to?
Competitive context - does the media plan take cognisance of the "real world" of competitive spend clutter?
Media strategy and tactics - what chance of success for the media plan?
Accountability - how measurable is the media plan, both in terms of media delivery (reach, frequency, etc.) as well as in terms of sales responsiveness / brand awareness, or whatever other measurement criteria have been set?

PARAMETERS:

Media objectives:

Have your advertising objectives been properly translated into media objectives - for example, if you required a frequency building approach, or a results-driven plan of action, is this evident in the plan?
Does the media plan try to accomplish too much on the budget?

Target market:

Have you, or your planner, defined the market too broadly or too narrowly?
Are you target market definitions up to date - are the same people really consuming your brand or service as before? After all, consumption habits are never static, media is rapidly changing (fragmentation of media, no increase in time to consume more media options)?

Budget:

Has your planner delivered sufficient exposure on the given budget?
Have existing contracts or commitments been included?

Timing:

Has the planner blown your budget in one month, where your brief was for a longer period of time?
Has your investment been logically prioritised, from the most important to least important activity priority?

Creative considerations:

Do you and your planner have divergent views on what should be spend on developing the execution, versus exposing it (champagne media demands on a beer budget)!
Is the creative concept and the media delivery platform/ platforms recommended compatible?

COMPETITIVE CONTEXT:

Who is spending in media, and where e.g. where would your anticipated spend level put you in terms of "share of shout"?
Are there direct or indirect competitors e.g. is it a highly competitive category, are new categories becoming competitive, is the point of entry to the category changing, etc?
What are the competitive media strategies (broadcast versus narrowcast media, unconventional use of conventional media or increasingly use of unconventional media)?
Do your competitors (however you choose to define them) target a different market to you e.g. on demographics (youth aged 16 to 24) or via psychographics (new adopters of technology)
What noise level is required to be noticed within the competitive environment?

REVIEW MEDIA STRATEGY AND TACTICS:

Do you want to stand out from the clutter e.g. if the majority of competitive spend is on television, do you beat them or join them?
What mix of media has your planner considerated - is a mix of classical media proposed, or are new options included like experiential marketing, "slipstream" media or shock tactics?

ACCOUNTABILITY:

Can you set measurable reach and frequency objectives against the specified budget and target market (based on previous plans or experience in the product category)? If not, why, and are there other methods to measure response?
What is the time frame? How long are you prepared to wait for measurable success?

Janet Watermeyer
Group Media Director, Acuity, Gauteng MDC Chairperson

Bryan Gibson
Media Director, Ogilvy's, Cape Town MDC Chairperson