Frequency

To maximize overall awareness, the advertising must reach the maximum number of the target
audience. There is a limit for the last few percent of the general population who don't see the main
media advertisers use. These are more expensive to reach. The 'cumulative' coverage cost typically
follows an exponential curve. Reaching 90 percent can cost double what it costs to reach 0 percent,
and reaching 9! percent can double the cost yet again. "n practice, the coverage decision rests on a
balance between desired coverage and cost. # large budget achieves high coverage$a smaller
budget limits the ambitions of the advertiser.
%. &re'uency$(ven with high coverage, it is insufficient for a target audience member to have
)ust one '*pportunity To +ee' ,*T+- the advertisement. "n traditional media, around five *T+
are believed re'uired for a reasonable impact. To build attitudes that lead to brand switching
may re'uire more. To achieve five *T+, even in only 0 percent of the overall audience, may
re'uire .0 or /0 pea01time transmissions of a commercial, or a significant number of
insertions of press advertisements in the national media. #s these figures suggest, most
consumers simply don't see the commercials that often ,whereas the brand manager, say,
sees every one and has already seen them many times before their first transmission, and so
is )ustifiably bored-.
The life of advertising campaigns can often extend beyond the relatively short life usually expected.
"ndeed, as indicated above, some research shows that advertisements re'uire significant exposure to
consumers before they even register. #s 2avid *gilvy long ago recommended, 3"f you are luc0y
enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling. +cores of good advertisements
have been discarded before they lost their potency.3
4edit5Spread
6ore sophisticated media planners also loo0 at the 'spread' of fre'uencies. "deally all of the audience
should receive the average number of *T+. Those who receive fewer are insufficiently motivated, and
extra advertising is wasted on those who receive more. "t is, of course, impossible to achieve this ideal.
#s with coverage, the pattern is weighted towards a smaller number$of heavy viewers, for example$
who receive significantly more *T+, and away from the difficult last few percent. 7owever, a good
media buyer manages the resulting spread of fre'uencies to weigh it close to the average, with as few
audience members as possible below the average.
&re'uency is also complicated by the fact that this is a function of time. # pattern of %. *T+ across a
year may be scarcely noticed, whereas %. *T+ in a wee0 is evident to most viewers. This is often the
rationale for advertising in 8bursts' or 8waves' ,sometimes described as 8pulsing'-. This concentrates
expenditure into a number of intense periods of advertising, spread throughout the year, so brands do
not remain uncovered for long periods.
4edit5Media Buyers
"n the end, it is the media buyers who deliver the goods9 by negotiating special deals with the media
owners, and buying the best parcels of 8slots' to achieve the best cost ,normally measured in terms of
the cost per thousand viewers, or per thousand household 8impressions', or per thousand impressions
on the target audience. The 3best cost3 can also be measured by the cost per lead, in the case of
direct response mar0eting-. The growth of the very large, international, agencies has been partly
)ustified by their increased buying power over the media owners.
4edit5Types of 6edia and Their :haracteristics
"n terms of overall advertising expenditures, media advertising is still dominated by ;ress and
television, which are of comparable size ,by value of 'sales'-. ;osters and radio follow some way
behind, with cinema representing a very specialist medium.
4edit5Press
"n the <nited =ingdom, spending is dominated by the national > regional newspapers, the latter ta0ing
almost all the classified advertising revenue. The magazines and trade or technical )ournal mar0ets are
about the same size as each other, but are less than half that of the newspaper sectors.
4edit5Television
This is normally the most expensive medium, and as such is generally only open to the ma)or
advertisers, although some regional contractors offer more affordable pac0ages to their local
advertisers. "t offers by far the widest coverage, particularly at pea0 hours ,roughly .00?%0./0 p.m.-
and especially of family audiences. *ffering sight, sound, movement and colour, it has the greatest
impact, especially for those products or services where a 'demonstration' is essential9 since it
combines the virtues of both the 'story1teller' and the 8demonstrator'. To be effective, these messages
must be simple and able to overcome surrounding family life distractions> mdash9especially the T@
remote.
4edit5Radio
Radio advertising has increased greatly in recent years, with the granting of many more licenses. "t
typically reaches specific audiences at different times of the day$adults at brea0fast, housewives
during the day, and commuters during rush hours. "t can be a cost1effective way of reaching these
audiences$especially since production costs are much cheaper than for television, though the lac0 of
visual elements may limit the message. "n radio advertising it is important to identify the right timing to
reach specific radio listeners. &or instance, many people only listen to the radio when they are stuc0 in
traffic, whereas other listeners may only listen in the evenings. The .A hour availability of radio is
helpful to reach a variety of customer sub1segments. "n addition, it is a well1established medium to
reach rural areas.
4edit5Cinema
Though national audience numbers are down, this may be the most effective medium for extending
coverage to younger age groups, since the core audience is %! to .A.
4edit5Internet/Web Advertisin
This rapidly growing mar0eting force borrows much from the example of press advertising, but the
most effective use$adopted by search engines$is interactive.
4edit5Mobile Advertisin
;ersonal mobile phones have become an attractive advertising media to networ0 operators, but are
relatively unproven and remain in media buyers' sidelines.
4edit5#udience Research
"dentifying the audience for a magazine or newspaper, or determining who watches television at a
given time, is a specialized form of mar0et research, often conducted on behalf of media owners.
;ress figures are slightly complicated by the fact that there are two measuresB readership ,total
number of readers of a publication, no matter where they read it-, and circulation ,the number of
copies actually sold, which is mostly independently validated-.
4edit5#dvertising1free media
#dvertising1free media refers to media outlets whose output is not funded or subsidized by the sale
of advertisingspace. "t includes in its scope mass media entities such
as websites, television and radio networ0s, and magazines.
The public broadcasters of a number of countries air without commercials. ;erhaps the best 0nown
example of this is the <nited =ingdom's public broadcaster, the CC:, whose domestic networ0s do not
carry commercials. "nstead, theCC:, in common with most other public broadcasters in (urope, is
funded by a television licence fee levied on the owners of all television sets.
# .00D report by the +enate of :anada suggested that the country's public broadcaster, the :anadian
Croadcasting :orporation, be funded sufficiently by the federal government so that it could air without
any advertising.
4%5
4edit5#dvertising media scheduling
+cheduling refers to the pattern of advertising timing, represented as plots on a yearly flowchart.
These plots indicate the pattern of scheduled times advertising must appear to coincide with favorable
selling periods. The classic scheduling models are Continuity, Flighting and Pulsing.
4edit5Continuity
This model is primarily for non1seasonal products, yet sometimes for seasonal products. #dvertising
runs steadily with little variation over the campaign period.
There may be short gaps at regular intervals and also long gaps$for instance, one ad every wee0 for
!. wee0s, and then a pause. This pattern of advertising is prevalent in service and pac0aged goods
that re'uire continuous reinforcement on the audience for top of mind recollection at point of purchase.
#dvantagesB
Eor0s as a reminder
:overs the entire purchase cycle
:ost efficiencies in the form of large media discounts
;ositioning advantages within media
;rogram or plan that identifies the media channels used in an advertising campaign, and specifies
insertion or broadcast dates, positions, and duration of the messages.
4edit5Fli!tin "or #burstin#$
"n media scheduling for seasonal product categories, flighting involves intermittent and irregular
periods of advertising, alternating with shorter periods of no advertising at all. &or instance, all of .000
Target Rating ;oinered in a single month, 3going dar03 for the rest of the year. 7alloween
costumes are rarely purchased all year except during the months of +eptember and *ctober.
#dvantagesB
#dvertisers buy heavier weight than competitors for a relatively shorter period of time
Fittle waste, since advertising concentrates on the best purchasing cycle period
+eries of commercials appear as a unified campaign on different media vehicles
4edit5Pulsin
;ulsing combines flighting and continuous scheduling by using a low advertising level all year round
and heavy advertising during pea0 selling periods. ;roduct categories that are sold year round but
experience a surge in sales at intermittent periods are good candidates for pulsing. &or instance,
under1arm deodorants, sell all year, but more in summer months.
#dvantagesB
:overs different mar0et situations
#dvantages of both continuity and flighting possible
4edit5References