Media Buying

Since the dawn of the advertising age, mass media advertising has been one of the most powerful means for voluntary wealth redistribution.

How so? Business owners and managers, through mass media advertising, transfer money from their own account to the pockets of media companies, media consultants and various industry players. This gravy train has attracted millions of people who become skilled at facilitating the process, a few of whom simply skillfully assist you in throwing your money away. Others just charge you more than necessary.

Let's take a look at the mass media landscape. It's the perfect Petri dish for waste, greed and profiteering.

1. Complexity and Confusion: Media buying is complex. It involves detailed statistics on demographics such as listenership, readership and viewership. How does one determine the value of a radio station's best listenership? Each station claims to be number one in your desired demographic, or at least a close second. Stations artfully manipulate their ratings in order to draw the desired conclusion.

2. Ego and Emotion: Mass media advertising is a vehicle for awareness creation. It offers a ticket to the "who's who" network. Many potential advertisers might be emotionally lured by this. Emotion and ego are a salesperson's best friends. Don't fall for the grandiose pitch. Set a budget and stick with it. Some of the best local TV commercials are produced for less than $5,000.

3. M-O-N-E-Y: Big money changes hands in mass media advertising.  Where there is money, there are salespeople and con men (and women) - sophisticated ones that have an answer for everything.

So, you want to create awareness and increase sales? You find an advertising consultant to assist in the design of a program. The good news is, you learn that the service costs you nothing, as your consultant is paid by the media outlet (radio station, television station, newspaper, etc.) What a deal!

Well, as we all know, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The media company simply adds your consultant's fee to the price you're quoted. Or, more often than not, your consultant simply quoted you whatever he or she felt you would pay.

Considering mass advertising?  Think about the following:

•  Is mass media advertising right for you? Mass media is for speaking to the masses. Does your product or service appeal to the masses?  The greater the degree to which it does, the greater likelihood the means could be economically viable for you. For example, does your business have multiple retail locations?  If so, mass media (radio, television and cable) could be a fit. Or is your business a high end home furnishings store?  In this case, mass media could waste precious advertising dollars.  Direct mail might be a better option.

•  Cost per prospect - the basis for analysis. Each media option offers its own audience profile:  listener counts, gender, socioeconomics, tastes, buying patterns, location, etc. The question is, how many are good prospects for your product or service, and what is the cost per prospect?

You want to find the outlets at the lowest cost per prospect (of course). To do this, calculate the cost per rating point. For example, the 10 P.M. news on the ABC affiliate in your market has a rating of 10 for women between the ages of 25 and 54. The cost of the spot is $500, so your cost per rating point is $50.  Compare this to the NBC station whose rating for women ages 25-54 is a 7 in their 10 P.M. news slot, and the cost of the spot is $300. The cost per rating point is $42.85. The NBC affiliate offers the better deal.

•  Will the actual facts please stand up? Each media option - radio, television, newspaper, etc. - has a definitive source for factual audience data. For television, it's A.C. Nielsen.  For radio, it's Arbitron. When you do your audience analysis and cost per prospect work, go straight to the source and make the calculations yourself.  Don't use summarized data provided by the media outlet or salesperson!

If your consultant cannot produce the source data, as originally published, red flags should start waving.  You're not dealing with a professional!

•  Frequency and consistency: Awareness is what you want to achieve in your target audience. Awareness is not created with just a few exposures. It takes repeated exposure over time. Do you have the dollars to sustain such a program?

What's the frequency necessary to move your audience to buy from you? An accepted rule of thumb is exposure to 90% of your target audience three or more times, at a minimum. If you can't afford this, mass media may not be for you.

•  Ad design: The design of your ad is critical. You want the help of an expert you trust. Design is critical to effectiveness and economics. Keep in mind the ratio of ad design cost to total budget. If you spend most of your money on ad design and have little left for airtime, you've wasted your money. The key is not to skimp on the ad, but to buy an ad that works and use it repeatedly over a long period of time. By using the same ad again and again, the per-use cost of the ad declines. As a rule of thumb, if the total budget is $50,000, the ad should not cost more than $5,000 or 10% of the total budget.

•  Pay each service provider directly: By paying directly and separately for each service provider - ad creation talent, media consultant, media outlet, etc. - you may minimize cost and avoid exposure to an unscrupulous purveyor. It's not uncommon for a company to contract with an ad consultant for a turnkey program. The company pays the consultant for the entire program, but the consultant does not pay the media outlets. Then the consultant disappears and you're the one responsible, ultimately, for the bill.  q

Todd Rollins, a media consultant, contributed his expertise to this article. He can be reached via his website, www.onlinemedia.com.