Journey from Concept to Creation : SQAD

Media Resources.

Adman — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:20:00 GMT

As I mentioned in a previous blog, my first exposure to media planning and buying was when, due to my focus (minor) on computer science and information systems at Georgia State University's Robinson School of Business, I was asked to research and purchase a turnkey computer system for media planning and buying. My college internship had turned into a full-time agency job and this was one of my first assignments. I purchased a $30,000 (circa 1987) PC based media planning system from Telmar®. The system was primarily based on Lotus 123® macros using downloaded ratings data. Learning the system motivated me to dig deeper into Lotus® macros and dBase® programming...extensive experience that later translated to Excel® (it is amazing how quickly Excel® replaced Lotus 123® as the industry standard).

I learned a great deal about media simply by learning and using the Telmar® system. I was also very fortunate to receive “on the job training” via veteran agency media professionals who suffered from chronic computer phobia. With Telmar®, you could instantly see how changes in spot selections affect the total cost and the reach and frequency of the buy, either for a single TV station or for all media in the buy. It was a great negotiating tool. You could instantly compare CPPs and CPMs between the same daypart on different stations while you have your station sales representative on the phone. The media mix capability included additional media such as radio, print and outdoor. In addition to Telmar®, I later used Broadcast Management Plus® and other software for media planning and buying. I also developed my own spreadsheets and a dBase program for entering and printing insertion orders.

In addition to turnkey media planning and buying software, online research databases such as Dialog®, Nexis®, Lexis®, Dow Jones® and Dun & Bradstreet® are useful for doing media research and preparing media rationales. Other comprehensive tools are available through media providers – television/radio stations, media representation firms (media reps) such as Katz®, spot cable reps such as NCC®, and major newspapers. Here is a quick overview of a few media resources, many of which can be accessed via media providers:

Scarborough® Research. Developed as a newspaper measurement tool, Scarborough® provides data on lifestyles, shopping patterns, media behaviors and demographics at local, regional and national levels. Founded in 1975, its services span 2,000 categories and brands which include retail shopping, lifestyle characteristics, consumer demographics and media usage patterns. You can have access to Scarborough via any major newspaper sales rep.

Experian® Simmons® – formerly Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB). A leading provider of consumer behavior demographics information, Simmons® provides detailed brand, service and media usage information on over 8,000 brands and over 450 product categories. It provides data for Microsoft® MapPoint® software which can map profiles of consumer data by state and down to census tracts. Consumer usage of thousands of brands and services can be profiled via Simmons BrandTract® from any of six levels of geography – Total US, State, MSA, County, ZIP Code and Census Tract.

ESRI GIS® -- formerly CACI®. This GIS and mapping software combines demographic data and mapping software which can be used for market analysis to determine which products and promotions can match the lifestyles and buying patterns of potential customers in specific geographic areas.

STRATA®. STRATA® Marketing, Inc. develops premiere software for media planning and buying. They offer Spot TV, Spot Radio, Print, Outdoor, Local Cable, National Cable and Network TV Media Buying and agency products which provide in-depth Pre-buy, Buy, Posting, Reporting, media Billing and qualitative research capabilities. The agency media buying system, STRATA View handles the entire media planning and buying process from "A" to "Z." It includes multi-media Reach and Frequency allowing every combination of TV, Radio and Print Media -- Reach, Frequency, GRP's, CPP's and more.

TAPSCAN™. TAPSCAN™ is a suite of software for local market radio that is used extensively by radio station salespeople. It provides access to customized demos, geographies, dayparts and multibook averages. It includes qualitative (80 categories of Retail Spending) as well as quantitative (Ratings, CPP, CPM, etc.) data. You can enter GRP targets for specific dayparts and demos and the system will indicate the number of spots required to achieve them.

SRDS®. Owned by Nielsen®, SRDS® (Standard Rate & Data Service) is the leading provider of media rates and data....offering comprehensive coverage of traditional media (magazines, newspapers, television, direct marketing and radio) as well as online and out of home. With 95% of advertising agencies served, it is the largest and most comprehensive database of media rates in the world. It provides an immediate, single source of rates for agency media planners for all media.

SQAD®. An acronym for Spot Quotations And Data, Inc., SQAD® provides advertising agencies, media buying services, broadcast and cable stations, etc., instant access to real cost CPMs and CPPs by network and daypart, unit costs, CPMs and CPPs by program category and time period. Cost data is based on actual transactions.

<< Previous | Next >>

Broadcast Media (Part One).

Adman — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:57:00 GMT

<< Previous | Next >>

In my last blog, I mentioned that it is appropriate to think in terms of Gross Rating Points (GRPs) – not the number of spots to be purchased – when planning broadcast media buys. Here is a short demonstration using "WXYZ TV" a mock, top-ten ACNielsen DMA network affiliate.

Suppose you want to advertise a new anti-aging, fat-burning, sun-screening, appetite-reducing, muscle-toning, beautifying, sun-tanning, skin cream product (using all natural ingredients, of course) that is proven to eliminate cellulose, varicose veins and love-handles while adding years to one's life. Extensive research indicates that the primary target market is Women 18+, stay at home moms. Your client wants to first run the ads in a top-ten, spot television market before going national.

So you call the network affiliates in your test market and request availabilities (avails) in the DMA for the Female 18+ demographic -- believing that you need to run the commercial 30 times because your client -- who recently attended a one-day beauty business seminar -- told you so. You take a look at the Morning and Daytime day-parts for your Female 18+ demo for the fourth quarter.

[Television viewers are typically loyal to programs as opposed to stations. Nevertheless, I am using availabilities from a single station for demonstration purposes. The numbers are representative of an actual "top-ten" broadcast TV market.]

As you can see in the above "avail," the Female 18+ demo has dramatically different ratings and rates depending on the program. The cost per rating points (CPPs) are also quite different...even among programs specifically targeted to women.

In the avail, Program "A" (top-rated morning show 1) and program "B's" (morning show 2) adjacent time periods have different numbers when comparing 9a-10a (1.9 rating) vs. 10a-11a. (1.4 rating). The gross rate for the 9-10a slot is $350, considerably higher than the $265 rate for the 10a-11a time period... yet the CPP and CPM are lower for the 9-10a slot. This is a better buy for the Female 18+ demo as you would be reaching 44.2 thousand vs 32.1 thousand at a lower ($7.92 vs $8.26) cost per thousand (CPM).

An even better comparsion is made when comparing Program "F" (soap opera) vs Program "G" (homemaking show) which represent programming specifically targeting women. Program "F" gets a 2.7 rating for Females 18+ (reaching 64.4 thousand) while Program "G" only gets a 0.7 rating for the same demo (17.4 thousand). Program "F" has a lower CPP of $203.70 vs $250.00 for Program "G" So, Program "F" is a much better buy -- if you can afford it at $550. This simple comparison should be enough to discredit the absurd idea of buying media based on a predetermined number of spots for the simple reason that the same number of spots on one program vs another can yield vastly different reach at dramatically different costs.

A far more viable approach would be to determine how many viewers you can afford to reach with effective frequency. Since the minimum generally accepted frequency is three times, you might want to consider shooting for an even better frequency of four times. If you bought 400 GRPs, you could reach virtually 100 percent of Females 18+ viewers in your DMA with an average frequency of four times. Assuming an average morning and daytime CPP of around $220 (based on your avails) your budget would be $88,000. It would be much more common (trust me) to purchase around 100-150 GRPs per week. So, let's assume that you propose to your client that they purchase 250 GRPs for a two-week flight. At an average CPP of $220, this would result in a budget of $55,000.

A much quicker method for determining average CPPs would be to refer to SQAD. Since SQAD (pronounced "squad") is based on actual buys, it has the added benefit of providing you with a good indicator of what is actually being negotiated and paid vs what is presented by the respective stations on their avails. In addition to being a helpful negotiating tool, SQAD might also be helpful in determining desirable test markets based on average CPP data -- in consideration of buying power index data and other marketing research. At Davis Advertising, Inc., we strive to beat SQAD by a significant amount.

Your job as a media buyer is now cut out for you -- get your client as much "bang for the buck" as possible by negotiating rates and developing a schedule -- using avails from a variety of broadcast (and cable) stations -- that will improve the numbers significantly, maximizing effective reach and frequency...based on both quantitative and qualitative insight. That will be the subject of an upcoming blog.

<< Previous | Next >>