By
Duane Sprague
Too often I see good people making bad TV purchasing decisions,
and thinking they did a great job because they negotiated a lower
rate.
But what did
they really buy in terms of audience demographics, market reach,
frequency, gross rating points, cost per point, cost per thousand,
vertical and horizontal distribution, flighting schedule, and
pre-emptible vs. non-pre-emptible spots? Did they buy the network
or the most effective program by day part? Did they buy a "package
deal" containing broad rotators in under-performing programs?
What value added did they receive if any, and what is the true
value?
Who will monitor
the billing to make certain that what was negotiated was delivered
in terms of actual GRPs, cost per point, frequency and fair and
equitable distribution?
As you can
see, buying media properly requires a great deal more than just
good negotiation skills.
The first
goal to buying TV is to identify the general audience demographics
you want to target. Lets say its adults 25-54. With network TV,
you cannot target your demo's nearly as finitely as with cable
TV, radio, or direct mail, so don't get too specific on this.
Network TV is primarily used as a reach medium vs. a targeting
or frequency medium. Your next goal is to obtain as much of this
broadly defined audience reach as possible.
To do this,
look at each network affiliates programming schedule from ABC,
CBS, NBC, FOX, and even PAX as an up and coming, as well as any
local independent broadcast stations. Now analyze each and every
program in every day part from 6:00 am to 1:00 am and compare
them based on rating points in the latest Nielsen book, as well
as an average over the last four books. A four book average is
critical because the current book can show statistical aberrations
that do not warrant the asking price for that spot. Also, an upward
or downward trend will warrant a different price than the current
ratings do.
In addition
to comparing the rating points for each program, as well as the
share of viewers in each program, in each day part, and by network,
you will want to look at the total number of households viewing
the program (given in thousands). A good share is meaningless
if the total audience in that day part is minuscule.
Now you need
to analyze which programs to buy, and in which dayparts. A word
of caution here: you cannot normally buy just one or two networks
and expect to reach the entire market. The reason is, with network
TV, people do not watch the network, they watch the specific program.
News is the exception. People will have a favorite anchor, sports
or weather reporter, and always tune in to that networks news.
But unless you have one network that clearly dominates the news
ratings, you will need the top three network news broadcasts in
order to obtain adequate market reach.
You also need
to cover every daypart, because people are creatures of habit
and lifestyle. The most effective buys include all dayparts, with
an emphasis on prime time and late news.
Next, decide
what level of impact you need to make in order to reach your advertising
objective. Are you promoting a new product, a sale event, or are
you just looking to maintain your name awareness? A new product
launch or a big sale event requires more GRPs than a name awareness
campaign. McDonald's buys 500 GRPs when they launch a new product
for example. A general ad or name awareness campaign on the other
hand, can get by with 100 GRPs.
As for frequency,
three is the average industry objective. Your TV campaign should
make three impressions on the average targeted viewer over the
flight period.
A good flight
schedule begins with the highest GRPs the first week, and ramping
down toward the last week. For example, in week one of the flight,
run 200 GRPs, week two 150, and week three 100. Then take two
weeks off, and start over.
TV rates are
entirely based on supply and demand. The first quarter is a buyers
market, followed by the third quarter. The second quarter is the
second most expensive, and the fourth is the highest. Which is
exactly why you should negotiate and buy by the quarter, and not
for the year or the event.
If you buy
on a quarterly basis, you will get the rates that best reflect
the value of the medium, and you will allow yourself more budgeting
flexibility. Annual buys can get you better rates, but you are
negotiating on programs and rates that may not reflect their actual
rating points six months from now. If you buy for each campaign,
you stand the chance of paying much more, or being shut out altogether,
based on availability.
These are
some general TV buying principals, and do not reflect the true
complexity of the media buying profession, but it's a start to
buying TV better.
How
To Buy T.V. Better.
