Media Planning

Is it a dark art or is it a science?

Media planning and buying is one of the most important functions in any marketing campaign because if you talk with the wrong people, you waste your money.

Planning media for direct marketing is quite difficult to traditional media planning because the rules for buying direct response media are almost diametrically opposite traditional media buying methods.

Traditional media buying is done on a reach and frequency basis — how many people will the advertisement allegedly reach and how often will it run? The objective is to buy the highest reach for the lowest cost per thousand.

Direct marketers don't always want to buy reach rather they want to buy responsiveness. For example with direct response television, the marketer wants to reach people when they are watching the television, not when they are watching a programme. There is a subtle difference in the way people view and respond to advertisements when watching programmes they are involved in, versus those they are not. It's called the theory of least resistance and it can mean the difference between making money and going broke.

If you would like to know how to buy media for better response call or e‑mail Malcolm Auld or Paul Anderson on +61 2 9976 0900 or inquiry@madmail.com.au.