The term universe in media refers to the totality of the entire population that is
reachable through all mediums in a specific audience category (Nielson, 2018).  The target
audience is a subset existing in the universe. For instance, Universes are based on television
homes in UK, therefore word individual’s stands for all individual people of age group four
years and above with a TV in their home. Universe estimates are comprised of the estimated
population for which the media audiences are calculated

Although the universe of all potential buyers may be your "market," dividing the market into
sections or "segments" can help you generate more revenue. This segmentation can be based
on any number of factors demographic or lifestyle factors. For example, you could segment
your customers by age group. Or, you might divide them by family size. Different segments
will have different needs and are likely to respond to different advertising or promotions. By
thinking in terms of "what does this group of customers need," you can generate solutions
that resonate with the target group.

Most marketers know that "20 percent of buyers consume 80 percent of product volume." If
you can identify that key 20 percent and find others like them, you can sell much more
product with much less effort. These loyal customers of your product or services can be
thought of as a market "niche" that you should attempt to dominate. Niche marketing today
means targeting, communicating with, selling, and obtaining feedback on the heaviest users
of your business's products or services.

2.                     Message weight is the size of the audience reached by an advertising

campaign. A GRP of 400 for example would mean that a program which makes 80% of the
target see an advert and an ad is placed 5 times within the episodes to give 80*5=400 GRPs.
The sum of the reach number of specific media vehicles in a given media plan gives the
message weight. Here while summing the reach, duplication or overlapping is ignored.
Message weight is expressed in terms of gross impressions or gross rating points (GRP).

The total size of the audience for a set of ads or an entire campaign.
Message weight can be expressed as:
a. Opportunity to see: The possible exposure of the advertising message to one audience
member is called an opportunity to see (OTS).

b. Gross Impressions: It is the total number of potential exposures (audience size by the
number of times the ad message is used during a period). Gross impressions are a summation
of exposures of the target audience to media vehicles in a media plan.Each exposure is
counted as one impression.
c. Televisions households: Because gross impressions are often expressed in millions and
are awkward to handle, media planners prefer to use percentages - or a rating, for example, a
rating of TV households is the percentage of homes exposed to an ad medium. A rating of
20=20% of the households with TV sets; televisions households, or (TVHH).

d. Gross Rating Points (GRPs) - the total weight of a specific media schedule, computed by
multiplying the reach, expressed as a percentage of the population, by the average frequency.
GRP is the combined measure of reach and frequency indicating the weight of a media plan
•The more GRPs, the more “weight” a plan has

3.
                    The latest trends in media planning growing mediums and channels that
should be considered in media planning.  To name a few
Live streaming enters the mainstream
Brands have to date approached live video streaming as an experiment or PR stunt,
rather than a core tactic within their marketing armoury. Expect that to change in 2017 as the
live streaming services of all the big social networks grow their user base and the concept
gains traction among consumers. Streaming services are increasingly gaining viewership as
they continue to take more and more territory from TV.  Also, digital publishing platforms
will continue to increase in numbers as online audience grows.
2. More transparency in media buying
Concerns about the lack of transparency in media buying reached fever pitch last year.
In a damning report, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the US found
widespread evidence of media owners paying rebates to agencies based on the amount they
spend. It suggested that many agencies choose to buy media that does not align with their
clients’ strategies as a result of these financial incentives.
Out-of-home becomes truly interactive

Perceptions of out-of-home (OOH) advertising shifted in 2016 as brands discovered new

ways of using the medium. Rather than simply raising awareness, outdoor ads were used to
educate and inform the public, or to immerse consumers in brand experiences.

‘Screen agnostic’ strategies

Several trends are encouraging brands to think less in terms of specific media and more in
terms of ‘content’ or ‘experiences’. The desire to achieve synchronisation across TV,
desktop, mobile and digital outdoor screens is resulting in creative executions that are
immediately transferable across all channels.

4.
The ratings of any broadcast vehicle are calculated by how well and how long it
captures an audience. A sample of the general population is used to represent all
demographics and viewership is recorded per minute per person to calculate the average
rating. Rossiter (1998, p. 67)
For a mass media like a TV channel, message weight is expressed in gross rating points
(GRPs). It is a sum of the rating points of all programmes in the TV media plan. One
rating point indicates one percent of the target audience. GRPs of the entire media plan
are given by

GRPs for TV are calculated generally for a week or a month. Television Rating points
(TRPs) are available in India calculated on the basis of the panel method. The ultimate
business of TV is to deliver the eyeballs. It is obviously an issue of audience share. Gross
impressions in print media are counted for every ad in every media vehicle used during
the whole campaign.

There should be an attempt in the media objectives to balance the reach and frequency.
There should be an appropriate message weight at the same time.
This will help us realize our advertising plan. To face heavy competitive campaign, we
should have greater frequency to ensure the repetition of the message. It is not so
important to have a wider reach.
While advertising an innovation, a greater reach is preferred, to a greater frequency. It
is also important to have a large message weight. Once the media objectives are set, we
are ready to develop strategies to realize them.

 
5.
                    An advertising problem is a challenge in marketing to make an
advertisement message reach a certain target audience to a certain scale. In media planning,
the advertising problem determines the target audience and the most effective medium to use

6.                
                     Media planning process is a coordinated effort in that all activities in the
process are geared towards a singular goal of reaching a particular target audience through
various mediums.
Proper media planning enables the selection of the right media: selection of the right media
is crucial in the entire planning process. How best can I reach my target audience? Is the
question kept in mind?

It helps to allocate the advertising funds to the right products in the right media: for
example, ads for chocolates will be placed in a slot where there is maximum children viewer
ship. And channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network or between 5-7 pm when most
children watch cartoons.

It indicates the period or the season in which the advertiser need to concentrate
advertising efforts: for example all the paint advertisements concentrate on the festive
seasons. A few months before the festival like Diwali the ads are released.
It helps achieve the advertising objectives.

It minimizes wastages of advertising funds: when money is used in the right direction there
are minimum wastages. A media plan helps the ad agency to obtain approval form the client.
Proper media planning will help the advertiser to reach the right target audience. It helps to
finalize the frequency of advertisements: how many repetitions of the advertisement should
be done and are required also specified in a media plan.

7.
                    The things necessary to determine before a media planning process
include the following: Goal definition; the precise objectives of the campaign, be it brand
awareness, announcing a new product or promoting a sale. Then the target audience is
determined, the ideal prospect is described in social and demographic detail before research
on media channels is done. (Shimp & Andrews, 2013)
Step one: Market analysis
The goal of a market analysis is to determine the attractiveness of a market and to understand
its evolving opportunities and threats as they relate to the strengths and weaknesses of the
firm. In a capsule its all about information about the market we rae catering to.
Step 2: Setting media objectives:

Media Objective:
The specific goals an advertiser has for the media portion of the advertising program. In the
media planning context, you need to establish firm objectives for your plan in order to
demonstrate how it will help your brand achieve its marketing goals.

Media objectives are in harmony with the advertising and the marketing plans. Thus while
launching a new product or repositioning an existing product, there are specific objectives
which will guide our media decisions. These objectives must be measurable. It facilitates co-
ordination and evaluation once the campaign is over.

1. Target Audience: How to reach

Which is the audience for our product? This happens to be the most important consideration
in the media decisions. We first examine our market plans and advertising plans. These
provide us details about the audience in terms of age, religion, sex, education – these are
demographic characteristics.

8.
                    Lean back are the traditional type of media like publishing and TV where

the audience has minimum engagement with the content, it is passively consumed. Lean

forward are the new digital media channels such as social media where audience can interact

with content e.g. share, like, comment retweet etc.

Katz (2012) divides media into two categories: lean forward and lean back. The following
table illustrates the major differences between lean forward and lean back media.

Lean forward Lean back

Magazines Television (other)

Newspapers Radio
Direct Main Outdoor

Yellow Pages

Television (via DVRs, Video on Demand)

Internet

The main differences between lean forward and lean back media

Source: Katz (2010)

 In simple terms, lean forward media is a type of media where receivers lean forward to
interact and control the flow of information in an active manner. In lean back form of media,
on the other hand, viewers can lean back and do receive the information in a passive manner.
According to categorisations provided above print media can be specified as lean forward
media.

 ‘Lean forward’ seems to imply paying more attention, or, maybe, just getting closer. ‘Lean
back’ has an image of someone relaxing on a couch with beer-in-hand, veging out. But the
main ‘lean forward’ media experience, the PC-on-the-web, is more typically someone
multitasking so much he is stupider. And ‘lean back’ is supposedly the mode that people read
the newspaper in. The terms also seem to imply distance from the medium, although that
distance is short for print and long for television, both supposedly ‘lean back’ media.

9.

                    Media planning is the primary activity in a marketing process because

through it the entire marketing strategy is determined. Factors such as the message, the

audience, coverage, frequency and budget are determined in this phase.

Media planning that requires knowledge of both marketing and mass communication skills is
the process of determining deals with the biggest portion of the advertiser’s budget in terms
of cost for buying placement of advertisement.

Media planners have two main roles of analysing the market and evaluating media channel
effectiveness in order to place the advertising message before a target audience. The findings
from the research influence the creative and media plans for all aspects of marketing
communication including advertising.

Traditionally, media planning was essentially based on a client’s media strategy. The ad
agency was responsible for developing the media plan, which was usually devised jointly by
the agency’s media department, the account and creative teams, and the marketer’s brand
management group. Once the plan was formed, a media buying unit, sometimes attached to
the ad agency, executed it. Now, an advertising client is just as likely to outsource media
planning to an agency, as it is to develop its own plan. Because of these shifts, the line
between media planning and media buying has become hazy.

Some experts describe media planners as the hub or central point in the advertising wheel,
where all campaign elements symbolized by the spokes of the wheel are joined. The basis of
this opinion is the sheer volume of data and information that media planners must gather,
sort, and analyze before media decision-making can begin. In many ad agencies, account
planners collect, gather, and analyse some of this market and creative information, especially
if it relates to the target audience, message design, or brand image.

10.

                    Out Of Home (OOH) advertising differs from traditional media planning

practice because it is designed to reach the target when they are on the go, such as in transit

or public places, it is therefore very precise and intriguing e.g. billboards.’

 OOH advertising is a $28 billion market, controlling a market share of approximately 6

percent globally.
 The market share of OOH versus all other media categories (including online) has been
stable in the last five years, but it has actually increased from 8 to 10 percent of traditional
media ad spend (TV, print, radio, OOH).
 It is the only traditional medium that has been growing ad sales consistently over the last
10 years and this is predicted to continue.
 Revenue will grow by 4 percent per year in the next five years to reach $33 billion

by 2021.

OOH advertising cannot be skipped or blocked. Today’s busy consumers, especially the
younger generations, are experts at advertising avoidance by choosing ad-free, paid media, or
blocking ad insertions on free websites. OOH is much less threatened by this phenomenon
than other traditional media.

OOH is expanding to brand new environments. OOH digital screens penetrate niche
environments to engage the young urban population that is hard to reach through traditional
media: offices, taxis, gyms, bars, retail and more. Digital place-based OOH provides
important targeting capabilities and programmatic opportunities.

OOH can address branding campaigns as well as lower path to purchase funnel
activation. OOH’s ubiquitous nature provides an innate ability to target consumers at or near
the point-of-sale. Connected digital screens, usage of smartphone data and marketing data
allow marketers to target specific day parts, target groups and location with increasing
relevance. Bench marketing’s recent OOH ROI Study provides greater insights.

References

Katz, H. (2012) “The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection,
Planning, Research, and Buying” 5th edition, Taylor & Francis
Media (2013) Business Dictionary, Available at:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media.html
Rossiter, J. R., & Danaher, P. J. (2014). Advanced Media Planning. Boston, MA: Springer
US.
Shimp, T. A., & Andrews, J. C. (2013). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of
integrated marketing communications. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage
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