Journey from Concept to Creation

Broadcast Media (Part One).

NOTE: This blog appears simultaneously on the
Avid Technology community website.

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   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.

Media Resources.

NOTE: This blog appears simultaneously on the
Avid Technology community website.

   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 ended up purchasing a $30,000 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 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:

   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 (Radings, 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.

Broadcast Media (Part Two).

NOTE: This blog appears simultaneously on the
Avid Technology community website.

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   Ok…we’ve established that the proper way to begin development of a media plan is to establish a GRP target for your proposed market(s). It is critical to have a sufficient number of GRP’s in order to achieve adequate reach and frequency. GRPs are presented according to ratings of demographic groups within specific market areas as defined by Nielsen’s® proprietary Designated Market Areas (DMAs). They are presented according to programs or dayparts. Television dayparts include Early Morning (5am-9am), Daytime (9am-4pm), Early Fringe (4pm-8pm), Primetime (8pm-10pm), Late Evening (10pm-1am) and Late Night (1am-5am). Broadcast media tends to reach very large geographic markets.

Media (Introduction).

    I was honored to serve as the final judge in the 2008 DECA, International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Atlanta this past Monday and Tuesday in the “Advertising Campaign” category. The events were held at the Georgia World Congress Center and the awards session was at the Georgia Dome.
   It was an awesome experience. On Tuesday, I evaluated twenty 20-minute advertising campaign final presentations from the top high school marketing students in the world.
    This was a truly humbling experience and I was impressed to say the least. It was virtually impossible to determine which of these student teams best deserved to be in the top ten -- much less the top three finalists! But, ties were not allowed and there had to be three top teams selected. ALL of the students who made it to Atlanta should be VERY proud!
   There was a relatively clear first place winner. This team's "situation analysis" actually included a “SWOT” (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis based on their "secondary research." As did most of the others, they defined their primary and secondary target markets in demographic, psychographic and geographic terms. Their objective was specific, workable, measurable and attainable. Their budget was realistic and comprehensive -- including development costs, production costs, media costs and agency commissions. They certainly showed evidence that they understood some of the basics of the “Journey from Concept to Creation!” 

Typography (Part Three).

   A long, long (really long) time ago I promised to offer some tips on typography. At long last, here they are. I hope they were worth the wait. My blog had to take the back seat for a few weeks...ok, months if you insist on counting the holidays. But never fear, I am still here...sort of like that nagging cough that you can't get rid of... But, deep down inside, I know you have missed me. I am so charming and witty and everything...

Typography (Part Two).

   The reason for proper type specication is simple -- select the typestyle that will best deliver your message. Designers are known to spend hours looking for just the right font to do just that. There are gazillons of typestyles from which to choose. The selection must be inviting to the eye and appropriate to the message. It should be consistent with the tone and manner of the creative program. It should also be legible (although it is sometimes used more as a graphic treatment). While type selection is primarily a matter of artistic taste, it is beneficial to be educated about the history of typography and the story behind commonly used fonts.

Typography (Part One).

My early experience with typography goes way back to grade school. I designed my own type-style that I used in official documents for my fourth grade class. Classmates had to sign an agreement (or else!). So, for example, if you were the target of an errant spitball or two, you were bound by oath not to tell on anyone. Ironically, the ones who had spitballs on the floor around their desk would be the ones who always got in trouble. But the kids always seemed to honor their oath. The fact that the document was done in my "calligraphy" helped to ensure that it would be considered “official, legal and binding.”

Color.

     I was doing a demo recording for a friend a few years ago. The subject of choosing colors came up while I was working on the CD cover design. I remember her saying that she was impressed with my taste in choosing a good color scheme, claiming that it is a talent that few men possess. While there is "method to the madness" of choosing compatible colors for use in design work, I didn’t mention it to her at the time. I preferred to let her believe that I had creative talent that few men possess. Anyway, while an exhaustive study of color theory could fill many books, I will cut to the chase and try to offer a concise and useful overview.

"Divine Proportion."

     One of the best ways to understand the last of my five principles of design -- proportion -- is to study nature. When you look across a landscape, you don’t typically see one tree that is precisely one half as high as another… or one cloud that is one quarter the size of the next one… or stars and galaxies that are equidistant from each other. Nature cares little about such obvious mathematical relationships and good design follows the examples of nature in this regard.
    That is not to say that nature isn’t mathematical. The elements of nature -- clouds, plants, geographical features, animals, stars, galaxies, etc., do have pleasing proportions and the proportional relationships are based on what mathematicians call “irrational” mathematics.

Balance.

     The fourth graphic design principle I will write about is the principle of balance. Like all principles of design, balance applies equally to the elements within the layout as well as the overall layout. There are two basic types of balance: formal (symmetrical) and informal (asymmetrical).
     The concept of formal balance is pretty easy to understand. With formal balance, every item on one side of the page is repeated symmetrically on the other side. Prevalent in ancient Roman and Greek architecture, formal balance is typically used in institutional ads and ads requiring a look of dignity. Formal balance can also be somewhat boring and mundane, especially to recent creative school grads eager to demonstrate their creativity. Nevertheless, the most effective ads are often the simple ones. Remember, the purpose of design is itself quite simple; to communicate your message to the target audience
in the most effective manner possible. Sometimes the most effective manner is to "keep it simple stupid."

Sequence (eye travel).

    In addition to my interest in reading company mission statements as mentioned in a previous blog, as an advertising executive, I also can’t help myself when it comes to evaluating the visual design of television commercials and corporate videos, magazine advertisements, brochures, web sites, logos, etc. When it comes to design work, I have found that it is relatively easy to separate the design pros from the “weekend warriors” that I mentioned in my first blog. I believe that while professional artists apply design principles to their work instinctively – using them as a guide in evaluating the progress of their work -- inexperienced and untrained “designers” routinely violate design principles.