Approach
Media planning: from budget to executed plan.
Media planning turns a strategy into an operational plan: which media outlets, which formats, which weeks and on what terms. We build this plan, negotiate it with sales houses and media owners, and follow its execution through to the final report.
With the same budget, two plans can produce different results.
The gap rarely comes from a single choice. It results from a series of technical decisions: distribution of weight over time, selection of environments, formats, positions, terms obtained, synchronisation between media. These decisions are the core of media planning.
The decisions that make up a plan.
- Translating strategic objectives into values to be reached: reach, frequency, volume of contacts.
- Defining audiences within the measurement standards specific to each medium.
- Selecting the mix of media and outlets according to the role defined upstream.
- Allocating the budget in CHF, by medium, by region and by period.
- Calculating the expected reach and frequency on the target.
- Setting the schedule: bursts or continuity, synchronisation with key commercial periods.
- Choosing the formats and positions suited to the message.
- Negotiating rates and terms with sales houses and media owners.
- Implementing the bookings and passing on the technical specifications.
- Setting the reporting framework before launch.
What we deliver.
The detailed plan by outlet, format and date, the budget allocated in CHF, the broadcast schedule, the booking confirmations and the negotiated terms, then the campaign report once delivery is complete.
The role of the media planner.
The media planner is the campaign's media project manager. Working with the advertiser, the creative agency and the sales houses, he or she analyses the market, selects the relevant outlets, allocates the budget between traditional and digital, negotiates the terms, draws up the schedule and evaluates the results in order to adjust the next plan.
Where media planning stops.
Media planning applies the decisions taken in the media strategy and incorporates from the outset the measurement framework defined with the client. It differs from the media audit, which examines plans and results already committed rather than a set-up still to be built.
In practice
For Bains de Lavey, eight active weeks made it possible to adapt a single film across TV, out-of-home and radio, covering the nearby catchment areas throughout the summer. DIGA Möbel synchronised TV and radio in German-speaking Switzerland to concentrate weight on its Hausmesse event. Fisherman's Friend combined a 15-second spot with a 5-second reminder to serve, within the same break, the brand and a product line.
FAQ
The objectives and the target, the selected outlets, the formats, the broadcast dates, the planned weight, the detailed budget and the indicators that will be used for the final report.
GRP (Gross Rating Point) expresses advertising weight on a target: it is the product of reach and average frequency. The same number of GRPs can result from broad reach with little repetition or from narrow reach with high repetition.
Mediagenic negotiates the terms with sales houses and media owners on behalf of the advertiser, then records them in the media plan.