What about the moments or hours you spend behind the wheel? What do you do when you're driving to and from work, trying to occupy your thoughts with anything else but the horrendous traffic that sits all around you? Are your eyes scanning the bazillion and one billboards that seem to pop up on an almost daily basis? Are you tuned in to one particular radio station, or do you switch every time you hear a commercial break or news program? Perhaps you're a talk radio junky, waiting eagerly for the latest revelation according to Dr. Laura or Clark Howard? Or, are you one of those countless numbers who never flip on the radio, and choose, instead to listen to music or books from the pile of tapes and CD's that have become a permanent fixture in your vehicle?
You may not give a hoot about your media habits, but Allen Ginsberg does. As Executive Vice President and Media Director at BBDO South, his career revolves around what people are watching, reading, and listening to. Why is he so concerned about how people are spending their time with assorted media? Because he and his team are charged with the responsibility of planning and purchasing media for BBDO South's diverse clientele. Every day they fight battles, not to secure some much coveted piece of land, but to secure a much coveted piece of consumers' minds in an attempt to help clients successfully convey their messages and achieve sales goals.
It used to be an easy job. Once upon a time, Ginsberg notes, prices were clearly stated on easy to understand rate cards. "If you could read," he says, " you could be a media planner." A shift in the industry occurred, however, when McCalls Magazine began negotiating its rates. "They opened up a Pandora's box," he cites. "Then along came Fox, the fourth network. They were like a loose cannon, always open to the possibilities of making deals. Of course, there was also Ted Turner who made his foray into the television market, initially creating TBS and CNN."
Fast forward to the late nineties with an overabundance of cable stations, more magazines than you could ever read, and so many on-line opportunities as to boggle the mind. "These days," Ginsberg argues, "media planning has become more of an art form. You really need to be able to think outside of the box to serve clients well." With so much programming available, how does Ginsberg make media decisions for his clients? Very carefully. Research is a key element of media planning and buying. "BBDO will spend in excess of $5 million in research this year," Ginsberg remarks. "We'll be looking at what people watch and listen to, how they use the Internet. We'll address key futuristic issues and look at ethnic minority trends. The demographic shifts are incredible which is why research is so helpful in trying to determine how to reach such groups as teens and young men." Essentially, he remarks, "It's up to us to understand the intricacies of what people are thinking. Such information is important when you look at how to sell a car versus a truck, for example, because you need to know who is going to buy that product. It's up to us to match that audience with the right creative and the right media."
Given BBDO's sizable research budget, key staff members have the unique opportunity to go straight to the source to determine which shows merit their advertising dollars. "We go straight to directors and producers in Hollywood to figure out what's going on in television. We look at new programs and see who's got a good track record with past programs. We even look at which writers have moved on from certain shows. Everyone knows Steven Bochco has a good track record with programming. And it was pretty easy to figure the reason Frasier fell last year was because the writer left." Just like the television critics do before the start of the season, Ginsberg makes his own predictions for program success based on what he has seen and heard. Those predictions come into play when it comes to making the actual media buy.
Besides journeying to Tinseltown, various networks come to brief the BBDO media team on upcoming programs and seasons. "The Discovery Channel and A & E are just two of the networks that come to brief us. They'll talk about new programs they've developed, wondering if those programs fit any of our client needs." There are even those occasions when shows are conceived with particular clients in mind in the hopes of forging strong advertising alliances.
While there are those who believe people are watching less t.v. these days, Ginsberg points out this is simply not the case. "Sets are on more than ever," Ginsberg explains. "It's just that t.v. has been splintered 90 ways to Sunday. And it's not as much a shared experience as it used to be. MASH, for example, used to draw 30 to 40 million viewers per week. Other than major events, we really don't have programs like that anymore." Which makes creating value for a client, given such a fragmented marketplace, a difficult task.
And that's just television. Ginsberg says staff is also charged with staying abreast of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, not to mention the Internet. "We keep close watch on publications through syndicated research but there's no way everyone can know everything that's going on. There's just too much out there." He does know, however that newspaper readership is way down. "All you have to do is look in this office. We get 50 copies of the New York Times delivered everyday and nobody's reading them."
Figuring out where to place advertising dollars is one thing, making the actual purchase is another. The media purchase is a question of industry knowledge and good negotiating skills. "You need to know what's doable for a station or publication," Ginsberg comments. "To do that you need to be well aware of such information as ratings, ratings history, who else is out there buying. Ideally, when you're purchasing media you want to go to the market with some clout behind you," Ginsberg says. Although agencies can be small and smart, he knows from experience it's even better to be smart and big. A sentiment Cathy Crawford wholeheartedly agrees with. Although she isn't with an agency, she is the chief local broadcast officer for Western International Media, the largest national buyer of local radio and television spots. Headquartered in California, Western has more than 20 offices scattered across the country. "There's no doubt that we get the best prices in town because we have muscle in the marketplace. Unlike our clients, (made up of both agencies and corporations) we're in the marketplace booking spots every day of the week. That gives us an edge." "But," as Ginsberg adds, "we're not out there to beat up the station either. The reality of the situation is looking at how can we work together to best serve our client. We're looking not just for time slots but for ideas regarding contests and promotions. For example, we work with radio stations who also do promotions on-line."
When it comes to the actual media purchases, Fitzgerald & Company negotiates rates for publications, but leaves the broadcast purchases to McCann Erickson, one of the agency's sister firms in New York. What Elisabeth Tescione and Betsy Speight focus most of their time on is strategic planning. "When people ask me what I do, I tell them I invest client's money to reach their target consumers," comments Senior Planner Speight.
Neither Tescione, Fitzgerald's Vice President, Group Media Supervisor, or Speight takes that responsibility lightly. "As steward's of our client's money," Tescione notes, "it's up to us to make certain those investments are made wisely." With several proprietary tools at their fingertips, both Speight and Tescione spend countless hours judging the viability of potential media mixes, and whether or not those options will be the most ideal in helping them reach their target audience. "When I use McReach for example," Speight says, "I enter a prototype schedule, and it spits back information telling me who I'll reach and how often I'll reach them."
As one might guess, variables are many and varied. Should they try for more visibility or greater frequency? Which dayparts make the most sense or is broadcast even the best way to convey the message? When they look at publications, they determine whether the editorial content is suitable. They also try and assess reader viewpoints. "When we use research," Tescione notes, "it's more directional than definitive. We use the numbers and the research in conjunction with our experience and instincts to help us make the final decisions."
Thanks to the wealth of research tools on the market, Tescione and Speight can even look at how much their competitors are spending on advertising. "There's a system called Stradegy," Speight notes, "that lets you look at other brands' media schedules to see how they're spending their advertising dollars. It's a great way to help clients compare themselves to their competitors." "We use it a lot," Tescione adds, "for new business. We can show them whether or not there's a lot of clutter in that market. Essentially, it shows clients what the market they're entering will be like."
Like Wall Street investors, Tescione and Speight monitor their buys on a regular basis, making certain ads run on schedule, assessing whether those programs achieve promised ratings. "When we make a broadcast buy, we're promising our clients that so many eyeballs will be on the screen," Tescione says. Making certain to keep their clients in the loop, the agency provides clients with a media post analyses that shows how well their investments did. "If we exceeded expectations," Speight comments, "that's great. But if the station guarantees a rating, but then doesn't achieve it," Speight comments, "they owe us and will make good on that spot."
Understanding the complexity and continued fragmentation of the market, the duo is constantly searching for new ways to help their clients' be heard. "It's conceivable that soon even the back of airplane seats will be available for advertising sales." Tescione smiles. For now, though, the newest frontier in advertising is the Internet. "It's limitless media," Speight says. "There's no limit to the number of web sites that can exist. You can have editorial, games, links."
They're also beginning to convince clients that interactive presents promising opportunities to reach an attractive audience. "AFLAC has always been a heavy television advertiser," Tescione cites. "This year we sold them on the strengths of interactive. What we did was take a trivia feature and placed it on-line on sites like ESPN.com. It brought something more to the table than television because people could interact by actually playing the trivia game. They're very excited and have gotten lots of positive feedback from their sales department."
Cathy Crawford also appreciates the potential of the Internet. However, the Chief Local Broadcast Officer for Western International Media, the largest national buyer of local radio and television advertising, believes it has its drawbacks too. "Fragmentation in the marketplace isn't really a problem," Crawford notes. "The problem with Internet advertising is the lack of measurement capabilities, which seems to be getting worse, not better. We can't get Nielsen to step up to the plate. There needs to be a reliable method for gathering rating information to make the medium more accountable."
"Although it really wasn't that long ago when people couldn't imagine anything beyond the three major networks," Ginsberg reflects, "it won't be too long before there will be thousands of people out there trying to produce their own programming, thanks to the coming of broadband and t.v. quality pictures. Just think, everyone can have their own financial planning program, among other things. When the marketplace becomes that fragmented, there's just one thing I want. And that's to be retired."