Media Scheduling & Media

Research

Prof. Sita
Ramakrishnan

Topics to be covered

What is Media Scheduling

Media Scheduling Strategies/Methods
Meaning of Media Research
Functions of Media Research
Role of Media Research
Factors to be considered while selecting
media for advertising
Media research organisations in India
Some Important Media Research Studies

Media Scheduling
-

Decisions about the timing, continuity & size of ads.

Timing & Continuity involve when to advertise &
how long to advertise and Size involves actual size
and placement of ads.
Part of overall marketing strategy.

Media Scheduling Methods

-

Concerned with scheduling of advertisements.

Relates to timing of media insertions within a
specified time period.

1.

Bursting Strategy:

- Heavy advertising during a particular period followed

by normal advertising.
- Used for introduction of new products.
- Initial heavy advertising is used to increase awareness
of the product.

2. Burst-Hiatus-Flight Strategy:
- Heavy advertising followed by absence/almost no
advertising.
- High frequency followed by very low frequency.
- Used for seasonal products i.e heavy advertising
during busy season followed by no advertising during
off-season.

3. Flighting strategy:
- Used for products that have more or less uniform sales
throughout the year.
- Advertising schedule is distributed more or less equally
through the year.
- Periodic bursts or hiatus may be introduced.
Eg: Daily use items like toothpaste, soaps, etc.

4. Pulsing strategy:
- Flighting followed by hiatus but their period is short.
- Regular advertising for about 2-3 weeks followed by
low advertising for a short period.

5. Alternating strategy:
- Advertising every alternate month.

6. Steady strategy:
- Fixed amount of spending every month.
- Not popular among advertisers.

7.

Step-down strategy:
- As season approaches, heavy advertising and as
season declines, advertising is reduced.

8.

Teaser step-up strategy:

- Similar to seasonal strategy.
- As season begins, advertising starts on a low scale
and as season picks up, advertising increases and
reaches its peak.

Media Research

Meaning:
- Media means the various tools used to advertise
products/ideas/services.
- Advertiser has to use different media and each
media is effective in its own way.
- Advertiser has to use that media which is most
suitable to his TG.
- To find out the best media, media research is
required.
- Media research comes under advertising research,
which comes under the scope of overall marketing
research.

- Relates to coverage, impact (popularity), depth,

frequency and effectiveness (cost vs benefit) of
different media.
- Analyses both TG and media options.

Functions of Media Research

To find out the most efficient media for advertising
by measuring and comparing different media &
media vehicles in terms of :
a) Vehicle distribution: No of copies circulated of a
newspaper or magazine OR number of programmes
on each channel.
b) Vehicle exposure: No and kind of people reading
a newspaper/magazine and no of times an issue is
read OR no and kind of people watching a TV
programme.
c) Advertising exposure: No of people exposed to
the ad and no of times exposed.

Role of Media Research

1.

2.

3.

Availability of information: Readers/Viewers profile

regarding age, sex, income, education, buying
pattern etc, Program ratings, Circulation
information helps agencies in prescribing the most
suitable media to the advertiser.
Helps in self-evaluation: Media owners can fix rates
for their medium depending on its popularity.
Helps in planning: Helps advertiser in choosing
that media which gives him maximum return for
his investment.

4.

5.

6.
7.

Helps in determining rates to be charged: Media

owners can charge higher rates when the
readership/viewership of their medium increases.
Gains to advertiser and audience: Media owners
are constantly trying to improve the quality of the
programs/editorials in their medium as per the
conclusions of media research. This benefits both
advertiser, in sponsoring the right program and
audience, who get better programs/editorials.
Helps media planners.
Helps research organisations: in conducting regular
research due to growing importance of media
research.

Factors to be considered while selecting

media for advertising
1.
2.

3.

4.
5.
6.

7.

Nature and market coverage of the product.

Nature and features of customers for the product
like literacy, rural/urban, etc.
Nature of market competition, substitutes available
and extent of consumer loyalty.
Policies of competitors.
Objectives of the ad campaign.
Budget allocation of advertiser for the particular
period.
Circulation/readership/viewership or goodwill of
the media.

8.
9.

Cost of advertising in different media.

Frequency of ads for expected results.

Media Research Organisations in India

Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)

Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB)
Market research and Advisory Services (MRAS)
Indian Newspaper Society (INS)
Marketing And Research Group (MARG)
AIR Audience research Wing
Operations Research Group (ORG)
Doordarshan Research Wing

Some Important Media Research Studies

National Readership Survery (NRS)

Business readership Survey (BRS)
Television Rating Points (TRPs)
National Television Study (NTS)
Listenership Survey by AIR Audience Research Wing