TYPES OF MEDIA BUYS
To appreciate the true value of a particular media buy, we have grouped TV
stations into three categories and analyzed their rates based on their
comparative coverage. The three categories are:
NATIONAL. These TV stations are either cable networks or national super-
stations. (To illustrate, we'll use Nickelodeon at 1:30 a.m. on weekdays
which costs $12,500.)
PRIMARY. These are local broadcast TV stations in major cities with at least
one million TV homes. ( We'll use WPGH, the FOX affiliate in Pittsburgh, at
1:30 a.m. on weekdays which costs $900.)
SECONDARY. These are local broadcast TV stations in smaller or secondary
cities, with usually less than 500,000 TV homes. (We'll use WWAT, and
independent in Columbus, Ohio at 1:30 a. m. on weekdays which costs $150.)
Charting comparative rates and effective reach of each station yields the
following:
TV GROUP RATE TV HOMES CPM*
Nationals $12,500 63 million 0.20
Primary $900 1.2 million 0.75
Secondary $150 350,000 0.43
*The acronym CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand ( M stnads for Mil, Latin for
thousand). Based on the preceding table, if all the potential viewers being
reached by each respective station were watching that station at that time,
it would cost you 20 cents to reach every 1,000 viewers watching a widely
subscribed to cable network, 75 cents for a primary station, and 43 cents
per 1000 viewers in a secondary market.
Although it seems obvious that you may want to split your media buys between
the national and secondary markets, often this is not possible. Here are some
of the reasons:
- Airtime on national stations is hard to come by. Fewer than 20 cable
networks and superstations fall into this category, and most available info-
mercial time has already been purchased or is controlled by major media
brokers and infomercial production houses.
- In the test market stage, it is unwise to invest a lot ofmoney in national
media buys. It is better to spread your budget over a string of secondary
markets to get a better feel for viewer feedback.
- Finding good secondary markets involves a fair amount of research. It is
best to deal with media brokers who specialize in this category.
TESTING
Always test media on an OTO (one-time-only) basis. Even Fortune 500 companies
with multimillion-dollar budgets always test their products and the media where
they are placed. No one can accurately predict the outcome of an untested
campaign. Lay out a sensible test campaign and evaluate the results accord-
ingly.
For do-it-yourselfers, secondary markets with airtime rates between $150 and
$400 offer ideal, low-risk vehicles for test marketing your infomercial.
Although TV stations in secondary markets do not generally offer the best
CPM (compare to nationwide cable channels), they charge the lowest entry fees
required to get a fair "let-the-market-decide" type of evaluation for an
infomercial.
APPROVAL
As soon as the first draft of your infomercial is completed, make several
copies and send one to each station you are considering.
But before you send any DVD for approval, contact the station to confirm
that they have available airtime. The approval process can take anywhere
from a day to a month, depending on who you know and the overall attitude
at that station.
MEDIA BROKERS
Media brokers are independent companies that sell airtime for stations
nationwide. Stations pay these brokers a commission based on the cost of
airtime purchases.
Brokers come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the type of TV stations
they represent and their volume of business. In some cases, brokers who
buy a lot of media time have better pricing leverage. Therefore two brokers
may have different rates for the same time slot at the same station.
BROKERS WORK LIKE A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR TV AIRTIME ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
If you want to buy airtime outside your state, a broker will come in handy,
giving you vital information about TV stations in different markets. Brokers
are particularly helpful when you're buying airtime on a network affiliate
(ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), a cable network (ESPN, A&E, CNN), or a superstation
(WGN or WOR). Brokers give you access to as many stations in as many regions
as you want, but you only have to deal with one person, saving you the hassle
of negotiating with each station individually.
However, if you are buyingairtime from stations in your city or in a
geographic area that you're familiar with, using a broker may hurt rather
than help. For example, if the station you wantto use does not recognize
your broker, that broker may try to convince you to advertise on a station
that will pay his commission.
Likewise, a media broker may cost you more if you are buying large quantities
of airtime. By placing your order as a direct account, you can negotiate
a rebate on the portion of the fee that the station would otherwise pay a
broker.
TARGETING BY ZIP CODE
If your media buy is sensitive to demographics, one method of buying will
deliver precision, especially if you buy from cable service companies on a
local basis.
From Beverly Hills to the Bronx, expanding your geopgraphic exposure is as
easy as qualifying the socio-economic profiles of you audience. Marketers
now use ZIP codes to identify the geographic distribution of their
potential viewers. As markets become more segmented, a new method of
categorizing American neighborhoods is gaining ground.
THE CLUSTERING OF AMERICA. This is a book by Michael J. Weiss which dissects
different lifesytles in contemporary America based on the U.S. Postal
Service's Zone Improvement Plan - better known as ZIP codes.
THE 5 DIGITS OF YOUR ZIP CODE CAN TELL A MARKETER WHAT YOU ATE FOR BREAKFAST
Weiss explains that your ZIP code, which actually regpresents the community
where your live, reveals a lot about the people who live within its boundaries.
The 5 digits of your ZIP code are not being usedto tell marketers the kinds of
magazines you read, what you eat for breakfast, and the brand of toothpaste
you are likely to use. Marketers re even using ZIP codes to decide what kind
of celebrity to use in their advertising. (From The Clustering of America, by
Michael J. Weiss; Perennial Library, Harper & Row, New York; ISBN
0-06-091599-4; $10.95.)
