After all the inputs from various meetings a strategic sketch is created which will flow draft media and creative strategies. These will be submitted to the client for his approval and it is usual for those who have been involved in their creation to be present to argue their case.
ANALYSIS OF PLAN AND DATA
Once these basic strategies have been approved, detailed work can commence. At this stage it is still necessary for media and creative personnel to plug closely together, since a vital factor for discussion will be size of the space, or length of time, which is required to carry the advertising message. The bulk of media planner’s task is now concerned with the accumulation and analysis of data. It is sufficient to say here that whether a model is used to assist in the production of a plan or not, similar procedures have to be gone through. The principal differences arise because the computer is able to consider may more variables at one time than a planner can without its assistance. For the use of a media model, all judgments have to be quantified.
MEDIA SCHEDULE
From a computer printout, or from his own calculations, the planner will now have a series of media vehicles , together with number of insertions in each of them. To turn this into a schedule, he needs to consider the spread of the campaign over time; he will then embody the whole of his thinking into a proposal, for submission to the agency plans board.
PREPARING PROPOSAL
When this hurdle has been cleared, the total package, usually in the form of a document containing the full campaign plan, marketing, media and creative, together with ancillary recommendations for perhaps research and merchandising, will be presented to the client. The agency presentation team will usually include agency management, together with all senior personnel who have been responsible for creating the plan. Once it is agreed, the schedule is returned to the media department for buying.
Of course, if at any stage during the development of the plan there is a rejection, then the re-cycling process has to start and everyone has to try again. The advantage of obtaining client approval of strategies is that the problem is broken down into manageable portions. If the client sees nothing until he sees the final plan, he may well find himself in disagreement with the original marketing strategy, and much time will have been wasted.
