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in
this issue
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Dear
Reader,
One fear I want dispel in this discussion is the common client
misconception: If things go sour the client will lose hundreds of
thousands of dollars on media. First, the more money that is being
funneled into the roll-out, or the larger the media buy the less the
risk of loss. The less money that has been spent on media (in the
roll-out phase one) the greater the potential for loss.
The More You Spend The Less You Lose 
We have started the roll-out, and it is this starting point that I
define as phase one. Phase one is the most challenging for the media
buyer, because all of his/her creative energies are put to the test. The
buyer must be alert to every success and failure, and be able to
interpret what to do next. Basically buy success and terminate failure.
Along with managing past decisions, the buyer must also make decisions
anticipating future results.
If station KXYZ at 9:00am on Saturday morning brought in a decent
result, does it make sense to test station KZYX at 10:00am on Sunday in
the same market? In the Phase one this decision making process recurs
over and over again, and more and more times on different stations are
tested. As the successes increase and more airdates are added to the
schedule, the buyers knowledge of what media produces successful results
increases.
Last
Week's Issue 59:Creating a Million Dollar Roll-out One Media Buy at a
Time
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Results
You Can Count On |
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An important point in this process should be understood. In
direct response television when a daypart or a 30 minute
timeslot is successful, then the degree to which that media
creates profit is reliable. So, if the airtime is producing
three (3) dollars for every one (1) dollar you spend in media-it
is a safe bet that you can buy that time three times over and
still produce profit. The performance of the media does not
change like the stock market, here today and gone tomorrow. The
profitability of a media time erodes slowly or according to the
results you experience in the past, not suddenly and at a total
loss.
It is this behavior-the more success and media dollars you
add to a weekly media budget the less risk you are at loss. The
greater the weekly buy climbs too the less likely you are to be
in a risky position. A media buyer will be more comfortable at
spending $500,000 per week than $20,000 per week.
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Glory
and Mountain Climbing |
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Phase one is the mountain climbing phase. You are attempting to
exploit every single media opportunity that will make money for
the project. Phase one is a glorified test, because everything
that is purchased and airs is up for adding or terminating
according to the results produced. As this process grows the
media buyer will find what works and what doesn't. It is this
knowledge that makes up your media buy, and is the basis upon
which your entire product roll-out depends.
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Ring
The Bell |
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The growth of phase one looks like the first half of a bell
curve. The line keeps climbing until it finally reaches it's
peak, and now the top of the bell begins to emerge. It is at
this point when very little new media is added, but rather only
the past successful media continues to air that the first phase
ends. This could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars per
week and hundreds of media purchases airing each week.
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