Sponsor (1956)

RICH'S PLAN I Continued from page 40) long as our cop) platform includes as man) product characteristics as ii does, we do not think that the nature of this medium will allow an effective presentation ol an in\ olved cop) ston on a sustaining basis." The final media decision on the basis of this evidence was spot radio, with a station and market lineup which gave the product !!0' , coverage of all families cast ol the Mississippi. Said Rich: "We determined that this coverage level is not only adequate hut well above average within the funds available, and that a similar level could not have been achieved with any other media t\ pe.' What kind ol frequenc) did Rich recommend to reach this market potential.'' A minimum of five announcements weekl) on top powerhouse stations in major urban centers. "Powerhouse stations have not only the advantage ol large eoverage areas," said Rich, "'hut the) also achieve above-average ratings in the outside areas. Our product, however, is mainl\ urban, and it i> in these urban areas where l\ make the greatest inroads on radio ratings. The plan, therefore, called for purchase of the rest of the spots in the 15 to 25 per week quota on smaller, less costly stations with high coverage. Radio parallels our market "In our opinion, radio parallels our market profile better than an\ other media type. A big part in thai market profile is taken h\ the housewife. the brand s primary purchasing agent. so announcements were scheduled between earl\ morning and noon. The strategy: to reach an all-family audience in the early morning, housewives alone during the late morning hours. Cost was a major facto] in the '-•'lection of radio as the primary medium. -*a\ Rich: "Radio today represents an economical means of reaching pi ime purchasers of our product the adult females with a relativel) high decree of frequency. Our reconi iiii nded radio effort w ill reach in a four-week period \1' , ol the radio home east ol the Mississippi with an averagi fi equenc) ol 6.7 ii s ami at ,i i ost-pei -1,000 delivered ol '>■".<•. 'Someone ma) think that VI' , appears to he low . Let S keep "Me thing in mind. If we had a budget that would afford us the purchase of 50' < of a nighttime half-hour in television, and assumed an average rating of all -how on the air today is anywhere between a 20 and a 25 in a four-week period, we could hope to achieve a reach of 55', to 10' < with a frequency of 2.0 or 2.5. The cost-per-1,000 of t\ would he greater than of radio. The secondary media effort. Sunda) supplements and comic sections, is supplemental^ to radio and i> seasonal. Sunday sections "provide deep coverage of urban areas, where the brand's greatest sales potential is. They add additional impact in the form of the printed word and visual package presentation during the peak selling sca-on on top ol a sustaining broadcast effort. "Roto supplements are our first choice because of their superiority in reproduction, and the availability of the all-famil) audience. While comics are less desirable, we still prefer their use over daily or Sunday run-of-paper advertising because of their better icadei -hip and higbei \ isihilit\ . and because the use ol color will make up for some of the deficiencies through higher noting. "The comic in our effort account for only 21' < of the total circulation. On an over-all basis, this print effort will deliver some 73 million impressions in prime marketing areas at a total famil) coverage of approximate!) 12' < . The 24 selected markets receive an average of better than 70% cit) zone famil) coverage. Rich, alter specifying these media recommendations and the reasons for them to his Four A audience, ventured deeper into his agency's philosophy in c hailing the marketing and the media strateg) which would match the needs ol the product. He look si\ basic advertising concepts, "words that we have all heard. ' and proceeded to "tie them hack to media" and the media decision. Merchandising: "The merchandising characteristic ol our product was not a major factor in our choice of an) particular media hpe. Merehandi-ing i an extremely helpful weapon that should be taken advantage of at evei \ oppoi tunity, but should he regarded as only one factor, and a minor one ;il that, in the choice ol media. \fter regarding carefull) the geographical limitations that we yvere winking against, we ha\e concentrated our efforts on creating the highest possible consumer demand regardless of method and agencies of distribution. "If merchandising can he achieved through any of the media ty pes that we have suggested, good. Unquestionably, we will use it. If not, then we are going to have to make our media type that we have recommended work that much harder." Advertising budget: "Ibis has been a constant wail in the advertising business. If you have $750,000, the hudget is too small. If you have $10 million, the budget is too small. Rut let me relate it back to a very important point. 1 he si/e of the basic advertising investment is primarily determined by the sales of a brand. We media people must take that budget and attempt to deliver adequate coverage and adequate frequency in line with the marketing plan to sell merchandise. A solid jo!> in one media "We are firmly cominced that it imore profitable for a brand to do a good solid job in one media type than to spread itself thinly over various media. In this case, yve believe radio can do this job effectively because it does more so than any other media type, in our opinion — meet the marketing requirements of this brand." Fle.xihilitv: "l.very advertiser, every brand, must remain flexible. Ry this I mean flexible in terms of monetary commitments, ol being able to shift advertising weight seasonally as yvell as regionally, of message length and space size. "The use ol radio announcements will enable us to heay\-up in certain markets to compensate for rating differentials. It also permits reductions in shifting of schedules in order to take care of any budget problems that may arise. "The local nature of our recommended print purchase also offers extremel) high flexibility, (dosing for black-and-white space in supplements and comics is usuall) three to four weeks, and availability of space is seldom a problem. Should il be decided, for instance, that an extension of our seasonal print i advisable, space size can be reduced and frequency increased on short notice. "Our entire plan doesn't call for an\ budgetar) commitment longer than three to four week-. The importance of ibis kind of flexibility has again be 12 Sl'OXSOK I 5 in < i yiUKH 1050