From the papyrus Egyptians used to make sales messages and wall posters and similar commercial messages found in Pompeii and ancient Arabia, the precursors of media planning agencies have been with us for a long time. Arguably, the present day form of a media planning agency didn’t come into its own until the Creative Revolution in the 1960’s spearheaded by William Bernbach – known for his now legendary Volkswagen ads which were the first to associate a brand with a specific idea in the consumer’s mind (i.e. “Think small”).
Professional Media Planning Agency
Part of what a media planning agency has to consider is the marketing mix. First suggested by Jeremy McCarthy, professor at Harvard Business School, in the 1960s the marketing mix consists of four basic elements called the four P’s. Product is the first P representing the actual product. Price represents the process of determining the value of a product. Place represents the variables of getting the product to the consumer (i.e. distribution channels, market coverage and shipping logistics). The last P stands for Promotion which is the process of reaching the target market and convincing them to go out and buy the product.
Change Your Strategies, Get Noticed
Since then, the role of media planning agencies have rapidly transformed to keep apace with the multiplying channels, usage behaviors and technology of media, As audiences go from a single mass to ever-finer segmentations based on psychographics, hobbies, interests, lifestyle parameters – a media planning agency has to scramble to find the data and analysis that will best track an increasingly elusive consumer throughout the media eco-system.
Now, there’s a new tool designed to help make the life of a media planning agency easier: LogicLab. LogicLab gives agencies that buy and plan media the ability to access powerful analytics backed up by advertiser and media data to calculate both campaign planning efficiency as well as efficacy of campaign results. Check out www.logiclabinc.com for more details.
