In my years working with different media in different countries there has been no more common or unavoidable question than “What do advertisers want?” It is a difficult question to answer and sometimes the process can seem totally irrational. However, by understanding how advertisers build their strategy, you can dramatically improve your understanding of what they’ll be willing to pay you to do for them.

Advertisers often don’t know what they want, and even when they do, sometimes planners don’t let buyers know. (Of course, the client has to know and tell the planner first!). Perhaps most frustrating is the fact that often people who have chosen “communication” as a profession become deaf and dumb when it comes to talking to providers. Figuring out what they want isn’t always easy.

However, there are three factors that go into how you make (or break!) a campaign.

– Business objectives: what the business wants to achieve will drive the advertising strategy.
– Objectives of the campaign: it is necessary to establish the objectives of the campaign.
– Shopping: Someone has to do the shopping!

Business Driven Factors Affecting Advertising Strategy

In theory, business reality determines the objectives of the campaign. Here are some important points:

Budget: The amount of money a marketer has to spend will affect strategy more than anything else. If the budget is large, they will cast a wide net, but if it is limited, they will try to concentrate their efforts. Nobody’s budget is unlimited.

Product cycle: Some products are bought every day; some are years behind between purchases. There is probably no single strategy driver that media providers overlook more. This is a long topic, but I will give a brief summary:

• Short product cycle (ie soft drinks): These are products that consumers buy every day and don’t put a lot of thought or research into them. All things being equal, the most recent ad will be the most effective. High coverage and “call to action” media are preferred.

• Long Product Cycle (ie Cars) – Typically there will be two goals. The first is to build a brand image to get on consumers’ “consideration lists” (typically a consumer will only consider 3-5 brands in a category). The second objective will be to close the sale and will be similar to a short cycle product strategy (quick and cheap coverage). Also, the run is usually very promotional (come down this weekend and save!).

Sales force: Products that have a strong sales force (ie business services) will be primarily concerned with brand image.

Consumer and Product: Who advertisers want to reach will help determine how they want to reach them. Different consumers vary widely in their media consumption. In the same way, some products are highly differentiated while others are more price sensitive and that will also affect both strategy and implementation.

Market share: Another factor that can be extremely important to your advertising strategy is relative market share. For example, a dominant brand may want to advertise heavily to shut out its competition (Marlboro does this in emerging markets). Many advertisers use an “aggressiveness ratio” (ad spend/market share) to help determine budget and strategy.

There is also an interesting game-theoretic perspective involving voting models, which predict power relations. A dominant player might want to promote the industry, since he would benefit disproportionately. A market with a 40-40-20 market share structure could let the smaller player set the tone and run the show. This type of analysis is capable of incorporating thousands or even millions of competitors (using an absolutely lousy mathematical technique called Combinatorics. Phew!)

Campaign goals help determine implementation

A good advertising strategy matches business goals with campaign goals. The following are some examples of what an advertiser will want a provider to help them achieve:

Coverage: All things being equal, reaching more people is better. Also, the more people you reach in general, the more niche audiences you will cover as well.

Ambient: How does the medium position the product? Marshall McLuhan said that the media are like a light bulb: unlike content, they are not so important for the information they contain as for their ability to create an environment. Some people would argue with this point (and most work in television), but I have a policy of not arguing with the ghost of Marshal McLuhan.

Direct response: Some advertisers want a “call to action” to drive sales: Radio and newspapers are generally considered “call to action” media. However, television and outdoor can be quite effective and digital is showing real promise. When terms like CPA and PPC are used, what they are looking for is a direct answer.

To lease: Where people are when they are exposed to a message will affect how they consume. Radio and digital have great advantages because they are consumed a lot at work and also near the point of purchase. It seems that proximity advertising is gaining strength. Watch out for Loopt.com!

Brand image: A strong brand makes everything easier. Television can get the job done, but Glossy magazines are the world champions in this field. Other media can be quite effective with non-standard promotions. Some radio stations are incredibly good at this and there’s a lot of potential in Digital too (but the digital players really need to get their act together here). Most likely, this is where social networks will find their money.

Knowledge of brand attributes: Sometimes marketers may want to emphasize brand attributes because they are new or because they have noticed in research that the attribute is important to consumers. This could make them want to deviate from their normal strategy. For example, McDonalds might want to advertise in a gourmet magazine to change the perception that their food is junk. A change in the promoted attribute can result in a complete change of strategy (and many times this is what confuses providers the most).

You can crack the code!

As frustrating and opaque as the process can be for media providers, there are a few ways to find out what’s going on.

MMI, TGI, Scarborough, GfK, etc.: Every market has some type of target group index research that measures both media and consumer brands in the same survey. With this data, you can make some pretty good assumptions about the consumer’s target, market share, etc.

Expense databases: One resource no media company should be without is an expense database. There’s no better way to gain insight into a short ad than to see what the customer is actually buying. If a customer is growing and buying products similar to yours, they will probably be quite receptive. Conversely, if a customer is cutting budgets and buying products that are completely different from yours, don’t bother. Also, by comparing consumer data with spending data, you can come to some conclusions about the competence and honesty of the buyer.

Be prepared when talking to customers and ask good questions: As mentioned above, marketing communication experts tend to lose their communication skills when it comes to talking to vendors. However, if you come prepared and ask insightful questions, you can often get them to tell you what you need to know. Finally, there is nothing more important than building personal relationships with advertisers. The better your relationship, the more they will tell you.

Good luck!

Satellite Greg
www.digitaltonto.com