Few clients can afford to advertise throughout the year and media people have to judge whether a 'drip' will work better than a 'burst'. That is, whether spaced out advertising the 'drip' over a long period would work better than heavy advertising, the 'burst', concentrated into a short space of time. The medium through which you send your message must be appropriate, whether that medium is television, radio, newspaper, or posters. If you want to talk to gardeners it's cheaper to address them on the gardening page of a newspaper or in a specialist gardening magazine than on television. You'll probably catch them in a more receptive mood, too. When detail about the product is necessary then printed advertisements are often better because there is time for the consumer to grasp the totality of the message you are sending. With some products, particularly new ones, advertising to the trade can be as important as advertising to the consumer. The manager of a garden centre can't stock a new fertilizer if he doesn't know it exists. He also needs to know if your consumer advertising will push customers into his garden centre to buy the new product.
So when a campaign is planned a detailed schedule, with perhaps one or two alternatives, is drawn up on which every insertion in every publication and every spot on TV or radio is shown with its size, length and date.
Once the schedule is agreed, the media sets about booking the spaces and times at the most advantageous prices they can get. For although British Rate and Data (BRAD for short) gives information on rates, these are always open to negotiation, and discounts can be arranged for a number of reasons. It is in this market place of buying and selling that the media man shows his real skill and flair. He is dealing with someone on the selling side with similar guts and talent and these space sellers for publications or TV contractors are experienced negotiators too. The agency man owes his knowledge of a particular publication, say newspaper 'profiles', not only to the National Readership Survey, but to the sales literature from the media itself which have plied him with relevant data about readership and special opportunities and offers to make their publication the best of all possible buys.
Time buying on television works in much the same way, although bigger money is involved. Getting on for 50% of the money spent on advertising goes into television, and more like 70% in big agencies. There are 15 contractors appointed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) each responsible for selling their own air time as prime time or other time. All, except Channel 4, have their own studios and derive their revenues from selling time and selling programs.
There are currently nearly 50 commercial radio stations where time can be bought, and radio appears to be steadily gaining in popularity and has certainly become increasingly creative, entertaining and often very relevant to the area it serves.
Cinema advertising is booked through two main contractors, Pearl and Dean and Rank Screen Advertising. It is an "admirable medium for hitting a young audience right on target. It is much favored by drink advertisers and, of course, cigarette advertisers who are not allowed on television. Poster advertising is handled by outdoor contractors who run their own grading systems.
It will be seen that the conscientious media man has to keep on good terms with a lot of people. Although bargaining is often very tough you've always got a better chance if you know with whom you are dealing it helps if you've had the odd meal or drink together or a game of squash. For example, TV stations about to close their books for the weekend often have some blank shots to dispose of at a bargain price. The contractor is obviously more likely to offer them to someone he knows and likes rather than to a stranger.
Media is one of the best documented jobs around, but as well as being able to assimilate all these facts and figures, media people need to be good mixers, good talkers and skilled negotiators. They often go into the attack basing their arguments on, say, sales data, and if that fails, they fall back on another tack, perhaps new product development. Sometimes they have to go above the heads of their normal contacts. Nerves of steel help, if you want to be successful in media buying.
There are a number of clerical jobs to be done in a media department as well; a newcomer will have to do them, and they can be a useful way to learn the job. Who will this newcomer be? A graduate perhaps, a very bright secretary promoted from another department, or someone from one of the media contractors who wants the broader experience of agency work. Chances of advancement are good although you may have to move agencies to get it. Most agencies believe in media representation at board level and these directors can be powerful as they can easily show the direct connection between their hard media buying and the agency's splendid profits.
