Todays Session

Scheduling
 Factors that affect
Scheduling
1. Sales pattern
2. Purchase cycle
3. Product availability
4. Competitive activity
5. Marketing task
6. Budget constraints
7. Target group
 1. Sales Pattern
a. No seasonality: sales happen through
the year, blips are insignificant, most
FMCG brands have this sales pattern
b. Some seasonality: sales happen
through the year but some periods
show significant increase eg
Refrigerator in summer. Another
example is that a category may not
show seasonality but a brand within
the category might eg Dove in winter
c. Seasonal: sales happen only during
season eg umbrella or raincoats
 Sales Pattern
S J F MA MJ J A S O N D A
a aeapauuuec oen
l nbr r ynl gpt vc n
e u
s a
l
N
S
B3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4
r 5 353 536 622 36 1
a0 550 000 555 50 2
n 0
d

X
%8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . 0
5 160 507 999 17 0
NS= Non Seasonal, . SS= Some Seasonality,
 2. Purchase Cycle
Is it bought throughout the month?
Or is it like a grocery list purchase- end
or beginning of the month?
Large pack sizes of an FMCG product
may be part of the monthly grocery list
but smaller pack size eg sachets of the
same product maybe bought throughout
the month
Market size also determines the pack
bought eg urban (large) versus rural
(sachets)
Purchase cycle needs to be considered
to develop scheduling strategy
 3. Product Availability
No point in advertising if product is
not available
A car brand may have a capacity
issue at plant resulting in D>S
situation
The car brand needs to go easy on
advertising till production issue is
sorted out- avoid investing in Pull
 4. Competitive Activity
Analyze in detail sales and media
activity of competitors across months
and weeks to arrive at the past
scheduling strategy
Should we mimic competition?
Or should we follow a strategy of
being where and when the
competition is not
Market intelligence capabilities are
increasingly being demanded by
clients as a job scope of a Media
 5. Marketing Task
Big impact on scheduling strategy
Eg a product launch will need heavy
media weights initially, followed by a
maintenance level activity
Eg a brand could have a scheduling
strategy of equal weights throughout
the year but if consumer promo is
scheduled in particular months, media
weights will be heavier
Eg a brand may have an aggressive
grow share in some markets, a heavy
burst could be adopted just before the
known activity period of competition
 6. Budget Constraints
Reality check- forces us to examine all
options very closely
Eg what should a brand which has year
long sales but a limited budget do?
should it be present throughout the year
at a below threshold level media
weights across all months?
It may actually make sense to drop a
couple of weeks and be present with >
threshold weights whenever active
 7. Target Group
Each TG has a distinct way of using the
medium
Male viewership of niche channels
increases on weekends
Certain day parts like early evenings are
skewed towards kids
Late nights have a higher proportion of
youth tuning in
These insights will influence the
scheduling strategy
 Receptivity Targeting
Right frame of mind when the brand message is
received
No amount of frequency or reach can work if the
consumer does not have the right frame of mind
Some examples:
A Colgate ad in the morning, also at night to remind
us to brush twice a day
A Maggi noodles ad early evening when the kids
have just returned from school
A Marie biscuit ad a tea time
A Provogue club wear ad on Friday and Saturday for
the partying weekend
Real estate ads on weekends to do house hunting
A Big Bazaar, Wednesday offer
Online movie tickets on weekends to avoid the
queues at the counter
Scheduling Methods: 3 main
types
1. Continuity

2. Flighting

3. Pulsing
 Scheduling Method:
Continuity

Media weights are spread evenly and

continuously across the year
Most FMCG brand, non-seasonal in
nature prefer this method
This strategy helps in Media buying in
some cases: eg Back Covers in
magazines
Sub optimal for low budget brands
 Scheduling Method:
Flighting

Advertising happens in bursts with no-activity

gaps in between
Media weights are heavy during activity periods
Primarily used for seasonal brands
Can also be used as an alternative strategy for
brands with budget constraints
Useful in multi media campaigns- support
medium and primary medium for media
multiplier effect
Downside: not a reach builder, out-of-sight,
out-of-mind?
Scheduling Method: Pulsing

Best of Continuity & Flighting

An evenly spaced activity forms the base
accompanied by heavier weights in key time
periods
Brands with year long sales but with blips in
certain months eg festive periods
Very often, low cost media is used as continuity
and the higher cost medium is used for flighting
This leads to an overall pulsed activity
Case study: Cars
 Scheduling for Impact
1. Road block

2. Day or Day part emphasis

3. Multiple spotting

4. Teasers
 1. Road Block
Tendency of viewers to switch
channels during commercial breaks
In this strategy, the Ad gets aired
across all channels at the same time
ensuring that the consumer is not
missing the commercial even if the
channels are changed
Very expensive proposition
Used as high impact strategy for a
brand launch
2. Day or Day part emphasis
Normally adopted by follower brands
These brands would not have the level of
budgets as the leader
The trick is to focus and dominate- specific days
and day parts are chosen
Eg Upper SEC Male targeted lifestyle brand may
not have the budget for weekday prime time. It
may adopt a strategy to use weekends, niche
channels as viewership goes up on weekends
and is cheaper than weekday prime time
Eg Afternoon slot for women- higher frequency
Eg High TRP daily soaps, can be analyzed on
basis of which particular day delivers
significantly higher rating over a sustained
period of time
 3. Multiple Spotting
The ad is carried more than 2 times
in the same break
Gets attention of TG
Delivers higher OTS, compromises on
Reach
 4. Teasers
This is a Creative led scheduling
strategy
One or more creative units are aired
before the main ad campaign
Brand is not mentioned in teaser ads
Done to get the consumer interested in
asking: What is this campaign about?
Teasers can be implemented across all
Media types and Vehicles
Downside is that the consumer may fail
to link the teaser and the main brand
when revealed
 Class Exercise: Scheduling
Strategy
Group Task
Go Getters Launch of a
toilet soap
brand from
a renowned
FMCG
company
Zingers Mosquito
repellant
launched
six months
back
DiffusionerConsumer
s promo for
an
established
toothpaste
brand
Make logical from
assumptions that will help you to build your Scheduling
another
strategy
Any questions please?