A quantitative model for press media planning in India

Abstract

The prevalent practice of press media planning in India is to use available circulation and readership data to draw up media plans that will give the desired "reach" and average frequency of exposure (OTS) among the target audience. Plans drawn through conventional, non-formal methods obviously lack in precision and result only in crude estimates of the "reach" and the average OTS. This paper presents a quantitative model for press media planning which uses available audience data and research. The model selects the lowest cost media plan which achieves the desired "reach" and "average OTS" per person in several target audience groups. Application of the model to develop a zonal press media plan for a frequently-bought-consumer-packagedproduct showed a reduction of about 40% in cost over the cost of a media plan developed through conventional methods.