In adobo magazine’s May-June 2012 issue, Angelito ‘Boy’ Pangilinan, chief executive officer, Carat Philippines, charts the rise of media nerds, once relegated to the last few minutes of a pitch, as they take their rightful place in today’s complex media environment
Ratings, tarps, reach and frequency! These were the words that normally fall out of the mouths of media “nerds”, who walked the halls of ad agencies back in the day.
Media recommendations were painstakingly planned to the last detail from selected time slots in selected radio stations to the exact page in chosen newspapers and magazines, selected TV programs and specifically chosen breaks, and so on. Each plan would have then gone through a lengthy review of what all competitors were doing, based on the goal set by the client’s marketing team. This meant reverse-engineering 12 months worth of communication efforts, sometimes even going as far back as five years.
All this work, reduced to a five-minute slot in the pitch presentation, at the very end of the whole show.
This precious five minutes could be whittled down further if the big boss were to ask the media presenter to “make the presentation shorter; we’re running late”.
Fast-forward to the day ad agencies unbundled their services. The last five minutes was subsequently extended to a more substantial presentation of not just media data, but consumer insights culled from the media agency’s own proprietary research that drilled down to usage, awareness and attitudes. And not just towards the category or brands, but also attitudes towards life, communication touch points among others.
A new client of mine once decided not to use an already produced TVC after seeing data we presented about the consumer segment.
Many clients now begin with a review of media options to determine how far their budgets can go. It’s certainly makes sense to have a media plan in place first than to have a well-produced 45-second spot with too little budget to deliver on reach and frequency. Even the best ads need to be seen repeatedly to work and deliver on campaign effectiveness.
And this is where the media geeks come in. They have now grown into media specialists who can competently navigate the fragmented media ecosystem of bought, owned and earned media. And they can provide client consumer feedback, including unsolicited comments in chat rooms, blogs, and all public sites on the net.
Revenge indeed.
From being the last (and often rushed) presenter in a pitch, the media planner has finally moved up and forward. He is now part of the communications planning team, if not leading it as its head.
The geeks have finally taken their rightful place.
