More Involvement Please (637 words)
By Milind Sattur

I am sure we all go shopping. What do we do when we buy? We compare prices and features! (Well, maybe not, if we are buying potatoes.)

Let’s say we wanted to buy an MP3 player. We would compare the look, compatibility with devices we already own, storage capacity, file format, battery type, accessories provided, what else is in – voice recorder, FM radio, photo-viewer… This evaluation process takes much longer if the value of the item is higher. So when you buy a laptop or a car, you would have more things to compare or would do more cost-benefit analysis. You would even get “expert” opinions, do a “test drive” or at least buy extended warranty to protect yourself in case of any eventuality.

In summary, you would go to great lengths to ensure your money is well spent.

Let’s now pretend we are shopping for airtime on regional television. (I am sure the value is much higher than an MP3 player, a laptop or even a car in some cases.) How do you evaluate which channels to put your money with?

Well, we explore the different data sources available, understand the methodology behind these different research services, how the sample is arrived at (is it representative of all the audience and markets we want to reach?), how is the data collected, weighted, what are the sample sizes, see if there is anything that can bias the responses, how “current” is the data…

Do we really do all that? Is media (buying) a “high-involvement” product? It doesn’t seem like. Just a few runs on PAX and we make a decision! Sure, as media planners and buyers we explore a lot of options like: Can I get a lower CPM (cost per thousand)? What value addition can I get? Can I get sponsorship? Can we do product placement? Can I get the first or the last spot within an ad-break? Can I get online presence?

While all this is necessary, are we sure we have distributed our money appropriately across the different channels? To answer this, we need to be sure we are using the right research. I suggest a few more questions be added to your evaluation list.

What is the audience data that you are using? Is it Diary, PeopleMeter, PAX or ATMS? Is it actual viewership or is it claimed viewership? How is it collected? By reading out the channel names? By showing the channel logo? Is it collected using another medium – for example, collecting TV viewership data using the internet survey? What constitutes viewership? average number of people watching the channel at any given time? Or is watching the channel for a minimum of two minutes in a month a good measure of viewership?

When we buy something for ourselves worth a few hundred dollars most of us will go and check out more than one shop. So why is it that when we buy media worth tens of thousands of dollars, we don’t check if there is more than one research available? It is always better and easy on all of us to use just one measurement service. Yet, when there are limitations with that one measurement service, we don’t we ask, is there any other research available that confirms it? Which one is closer to reflecting actual viewership? Media planners and buyers who have had a chance to work with diary and peoplemeter data have seen how different the recommendations are, when they moved to a more accurate measurement of viewership. And if that is still not conclusive, can you buy some “warranty”? Can you invest in some tracking research and see if your decision was right. At least you will be sure the next time around.

Make media buying a “high-involvement” decision. We owe it to ourselves and to our Clients.

This article appeared in the issue of MARKETING in July 2005