A Word on Frequency

Planning the right frequency in a TV buy requires Buying Window knowledge.

Adam Armbruster

Probably the most over-discussed and misunderstood topic in television advertising is the subject of frequency. “Frequency” means the appropriate number of times that a given amount of television viewers will see a specific commercial over a specific amount of time.

Although the television industry prides itself on its ability to reach the masses quickly, repetition of message is what causes a television campaign to actually work. In any given week most broadcast television stations will reach 98% of the local population so today television truly stands alone today as a mass reach medium.

Many years ago of marketing researcher at General Electric Co. named Herbert Krugman developed the classic three-time frequency formula. His argument was that people learn in threes. His theory holds that the first time we see television commercial we identify the commercial and we begin to understand what it is. The second time we see the same television commercial we decide if this message is of interest to us or not. The third time we see television commercial we've or decided that we are interested and we pay close attention and absorb the message in detail.

Krugman goes on further to state that the fourth, fifth and sixth time we see the same message it has no additional value to us and simply serves as a reminder of the third exposure.

So does this mean that a three frequency should always be the goal? Usually not. Please keep in mind that this research was done many years ago prior to the massive explosion in media choices including hundreds of television channels, dozens of radio options, dozens of magazines, millions of web sites, outdoor, mobile phone, and in the daily barrage of direct mail. So it stands to argue that we need to re-examine what the proper frequency is for television in today's age.

I grew up in a home where the daily newspaper was considered a must read, but now with two teenagers I see how they refer to the newspaper as a dead tree medium….They look at newspaper as yesterday's news. So why discuss newspaper considering the topic of frequency? Because anyone who buys print advertising those that multiple exposures of the same ad is required to generate impact and sales results.

In our work across the country with thousands of advertisers we've learned many things about television, not the least of which is how to design the proper frequency into a television plan so that the advertiser in generating immediate and measurable sales results.

A good rule of thumb is that when planning a television campaign in an extremely competitive category is a 4 or 5 campaign frequency recommendation. A higher frequency can help your message overwhelm the messages of the competition and strike a chord with the viewer faster.

In contrast, if you're consulting a client who stands alone as the only television advertiser in their category in a specific market then they can be adequately served with a high reach and a basic 3x campaign frequency. In other words this client has the luxury of reaching out to more people less often since they are not competing directly with another similar television campaign.

A few examples of frequency done right are as follows:

The Macy one-day sale plan targets several hundred targeted rating points of television over a 30 hour time period. Macy's will air 4 to 6 television commercials in each hour of programming across three or four television stations. This generates a powerful result since this approach combines the power of classic “road-blocking” with hyper frequency. The net effect of the Macy one-day sale is massive reach along with massive frequency. It's no wonder that when you shop a Macy's the day of one of these events you will see the store filled with buyers.

WebMD.com is another example of a television advertiser who distinctly understands their buying window. In a recent conversation with the folks at Web M.D., we discussed the role television in their plan. As a dot com business their singular goal is to generate massive inquiries on the web site on the same day as their television campaign airs. WebMD.com focuses on Sunday advertising as Sunday is often the number one most popular day for health-care research online. Knowing this WebMD.com dominates Sunday afternoon sporting events with a very high frequency plan over a limited time.

Let's get down to what it takes to do this right.

First is the need to understand the buying window of the product. For example a car dealer advertising a television is a very different buying window then say, a furniture store. A car dealer needs to motivate massive amounts of car buyers very quickly over a 15 day buying cycle. In contrast, a furniture store needs to generate frequency over longer buying cycle since many people will shop for furniture for weeks instead of days.

For example, how do you design the appropriate frequency into an auto dealer campaign? For many retail automotive dealer television campaigns we will design a plan to generate a 3X frequency over 72 hours. That means we will plan to reach about 35% of the entire population 3 times. Now, several things are factored into this frequency recommendation including competitive dealers, competitive nameplates, and used car dealers. All of these play a role as a competitor to an individual dealers’ television campaign.

Only by understanding the actual buying window for each specific advertiser are you able to make appropriate frequency recommendations. In the end, making the right frequency recommendation of television plan is not so simple.

So first do your homework. Discuss with the client the actual buying cycle for their product. Then, anticipate this buying cycle by one or two days prior so that your television commercials have achieved the recommended frequency by the time the actual buying cycle begins. This is necessary because of what we now call Internet lag. Internet lag is the process with which people see television commercials and then go to the advertiser's web site before they actually contact the advertiser. This is a phenomenon has occurred over last 10 years and was not factored into the original three-time frequency model.

In the end the right frequency factors many things into the final equation. Massive sales and profit increases await an advertiser who embraces the power of television with the massive reach and the right frequency.

Adam Armbruster is a senior partner with the retail and broadcasting consulting firm Eckstein, Summers, Armbruster & Company and can be reached at adam@esacompany.com.

TV Central in Mixology of Multimedia

Adam Armbruster

Are you a media multitasker?

You are if you need to watch the TV news at the same time you read a newspaper. Or if you can’t drive your car without checking e-mails on your BlackBerry. Or if you’re compelled to surf the Net on your laptop while you’re on the phone.

Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch, says 41.2% of people who watch television commercials are surfing the Internet simultaneously. “Consumers seem to be seeking information from digital platforms, while TV has traditionally been viewed as a brand-building medium,” he adds.

Why are we doing this to ourselves? Another recent study from the folks at BIGresearch, called the Simultaneous Media Survey, says the only way people can keep up with the amount of media pumped into their world is to blend their own “media mix” and monitor several media sources at once.

Mr. Drenik says, “Media that can target, be timely and deliver value to consumers, such as coupons/direct mail, radio, Yellow Pages, newspapers and newspaper inserts, all increased in influence to purchase as consumers are looking to stretch budgets in a slowing economy.”

What about television? Although television has proven itself to be the world’s finest brand-building medium, its awesome power to drive high frequency of message and measurable sales and profits for advertisers is often overlooked.

Used properly and consistently, television trumps all media, new and old, in generating massive immediate retail consumer response. If television were only a branding medium, then politicians would not spend tens of millions of dollars on TV ads to quickly influence opinions just prior to an election. If television were just a branding medium, then the iconic Macy’s One-Day Sale would not be part of our national vernacular. No, television is much more than a branding medium; TV builds sales and profits. But there is a real discipline to it all.

So when the economy cools, why don’t all advertisers run to television instead of printed coupons and direct mail? Simple: Many marketers think of television as a great brand-building medium but not as a good tool for helping to build immediate and measurable market share.

We think that’s just plain wrong.

Consider this: Coupon redemption rates have plummeted as female consumers balk at the prospect of clipping a coupon to save 25 cents on a can of hairspray. With 60% of American women working full-time, it seems her time is better spent on activities other than clipping printed coupons from the local newspaper.

Next, direct-mail return rates have declined from 2% to just under 1%, a cataclysmic drop. We feel this is a result of the consumer getting better at using the Internet and thereby less influenced by direct-mail pieces. The Internet has created a commonly held belief that free information about any advertiser is easy to find. This knowledge has significantly impacted the “Wow!” effect of direct mail sent to the home. Why read direct-mail pieces when all you want to know about buying anything is on that business’ Web site?

Also, since television is ranked as one of the top influencers in triggering an online search, it makes sense that television and the Internet are moving into one appliance. The Internet has created a blur in the traditional retail shopping patterns, thereby affecting the rational retail buying windows.

During the 1970s, car-buying consumers shopped up to four dealerships before buying. In the 1980s that number of dealerships shopped declined to three, and in the 1990s the number of stores shopped dwindled further to just over two. Today, many car buyers shop just one store before buying.

Delayed Effect
I remember when we could air a television commercial for a big-ticket-merchandise retailer and that very day retail outlets would buzz with store traffic. Now, because of the Internet, interested consumers spend some time on the advertisers’ Web site and may also surf related blogs before actually using their valuable shopping to visit the physical store. So today a delayed effect to a television campaign can be expected.

We need to give the consumer time to do their homework on your business. Assuming you pass the “Web preview,” they will phone you and set an appointment to shop.

“Unfortunately for marketers faced with the challenges of an uncertain economy and the need to increase marketing ROI, new-media options are impacting how consumers use traditional media,” Mr. Drenik says.

If you buy into what he is saying, then you need to look at old media and new media as just plain media. And the real world demands that advertisers use a new cocktail of electronic media tools to help turn around lagging sales.

Since Nielsen reports that the average American consumer spends a total of 5½ hours a day between television and the Internet, the solution is right in front of us.

That solution is high-impact levels of targeted sales promotion with a retail ad that drives immediate sales, married to Internet tools including, but not limited to:

• Media partner web banner ads
• Topic blogs
• Self-blogging
• Limited paid search
• Free "how to buy" information on you own website.

All of these elements combined interrupt consumers in the middle of their shopping pattern. This pleasant television commercial interruption effectively deflects “now” buyers to your business. Let the other guy get the window shoppers; you want serious buyers ready to buy now.

Bottom line: Consumers don’t want to work so hard anymore for information about how to buy from you. Make it easy for consumers to buy and they will reward you with a purchase.

Adam Armbruster is a senior partner with Red Bank, N.J.-based retail and broadcasting consulting firm Eckstein, Summers, Armbruster & Company. He can be reached at adam@esacompany.com.