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The
use, application and output of the myriad of software
tools and technological aids to better media
strategy and implementation has become an essential
aspect of the media agency's armoury.
In new business pitches, touting these well
developed and attractively presented pieces of software that
promise to provide the highly developed and financially
optimised solution to your next campaign brief has
an almost irresistible allure for many marketers.
Every major agency group has devoted significant expense
and expertise on a global basis developing bespoke
tools and technology designed to provide their clients with
the edge over the competition.
But are these tools just presentation fodder?
Are they really applied to your business on a day-to-day,
week-to-week basis in order to add value to each and every
recommendation?
Tool
or Trap?
In many cases, the ability to apply the technology
relies heavily on the availability of raw data to
drive the application. Most modelling tools, for instance,
require ongoing ad or brand awareness to compare with alternative
media lay-downs. No awareness data - no model.
Consumer insight and understanding are the core
of most sophisticated recommendations today but unless the
appropriate data is available through the syndicated Morgan
or Nielsen databases (expensive in their own right on a category
basis), it will require access to either bespoke agency
data or specially commissioned research to find out
anything really useful about your consumer and then apply
it to the media consumption for your next campaign.
Cornucopia
or plenty of nothing?
Many advertisers are either unaware of the range of technologies
available to them or simply unsure of just how the alternatives
might apply to their business. Sometimes media agencies like
to encourage a little mystery around their expensive proprietary
tools because it adds to the perception of their sophistication
and the 'added value' they bring to the table.
Answering
the questions
There are a number of ways of ensuring the agency's
tools are appropriate, available and applied to your business:
* Seek a comprehensive presentation from
the agency outlining all their tools and technology
and how they apply it to your business.
* Make sure any descriptions in this area are clear,
delivered in everyday terms and comprehensively illustrated
by examples or case studies.
* Review your own data sources and the media briefs
and objectives set for your campaigns and consider
if they provide a good basis for a 'technological' solution.
* Make sure that every recommendation the agency makes
is accompanied by a rationalisation that clearly
describes the tools and data sources used - compare this usage
to the 'menu' presented in their tools and technology expose.
* Contact P3Media - our media experts have
many years experience in this area and specialise in reviewing
agency process and resources and the context in which they
use and apply the tools at their disposal on your behalf.
For more information on this or any issue associated
with media benchmarking, buying or planning email
media@p3.com.au
early registration
:
P3TV Production Workshops
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