If you are sometimes surprised by all the acronyms and words that pop out of media people, you’re probably not alone. You might wonder if it’s a foreign language. Here are a few helpful links to use when the next media person comes knocking so can can speak their language. We won’t say anything if you have them tucked in your drawer for reference. This is like an open book test.

From Entrepreneur Magazine: A brief overview of media planning and buying terms here.

From Brand Watch: Brand Watch has an article about 65 social media terms.

The best way to measure a media campaign is to look at how much it costs to reach a thousand impressions. It is called a Cost Per Thousand or CPM for short. You can compare rates of different mediums by looking at the CPM. Don’t just go by what the sales representative says, though, as these numbers can often be made to look larger than they are.

So, there’s been some talk about the Canva program to create marketing materials. Below is a piece created using their free version. They also have a paid Pro version. There are templates for many professions and they say they are good at helping with scheduling social media campaigns. They also have a feature to collaborate with team members. With a little bit of searching you’ll find many free images to use. They also have the option to pay for the use of photos in the free version. The designs can be used for online and print campaigns.

If you’ve read enough of these blog posts, you’ll notice a trend. We stand on the idea of balancing multiple forms of media. So then, this week’s Nielsen newsletter’s headline seems to back up our theory. “Only 36% of channels drive both brand and sales objectives”.

So, how do you drive both brand awareness and sales objectives? Well there’s a lot you can do but it’s good to start by studying your customer and potential customers. Find out where they consume their media, usually from multiple sources, and what makes them purchase. Remember, it takes multiple impressions before a customer is willing to purchase your product, however long-suffering and frustrating that might seem.

Read more here from Nielsen on how to balance everything. Just educating yourself is a start. So, congratulations for reading this.

Wondering how your advertising budget compares with other companies? If you’re a national advertiser, the brands spending the most money monthly, from about a year ago, are as follows.

Source: Nielsen

1. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO, $119.3 Million
2. ABBVIE INC, $79.2 Million
3. BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC, $78.6 Million
4. PROGRESSIVE CORP, $49 Million
5. WALT DISNEY CO, $45.0 Million
6. T-MOBILE USA INC, $44.9 Million
7. SANOFI SA, $43.9 Million
8. PEPSICO INC, $40.2 Million
9. AT&T INC, $38.3 Million
10. TOYOTA MOTOR CORP, $37.7 Million

So, maybe you aren’t a national advertiser. What about the top local advertisers? Local usually means that the advertiser targets certain, local, markets for their ads. For example, they might choose markets like Los Angeles and Phoenix to focus on. How much are the top local advertisers spending?

• COMCAST CORP, $33.5 Million
• GENERAL MOTORS CO, $32.4 Million
• TOYOTA MOTOR CORP, $30.3 Million
• NEW YORK STATE, $22.2 Million
• CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC, $19.0 Million
• HYUNDAI MOTOR CO, $16.7 Million
• BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC, $15.0 Million
• NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD, $13.3 Million
• ROARK CAPITAL GROUP INC, $12.2 Million
• MORGAN & MORGAN, $11.7 Million

Remember, these are monthly figures. Usually, if you see a company listed in both the national and local categories it means that they have budgets for both national and local advertising. So, how does your company compare?

Have advertising media plans lost the art behind the planning and buying process? I used to like to say that the reason I had gotten into media planning and buying was that it sort of combined my interest in both the artistic and the numbers side of things. But lately, it seems it’s all about the numbers. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of numbers involved in planning media schedules, but I think that there needs to be a balance. A good plan that’s brainstormed ahead of time and considers all elements, can go a long way.

The other thing is, with the number of media outlets and people creating content nowadays, the media has sort of lost its star appeal. Now, it seems anyone with a camera phone can become their own star. An article in the Harvard Business Review a handful of years ago foresaw how social media was beginning to weaken branding for companies. Read more here. I’m not against social media, I just think that everything needs to have its place in the media plan.

Although written almost a decade ago, this article from the New York Times focuses on brands that saw the importance of art in their marketing. New York Times.

There are some brands that are using artistic strategies in their plans. Here is a link to the 2021 Media Plans of the Year from Adweek. You’ll see how they used creative ideas and multiple mediums to implement their plans. Hopefully, these examples will spark some artistic ideas.

It’s 4th of July and for many, history lessons from school have been replaced with beach parties, picnics and fireworks. So here’s a refresher on what Independence Day is really about.

According to Britannica.com, July 4th celebrates the passage of the Declaration of Independence when in 1776, Congress voted to be free from Great Britain’s monarchy.

From the National Archives, here is how the Declaration of Independence reads. Why not announce this at your party?

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity show was recently held in Cannes, France June 20-24. As a busy professional, you probably don’t have time to hop around all over the world to attend awards shows, unless of course, you win one. So, here’s a list of some of the shows you can enter in case you think your campaign is award–worthy. A recognition would be a good excuse to travel.

Cannes Lions, International Festival of Creativity

Google describes the festival this way, “Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity – has been championing creative excellence since 1954 with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress.”

The Cannes’ site states that they have “been bringing the creative communications industry together every year at its one-of-a-kind event in Cannes to learn, network and celebrate.”

For more information to submit your campaign check here.

To view the current winners (your competitors?) click here.

The Emmy Awards for Commercials

The Emmy’s give out an Outstanding Commercial award for ads that are between :30 and :120 seconds in length. They have requirements for their submissions here.The awards are announced in the Fall.

Here’s a link to last year’s commercial winner and nominations.

The One Show

According to The One Show’s website it is “…the world’s most prestigious award show in advertising, design and digital marketing. For over 40 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has had a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.”

Go to their awards website here.

The One Club, San Diego

There are also local Advertising Clubs in major markets. (If you don’t know about your local area’s club contact AAF) The San Diego Ad Club, The One Club, has an annual awards show. Click here to go to their website.

CW Network

AdAge spoke with Rob Tuck of the CW network about their successful upfront presentation that included Stevie Wonder.  He said that even though they had missed three years, it felt like it was just yesterday. Tuck said he wanted to give advertisers a taste of their new shows and they didn’t want to worry about the digital platform. He believes their content is what helps them sell ads whether it’s traditional or digital. He said their ultimate goal is to give people a taste of shows they are bringing to the market.

He admitted they’re the small guys so they don’t have as many resources. He said that beginning with Gossip Girl they knew people were watching digitally. Even though they tried to take down the shows online, they were popping up illegally. He realized if you can’t beat them, join them.  He said since their audience is younger they want to watch online but don’t want to ask their parents for a password. So, now they offer the shows without having to sign in but the price is that they have to watch the ads.

Ad Measurement Comments from the Interviews

The general consensus of the interviewed group regarding the best way to measure TV streaming viewership is still Nielsen but there are some new vehicles they are testing.  Rita Ferro of Disney+ says they are testing measurement through Comscore.  Rob Tuck of the CW said measurement is a sore spot for them. He said both networks and agencies need to find ways to simplify measurement. He said it comes down to audience delivery and how many eyeballs are watching.

Melissa Grady Dias, global chief marketing officer of Cadillac, said that it’s an interesting time right now for TV measurement. They are still looking at Nielsen but are not clear about what lies ahead.

Joanne Leong, VP and director of global partnerships of Dentsu, said they are testing and learning practices with different companies. She said they haven’t identified which company is the winner. She thinks they will have more clarity in 2023.

Rob Master, VP of media and marketing for North America of Unilever, said they are working on different measurement platforms. He would like to look at the foundation and get that right and then build from there.