Page 190 - Duct Tape Marketing

174 Part III: Creating and Placing Ads

a percentage of your overall buy, but you’ll save time and confusion and
almost certainly you’ll obtain a better schedule and price. If you’re using an
advertising agency to create your ad, media planning and buying usually
come as part of the service.

If you’re going to do it yourself, begin by requesting a rate kit for each station
you believe will reach your target market. The rate kit contains the following:

ߜ Audited research including statistical profiles of the age, gender, and
consumer buying patterns of the station’s audience

ߜ Descriptions of network affiliations
ߜ Summaries of advertising success stories
ߜ Sample advertising packages
ߜ Rate cards

Use the rate card as a cost guideline. In broadcast, prices vary depending on
availability, time of day, time of year, and the commitment you’re willing to
make to the station. Stations throw in added-value enhancements and bonus
schedules to win your business. Ask and you just might receive.

Station and ad buying terminology

Get acquainted with the following terms before talking with media
representatives:

ߜ Area of dominant influence: Also known as A.D.I. The area that a sta-
tion’s broadcast signal covers.

ߜ Availability: Also called avail. A broadcast advertising time slot that is
open for reservation. Except during holiday and political seasons, most
stations have plenty of avails even at the last minute.

ߜ Call letters: A station’s identification, for example (borrowing from the
old TV sitcom), WKRP in Cincinnati.

ߜ Dayparts: Segments of the broadcast day.

Radio time is generally segmented into the morning drive time (6 to
10 a.m.), midday (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), afternoon drive time (3 to 7 p.m.),
evening (7 p.m. to midnight), and late night (midnight to 6 a.m.). The
drive times draw the most radio listeners and the highest ad rates.

TV time is priced highest during prime time, which runs from 8 to 11 p.m.
The next most expensive ad buys are in the hours adjacent to prime
time, called early fringe (5 to 8 p.m.) and late fringe (after 11 p.m.).