The problem of plenty

Pranab Ghosh interviews Shan Jain, vice-president, media direction, specialist media services group, RK Swamy BBDO

How important is the role of a media planner in an ad agency?

It’s as important as you want to make it.

The role consists of a number of responsibilities, which include managing relationships with both client and media owners; planning future activity that would best suit the client, in the traditional media; testing new media and routes to market; managing the planners/buyers and trainee planners/buyers beneath them and ensuring that their clients receive a high standard of service; negotiating the best possible price for the client for the activity they are undertaking.

Most entrants in media planning start as trainees, joining a team of senior planners and buyers, working on a portfolio of accounts and learning on the job. Planning executives usually progress to become established planners or buyers after about a year. A senior or management position means more responsibility.

How does a media planner ensure that every penny the client spends gets the desired return?

Most advertising/media companies have a process that must be followed for optimisation of the money being spent. It is very important to follow that process stringently.

The process broadly includes optimisation at planning stage, buying stage and at implementation stage. The desired result is obtained by constantly monitoring the effect of the campaign on the marketing objectives and providing the right feedback, bettering the process in a dynamic way.

What are the challenges facing this profession?

The biggest challenge facing a communication consultant or a media planner is the effective management of chaos that exists in this era of media fragmentation and proliferation, with increased audience choice and aversion to ads.

A media planer has to ensure that the advertising message reaches the target audience in the most effective manner. In this world of plenty, the consumer has become elusive, making the job very challenging.

Author: HT Horizons

Date: 2nd Dec., 2009

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