RESPOND TO PEERS 2 DIFFERENT DISCUSSSIONS

The Media Planner Discussion 1

DEVON

There are many different factors that are associated with the planning and buying of media for advertising. Finding the right combination can be a bit challenging. You want to be able to not overspend on your advertising budget to maintain your profit margin. If the cost of that ad is not being effective and adjustment to that plan may be the answer. One of the factors when planning your media marketing campaign is the frequency of your ads. The frequency is the number of times the ad circulates to the same people and households. The idea is to get the most people exposed to your company as possible. It is all about the numbers when determining the Frequency of the exposure. You want to make sure you are not overwhelming your audience with your ads as to keep people interested. After some research and the knowledge from my current job, I believe the best suited position would work for me is the Advertising, Promotions and Marketing Manager. I currently work at a company where many of these skills are infused into my position. As a supervisor in multi-billion-dollar company, I oversee how a market my business. I am given the tools from the company and it is my responsibility to implement them into a successful business. I enjoy this part of my job and would put in the work needed. I would need to learn my market, who is looking to solve what problem and where. Thankfully I am in a specific location and those who are interested in what I must offer come seek me. To coordinate and read the data to fide what would attract the right audience to what you must offer.

RACHEL

  Media planners are advertising professionals charged with articulating creative marketing strategies. This role may include the gathering of marketing data, analysis of information and overall evaluation of an ad's impact and effectiveness. Media planners are typically empowered with autonomy to determine the strategic vision of a marketing campaign. They are most useful in helping determine the needs, wants, desires and general demand of segments of consumers. Media planner jobs are not typical 40 hour a week, 9-5 jobs. A media planner may find themselves working more than 50 hours per week on a salary basis.

In general, media planning can be thought of as a series of strategic decisions made in the context of choosing the right media to effectively make a connection with customers. There are some basic concepts involved in this process within a framework that involves: frequency, continuity and reach.  To elaborate on the factor of "reach," this factor can be understood as the totality of households that would be reached and exposed to a given ad through a chosen media medium. This is typically measured in time or a set period. Reach can also be expressed in terms of households or the specific number of households who have been reached with an ad through a medium. Reach helps marketers determine the most effective way to reach the most customers impactfully.

Marketers are typically focused on reach in a few circumstances. One of those is at the beginning of a product life cycle when a company introduces a brand-new product to the market. Another circumstance is when companies are trying to give their image a facelift. For example, position their company as being environmentally friendly or just create differentiation with the competition.  Reach is also measured by a gauge of effectiveness, For example, marketers can measure this in terms of: having zero exposure, to ineffective exposure, to an area of effective exposure within which is the ideal interval. Beyond the effective exposure range there would be excessive exposure and finally negative exposure. Finally, reach is also used in considering the factor of frequency, specifically average frequency. The equation for average frequency is: total household exposure/Reach.

 BRYAN

"The purpose of media planning is to conceive, analyze, and creatively select channels of communication that will direct advertising messages to the right people in the right place at the right time." (Weigold 2018). The whole idea behind this process is to really focus on who we are aiming to reach with the product or service that is going to be sold or provided. Then we need to decide how we are going to use technology to reach this group in order to make a profit from the product.

"The term reach refers to the total number of different people exposed, at least once, to a medium during a given period of time, usually four weeks." (Weigold 2018). This term Reached is used in order to kind of set goals for the product or service that way we are staying focused on the product and making sure we are not wasting time on exposer for the product. This should be more of a measuring tool and not the primary tool used to determine how many people will be reached. Set a goal and then see if you can hit that goal within the 4-week period. If you do, then great what can you do now to increase that further if not then what do you need to do in order to really launch the product or service further. For me personally I feel that I could be a great asset to the production team. I am great under pressure and I think that I could produce some awesome advertisements and bring some of the ideas of others to life and give them the production they need and want.

Environmentally-Friendly Packaging Discussion 2

Sarah

“Packaging serves marketers in four major ways: protection, preservation, information, and promotion,” (Weigold & Arens 2018). This doesn’t necessarily align with the perspective of a government agency when it comes to protecting the environment and consumers. The motives in these agencies want to protect the public from product deception or sending false messages of a product truly contains, eliminate or even reduce the use of chemicals which are harmful in ecological sense, and of course be provided in biodegradable containers. As an agent, I would want to ensure safety of the product by means of labeling and making sure the consumer has an accurate list of ingredients to review, if for example he/she has a known allergy, and be free of hazards to one’s health. There should be an expiration date provided and we all naturally prefer the packaging be recyclable.

The benefits of having government agencies like the FDA for instance, we in the US can take comfort knowing that if a product is sold in a super market, it is most likely in a container that is not “determined” to be unsafe for us. There’s an ethical consideration here because one’s definition of safe may not match another’s when he/she may be paralleling safety to healthy. Regardless, manufacturers may endure more cost due to regulations implemented by the FDA but only under the presumption they’re being monitored by said agency.

In my own opinion, our government agencies are doing a reasonably sufficient job when it comes to regulating these factors. However, we are never doing enough. There is no exact line between what is safe and what is not when it comes to the determination of “environmentally friendly.” Just because a package doesn’t contain toxins that could suffocate a consumer within seconds of breathing it in, doesn’t mean it should necessarily be used. I’m torn between though because our industry of mass production is already so enormous, it would cause extreme financial burden to try enforcing stricter regulations. Destroy the planet at the rate we are or suffer another Great Depression? These are obviously extreme exaggerations but it’s an argument worth considering how we can do better.

Weigold, M.F. & Arens, W.F. (2018). M: Advertising (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Irwin/McGraw Hill.

ARTHUR

 Today in our ever changing society we see how our environment has been effected by many sources from many different manufacturers that sell products for profit.  I feel that it can be both the responsibility of the consumer and the manufacturer to keep our world clean for generations that will be around long after we are gone.  We find that the packaging design can be as important as advertising in building a product's brand image (Weigold, 2018).  In my home we usually look for packaging that can be recycled or disposed of safely and friendly to our environment.  

     When looking at the expectations for a consumer in packaging they are very similar to the choices that my family makes when shopping.  I believe that the packaging should be either reusable or easily recycled just as our text explains.  Most consumers also want their packaging to be easy to handle and store as well as have certain safety guarantees and guards against tampering.  Due to some changes with government regulations many also want ingredient list, nutritional facts and guidelines and toll free numbers in case of emergencies.  Today, many manufactures look at the expectations of the consumer to make changes that will increase exposure and profits for their company.  The wishes of the consumer are very important because they are the most important part of any advertising campaign.

     Even with the changes due to environmental concerns, society has been influential in changes made to packaging of products sold to many consumers.  Good packaging can often make or break the deal for a consumer (Weigold, 2018).  Like most, I prefer packaging that can be disposed of safely and are safe for our ever changing environment and society.  

Reference 

 Weigold, M. F. & Arens, W. F. (2018). M: Advertising (3rd ed.). New York, NY:Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

• BRADLEY

Consumers plays a significant role in the use of environmentally-friendly packaging.  Typically, the consumer looks for packaging that is easy to handle, store, and is convenient for them.  The challenge is making the packaging in a way to meet the consumer needs, but still remain environmentally-friendly.  Ethically, the consumer wants a package that will not cause harm to themselves or the environment.  I know from personal experience; the consumer will often repurpose some packaging.  I have taken old baby formula cans and have turned them into storage containers for my screws, nuts, and bolts out in my garage.  This saved the cans from being disposed in the trash, and they also help me keep everything sorted.  Other ways that packaging has changed to help the consumers environment is making easy to open packaging.  Many injuries during Christmas time is due to parents trying to open toys for the kids and cutting themselves on the plastic packaging.  To combat this, they have started to make perforations in the packages allowing the package to be opened safely without the use of knives or scissors.  Something that simple has already made a substantial impact for the consumers.  There are also other instances where the packaging itself has been harmful to the environment.  Now there are plenty of biodegradable packaging that will break down easier and will not clutter landfills.