Lower Advertising Rates Leveraged to Increase Market Share in 2009

Companies who capitalize on the dramatically lower advertising rates in 2009 can increase their competitive “share of voice” which can lead to increased share of market. The 2009 Thumbnail Media Planner provides 2009 media rate forecasts by medium (thumbnailmediaplanner.com).

[USPRwire, Wed Feb 04 2009] There is a silver lining in the economic downturn for growth oriented companies. In 2009, advertisers should pay a lot less for advertising audiences. So advertisers will be able to maintain or increase their share of voice (share of competitive marketing messages) at significantly lower cost,

It has been well documented by Nielsen and others that increased share of voice is correlated with increased share of market. It has also been well documented that advertisers who continue advertising levels during a recession emerge from the recession with a higher market share.

Usually on the leading edge of smart marketing and media, Proctor & Gamble, is reportedly renegotiating its media commitments in order to maintain its Share of Voice at lower cost. As reported in Advertising Age:

P&G Chairman-CEO, A.G. Lafley, recently said 'In tight economic times many companies pull back on advertising as a cost-cutting measure. This creates an opportunity for us to buy more media at a lower cost and increase our share of voice.'

"This media environment is a big 'O' opportunity for us, because we're the biggest advertiser in a lot of these countries, and we just go in and tear up the contract," Mr. Lafley said. "Whole industries have walked away [from media advertising]. So everything is getting renegotiated, and we want to be ahead of the curve."

Of P&G's brands and business units, Mr. Lafley said, "I don't know anybody who's not trying to take cost out faster." The goal, however, will be to "maintain share of voice" while cutting media costs, Mr. Lafley said. He had earlier pointed to Charmin increasing its share of voice in media while other toilet-paper competitors have cut back spending in recent years.

Advertising media bargains will be plentiful in 2009-- which promises to be a strong buyer’s market, according to the just published 2009 Thumbnail Media Planner from 2020:Marketing Communications LLC.

“Buyer’s Market” means that “advertisers may be able to 'name their own price' for advertising time and space-- as long as the offer is reasonable." Significantly reduced prices will be available for TV and radio commercial time, internet ads, and even print media, says Ron Geskey, publisher of the Thumbnail Media Planner.

Geskey says that while savings will be possible in all media, the degree of savings will vary by medium and time periods. To maximize cost savings it will be important to negotiate media buys with a factual understanding of local supply and demand conditions, how the media market works, and with a win-win negotiating plan and a Plan B. (Note: an excellent book on negotiating media buys is “David vs. Goliath: Guerrilla Media Buying for Small Business” which is available on Amazon.com.)

The 2009 Thumbnail Media Planner provides 2020's projections of the maximums you should pay in 2009 for each major medium (TV, radio, etc. by market).

Pretending that the supply and demand relationship hasn't changed much in 2009, media sellers will attempt to sell their properties at a higher than market rates.

The Thumbnail Media Planner is published, in part, to help advertisers budget (or benchmark) advertising media costs in terms of cost efficiency-- cost per thousand audience delivered or cost per point— rather than unit prices for :30 commercials or a space unit in a publication.

Geskey explains that while unit prices are necessary to track media sales volume and for accounting, they are not good measures of media value in terms of audience delivery or results “That is because media value depends on the amount and quality of audience delivered, value added promotions included in a buy, as well as other factors which affect an ad’s likelihood of being seen or engaging an audience.”

What media are covered? Geskey says the Thumbnail Media Planner includes a lot of data for each media type-- including 2009 cost forecasts for network and cable television, local market television, network and local radio, internet, magazines, newspapers, out of home, yellow pages, and many non traditional media.

Internet video, social media, and mobile are also new additions in 2009.

Who is the publisher? 2020's Ron Geskey has over 30 years of experience at major ad agencies (Leo Burnett, D'Arcy, Campbell Ewald) in both senior media and account management. He is now the CEO of 2020:Marketing Communications LLC, a publishing and consulting company.

For more information on the 2009 Thumbnail Media Planner, visit the web site:
www.ThumbnailMediaPlanner.com

Contact:
Ronald Geskey
2020:Marketing Communications LLC
P.O. 82476
Rochester, MI 48303
248-894-1151
marketing2020@aol.com
http://www.ThumbnailMediaPlanner.com